Mahalo Style Guide

Basic SeRP Structure From Top to Bottom

  • While the order of sections on a page varies from vertical to vertical, there are a few elements to each page's wikitext that are standard.
  1. Categories are always first in the wikitext.
  2. There should be no line breaks between the Category line and Did You Means.
  3. The Mahalo Top 7 comes after the Did You Means, or after the Categories if there are no Did You Means.
  4. Sections after the Top 7 and before the Relateds vary between verticals.
  5. If the page has a Callout Box, it comes after the Relateds in the wikitext. Include two spaces (i.e. empty lines) between the Relateds and the Callout Box to keep the box from hugging the Relateds too tightly.

Naming SeRPs and Sections

  • When naming new SeRPs and sections within SeRPs, it's important to choose the most appropriate titles, and to avoid including blacklisted characters within the titles.
  1. For SeRP titles, choose the word, term or phrase that corresponds exactly with what users will most likely type into the search box.
    • Example: Users search for the word "movie" more than "film" and do not typically include parentheses in their searches, so use:
      • Chicago Movie -- NOT: Chicago (Movie) -- NOT: Chicago Film -- NOT: Chicago (Film)
  2. If users are likely searching for multiple variations of the same search, choose one for the SeRP title and include the other in the first sentence of your Guide Note.
    • Example: After each year's Oscar telecast, many users want to know who had the best fashion sense on the red carpet. Assuming the "Best Oscar Dresses 2008" search is as popular as the one for "Best Academy Award Dresses 2008," name the SeRP one and include the other phrase to begin your Guide Note.
  3. If users are likely looking for almost-identical but still slightly different searches, create pages for both.
    • Example: When Lindsay Lohan recreated the famous Marilyn Monroe photo shoot called "The Last Sitting" for New York magazine, users were searching almost equally for "Lindsay Lohan New York Magazine" and "Lindsay Lohan Marilyn Monroe." Since the links on each search would be slightly different (one more focused on the historical Marilyn element), both pages were created.
  4. Do not include the following characters in either SeRP titles or section headers on Mahalo.com.
    1. Question mark ("?")
    2. Quotation marks (" " ")
    3. 'At' symbol ("@")
    4. Equals sign ("=")
    5. Dollar sign ("$")
    6. Percent character ("%")
    7. Pound character ("#")
    8. Plus sign ("+")
    9. Semicolon (";")
    10. Comma (",")
    11. Forward slash ("/")
    12. Accent marks
    13. Parentheses ("(" and ")")
    14. Brackets ("[" and "]")
    15. Braces ("{" and "}")
    16. Greater than sign (">")
    17. Less than sign ("<")
    18. Pipes ("|")
    19. Apostrophe (" ' ")
  5. In very, very few cases (such as with AT&T), we have made exceptions for the following characters, but it is absolutely mandatory to check with a Guide Lead before using:
    1. Ampersand ("&")
    2. Colon (":")
  6. Characters that are OK include:
    1. Period (".")
    2. Exclamation point ("!")
    3. Hyphens (" - ")
    • However: DO NOT copy text and paste it when naming a SeRP; if you happen to include a "smart quote," or "curved quotes," it will cause technical problems. For more information on this, read the section below on UTF characters.

Categories

  • The Category section should include the categories that the search term directly falls under.
  • Correct example for David Letterman:
    • Wikitext looks like this:
    • [[Category:Entertainment]] [[Category:Celebrities]] [[Category:Talk Show Hosts]] [[Category:Comedians]] [[Category:TV Creators and Producers]]
  1. Always include the Top Level category (in this case, Entertainment).
  2. Letterman can definitely be classified as a celebrity, a talk show host, a comedian, and for producing shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, a TV producer.
      • Do not: Include unnecessary higher-level categories simply because you've used one of their sub-categories. Example: The Talk Show Hosts category that Letterman best fits into is a sub-category of Models and Personalities; however, since Letterman doesn't really fit very well into Models and Personalities, it can be left out (just use your best judgment!).
      • Do not: Include categories that the search term only loosely fits under. Example: Letterman has appeared in only a small handful of films and TV shows over his decades-long career, so no need to include him in the Actors category.
      • Do not: Include categories that the term is related to but does not specifically fit in. For example, just because David Letterman is a talk show host does not mean that he should be included in Category:Talk Shows as Letterman himself is not a talk show.
  3. Categories are always listed first, at the very top of the wikitext. However, as of August 2008 they will automatically appear inside the Note Box at the bottom.
  4. Categories can (but do not need to) have one space in between them in the wikitext for easier reading.
  5. DO NOT put an empty line between the Categories and the Note wikitext.
  6. IMPORTANT: DO NOT include categories we do not have. Check our list of categories here to see what we have. (If we include categories that do not exist, they will show up in red and users may ultimately create categories we don't want.)

Did You Means

  • Did You Means appear below the SeRP title on the page. Did You Means provide disambiguation when there's potential for confusion between two similarly titled SeRPs.
  • Wikitext looks like this:
  • *<font color="red">Did you mean:</font> ''[[Paris Hotels]]?''
  1. Did You Means appear between the categories and The Mahalo Top 7 in the wikitext.
  2. Do not place empty lines in the wikitext between Did You Means.
  3. If there are multiple Did You Means's, separate them by pipes ( | ), the character usually found on the same key as the forward slash ( \ ).
    • NOTE: We are no longer including Also Trys on our pages.

Note Box Formatting

  • Note: For those who work on the Mahalo Greenhouse, the [edit] tags that now appear in the Note Box do not work.
  • Entire Note Box Length: Each note box should contain a minimum of 200 total words, not including the related pages section. If you cannot reach 200 words, notify your lead and they will either help you reach the requirement or give you special permission to temporarily leave a page below the word count.
  • Order for (almost) every Note Box: (1) Brief Guide Note with essential info on search term, (2) Fast Facts, (3) Additional sections or lists (Quotes, Trivia, Stats, supplemental Fast Facts, etc.)
  1. Here is an example...
    • <h2>Guide Note</h2>
    • John Elway is a former quarterback...
      1. DO NOT include a colon after "Guide Note" or any other header or subhead.
      2. DO NOT include an asterisk before the H2 tag.
  2. If Guide Notes approach more than three or four sentences, try to break up the text into multiple paragraphs. (Remember that the Guide Note itself should be very brief, however, and include only the information that's essential in describing the search term to users who know nothing on the subject).
  3. Surround subheads with H2 tags, and then surround both the H2 tags and the subhead text with small tags. Wikitext will appear as follows:
    • <small><h2>Decision Time</h2></small>
    • The final decision was made during the [[Rock of Love 2 Finale|show's finale]] on...
      1. Opening and closing small tags MUST be placed on the outside of the H2 tags and the subhead text.
      2. DO NOT include a colon after the subhead text or any other header or subhead.
      3. CAPITALIZE subheads throughout; for instance, the above subhead entitled "Decision Time" makes the 'T' in "Time" upper-case.
      4. DO NOT include an asterisk before the small tag.
      5. Using your best judgment -- while being extremely honest with yourself about your headline-writing abilities -- try to make subheads "catchy" while still being informative.
        Example: Instead of writing the above subhead as "Michaels Makes Decision," we chose "Decision Time" to make it slightly more engaging (without going overboard).
      6. Keep subheads brief! They will almost always be just two or three words, maybe four -- and NEVER allow them to carry over onto a second line.
    • Note: DO NOT place quotes in the Guide Note unless you cannot accurately represent the news story or the background of a search term without it; place all relevant quotes in an additional "Quotes" section under the Fast Facts.
  4. Continue to place Fast Facts after the Guide Note (and its subsections) on every SeRP. They should NOT appear at the bottom of the Note Box. Wikitext for Fast Facts looks like this:
    • <h2>Fast Facts</h2>
    • #Full name: George Herbert Walker Bush
      1. DO NOT include a colon after "Fast Facts" or any other header or subhead.
      2. DO NOT use small tags for the Fast Facts header.
        • Note: Only the Guide Note header and the Fast Facts header appear in larger font and do not use the small tags; all other headers are really "subheads" and should appear in the smaller font that's created by the small tags.
  5. Place all additional sections such as Quotes, Trivia, etc., after the Fast Facts and adhering to the formatting guidelines described above for the other Note Box sections.

