Wiki FAQs

What's a wiki?

• Pronounced wick-ey or weekee. Wiki wiki in Hawaiian means quickly or fast. Some have suggested that "wiki" for the online world actually stands for " W hat I K now I s," which makes perfect sense. A wiki is a group of easy-to-edit Web pages that allow the public give their input on what they know about a certain topic or product.
• One of the first Web sites to become well-known for their use of a wiki is Wikipedia. You can find a longer explanation at Wikipedia on where wiki comes from and more.

What's so great about a site that anyone can change?

• User Power. Read following statement: Starbucks makes the best coffee. Whether you agree with the statement or not, you have the power to edit it on a wiki. You can add your input, your expertise, your two cents, or whatever you want to call it, about coffee or any other subject that you come across. Through honest and knowledgeable input, everyone can make shopping online easier and more enjoyable.

• Fact Checking. Let's say someone told you that the Frigidaire refrigerator was the best and you decided to buy it. Only, instead of it being the best, it turned out to be awful. When people are qualified to give suggestions or reviews on certain products it protects YOU, the consumer, from buying poorly built products.

• Two Heads Are Better Than One. The old saying holds true. The more people that can give their opinion on a product, the more likely you are to really understand how well it works through the experiences of others.
• Community. Wiki users become a part of an online community, whose goal it is to create accurate buying and gift guides.

Are you affiliated with Wikipedia?

• No, we are not affiliated with Wikipedia. However, like Wikipedia we do use wiki technology to develop our Web site.

What is wiki markup?

• Instead of using the complicated HTML language used for creating Web pages, the wiki markup language uses plain text, like what you would find on Windows Word Pad, for example. The wiki markup language then transforms the plain text into what looks like something produced on a fancy word processor, let's say Microsoft Word, including bold and italic type, hyperlinks, etc.

Wiki markup? I don't see any wiki markup.

• ShopWiki uses a Rich Text Editor to make it very easy to author content without having to learn a new markup language (wiki markup). By default (if your browser supports it), you will use the Rich Text Editor for making your changes and not even see any markup. If you want to use the Plain Text Editor and use wiki markup, you can do that by clicking the "Plain Text Editor" link above the editor.

What's the standard format for buying guides on the wiki?

• If you are writing or editing an article, please follow the formatting explained in our style guide . It explains how to format titles, headings, content, links, footers and more. Otherwise, just let your expertise and creativity guide you.

Do you get a lot of vandalism?

• Part of the purpose of a wiki is to allow anyone to change anything about the page. Vandalism can occur, but any user that spots the problem can immediately correct it. In addition, our editors and administrators keep tabs on the recently updated pages to check for offensive content and can usually fix a problem quickly.
• If you want to report a user who is vandalizing the site, please email us at editor@shopwiki.com.
• Repeat wiki vandals will be blocked from editing on the site.

How do you make sure that manufacturers aren't adding positive reviews to the wiki?

• We hope that you will help us build up a large base of reviews. That way, one review from a manufacturer is only a drop in the bucket compared to the data we get from all of our users. Your reviews matter!
• Since the site is patrolled by users, anyone who notices an article that seems swayed toward one brand, can change it.

May I create my own wiki pages which are unrelated to shopping?

• You may place non-shopping content under your username. So, if you are User:john, you can put content on that page, plus create additional pages such as User:john:some page name.

How do I start a new guide?

• When you want to write a new guide, first enter the name of the article that you would like to write into the search bar to make sure there is no guide with that name. Please look for related guides, as we don't want to have too much redundant information.
• If there is already a guide written, click on the link and see the article. You are then free to edit it if you choose.
• To start a new guide, click to our Wiki 101 page for more instruction.
• ALWAYS remember to click "Save Article" before navigating away from the article, otherwise your changes will not be saved.
• You have the option to edit and write articles in both plain text (wiki markup) or in rich text mode. The Rich Text Editor is fully supported in Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox and Netscape.

How do I edit an existing article?

• If you search for a product and there is an article already written, simply click on the hyperlink to go to the article.
• If you read it and think that you want to edit, click on "edit" on the tab bar at the top of the article.
• A new page will open with the article in edit mode. You may then switch between plain text (wiki markup) and rich text format (depending on the Internet browser you are using, you may only be allowed to work in plain text). The easiest way to edit and write articles is with Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. Safari and Opera do not support rich text editing.
• When finished, make sure to add or adjust any relevant keywords and to add a comment on what you edited within the article, such as "added text, added image, fixed spelling", etc.
• Then click "Save Article."
• ALWAYS remember to click "Save Article" before navigating away from the article, otherwise your changes will not be saved.
• For more info on ways to edit, click to: Wiki 101

How can I add a comment to an existing article?

• If you don't want to completely edit an existing guide, you do have the option of adding your comments at the end.
• Click "Add Comment" and write your thoughts.

How do I save an article that I have written or edited?

• ALWAYS remember to click "Save Article" before navigating away from the article, otherwise your changes will not be saved.
• When in the process of editing an article, do not click between read, watch or history because it will erase your work. As a safety precaution, save often or simply copy your work from the plain text editor to another text editor on your computer. In Windows you can use MS Word, WordPad, Word Perfect, etc. On a Mac, you can use stickies, Text Edit, Apple Works, etc.
• Changing between the rich text and plain text editor will not erase your work. Feel free to navigate between them as often as you like.
• To see how your article will look before saving it, click "preview."
• Remember to spell check in the Rich Text Editor before saving.
• For problems with saving, see the Troubleshooting Guide .

Can I track changes made to an article?

• Changes to an article can be viewed by going to the article and clicking on "history" in the green tabs at the top of the article.
• History will show you a list of the changes that have been made in chronological order, with the initial entry at the bottom. Each article will include the date it was created, who wrote it, and possibly what was changed.
• To see the changes made between any two articles, select the two you want to view on the left hand side. Then click "Compare."
• The changes will be shown in plain text (wiki markup) and not in rich text.
• All of the changes will be highlighted in a color-coded system. Red means that text was deleted, yellow signifies that the text has been modified, and green shows text that has been added.
• Note that for most changes, only the changed portion of the article will be displayed (with a few non-changed lines for context). To see the entire article, click the "Show All" link above the comparison table.
• Text can not be edited within the history mode. You have to go to edit to make further changes.
• To be notified through email when an article changes, add the article to your watchlist.

How do I enter text?

• Entering text is as easy as typing in any word processing program on your computer.
• Simply click in the box and start typing.
• Beware of any pre-existing formatting and templates in the text while using the plain text editor. Sometimes adding unnecessary spaces or deleting symbols can change the formatting and cause significant problems. To keep it simple and easy to use, try using Mozilla FireFox or Internet Explorer instead of Opera or Safari, which allows you to work in rich text mode.
• ALWAYS remember to click "Save Article" before navigating away from the article, otherwise your changes will not be saved.

I just made a lot of changes to an article, but they didn't show up. What's wrong?

There are three possibilities.

• One : Did you hit the "Save Article" button after you made your changes? If you didn't, your changes weren't saved.
• Two : Did you get a message telling you that you were working on an outdated version of the article? If so, you have to make changes to the newer version of the article, because someone submitted changes after you clicked the "Edit" button. You may also opt to overwrite the recently updated version with your own. If you do so, please check the history to see if there is something that you should add from the other edited copy.
• Three : There's a technical problem on our end. You didn't do anything wrong. We apologize for your lost work.

Where can I get help editing a guide?

• Check all the help pages on our Wiki 101 page for more guidance.

Help FAQ | ShopWiki Assistant FAQ