I was poking around the corners of wikiHow and I saw a UIB contest that was posted a year or so ago. I saw that nobody had updated it, so I was thinking if I could start that up again! Basically, users would post a UIB that they madeon the contest page with their username beside it. A panel of judges (probably myself, a page designer, and an Admin) will then decide which UIB was the best. I am writing this as I go along, so I know it can be improved. Thoughts?
Highly unnecessary. UIB creating has nothing to do with our mission. Maybe create a editthis or wikia site if you really want to do this.
^ It was probably a one time thing too…
June Days
You can continue on with this contest if you’d like, since this is a volunteer site and you’re not forced to do anything, but it is up to the other volunteers if they’d like to join.
I’m all for a UIB contest. It’s one of those things that I really miss about wikiHow. We haven’t had one of those in forever!
Great idea! Think of all the unique UIB being made
LLN, JQ and other newbies… welcome to wikiHow! Congratulations on reaching the point where you’ve started looking for ways to make your own mark on the site! You’re already among the few who stick it out longer than a week or so, and believe me, that’s not a small accomplishment! You’ll find a raft of abandoned “contests”, “projects”, “ideas” and proposals floating around the site. Someone came in, started a new “next big thing”, got discouraged because they couldn’t enlist enthusiastic community support (or any support in some cases) and left only the lonely “project page” behind when they left. “Contests” are all very well in their way… but they don’t benefit the site much. Instead, they tend to stir up a lot of drama and controversy over rules, judging and the like that tend to discourage community effort. So… Please? Don’t go there? I like you all… and I don’t want to see you run through the same discouraging and depressing paths as your not-so-lucky-or-wise predecessors. The better way to approach projects is to find a felt need among current users that grabs your imagination or interest. Then allocate your editing time to meeting that felt need. You’ll quickly find yourself in the company of other like minded folks who will become your editing buddies. You’ll start connecting with them outside of wikiHow. You’ll be helping the wikiHow mission… And you won’t leave in a huff because not many others felt the need for whatever “project of the day” you’ve come up with at the moment. Another idea would be to offer some sort of tangible reward for anyone with a certain number of helpful edits… I seem to recall a monthly reward for reviewing NFD’s before we got the new (AWESOME!!!) widget to help us with that chore… stuff like that might engender less fuss and drama than a “contest” would. Anyway… sorry so long winded. I wish each of you all long and fruitful editing careers here! -Lois
^ JQ and LLN have been here a while. =)
June Days
^Yeah, being a New Article Booster, I’m not exactly a “newbie.” I’ve been here long enough to remember people, myself included, doing those userpage contests and UIB contests relentlessly, so I see why we have put an end to it. But now that we have set our priorities straight, I don’t think it is going to kill us to have a userpage or UIB contest every once in a while. May I point out that we still have General Chat/Forum Games for wikiHowians to mess around with when they could easily be patrolling, boosting, or writing articles?
system
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No offense intended, I assure you. I only wanted to warn you off of a destructive phase some newer editors go through. I’ve seen this happen an average of 3 times per year since I started… and I"m getting tired of losing great editors to the discouragement and power tripping mill. Ugh… now I feel VERY old!
:). Your not old, Lois! If nobody wants to do this, that is COMPLETELY find by me.
I LOVE that idea! I have been thinking about something similar for a while now, the wikiHowian Cup. At the beginning of the year, we would start keeping a tally system, and the weekly scores would be posted at the forums. Users would accumulate points for rising stars written, articles boosted, etc. I think that it would encourage editors more than ever before, and that it would really take wikiHow to the next level.
system
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Just a caution? Editcountitis is just as dangerous in it’s own way as “contests” are. While you and I know that quality is more important than quality… not everyone else does. -wry smile- Perhaps just a talk page template to commemorate milestones? Percentage of improvement over time? It’s hard to quantify things without making it a race.
system
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Maybe not have a contest, but like everyone just posts UIB’s they made. That way,people won’t feel bad if no one liked their UIB.
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I made one a long time ago… for ASL. It put me in contact with a few of our deaf editors which was pretty fun/cool!