Plagiarism

  • Mahalo takes plagiarism very seriously. All content written throughout the Note Box should be original. It is important to note that plagiarism is not simply "cutting and pasting" a sentence from another site. Changing a few words in a sentence is also plagiarism.
  • Example: Here is the first sentence from the Orson Welles entry on Wikipedia:
    • "George Orson Welles was an Academy Award-winning American director, writer, actor and producer for film, stage, radio and television. Welles first gained wide notoriety for his October 30, 1938, radio broadcast of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds."
  • The following sentence is a restructuring of the ideas in those first two sentences. While not a verbatim copy, this would still be considered plagiarism:
    • "Orson Welles was an Oscar-winning writer, director, actor and producer. He became famous for his War of the Worlds radio broadcast on October 30, 1938."
  • Anyone found to be plagiarizing risks their continued affiliation with Mahalo. For further examples, see the Greenhouse guide to avoiding plagiarism.
  • Watch Mahalo's videos about avoiding plagiarism: Part One (Time: 8:50) | Part Two (Time: 6:44)

Neutral Point of View

  • When writing a SeRP, remember to be as objective as possible. Do not bring your own biases into the SeRP you are creating. Look at Wikipedia's article on Neutral Point of View for reference.

Guide Note

  • The Guide Note is a descriptive summary of the search term that appears at the top of the Note Box (the Note Box being the light yellow box under the Mahalo logo that contains the Guide Note, Fast Facts and all other sections).
  • Guide Note Length: The Guide Note itself usually consists of two or three sentences, or around five lines on the page (sometimes more depending on how much "essential" information is needed for the term). The Note should be written in clear, concise language. See the Greenhouse's Guide Note Guide for more information.
  1. Note Boxes should now contain (1) the Guide Note, (2) anywhere from five to roughly 15 bite-sized Fast Facts (10 to 12 is the sweet spot), and (3) an extra section, or sections, providing additional information. These extra sections could include Quotes, abridged Timelines, additional History, or perhaps specialized secondary Fast Facts for a person or topic directly related to the search term.
  2. We are trying to make the entire Note Box "scan-able"—that is, easy to read for users who are quickly searching for specific information. Stick to the most essential information that best defines what the search term is in clear, concise, straightforward language.
  3. We should report the facts in a formal, "newsy" manner without taking it upon ourselves to write our own news articles.
  4. Strive to include the most essential information that best defines what the search term is.
  5. Assume the user knows nothing about the term.
  6. The Guide Note must be in your words; please do not borrow language from other sources.
  7. Utilize a variety of sources to present your information in a unique way.
  8. Please do not include your own bias or opinion. Just the facts!
  9. Use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.
  10. Create internal links by placing double brackets around the term. Example: Model [[Marisa Miller]] appears on the cover of the [[2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue]].
    • IMPORTANT: DO NOT internally link to a redirect! If the internal link you create turns up green, follow the link to make sure it goes to the actual Mahalo page of the same name as your link. If it turns up red, search Mahalo to make sure we don't have a page that's just worded slightly differently.
    • (See the Internal and External Linking entry for more info.)
  11. Avoid time-specific language that will become out-of-date easily.
  12. We are no longer using the terms "...is best known for" or "...is best known as" to describe a subject.
  13. We also want to steer clear of the Name-Is-Such and Such technique; use action verbs whenever possible and place some descriptive language before listing the subject when possible.
  14. If multiple paragraphs are necessary within the Guide Note or a subsection, break up the paragraphs with an extra space to create a line break.
  15. Internally link to Mahalo pages within the guide note when a page exists and when appropriate. Do not internally link if it seems unnecessary in the context of the page. For example, if you're building the Richard Wright Dead page, it is not necessary to internally link the word "died" to Category:Deaths. (See the Internal and External Linking entry.)
  16. Only link to a term once in a note box, the first time the term appears.
  17. Italicize titles of books, periodicals, movies, albums, television shows, video games and ships by placing two single apostrophes (i.e. not quotation marks) on both sides of the italicized word or title.
    • Example: The New York Times
    • Wikitext looks like: ''The New York Times'' — NOT: "The New York Times" (Look closely to see the difference between the apostrophes on the left and the quotation marks on the right.)
    • Note: DO NOT italicize anything in the pre-text, i.e. the source descriptions within the links. DO italicize everywhere else.
    • Example: Newsweek: Ashley Dupre to write new political blog for Newsweek (April 1, 2008)
    • Also see: Italicization and Boldfacing section below
  18. Titles of television episodes, commercials, poems and songs should be in quotation marks, not italics.
  19. Spell out numerals one through nine. Spell out ordinal numbers "ninth" and under (first, third, sixth, etc.).
  20. Do not refer to persons who are the subjects of SeRPs by their first names alone; the tone of the Guide Note must be neutral and not suggest familiarity or favoritism.

Fast Facts

  • Fast Facts are very short, bite-sized pieces of information providing vital statistics for the search term. No complete sentences here: simply describe the type of fact and enter the variable.
  • Correct examples: Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio -- Volcano height: 14,029 ft
  1. Very important: Make doubly and triply sure that every Fast Fact you include is indeed a fact. If, for instance, there's news to include that is in any way unconfirmed, or the details are hazy on any level, either do not include that information in the Fast Facts or use the appropriate language and cite specific sources to illustrate that the fact may be disputed.
    • Example:
      1. Weekly World News report: Both of the cable car's fire extinguishers were empty
      2. Acme Trolley Co. firmly denies this
    • NOT:
      1. Both of the cable car's fire extinguishers were empty
    • NOTE: We now cite any information that could possibly be disputed -- please see the section on Citations below.
  2. Each Fast Fact starts with a pound sign (#) in the wikitext to generate a numbered list.
  3. Fast Facts are not complete sentences; no need to include punctuation at the end of a line.
  4. No capitalization beyond the first words to the left and right of the colon, so:
    • Example:
      • Hollywood debut: Deodorant commercial -- NOT: Hollywood Debut: Deodorant commercial --
        NOT: Hollywood debut: deodorant commercial -- NOT: Hollywood Debut: Deodorant Commercial
  5. Use numerals for statistics.
  6. Use abbreviations for units of measurement whenever possible. Example: Pounds = lbs
  7. Format for listing height: 6'10" (rather than 6-10)
  8. Format for listing times: 6 p.m. (rather than 6PM, 6 PM, 6 P.M., 6pm or 6 pm)
  9. Begin Facts for people with given or full name (if available), birth date and birthplace.
    • Example:
    1. Full name: David Michael Letterman
    2. Born: April 12, 1947
    3. Birthplace: Indianapolis, Indiana
  10. When multiple subjects are covered in the Fast Facts, you may split the Fast Facts into subsections. Each subsection header should be in small font; to do this, use the following wikitext: <small><h2>Beyonce</h2></small>

