How to be a Mahalo Guide

This page contains all the information necessary to perform the job of a Mahalo Guide.

This page contains all the information necessary to perform the job of a Mahalo Guide.
Getting Started as a Mahalo Guide
- The first thing you'll need in order to participate with Mahalo is an account. Click here to apply to be a Part Time Guide (PTG).
- Once you have an account, fill in your biographical information and upload an avatar from WeeWorld to your Profile page.
How to edit your profile page
- Next, you will need the proper tools in order to make a Search Result Page (SeRP):
1. Download the Firefox Browser, if you don't already have it.
2. Download the Mahalo Guide Tool (for PTGs).
3. Download an IRC client such as Colloquy for chatting with other guides.
  1. For instructions on how to communicate with the Greenhouse Community, click here.
Mahalo's Mission Statement
1. Mahalo's motto is "We're here to help." Our mission is to help our users by handcrafting and curating search results. Every time you investigate a link, ask yourself, "Does this help the user?"
2. 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.
3. If you cannot be objective, pass the SeRP off to someone who can. For guidelines, read Mahalo's Ethics Page.
Wiki Markup Tutorial: Learning the Code
- Watch this video for an overview of how to:
  - Create Internal Links
  - Create External Links
  - Create Sections
  - Add Warning tags
  - Add "Guide's Choice" tags
  - Insert RSS Feeds
- You can also find this information on How to Make Your First Search Results Page and Wikipedia's Wiki Cheatsheet
Starting a SeRP in Greenhouse (For PTGs)
1. Go to the Most Wanted List and a find a term you would like to research.
  - Keep in mind that the perfect SeRP will take some time to create, so it's a good idea to do a little preliminary research on the topic before you commit to it.
2. Once you decide upon a term, click on it and click the yellow "Claim" button at the top of the page.
3. You now have seven days to finish this SeRP and submit it for review.
Using Templates in Greenhouse
1. The term you have selected most likely already has a template on it. You may need to manually add a template if the page is blank. Click here for a list of Templates.
2. Copy the substitution code for the template you want from the list.
3. Click on the green "edit" button in the upper left hand corner of your screen, and paste the substitution code in the edit field of your SeRP.
4. Once you save, the template will automatically format within the body of your SeRP.
5. Go back into the edit box and replace all the generic section headers with your specific term.
Starting a SeRP on Mahalo (For FTGs)
- 1. Go to News to Do and find the vertical you are working within.
- 2. Find a red term you would like to work on. Keep in mind that the perfect SeRP will take some time to create, so it's a good idea to do a little preliminary research on the topic before you commit to it.
- 3. Click on the "edit" button and then cut (apple + x) your term from the list.
- 4. Go to The Daily SeRP List and paste (apple + v) your term into the appropriate section.
- 5. Next to the term, put your name and the word "pending", so that other guides will know you are working on it.
- 6. Click on your term to edit it.
Using Templates in Mahalo
1. Click here for a list of Mahalo Templates
2. Copy the substitution code for the template you want from the list.
3. Click on the green "edit" button in the upper left hand corner of your screen, and paste the substitution code in the edit field of your SeRP.
4. Once you save, the template will automatically format within the body of your SeRP.
5. Go back into the edit box and replace all the generic section headers with your specific term.
Searching For Links
- Look at Mahalo's page on searching for links.
- Perform a search, and open all promising links in tabs.
  - Tip: It's helpful to set your middle mouse button (if you have one) to open tabs within Firefox.
- Cycle through all these links (ctrl + tab) and determine which ones you'd like to add to your SeRP.
  - EVERY link you add should be of very good to excellent quality! If it is only an OK link, do not include it.
  - If a site provides excellent, unique information but is Ad-Heavy or otherwise obnoxious, you may link to it with a Warning Tag.
- Sites we will never link to are:
1. Spam and Advertorial sites
2. Unhelpful sites
3. Malicious sites that hurt the user or steal content
4. Sites with inappropriate content
- You can read more about what types of sites Mahalo links to on our Mahalo FAQ
Check out our page on Avoiding Bad Links.
- As you go through each link, thoroughly examine everything that the site has to offer.
  - Remember that it's OK to deep-link to several different pages within the same site!
Adding Links to a SeRP
- When you are ready to add a link, use the guide tool by pressing apple + shift + m (ctrl+ shift + m on a PC).
- How to use the Guide Tool
  - Make sure that the SeRP name is correct, and then fill in the appropriate fields.
  - Remember that the tool will use the title bar of the page you are linking to as a default title, so you will most likely want to rename it.
  - You can learn more about formatting in How to Make Your First Search Results Page
- Once you've completed general searches on Google, Yahoo!, etc, move on to specific searches such as delicious and Digg.
Completing a SeRP
- After you've filled up all your sections with links, there are few more steps you must take in order to complete your page:
1. Fill out the Guide Note and Fast Facts.
  - In your own words, provide a description of what your term is all about.
  - Try to link to other Mahalo pages when possible.
  - Keep your fast facts short! They should be no longer than a few words, and should simply provide basic information about your topic.
2. Add Related Searches at the bottom of the Note Box. Related Searches should be ordered from most relevant to least relevant, and may include terms that Mahalo has not created a page for yet. Each term should be in double brackets and separated by a pipe: Pulp Fiction | John Travolta
3. Add Categories to the top of your page (No more than 10).
  - Look at Mahalo's directory in order to figure out what categories your term belongs in. Do not make up your own category names!
4. Add Disambiguation if necessary.
5. Look over your page for blatant errors, such as typos or bad links.
6. If you are a PTG, submit your page for review
7. If you are an FTG:
  - Add an image to the Guide Note via the Guide Note Image Tool
  - Remove the red construction notice from the top of the page
  - Assign a completion percentage
  - Mark The Daily SeRP List
How to be a Better Mahalo Guide
- Once you've become comfortable with basic SeRPing, keep striving to be a better guide. There's always room for improvement!
- 1. Try your hand at tougher verticals, such as Travel or Health.
- Writing a Travel Vacation SeRP
- 2. Keep up on current events and breaking news stories, so you can leap on terms as soon as they become popular.
- 3. When appropriate, embed videos.
- 4. Thoroughly inspect your finished pages. They should have ZERO typos and ZERO bad links.
- 5. Use the following Hot Keys to speed up your SeRPing process!
Browser Hot Keys (for Macs)
- cycle through tabs = ctrl + tab
- reverse cycle through tabs = ctrl + shift + tab
- highlight url = apple + L
- close tab = apple + w
- undo "close tab" = apple + shift + t
- move between windows = apple + ~
- new tab = apple + t
- new window = apple + n
- Browse history (back) = apple + [
- Browse history (forward) = apple + ]
Editing Hot Keys (for Macs)
- copy = apple + c
- paste = apple + v
- cut to clipboard = apple + x
- undo = apple + z
- select all = apple + a
Tags Hot Keys (for Macs)
- choice tag = ctrl + shift + c
- warning tag = ctrl + shift + w
- related tag = ctrl + shift + 8
- redirect tag = ctrl + shift + r
Resources for Guides