Wiki Life Hack: the 2016 New year's resolution of a Wiki article starter (The TechNet Wiki and what it IS)

With the new fresh start of 2016, I'm quickly jumping in with an extra surprise post.

But before I kick off, allow me to wish everyone Best Wishes for 2016, lots of success on the TNWiki and a productive year of Wiki articles and blogs!

As before, I'm focusing on the TechNet Wiki governance... (yes, the good guy that keeps rubbing your nose in the positive approach of Rules and Guidelines on the TechNet Wiki...)

Now dumping the lists of guidelines again, to provide you with a top 5 of items that the TechNet Wiki IS and how to make it better for everyone.

[REPRHASE: what are the most frequent pitfalls you need to avoid as Wiki Ninja...]

You don't need to figure it out your self, we've collected the most important items for you.

But after the new year's party, it might be useful to check back on the rules and guidelines that help you to publish the content we need.

1. TechNet Wiki is A WIKI

TechNet Wiki is a WIKI in first place, to stimulate and allow community cooperation.
It's key to write your articles in 3rd person, an open format that allows the community to work on it with you.

2. TechNet Wiki is COMMUNITY

Wiki first of starts with "W" as in "We", not "U"

YOU DO GET the credits, but the content is owned by the community.

Source: (*)

  • As Ana mentioned in this blog post  , Wikipedia has this to say about signatures: "When editing a page, main namespace articles should not be signed, because the article is a shared work, based on the contributions of many people, and one editor should not be singled out above others." - Wikipedia: Signatures
  • If you're pasting from your blog, where you use first person, you and the community should change it to third person instead.
  • Remove any unnecessary personal commentary that might have been in the blog post.
  • More guidance in Wiki: User Experience Guidelines

3. TechNet Wiki is about MEANINGFUL CONTENT.  

It's essential to add essential, searchable content to the TechNet Wiki... Step by step descriptions on the TechNet Wiki are great value.

Source: (*)

  • Articles must contain a original, valuable collection of information, which means articles with only a hyperlink to 3rd party information do not comply to the BPOV.
  • This also includes articles with a single link (or embedded link) to a video hosted on another platform.
  • A 1-liner introduction, or a simple introduction paragraph is not sufficient to add value to a video hyperlink. (See more: Wiki Governance: Guideline on Publishing Videos)
  • Same guideline applies to a single link or screenshot of other sources (like link to TechNet gallery) without any additional explanation
  • Also applies to Wiki articles with only screenshots, external links, ... You must provide an explanation of the screenshots, details of the step-by-step procedure...

4. TechNet Wiki is about respect.

Supported by international legislations, Terms Of use of the community platforms, the rules & guidelines of TechNet Wiki...

In short: ONLY POST content you OWN.
Be smart, be original! We do support and encourage people to participate to make interesting contributions...  

Source: (*)

  • Someone else has relevant content and you want to help them share it with the world. It's a nice thought, but do not copy other people's content to the Wiki, even if the owner said it was OK.
  • If you are writing an article taking reference from already existing article and adding some important points and views which would really give value to the topic such articles are welcome but you must include reference to original article otherwise it would be seen as plagiarized content.
  • More detailed guidance on piracy is available at: https://aka.ms/wiki_piracy
  • Guidance on providing proper source references and credits is here
    • Wiki: Best practices for source references and quotes

5. TechNet Wiki is about long term value.

Short term value message, single point of view articles, product marketing articles should not be posted on TechNet Wiki...

Invest your time in valuable content that can withstand the pressure of time for a while.

We all know the products come and go... usually with a cycle of 5 years...so plenty of time to shine.

Need more info, check the right-hand side menu on the TNWiki landing page

And also

Pretty neat list to put in your New Year's resolutions, right?

Welcome to another year of TechNet Wiki... it's going to be very exciting!