Quotes and Other Additional Note Box Sections

  • Whenever possible, include one or more sections after the Fast Facts that provide extra interesting information on the search term. This info may not be absolutely "essential" (and thus was not necessary in the Guide Note), but still ensures a more complete understanding of the topic and a more engaging user experience.
  1. When creating subsections, here's how the wikitext will look:
    • <small><h2>Subhead title</h2></small>
      1. Subheads (and main headers for "Guide Note" and "Fast Facts" as well) must be placed on their own line.
      2. Small tags must be placed on the outside of the H2 tags, so it's: <small> tag, <h2> tag, subhead title, </h2> closing tag, and </small> closing tag.
  2. The most popular additional Note Box section is "Quotes."
    1. Do not use an asterisk before a quote in the wikitext (i.e. do not indent quotes).
    2. DO, however, place an asterisk on its own line between two quotes to adequately separate them on the page.
    3. Attribution should NOT be italicized. Immediately following the closing quotation marks, there should appear the two closing italicization apostrophes, a long dash with no spaces on either side of it, the name of the person speaking, and any additional information that will provide extra context. Here's an example of how the wikitext looks for the Quotes section on the Robert Novak Hits Pedestrian page (Note: We cannot accurately represent the code for the "long dash" without the wikitext transforming it into an actual long dash on the page, so for long dashes you should type & mdash ; without the spaces):
      • <small><h2>Robert Novak Quotes</h2></small>
      • ''"He's not dead, that's the main thing."''-- July 23, 2008, after hitting pedestrian.<ref name="POLITICO">Politico: [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11985.html Novak Cited After Hitting Pedestrian] <small>(July 23, 2008)</small></ref>
      • *
      • ''"I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."''-- In a [[2001]] column.<ref name="POLITICO">Politico: [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11985.html Novak Cited After Hitting Pedestrian] <small>(July 23, 2008)</small></ref>
    4. Each quote must be cited. Citation comes last -- with no space between citation and text -- and after the name of the person quoted and any extra contextual information given. (See the Citations entry for further instructions on how to cite.)
    5. Each quote must be in italics AND be surrounded by quotation marks.
    6. Use proper punctuation; quotes are considered complete sentences. Note: If the source includes minor spelling, punctuation, etc., mistakes, correct them -- BUT make doubly and triply sure you are correct, and that the edits do not affect the meaning or tone of the quote.
    7. When listing multiple quotes spoken by a single individual, name the subsection "(Name) Quotes" as we do with the Novak example.
    8. Be sure the subsection title coincides with the number of quotes listed (i.e. use "Quote" when there is a single quote and "Quotes" when there are multiple quotes).
    9. Do not list the media outlet that has quoted the speaker. Citations adequately alert the user as to who quoted the speaker.
  3. Other frequent additional sections include Trivia, Timelines and secondary Fast Facts (i.e. Fast Facts on a related topic, worded differently than on that topic's SeRP).
  4. Be creative! What extra info might best help the user or keep him or her engaged? On the Bush Tax Rebate 2008 page, for instance, we break down "how much" people who fall into certain categories will get for their rebate, and "when" people will get their rebates based on their Social Security Number.
  5. The first letter of each word in subsection headings should be capitalized. For example, on subsection on HDX 4000 is called "The Ultimate Teleconferencing Experience."

Related Pages on Mahalo

  • We are now featuring Related Pages on Mahalo as the last subsection in the Note Box. Links to related searches lead users to other Mahalo pages that might also be of interest to them.
  1. Title the subsection Related Pages on Mahalo using this wikitext:
    • <small><h2>Related Pages on Mahalo</h2></small>
  2. Shoot for between 8 and 12 related pages, or about 5 lines' worth.
  3. Each term goes within double brackets, and is separated by a space, a pipe and another space, as follows:
    • <small><h2>Related Pages on Mahalo</h2></small>
    • [[Michael Phelps Gold Medals]] | [[Michael Phelps World Records]] | [[Michael Phelps]]
  4. Now that related pages are in the Note Box, we may also choose to use pipes within the internal link to display different anchor text, or even link to Categories:
    • <small><h2>Related Pages on Mahalo</h2></small>
    • [[Michael Phelps Gold Medals]] | [[Summer Olympics 2008|2008 Summer Olympics]] | [[:Category:Models|Models]]
  5. Make sure the most relevant internal links found in the Note Box text are included in the Relateds as well.
  6. No need to include peripherally or loosely related links.

Citations

  • Please add citations to all Guide Notes and Fast Facts for information that fits the following criteria:
  1. Data and figures, such as statistics, populations, career records, historical dates
  2. All medical information
  3. Direct / indirect quotations
  4. Opinion
  5. Information available from only one source
  6. Anything that may be reasonably disputed
  7. If, and only if, there are no other citations in the Guide Note, please cite some of the basic information included, like date of birth or college attended
  • NOTE: All links used for citations must be trusted, primary sources. Secondary sources, such as Wikipedia and IMDb, are ineligible for use as a citation. A news article from Fox News or The New York Times qualifies as a primary source. Wikipedia, which is compiled from other sources, and user-generated sites like IMDb, do not. If you see information that requires a citation from an untrustworthy site, verify it with another source before putting it on the page.
  • NOTE: If possible, link to the primary source for medical information (i.e., an abstract from a journal article). But if the primary source isn't available, linking to a news article about the medical information is acceptable.
  • Citations are added by using the REF tag. Immediately after a bit of information that you need to source, simply add the opening REF tag followed by the full link information just as you would include in the main body of the SeRP and then closed with the closing REF tag. This will automatically create a superscript number link where you placed the REF tags and generate the full reference in a new section at the bottom of the SeRP called: Guide Note and Fast Facts Citations.
    • Example: <ref>The New York Times: [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E2DF1438F932A0575BC0A9659C8B63 Banned, but Not Forgotten] <small>(August 31, 2003)</small></ref>
  • If you need to cite the same source multiple times, then assign the REF tag for that source a unique name by adding a name tag in the opening REF tag each time the source is cited.
    • Example: <ref name="New York Times">The New York Times: [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E2DF1438F932A0575BC0A9659C8B63 Banned, but Not Forgotten] <small>(August 31, 2003)</small></ref>
  • Note: Keep the source inside the name tag simple, and free from odd characters, including exclamation points. If you are referencing Yahoo! Sports, you should call the source simply <ref name="Yahoo"></ref>
  • A few formatting rules:
  1. Place immediately after the item being cited with no additional space
  2. Place outside punctuation if the item being cited ends a sentence or is in quotation marks
  3. If the citation immediately follows something that was italicized, such as the title of an album or a quotation that does not need attribution, then place the entire <ref></ref> tag within the code for the italics.
  4. If you are citing two different sources in the same location, separate the citations with one space so they do not look pushed together.
    • Example: <ref>Pretext: [Link]</ref> <ref>Pretext: [Link]</ref>
  5. In Fast Facts, if more than one fact comes from the same source, use ref name="..." to link to the source for each fast fact. In paragraphs, if several sentences come from the same source, add the citation to the end of the sequence of sentences / end of the paragraph.
  6. NO WRAPAROUND TEXT, even in the resulting links created by citations. Please make sure no part of a single link moves to a second line—this includes the metadata. Use ellipses when a link proves to be too long:
Examples
  • See the code of the following Guide Notes for examples of citations in action:
    • Julianne Hough Virgin (shows citations appearing with italicized quotations)
    • Sarah Lacy (cites a directly referenced quotation from Twitter)
    • U.S. Marine Corps (example of same source being cited multiple times in fast facts to support data points)
    • Obama Wins Nomination (multiple sources, some repeated across multiple sections)
    • Barack Obama (includes example of two citations included side-by-side with a space, at the end of "Early Life" section)
    • The Catcher in the Rye (includes examples citing differing opinions)
Banned Sites for Citation
  1. Wikipedia
  2. IMDb
  3. TV.com

