Wiki Life: What do you put in the Other Resources section? Should every article have one?

This is a continuation of my previous blog posts in this series, Navigational Guidelines: 

  1. Wiki Life: What are in-line links?
  2. Wiki Life: What do you put in the See Also section? Should every article have one?

      

This topic (Other Resources) is part of the UX Guidelines section, Links and Accessibility.

Here are the different link guidelines:

  • Article table of contents
    • This is the "In this article" section under the introduction section.
    • See Page Layout above for detailed instructions on how to create this section.
  • 'Return to Top' links
    • These links exist at the bottom of every section (above the horizontal rule) and link back up to the very top of the article (and not just the TOC).
  • In-line links
    • In the introduction section, include an embedded link (when possible) to the parent topic.
  • <Product Name> Wiki Pages section
    • Pull it into a Portal page if >10 links.
  • See Also section
    • This is a link list at the bottom that links to domain parent articles (and related articles) in TechNet Wiki.
  • Other Resources section
    • These are the external links, including links to Microsoft and TechNet sites that are non-Wiki.
  • References section
    • Use this section if you pulled source material and ideas from other sites, blogs, or forums. Make sure you have permission from authors to use their material.
  • TechNet Resources section
    • This list is specific to TechNet resources found on the topic. 

      

The Other Resources section is a list of links that are external to TechNet Wiki. If you have links to TechNet Wiki articles, they should go in the See Also section, which comes above the Other Resources section. See Wiki Life: What do you put in the See Also section? Should every article have one?

Similar to the See Also section, the Other Resources section should be an H1.

     

Should every article have an Other Resources section?

Yes! Honestly, it would be best to make sure each article has a See Also section first (see this blog post for ideas), but every article would benefit from an Other Resources section and should have one.

For every article, there are a lot of links that should be included.

Here are some examples of types of links you should include:

  1. Microsoft official marketing page for that technology (example: https://www.visualstudio.com/
  2. MSDN/TechNet Forum (parent forum link)
  3. MSDN/TechNet Forum answers 
  4. Other forum answers (Stack Overflow or technology-specific forums)
  5. Related Microsoft Connect or User Voice feedback 
  6. MSDN/TechNet Library parent articles (the main Help documentation for that product)
  7. MSDN/TechNet Library related articles (articles in that technology section that are related to your scenario)
  8. MSDN/TechNet Blog official site for that product
  9. Related MSDN Gallery/TechNet Gallery/CodePlex/GitHub items
  10. Visual Studio and MSDN Magazine articles 
  11. Related MSDN/TechNet Blog posts by other teams and Microsoft employees
  12. Related non-MS blog posts (Wordpress, Blogger, etc.) from MVPs, other partners, and other customers
  13. Related YouTube videos
  14. Related Twitter feeds 
  15. Wikipedia articles when a concept needs a definition

 

What other types of links should be included in the Other Resources section? Comment with your thoughts!

What are some good articles that should be examples that have great Other Resources sections? Comment with the URL!

 

Come on in! The Wiki is warm!

   - Ninja Ed