put-it-on-the-wiki

<entry-title>Put it on the wiki</entry-title>

As stated in the mailing-lists general guidelines, maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) on the email lists is important. In addition, we don't want to lose good content in the pile of emails that goes across the lists. We've learned from experience that it's better to add information to the wiki directly rather than send email.

wikis in plain english

Here is a short video explaining how wikis work much better than email for collaboration, even for something as simple as planning a camping trip.

YouTube: Wikis in Plain English

content belongs on the wiki

Please add any substantial content to the wiki and use email only for referring to the URLs on the wiki accordingly. If you're not sure where to add something, ask in IRC or email.

By creating more content on the wiki rather than the mailing lists we grow our community memory and knowledge in a way that can be much more easily searched, referenced, linked, and discovered, as mailing list archives are quite impenetrable and make it difficult to determine what the current "state" is of any particular discussion.

where to put what on the wiki

If you're not sure where to put your content on the wiki, here are a few common types of content that have specific pages on the wiki.

real world content examples

Real world examples of specific types of content should be captured on the *-examples page for that type of content to help with research and iteration of the microformat (if any) (being) developed for that type of content. E.g. real world examples of:

• citations - add to citation-examples
• recipes - add to recipe-examples
• reviews - add to review-examples
• listings - add to listing-examples
• ... etc.

previous formats and vocabularies

Formats and/or vocabularies (whether web/internet based or earlier) for specific types of content should be captured on the *-formats page for that type of content to help with research and iteration of the microformat (if any) (being) developed for that type of content. E.g. formats and vocabularies for:

• citations - add to citation-formats
• recipes - add to recipe-formats
• reviews - add to review-examples
• listings - add to listing-examples
• ... etc.

examples of microformats usage

If you have published (or found!) examples of microformats usage on a website, please go ahead and add them to the respective examples-in-the-wild page or section. E.g.

• geo examples in the wild
• hCalendar examples in the wild
• hCard examples in the wild
• hReview examples in the wild
• Include-Pattern examples in the wild (various types of microformat, using the include-pattern)
• ... please add more links to "Examples in the Wild" pages and sections of specs as needed.

Since new examples are often useful for others' understanding, and for developers' parser testing, if you like you are also encouraged to send email to the microformats-discuss mailing list announcing your support of specific microformats, with URLs to the respective examples in the wild pages/sections on the wiki and noting that you have added your site and the specific URLs with the microformats to those examples in the wild pages/sections.

issues with a specific microformat

If while reading a particular microformat specification or implementing it on your site or in your tools you find problems with that microformat, first check the *-issues page for that specific microformat to see if the issue has already been raised (and possibly resolved, sometimes in a separate *-issues-resolved page), and add your opinion and experience as a nested list item on the existing issue. If you can't find the specific issue, please add it to that respective *-issues page.

• hcard-issues, hcard-issues-resolved
• hcalendar-issues
• hreview-issues
• hatom-issues
• hlisting-issues
• hproduct-issues
• hrecipe-issues
• ... etc.

If there is no issues page for the specific microformat, check for an "Issues" section on the page for the microformat itself, and feel free to create a *-issues page and move that existing section (leaving a "See ... " link in place) to the separate page.

issues with a specific tool

If while using a particular microformat implementation you find problems, first check the *-issues page for that specific tool or service to see if the issue has already been raised (and possibly resolved, sometimes in a separate *-issues-resolved page), and add your opinion and experience as a nested list item on the existing issue. If you can't find the specific issue, please add it to that respective *-issues page.

• hcard-creator-issues
• hcalendar-creator-issues
• hreview-creator-issues
• oomph-issues
• operator-issues
• optimus-issues
• x2v-issues
• ... etc.

If there is no issues page for the specific implementation, check for an "Issues" section on the page for the implementation itself, and feel free to create a *-issues page and move that existing section (leaving a "See ... " link in place) to the separate page.

feature suggestions for a specific microformat

If you have an idea for a new feature or enhancement for improving a microformat that's more than just a bug fix (see above, issues belong on the *-issues pages), then please add it to the *-brainstorming page for that specific microformat, or if the page already notes the feature request, add you opinion about it with a nested list item.

• hcard-brainstorming
• hcalendar-brainstorming
• hreview-brainstorming
• hatom-brainstorming
• hlisting-brainstorming
• hproduct-brainstorming
• hrecipe-brainstorming
• ...

related

• wiki-better-than-email
• how-to-play
• mailing-lists
• Law, state and constitution