Images

  • When your Guide Note is finished, add an image to the page using the Mahalo Image Tool.
  1. Only take 1/3 or less of an image that may be under copyright.
    • This includes images from newspapers, magazines, blog posts and other online sources.
  2. If you need a complete image, find one that is licensed for free commercial use. A good place to look is Creative Commons.
    • Please follow all licensing requirements when adding such an image. This includes making sure to add an attribution link if needed.
  3. If you are taking an image from a video, make sure you are on the original URL. If you are grabbing from a video that is embedded from Mahalo, the image tool will use the Mahalo URL, and link the image back to us.

Alt Text

  • The image tool automatically adds Alternative Text, known as Alt Text, to the image. This text is used in several cases, most notably when a hearing-impaired individual is using a speech browser or when someone reaches the image from a mobile phone and it doesn't display properly. It's called "Alt Text" because that's what it is: an alternative way, through text, to describe what's in the image. The image tool uses whatever you type in as the title of the image as the Alt Text, so make sure what you type in adequately describes the image.
  • Occasionally, if the image tool is not working properly, you may need to manually add in Alt Text to the image. Here's how:
  1. Open the note box edit window and take a look at the image code at the top. It should look like this:
    • <div class='floatright'>{{#imagelink:Image_Title|Source Link}}</div>
  2. The alt text is added after the source code, separated by a pipe, as follows:
    • <div class='floatright'>{{#imagelink:Image_Title|Source Link|Alt Text}}</div>
  3. On the page for Swagger Like Puff, the completed image code looks as follows:
    • <div class='floatright'>{{#imagelink:Diddy_Swagger_Like_Puff_JL_20080919.png|
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEPE5XUk4_Y&eurl=http://www.mahalo.com/Diddy_Swagger_Like_Puff|Diddy Dancing}}</div>
  4. After saving, you should be able to hover your mouse over the image and see the text pop up over the image. Remember, just describe the image as it appears.

Second Image

  • As Guide Notes grow longer, it may be useful to add a second image to the page. To do so:
  1. Cut and paste your original image and place it into a text pad.
  2. Use the image tool to add your second image.
  3. Copy the <div>...</div> code of your second image.
  4. Paste the code under the header of the section where you want the second image to appear.
    • IMPORTANT: The code must be right next to the first word of that section—no spaces!
  5. Copy and paste your original image back into the top of the page.

Uploading Images

  • For the most part, you will be able to use the Image Tool for all of your visual Mahalo needs. However, there are some cases in which you'll need to upload a photo separately for use on a page. Here is how to do it:
  1. Access the Upload File page on Mahalo. You must be logged in to do this. Click "Browse" and select an image from your computer. (Note: If you need to resize the image, see the section below on Adjusting and Resizing Images.)
  2. The "Destination filename" must be formatted as follows. ImageDescription_YourInitials_Date.jpg
    • Example: Image:Jasper_golden_jh_110907.jpg
  3. In the summary section, note why we have the right to use this photo, if it's taken from Creative Commons, and who took the photo. Here is the summary from the golden retriever photo:
    • Taken from [http://flickr.com/photos/timsnell/513292578/ Flickr]
    • [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en Some Rights Reserved]
    • Photo by [http://flickr.com/photos/timsnell/ timsnell]
  4. To input the image on a page, use the following template:
    • [[Image:Code|frame|none|text]]
  5. The following is the image code for the top image on the page Golden Retriever Photos
    • [[Image:Jasper golden jh 110907.jpg|frame|none|''[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en Creative Commons] [http://flickr.com/photos/timsnell/513292578/ Image] by [http://flickr.com/photos/timsnell/ timsnell]'']]
  6. Be sure to read over our best practices for image use.

Adjusting and Resizing Images

  • The easiest way to adjust or resize an image for Mahalo is to use Snipshot.
  1. On Snipshot, click "Browse" and select an image from your computer.
  2. In order to crop a specific section of the image, click "Crop" and select the section of the image you would like to use.
  3. To resize the image, click "Adjust" and change the width and the height of the image to fit your page. Mahalo pages support widths up to about 525 px. If you make your image too wide, it can

Building a Page

The Mahalo Top 7

  • The Mahalo Top 7 provides our users with the seven best links on the Internet for search terms that warrant a full SeRP.
  1. Always make sure the Top 7's section header reads as follows:
      • The Mahalo Top 7 — NOT: Mahalo Top 7 — NOT: The Mahalo Top Seven
  2. Each entry begins with a pound sign (#) rather than an asterisk (*) in the wikitext in order to generate a numbered list.
  3. The No. 1 entry should always be the official site for the search term. If there is not an official site, select the foremost authority or most trusted source available on the Internet for the search term.
    • Exception: Travel searches such as Paris Hotels may have poorly designed official tourism sites. If you are working on a travel page with a less-than-outstanding official site, it is acceptable to put the link at the #7 spot in the Top 7 with a warning.
  4. You should link to a related Mahalo How-To or Walkthrough if they are in the Top 7 best links for your subject. For example, we have our How to Make Buffalo Wings in the Top 7 of our Buffalo Wings SeRP. If we have a related How-To or Walkthrough that you don't think is in the Top 7 best links of the related topic, alert a lead and someone will make it among the best!
  5. For the rest of the Top 7, your mission is simple: find the very best links on the Internet for the search term, period!
  6. It is encouraged but not essential to find a variety of sources that will help the Top 7 provide a well-rounded collection of information.
    • Example for actor Keanu Reeves:
    1. IMDb: Keanu Reeves Filmography  WARNING: Pop-ups
    2. Wikipedia: Keanu Reeves
    3. Rotten Tomatoes: Keanu Reeves Reviews
    4. Profile: Keanu Reeves
    5. Fan Site: KeanuWeb
    6. Blog Post: Keanu Reeves Does NOT Suck, And I Can Prove It (June 13, 2006)  Andy: 40 reasons to love Keanu
    7. YouTube Video: Keanu Reeves on Letterman (Time: 3:16)


