wikiHow Experience

 

Before doing this project, there was no experience in wikiHow. In the past, if there was something the editor wanted to figure out how to do, they would turn to YouTube. Sometimes YouTube is a great resource, while sometimes it is no help at all. WikiHow on the other hand seems to be pretty spot on – if what you’re looking for is there.

 

What’s great about wikiHow is that other people can come in and make edits. This is good because while people may be very knowledgeable about a subject, it is good to have someone with similar knowledge take a second look. This is what makes wikiHow a better a resource for “how to” than YouTube – the ability to edit. A lot of times you will watch a YouTube video, and find that the editor posted a comment, making a revision. At this point, it’s too late – you might as well re-do the whole video.

 

Film cameras are a trending topic as of late. Many people are buying old cameras, and giving them new life. There are a few articles on wikiHow for other specific cameras such as the Canon AE-1, and the Pentax K1000, but none for a Mamiya 645. While most people tend to shoot 35mm film, which is associated with the AE-1 and K1000, some will in engage in using medium format 120mm film. The 645 is a great camera for 120mm film – they are fairly easy to find, and are not as expensive as other medium format cameras. Along with that, they operate quite differently than 35mm format cameras. The idea of the cameras are the same, but the way that they operate and function may be confusing to someone who is used to 35mm.

 

Photographers are often times reaching out to one another about works best for them, so this was a great experience for the author to be a part of that. The photography community tends to be very helpful, so it no surprise that numerous articles have been already produced on wikiHow about photography.

 

After looking at other wikiHow articles on other specific cameras, the author had a pretty good idea for what to write. What parts were important, what was difficult, and what was easy.

 

The first step was to write a draft. This was a really great way to get your mind going  - what are you going to depict, how will you show it, and in what way. While writing out the draft, one could start to imagine what pictures would be shown along with the text. It is believed that in order to teach someone well, the demonstration is the most important part. How else will you be able to teach someone without properly showing him or her how?

 

Having a background in photography was a great help for this project. The ability to take

a video of the process, and then take out photos from that made the process easy. A good amount of thought was put into what was difficult about the topic. The best way to think about this project was how you could strip it down enough so that someone with zero knowledge of your topic could follow your steps. It helped if you put yourself in the shoes of a learner, not a teacher.

 

Once all the information draft was written, and the photos were compiled, the hardest part was about to come. Posting on wikiHow isn’t necessarily easy – it is somewhat complicated. The normal editing page that is supposed to walk you through everything, but even then, there are some difficulties. Using the advanced editor is the best way, but first you have to understand the coding aspect. Much like the good old days of Myspace, you have to put in the code that does all the formatting. If you are unfamiliar with such coding, you will have to rely on the tips. However, even after referring to the tips, the best way to figure everything out is by trial and error. With every change made by the author, they would immediately check to see if it was done the way they wanted. This worked well because you won’t get too far ahead.

 

With the difficulties faced, it is important for one for refer to this article. This article, entitled “How to Write a New Article on wikiHow,” is very helpful - essentially, it is a how to on how to use wikiHow. This article will help get though some of the important steps when you are just starting to make your article. However, it does not do the greatest job of explaining how to use the backend coding, or editing in general.

 

The article was finally finished, and posted to the internet for all to see. The great thing about wikiHow is that you feel as though you are able to help someone out with a topic they may have difficulty in. The author hopes that after it is posted, people who enjoy photography just as much them will find benefit from the article.

 

The evolution of the internet has allowed for people to connect is ways that they once were not able to. Along with that, we can comment, or even edit the work that people have previously made. While this may have its cons at time, it does have quite a bit of pros. Most of the benefit is that it brings about a higher amount of knowledge, and education to a subject. If one person to be in charge of making a publication, it may become biased because of the authors point of view. When having multiple perspectives, a topic gets greater attention, and becomes more efficient. Also, being able to have someone essentially double check your work helps to make it more accurate. Previous to wikiHow, people may have read articles they found randomly on the internet that had wrong information – causing people to ruin what they are working on.