WikiHow

Infobox Website
name = wikiHow
favicon =



url = http://www.wikihow.com
commercial = Yes ("hybrid organization")
language = English , Spanish , Arabic, Dutch, Portugese, French, German
location = California
type = Wiki format How-to Manual
registration = Optional
owner = wikiHow
author = Jack Herrick and Josh Hannah

wikiHow is a wiki-based community with a database of how-to guides. All of the site's content is licensed under Creative Commons (by-nc-sa); and the site uses a modified version of MediaWiki 1.9.3. The site started as an extension of the already existing eHow website, and has evolved to host over 44,000 how-to articles. wikiHow's mission is to build the world's largest how-to manual and help it grow. In June 2008, wikiHow had 11.4 million unique readers. [cite web| last = Herrick| first = Jack| title = wikiHow Site Traffic Statistics| publisher = wikiHow|date=June. 2008| url = http://www.wikihow.com/WikiHow:Statistics| accessdate = 2007-11-27 ]

History

In January 2005, the two owners of eHow, Jack Herrick and Josh Hannah, started wikiHow—a collaborative writing project striving to build the world's largest how-to manual. While eHow already contained instructions on how to do thousands of things, wikiHow allowed a community of volunteer contributors to build something even bigger and better. On April 28, 2006, eHow was sold and wikiHow was launched as an independent site on its own www.wikihow.com domain. [cite web| last = Herrick| first = Jack| title = History of eHow and wikiHow| publisher = wikiHow|date=Sept. 2006| url = http://www.wikihow.com/History-of-eHow-and-wikiHow| accessdate = 2006-10-26 ]

As of September 2008, the number of registered wikiHow users stood at 109,112 and there were 44,128 articles. [cite web |url=http://stats.wikihow.com/reports/EN/TablesWikipediaEN.htm |title=wikiHow Statistics |accessdate= 2008-07-23 ] . 58 users are administrators, and two are bureaucrats. [cite web |url=http://www.wikihow.com/Special:Statistics |title=wikiHow Statistics |accessdate= 2007-11-27 ]

Content and article format

wikiHow is a wiki, which is a website that anyone can edit. wikiHow operates on open source software and an open content licensing model allowing free use and community ownership of the content.

Any visitor to wikiHow can create a new page and write about how to do something. Articles posted to wikiHow follow a standard format consisting of a summary, followed by steps to complete the activity, along with required items, warnings, tips, ingredients, and sometimes links to related how-to articles. Pictures may be added to the articles to illustrate important points or concepts. Once the page is submitted, other visitors can edit, improve, or change the page. Anonymous contributors and the wikiHow user community work together to improve the quality of information provided on the site, fix or remove incorrect instructions and revert vandalism.

Business model

The site's initial start-up costs were to some extent financed from Herrick's sale of eHow. It is now funded from advertising on its pages, on the grounds that "...tasteful advertising is the most unobtrusive way to fund our operations." [ [http://www.wikihow.com/About-wikiHow About wikiHow] ] It does not seek contributions, asserting that solicitations are annoying, and is run as a "hybrid organization" — a "for-profit company focused on creating a global public good in accordance with our mission". [ [http://www.wikihow.com/WikiHow:Is-wikiHow-a-Non-Profit wikiHow:Hybrid Organization - wikiHow] ] It offers the community a "right to fork" and uses a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.

Criticisms

wikiHow was criticized for initial content policies that sought to make a profit from volunteer contributors [cite web |url=http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/03/wikihow_thanks_but_no_thanks.php |title="wikiHow: Thanks, But No Thanks"|date=June 3, 2005|author=Ernest Miller|accessdate=2008-01-25] as well as the reliability of facts provided by non-experts, such as cite web |url=http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20061016_134430_134430 |title=How to do absolutely everything |author=Addelman, Rebecca |publisher=MacLeans.ca |language=English |accessdate= 2007-03-02 |quote=But as Leslie Regan Shade, associate professor of communications at Concordia University, points out, "Why go here for health information when I can go to an excellent resource such as the Mayo online?"] , or the relevance of articles written about such obscure subjects as .

Footnotes

References

*

*

*

External links

*
** [http://www.myspace.com/official_wikihow wikiHow] on MySpace
* [http://www.corante.com/many/archives/2005/07/04/wikihow_to_open_content.php wikiHow to Open Content]