      • So here we have (1) IMDb, the most popular source for info on actors; (2) Wikipedia, the most popular source for general information on the Web; (3) Rotten Tomatoes, one of the most popular entertainment reviews sites online; (4) a profile from a popular men's site; (5) our favorite Keanu fan site; (6) a blog post providing insight on Keanu's acting prowess; and (7) a video of an interview on Letterman that sheds light on Keanu's personality. Quality links, with some variety to boot...
  7. If, in your judgment, a source for a link in the Top 7 is either (1) well-known by the vast majority of the public at-large, or (2) among a very short list of the best-known sites in a category, then you may list it by name.
    • Examples:
      • The New York Times, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Amazon.com, eBay, MySpace, IMDb, CNN, NBC, ESPN, Perez Hilton, TMZ.com, Engadget, Gizmodo, Edmunds.com, Car and Driver, Allmusic, Last.fm, Frodor's, TripAdvisor, WebMD, American Cancer Society, GameSpot, Joystiq, Food Network, Martha Stewart, HGTV
      • Note: For individual videos we list with the word "Video" after the name of the site, so: YouTube Video, Metacafe Video, etc.
  8. For lesser-known sources, use a generic description of the kind of link included.
    • Examples:
      • Article, Video, Blog, Blog Post, Profile, Biography, Fan Site, Review
  9. In most cases, you should look to include a video in the seventh spot and, if possible, embed it into the page. This makes the page more dynamic and provides an extra element of interaction for the user. Some videos, including YouTube videos, can be embedded on the page by including this wikitext: *<video>URL</video> (See the Videos entry for more.)
    • Note: Select the video that best represents or exemplifies the search term. For Michael Jordan's page, for instance, highlights from his famous winning slam dunk contest in the Eighties would be more appropriate than his latest Hanes underwear commercial.
  10. With articles and blog posts in the Top 7, give priority to the most interesting information available for the search term. In many cases that will be a hot breaking news story, but don't include an article just because it's recent.
    • Example: If choosing between a short article on Vladimir Putin's appearance at his daughter's graduation and a story on his selection as the Time "Person of the Year," go with the Time article.
  11. Try to include one or two chaka statements in the Top 7 describing why you thought the link was Top 7-worthy.
  12. If including two links from the same source in the Top 7, do not include them in two separate spots. Rather, include them on the same line, separated by a pipe (|). Example from Spiderman Web of Shadows:
  13. NO WRAPAROUND TEXT: Please make sure no part of a single link moves to a second line—this includes the metadata. Use ellipses when a link proves to be too long:

News and Articles

  • News-centered sections, often called "News and Information" or "News and Articles," should be placed after the Mahalo Top 7 in most cases.
  1. List news articles and other articles in order of importance first and foremost.
  2. After positioning the most important and/or interesting articles first, organize the rest in reverse chronological order.
  3. Stay away from creating or contributing to long news sections with too many links. If a section has seven, eight or more links, it could probably be made into its own stub or divided into two sections.
  4. When listing local news sites as sources, use the exact site title (when in doubt use the URL) and place the city or region the station covers in parentheses.
    • Example:
    • NBC17.com (Raleigh): Press Conference Planned In...Murder (March 12, 2008)  WARNING: Pop-ups
    • Note: Include state when the city or region represented is (1) a lesser-known market, or (2) is unrelated to the area in which a story is directly linked. For instance, the Eve Carson murder case is directly associated with the University of North Carolina where it took place, so list the Fresno, California, site KMPH.com as KMPH.com (Fresno, CA).
  5. Include full article dates and place them in small font. For more details, see the Metadata entry.
  6. When including press releases (or news releases), list as follows:
  7. Do not include any text abstracts below news stories. If you come across a page that has a quote or text in the body of a news story, please remove it. There should only be text in the body of How-To pages and on Best Of pages.
  8. General Google News, Topix, or other news aggregate searches should be used sparingly. If you include these searches, add them to the bottom of the news section.
    • Only include such a search when it returns articles that add value to the page.
    • If you can, tailor the search so it returns helpful articles. Add quotes around your search term, and/or search for your term plus relevant keyword(s).
    1. List Google News searches as follows:
      • Google News: Keanu Reeves Search — NOT: Google News: Keanu Reeves — NOT: Google News Search: Keanu Reeves
    2. List Topix searches as follows:
      • Topix: Keanu Reeves News — NOT: Topix.net: Keanu Reeves News — NOT: Topix.com: Keanu Reeves News
  9. NO WRAPAROUND TEXT: Please make sure no part of a single link moves to a second line—this includes the metadata. Use ellipses when a link proves to be too long:

Blogs and Blog Posts

  • Sections containing blogs and individual blog posts vary in their positioning on a SeRP depending on the vertical (category). They can provide a fresh point of view that traditional media sometimes cannot.
  1. Use Google Blog Search and other blog searches sparingly, and with a very critical eye. It is essential to actually perform the search and include it only if the results are excellent and 100% relevant to your search term.
  2. Be sure to include individual blog posts that provide the most interesting or enlightening point of view in regards to the search term.
  3. Some specialized blogs are published by larger media outlets like CNET or The New York Times. List the blog name first and then the "host" media outlet in parentheses, followed by a colon, a space and the blog post title.
    • Note: If the media outlet has a widely used abbreviation like the Times (NYT) or The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), use the abbreviation.
  4. Include full blog post dates whenever possible and place them in small font. For more details, see the Metadata entry.
  5. NO WRAPAROUND TEXT: Please make sure no part of a single link moves to a second line—this includes the metadata. Use ellipses when a link proves to be too long:

How to Keep Links From Wrapping

  • In order to keep links from spilling over into a second line, substitute ellipses for a few words that are not 100 percent necessary in retaining the meaning of the link title.
  • Example:
  • CBS2 (Los Angeles): 16-Year-Old Developmentally Disabled Twin Girls Missing From Malibu (August 13, 2008)
  1. After abbreviating Los Angeles, you may choose to use ellipses to end the link title:
    • CBS2 (L.A.): 16-Year-Old Developmentally Disabled Twin Girls... (August 13, 2008)
  2. Using ellipses at the end of the link title is the most common tactic, but as with this case, sometimes the meaning of the link title is better preserved by starting with the ellipses:
    • CBS2 (L.A.): ...Disabled Twin Girls Missing From Malibu (August 13, 2008)
  3. And in some cases (not in this one because it leaves out crucial information, but we'll use the same link for the sake of this example), it's better to use the ellipses in the middle of the link title:
    • CBS2 (L.A.): 16-Year-Old...Twin Girls Missing From Malibu (August 13, 2008)

