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I’m writing this from Mexico City at the Wikimania conference, where one insight has become incredibly obvious.  One of the main differences between the wikiHow community and the Wikipedia community is that…

wikiHowians are open and often enthusiastic about changes and innovations.  In contrast, Wikipedians often strongly resist change. For all people change is scary.  Yet our community is brave in that we’re constantly confronting and embracing change as one of the big ways we can help push our mission forward. 

For example, wikiHow intern and long term community member @Lojjik just updated and improved the forums.  It was greeted with cheers and happiness.  ( http://forums.wikihow.com/discussion/16907/a-big-thank-you-for-a-smooth-efficient-forums-update ) If the same thing had happened at Wikipedia, the community there would be complaining that while some elements are better, there are elements missing from the old one that were crucially important and the change needs to be reverted.  (As a proof point, Wikipedia continues to rely on the same terrible mailing lists they used when they started in 2001.)

Part of our success at embracing change comes from our 1/1 innovation policy.  To refresh memories, that is the policy that when a big change is made, we all agree to withhold judgement for one month.  Only after a month of observing the change do we seriously start to discuss whether the change was worthwhile.  

I’m so happy and appreciative that our community is so open to new innovations. Change is always hard, but over time innovations are necessary to move ahead. Wikipedia is so resistant to change that it’s going to be very hard for them to keep moving forward as technology continues morphing.  

No matter how much has changed at wikiHow in the last 10 years (and a LOT has) it’s proof that the stuff that makes our community awesome hasn’t changed at all. It has less to do technology and tools and so much more to do with attitude. Our community is amazing. 

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Amen to all this! So agreed. WikiPedia may be an awesome site but the kindness of the community is messed up. One thing that I love about our team is the people here. Everyone is nice (well not trolls) and willing to help you anytime. 

Kudus to you wikiHow:heart::heart:Always rock on 

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What an amazing and insightful post, Jack! I am stoked that you created this wonderful site, and this community is a wonderful joy to be part of. Personally, I have a very difficult time fitting in over at Wikipedia since it is hard to get around the maze of policy and the community needs some work in order to be a bit more friendly and welcoming. That’s one reason why I’m not too active there. Cheers to many more amazing years filled with community building, how-to instructions and new, exciting changes and developments!

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@Adelaide +1 

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Well said, @JackHerrick . Thank you for sharing this insight/realization. I look forward additional insight(s) brought to the surface by the Wikimania conference.

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#throwbacksunday to the main site redesign in 2013 and the vast collection of feedback ( http://wikihow.com/wikiHow_talk:Redesign ) from the community:slight_smile:

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Wow @Illneedasviour

I can’t believe all the nice feedback we got, but we also had some bad too . Hey, not everyone is going to like it 

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@JackHerrick , thank you so much for creating wikiHow and and impressed each day by it’s kindness and helpful users. I used to edit on Wikipedia months ago and I wasn’t truly happy there and had a hard time understanding it’s policies. I found wikiHow and the moment I created my account and talked to many admins, I knew I wanted to be part of this community. 

Anyone here can edit and while some are bad faith edits, everyone collaborates to stay calm and fix it. I hope to stay here for many years because this is my second family and am truly proud of what it has blossomed into. Cheers to more years for wikiHow to grow and expand! #TrulyAmazed

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Agreed.  

The community is a very large part of the reason I stick around and edit even after 8 years.  It’s just FUN to play around in Jack’s sandbox!  (Thanks Jack!)

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This is why I also have stuck around after 8 years myself <3.

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Thanks sir for initiating wikiHow and standing by it with the team during thick and thin. I feel safe and accepted with an increased enthusiasm to contribute more and more. Although I haven’t found the answer to this: Do I give more or do I get more??? Because I am a better, different person now in just 3 months!!!We as a team are definitely lead to be more endearing and constructive. I believe the reason has to be the foundation which is laid by You. Hats Off to your leadership skills. If there were more leaders like you, this world would have been lot more ‘life’ friendly. I respect wikiHow!

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Our community is simply put; really great. Meeting all the folks in Montreal just affirmed how awesome everyone is. Being able to be relaxed and have a good time while still putting out great content is also a big part of why I like being here. You’re enjoying what you’re doing.

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I completely agree @danielbauwens ! I always enjoy what I am doing around here in welcoming and helping people, as well as curating and creating content, not to mention that I have enjoyed the admin responsibilities so far as well. And I really loved the meetups, they were a blast and I can’t wait to attend my third one yet in 2016.

@Illneedasaviour Great redesign feedback! It’s so nice to look back at.:slight_smile:

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I agree! I joined Wikipedia, and got only one welcome message, which came two days after I joined. There were no guides, and everything was scrunched, and I was very confused. 

Were we just supposed to know how to do everything? I’m really glad wikiHow spends time and tells its editors how to do things, instead of leaving them in the dust. 

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I just love WikiHow. The information is so easy to understand and the people are always friendly and ready to help out. I luckily haven’t come across a rude one yet, but I know they are out there. #WIKIHOWROCKS

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I love wikiHow as well. It’s one of my favorite sites and one which I always enjoy contributing to. I’m very thankful that the community respects me enough to have given me adminship (which I enjoy greatly).

@Darkfrost : I’m a veteran Wikipedia member, so if you need help with the site, message me on my talk page there (my username there is the same as it is here).:slight_smile:I’m not as active there as I am here, but I check my talk page fairly often. There are many helpful guides there which I can lead you to.

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@Adriaan-Van-Zyl I completely agree! And yes, wikiHow definitely has its share of rude people just like on any wiki community, but there are lots of kind, friendly and helpful people here as well that are always happy to help:slight_smile:– and that makes the community a great joy to be part of. And I very much so agree about the information being good and reliable - we strive for high quality and accuracy, and we always try to keep the standards for quality high. I’m so glad you joined us, and we are happy to have you!

@Lugia2453 I have quite the same thoughts about wikiHow as you do – and I’m sure you’re always very friendly and welcoming to people on Wikipedia the way you are on wikiHow!:slight_smile:

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Well said! Great insights too, Jack. This is one of the main reasons wikiHow is a project I’m glad to participate in:slight_smile:

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I think it’s awesome that we’re willing to accept good changes to wikiHow, and if they aren’t good, then we find a way to improve it or revert it.:slight_smile:

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Personally I have never used a ‘wiki’ before so this past 8 months have been quite a learning curve for me.  Everyone is so helpful and friendly!