Videos and Photos

  1. For video searches, list the name of the video site followed by a colon and a space, and then the search term and the word "Videos."
    • Example: YouTube: Zooey Deschanel Videos
      • Note: It is no longer necessary to describe a YouTube or Google Video search as "YouTube & Google Video."
  2. When listing individual videos, use "YouTube Video" followed by a colon, a space, and the name of the video.
    • Example: YouTube Video: Gene Simmons on the Mike Douglas Show 1974 (Time: 3:05)
      • Note: If the title given by the video poster is incoherent or at all unclear, you can rename the link so that the user knows exactly what they're getting by clicking on it. For example, if the above link had simply been called "Simmons Douglas," you would need to add info to help explain what the video will be showing us.
  3. As with sections for other media like news and blogs, don't settle for including links to general video searches alone. Also include individual videos that will add more value to the page.
  4. Make the video link as clean as possible. For example, if you click on a featured video from the front page of YouTube, the link will have extra characters added to the end of the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzSh_MLNcY&feature=rec-fresh. You will want to eliminate all text after the clean link, in this case the &feature=rec-fresh.
  5. Add the code &eurl=http://www.mahalo.com/Page_Title to every YouTube URL on your page. This alerts YouTube to the fact that Mahalo is linking to them.
    • Example: When building a page on Kings of Leon Sex On Fire Video and we want to link to this music video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY -- here is how the link should look:
    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY&eurl=http://www.mahalo.com/Kings_of_Leon_Sex_On_Fire_Video
  6. In most cases you'll want to embed a video in either the Top 7, the Videos section, or both.
    1. First, the normal link information should come before the embedded video, just as it would elsewhere on the page.
    2. Always give the embedded video wikitext its own line and start with an asterisk so the video is indented on the page.
    3. For YouTube videos: Type <video>, the URL (should look something like http://youtube.com/watch?v=fHbR_2l5XOw) and </video>.
      • The wikitext should look like this: *<video>http://youtube.com/watch?v=fHbR_2l5XOw</video>
  7. Embedding videos from other video sites is a little trickier:
    1. Again, always include the normal link information first.
    2. Look for the Embed feature on the video site, which should provide the code for the video. Check all the icons next to or near the video you wish to embed — they don't always make it easy to find!
    3. Copy the code, return to your SeRP, and inside the wikitext place an asterisk at the beginning of the line you'll be pasting the code into.
    4. After the asterisk, type in the tag <hypertext>
    5. Paste in the code and type in the closing tag </hypertext>
      • The wikitext should look something like like this example of an embedded video from Revver: *<hypertext><script src="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.js?mediaId:93791;width:480;height:392" type="text/javascript"></script></hypertext>
    6. Note: When embedding non-YouTube videos on Mahalo Greenhouse, you will see the pasted code, not the video itself. Non-YouTube videos, like citations, will not show up properly on Greenhouse.
    7. If the video included in the Top 7 is particularly essential, it can be included in the Videos section as well.
    8. Example: "Tennessee" was by far the group Arrested Development's most popular video, so if you're having trouble finding other great videos to feature for that group, you may choose to include "Tennessee" in the Top 7 and the Videos section.
    9. When an entire Mahalo page is built for an individual video in particular, please provide in the note box a detailed summary of the video, some of the video's dialogue, or both.

Timelines

  • Our timeline format varies slightly from vertical to vertical, but the basic structure is the same...
  • For film and television title entries in the Entertainment vertical:
  1. First include this wiki code for the IMDb warning:
    • *<w>WARNING: Pop-ups</w> ''Note: The IMDb links in this timeline have pop-ups.''
  2. Include a hard return so there's a space between the warning and the first timeline entry.
  3. List the year, with a colon after.
  4. List the title in italics and, if we have it, make the title a link to our page on Mahalo.
  5. Include a space, a hyphen, and another space after the title.
  6. Include a link for the film or show to IMDb and name it "IMDb Listing."
  7. Include a space, a pipe, and another space.
  8. Include a link for the film or show to Rotten Tomatoes and name it "Rotten Tomatoes Reviews."
  9. You may also include entries for Wikipedia or an official site if you'd like, and feel free to add chaka tags!
  • So here's what the wikitext looks like for Keanu Reeves' entry for The Matrix on his SeRP's timeline:
    • *1999: ''[[The Matrix]]'' - [http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/ IMDb Listing] | [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/matrix/ Rotten Tomatoes Reviews] <c>Andy: Another classic!</c>
  • For authors in the Authors vertical:
  • Follow the above formatting for film and television titles, using the following sources:
  1. Internal link to Mahalo page
  2. Amazon.com
  3. Goodreads
  • For other verticals:
  • Entries simply consist of the year and a description of what happened on that date (often with the exact date incorporated into the text).
  1. List the year, with a colon and a space after.
  2. If the entry requires the month and day, as do birthdates and dates of death, naturally incorporate them into the sentence, as in:
  3. Also, write entries in the present tense, as in:
  4. Remember to include internal links to Mahalo pages where possible, and to externally link wherever it will help the user.
  • Note: In most cases, if an event is important enough to be listed in the timeline, it will require at least one link.

Manually Creating/Deleting Redirects

  • If a page you are building absolutely needs a redirect, ie: United Nations for the page called The United Nations:
  • Manually create a page with the name of the desired redirect and add the following code to the body of the page: #REDIRECT[[Term Which You Want to Redirect To]]
    • So, for example, if I was building a new page on The United Nations, I would actually create a page for United Nations and then insert: #REDIRECT[[The United Nations]]
    • Then click "Save."
    • This will prevent anyone from making a UGS for the term "United Nations"
  • If you are trying to build a page or link to a page that is an unnecessary redirect for an existing page:
  • Type in the page you want to build in the search box.
  • When it goes to the page it is a redirect for, the name you typed in should appear in the url bar.
  • At the end of the url type ?redirect=no
    • If you just want to delete the redirect, then send the resulting url to a lead and they can delete it.
    • If you want to build the page, just click edit and proceed as usual.
  • If you want to make the term a redirect for a different page, click edit and enter the #REDIRECT[[Page Name]] code as above.
  • So if you want to change the term jagger from a redirect to The Rolling Stone to a redirect for Mick Jagger, type Jagger into the search bar, when it takes you to The Rolling Stones, type ?redirect=no at the end of the url (https:/guides.mahalo.com/Jagger?redirect=no), hit enter, then edit, then change [[The Rolling Stones]] to [[Mick Jagger]] and press save.

Banned Sites and Files

  • Do not use the following sites when building SeRPs, whether for main links or citations.
  1. The National Ledger
  2. The Post Chronicle
  3. For Entertainment:
    1. Hollywood.com
    2. UGO
    3. Starpulse
    4. Celebrity Wonder
    5. Ace Showbiz
    6. Actress Archives
    7. Moono
    8. Answers.com
    9. About.com
    10. Superior Pics
    11. Celebrity Pro
    12. iCelebZ.com
    13. celebopedia
    14. epguides.com
  4. For Food:
    1. Absoluterecipes.com
    2. AsiaRecipe.com
    3. AsiaRecipes.com
    4. CD Kitchen
    5. CooksRecipes.com
    6. Cooks-Recipes.com
    7. CookingCache.com
    8. Epicurean
    9. Food Down Under
    10. Fast Food Facts (foodfacts.info)
    11. Hungry Monster
    12. iChef
    13. RecipeLink
    14. Ochef
    15. RecipeSource
    16. Wise Geek
    17. Astray.com
  5. Please DO NOT link directly to .exe, .zip, .rar and .msi files. If you see one of these links on a page, please remove it immediately.

Good Sites, But Not Always

  • The following sites are high-quality, but only use temporary links for their articles. Therefore, while they work fine for a breaking-news story, these links should not be used in citations or in the Top 7 for long-term pages.
  1. Yahoo! News
  2. Associated Press
  3. Reuters
  4. The Hollywood Reporter

Other Style Issues

Internal and External Linking

  • Providing links to Mahalo pages within the Guide Note, Fast Facts and other textual areas on the page adds value for users; they may wish to investigate other links related to their search, or just further explore Mahalo in general.
  1. IMPORTANT: DO NOT internally link to a redirect! When the internal link you create turns up green, follow the link to make sure it goes to an actual Mahalo page of the same name as your link. If it turns up red but you believe we do have the page, search Mahalo to make sure the actual page is not just worded slightly differently.
  2. You can do a site search on Mahalo by going to Google and typing: term site:mahalo.com
    • Example: Type soundgarden site:mahalo.com into the Google search field to see if the band Soundgarden has a page on Mahalo (and also to see which other Mahalo pages the term appears on).
  3. Also, do not link to lowercase titles. If you are linking to Wine and wish the term to appear in lowercase: wine, use a | , as written here: [[Wine|wine]]
  4. We are now only internally linking to Mahalo pages we currently have and are complete. There should be no "red" internal links or links to User-Generated Stubs in the Note Box.
  5. Only include helpful internal links. Unless it's important to the story, DO NOT link to dates, months, years or the city or state someone was born in. September 11 is an important date on a page about the World Trade Center. August 3 is not. If you're in doubt about whether to include an internal link, please ask your team lead.
  6. Create internal links by placing double brackets around the search term in the wikitext.
  7. To name the internal link that will appear on the page something other than the title of the SeRP you're linking to, use a pipe ("|") to separate the actual SeRP title (which comes first) from the proposed link title.
  8. Occasionally it is helpful to the user to include internal links to states; if it's necessary to internally link to the Gainesville FL page, for instance, the wiki would look like this:
    • [[Gainesville FL|Gainesville]], [[Florida]]
  9. We are no longer creating internal links to categories unless a Full-Time Guide makes the call that it's enormously helpful to the page. If given the go-ahead by an FTG, create internal links to Category pages as follows:
    1. Double opening brackets
    2. Colon
    3. Category:Category Title
    4. Pipe
    5. Category Title again (or whatever you wish to name the link)
    6. Double closing brackets
    • The wikitext looks like this: [[:Category:2008 NFL Draft|2008 NFL Draft]] or [[:Category:2008 NFL Draft|This year's draft]]
    • And the actual links: 2008 NFL Draft | This year's draft
  10. DO NOT internally link to the exact title of the SeRP you're working on.
  11. The Note Box should have only internal links.
    1. Do not externally link to Wikipedia or other sites from the Note Box.
    2. If we do not have a search result on a topic, DO NOT include it within brackets, thus creating a destructive "red link." Contact a lead if you believe the page should be built right away or added to the Greenhouse Most Wanted List.
  12. Internally link to a Mahalo page ONLY ONCE within each Note Box. We are no longer linking to a page once in the Guide Note and once in the Fast Facts.
  13. No need to include the apostrophe-S inside the link when working with possessives.

Italicization

  1. Italicize titles of books, periodicals (including scientific and medical journals), movies, albums, television shows, video games and ships by placing two single apostrophes (i.e. not quotation marks) on both sides of the italicized word or title.
    • Examples: Newsweek — Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — Everybody Loves Raymond
  2. Italicize titles within link titles.
  3. Do not italicize link descriptions except in the case of scientific and medical journals.
  4. Italicize individual quotes that stand alone within a Quotes subsection.
    • Note: No need to normalize (i.e. un-italicize) titles within italicized text; do, however, make such titles that fall within standalone italicized quotes internal links when Mahalo has a page on the title and doing so would be helpful to the user.
    • Example:
    • "The Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer doesn't suggest that the new film will necessarily top the other Indiana Jones films, but it will likely still hold up against Patriot Games and other Ford highlights."
    • Also: Be sure to place the quotation marks surrounding the quote in italics in addition to the text.
  5. Also italicize Did You Mean links.
  6. Note that we no longer boldface the title of the page or anything else within the Note Box.

Naming Link Sources and Renaming Links

  • When naming sources for links, choose the name that is most prominently used by the site itself. And when the link title a site uses is confusing or does not clearly explain where the link will take the user, you may (with GREAT discretion) change the link's title.
  1. When naming link sources, first look at the most prominent logo at the top of the page.
  2. Secondary reference points: Page information above the URL on the top margin of the window; copyright fine-print at the bottom of the page.
    • Examples:
    1. Amazon.com — NOT: Amazon
    2. eBay — NOT: eBay.com — NOT: Ebay — NOT: EBay
    3. The New York Times — NOT: New York Times
    4. Topix — NOT: Topix.net — NOT: Topix.com
  3. Ultimately use your best judgment. Some sites represent their brand in many ways; pick the name that is the clearest and simplest overall.
    • Example: At the top of CNET's site they have their logo, which reads "c|net," and next to it is "CNET.com." Then everywhere else they simply refer to themselves as "CNET." In this case, "CNET" is simplest, so we've settled for that name in our link descriptions.
  4. When the title that a site uses to name the link to a page is confusing, or perhaps a clearer or more descriptive link title would better explain a link's relevance to the search term, you may reword the link title or in some cases rewrite the link title entirely.
    • Note: Please use discretion when renaming link titles. You should stop what you're doing and say to yourself, "That title makes no sense!" before renaming a link title. Renaming link titles should be an occasional occurrence; let's assume that the titles the source site provides are sufficient in most cases.

Punctuation

  • It's important to make every effort to include proper punctuation, grammar and spelling when building SeRPs for Mahalo. This section covers a few typical issues; email Jonathan at Mahalo dot com with suggestions on what other frequent punctuation problems we should include. Note: Mahalo's style is (very) loosely based on the AP Stylebook.
  1. For technical reasons, do not use "smart quotes." These are curved or curly cue-shaped apostrophes or quotation marks (click here for a better description) that often find their way into the wikitext when cutting and pasting. Replace them with straight apostrophes and quotation marks.
  2. For dates, only include the number and not the postscript (i.e. July 26 NOT July 26th) unless it occurs in natural language.
    • Example: The 26th is bad for me, but how about July 29?
  3. Also for dates, when describing a span of multiple years, list the full starting year, then a hyphen right after (i.e. no space), then the last two digits of the concluding year.
    • Example: 2005-08 -- NOT: 2005-2008 -- NOT: 2005 - 08
  4. And finally for dates, when describing a decade, either write out the word and capitalize it ("Eighties") or use numerals and a lower-case "s" rather than an apostrophe-s.
    • Example: Eighties -- NOT: eighties
    • Example: 1960s -- NOT: 1960's
    • Example: '60s -- NOT: 60's -- NOT: 60s
  5. Always place periods and commas inside quotation marks, no matter what. Other punctuation likewise belongs inside quotation marks when it pertains to the quoted text, and outside when it pertains to the larger meaning of the sentence.
    • Example: "How many miles does this car have on it?" she asked. -- Who coined the phrase, "A penny saved is a penny earned"?
  6. Use commas in the following manner when listing full dates and cities and states:
    • Example: A January 28, 2008, crash in Corona, California, killed five people.
  7. For dashes, use two hyphens ("--") rather than one ("-"). We no longer use "mdashes."
  8. Titles of persons such as public office holders are capitalized only when written as a formal title in front of the individual's name.
    • Example: George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States after defeating Vice President Al Gore in the controversial 2000 presidential election.
  9. For plural acronyms, do not use an apostrophe-s.
    • Example: ATMs -- NOT: ATM's
  10. For percentages, always use the numeral (even for numbers nine and below) but spell out the word "percent" -- unless it is a raw stat in the Fast Facts.
    • Example: 100 percent -- 8 percent -- (In Fast Facts) CEO Alan Mulally announced 15 percent of workforce to be cut -- (In Fast Facts) Workforce cut: 15%

UTF Characters

  • Mahalo is built on MediaWiki and does not support a series of characters seen elsewhere on the internet. These includes accents (é), umlauts (ö) and other characters not commonly found on our pages. Some websites even use these sorts of characters for their apostrophes, quotes and commas. Here are some strategies to avoid having these characters in your page:
  1. Type out titles of articles and blog posts. Do not copy and paste the titles into the edit box. For example, on this post from Veronica Belmont, the apostrophe in "Violet thinks I'm sexy!" is an illegal UTF character, and if you copied and pasted this heading in, the page would not save and you would see the following error message:
  2. If you are saving a page and get this error message, and you're not sure what the illegal character is, contact an in-house guide and we can use our UTF Finder tool to figure it out. An in-house guide can also send you this tool and instruct you how to use it, if you like.

Warning Tags and Guide's Choice Tags

  • We place Warning Tags after links that have raised red flags for us for any number of reasons, and Guide's Choice Tags are the symbols we use to praise the sites we love. Click here for more on exactly how to implement these symbols.
  1. When writing the text for Warning Tags, write WARNING in all caps, enter a colon, include a space, and then write the phrase; capitalize the first word of the phrase but do not use punctuation at the end unless using an exclamation point or question mark.
    • The wikitext looks like this: <W>WARNING: Pop-ups</W>
    • Note: If there are two warnings to include, write the first, then enter a semicolon and a space, then write the second.
    • Additional note: If there are more than two, we probably shouldn't include the link in the first place!
  2. When writing a Guide's Choice statement, write your name (capitalized, of course), enter a colon, include a space, and write your statement, again capitalizing the first word but not including punctuation at the end unless using an exclamation point or question mark.
    • The wikitext looks like this: <C>Dean: Great photos of the big party in Park City</C>
  3. Please include a space between link titles and these tags, or if the link requires Metadata, a space between the Metadata (which always comes after the link and before the tags) and the tags.
  4. When a link calls for both a Warning Tag and a Guide's Choice Tag, list the Warning Tag first (with a space in between the two).

Metadata

  • Metadata is the information in parentheses and small type that is located to the right of links to articles, blog posts, videos and files.
  • ARTICLE DATES
  • Correct example: (January 1, 2008)
    • Wikitext looks like this: <small>(January 1, 2008)</small>
  1. Remember parentheses
  2. Single-digit dates do not lead with a zero
  3. No abbreviations, so:
    • Incorrect: January 1, 2008 | (January 01, 2008) | (Jan. 1, 2008)
  • VIDEO LENGTH
  • Correct example: (Time: 0:43)
    • Wikitext looks like this: <small>(Time: 0:43)</small>
  1. Remember parentheses
  2. Remember colon after "Time"
  3. Only one zero needed for videos less than 60 seconds, so:
    • Incorrect: Time: 0:43 | (Time 0:43) | (Time: 00:43)
  • FILE SIZE
  • Correct example: (148 KB)
    • Wikitext looks like this: <small>(148 KB)</small>
  1. Remember parentheses
  2. Keep the unit of information in all caps
    • Incorrect: 148 KB | (148 Kb) | (148 kB) | (148 kb)
  • Please include a space between link titles and the Metadata, and if the link requires a Warning Tag or Guide's Choice Tag, another space between the Metadata (which always comes after the link and before the tags) and the tags.

Using "Clean" Links

  • Links from external sites will often encode several characters after the proper link in order to send information back to the site about your computer, which browser your using, or other information. This extra data should be removed to provide the cleanest link possible. Below are some examples of links with excessive characters, with the clean link listed below them.
    • Dirty Link: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=rupak+ginn&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
    • Clean Link: http://images.google.com/images?q=rupak+ginn
    • Dirty Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMsGvYzedjA&feature=related
    • Clean Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMsGvYzedjA
    • Dirty Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cash-Autobiography-Johnny/dp/0060727535/ref=
    • sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224198837&sr=1-1
    • Clean Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cash-Autobiography-Johnny/dp/0060727535

Mature Content

  • Our mission is "We're here to help," so when it comes to including mature content, our goal is to help people find what they're looking for without directly linking to content that the majority of our users might find objectionable.
  1. If Mahalo were a motion picture, our MPAA rating would fall somewhere between PG-13 and R.
  2. Including what could be deemed "mature content" on a page is ultimately a case-by-case judgment call.
  3. Guidelines: Partial frontal nudity (i.e. above the waist) is permissible if done sparingly and tastefully. Rear nudity is also acceptable if presented tastefully. Visible genitalia or graphic sexual content is prohibited.
  4. If multiple links are included on the page that are questionable, place the following warning message after the categories in the wikitext:
    • Note: This page may link to adult content and should be considered Not-Safe-For-Work.
    • The wikitext looks like this: *'''''Note: This page may link to adult content and should be considered Not-Safe-For-Work.'''''
  5. When including a curse word is essential, type the first letter of the word and replace the remaining letters with hyphens.
    • Example: The executive was quoted as saying, "I can only take so much of this s---."
  6. To warn the user of a single link that contains mature content, we have five frequently used Warning Tags:
  •  WARNING: Not Safe For Work
  • WARNING: Not Safe For Work
    • <w>WARNING: Not Safe For Work</w>
  •  WARNING: Graphic Content
  • WARNING: Graphic Content
    • <w>WARNING: Graphic Content</w>
  •  WARNING: Mature Content
  • WARNING: Mature Content
    • <w>WARNING: Mature Content</w>
  •  WARNING: Adult Language
  • WARNING: Adult Language
    • <w>WARNING: Adult Language</w>
  •  WARNING: Graphic Violence
  • WARNING: Graphic Violence
    • <w>WARNING: Graphic Violence</w>

Link Shortages

  • When you can only find one or even zero links for a section, try to combine sections or omit them instead of including sub-par links.
  1. If you can only find one or two links for a particular section, try to find another section they are at least loosely related to and combine the links into one section; you can rename the section so that it's relevant for all the links included.
  2. When there are absolutely no links to be found for a section, even if the section is usually included in similar SeRPs, omit the section. Do this ONLY after having searched far and wide for good links!

NOADS

  • If the search term you're working on is of a sensitive nature (Example: Virginia Tech Shooting), we should not include ads on the SeRP. To ensure that ads will not appear on the page, include a "{{NOADS}}" tag at the top of the wikitext for the page.
  1. Should appear in the wikitext like this: {{NOADS}}
  2. Please place in all caps.
  3. DO NOT use the NOADS tag unnecessarily; we are currently using them only for SeRPs of a sensitive nature where ads would offend the user.

Get Ready for Thanksgiving with Mahalo

How to Make Pecan Pie

See all HOW TO pages