How To pages are the domain of Mahalo's How To Team. In order to join the team, you must take part in Mahalo's Rush Weeks, which begin and end every Wednesday. If you do a good job on your Rush Week How To task, you will be invited to join the How To Team. Once on the team, you can build as many How To pages as your belt limit allows. Below, I will show you the two different ways you can create How To pages!

Inside the Mahalo.com search bar, type in the How To page title you want to create. Be sure to enter the correct grammar and spelling of the title (the first letter of each word should be upper case, etc.)

If Mahalo does not already have a page with that title, you will be given an option to request to build the page.

You can suggest the M$ amount you'd like to receive for the page. How To tasks are usually worth between M$4 and M$10. (Mahalo reserves the right to change the request tip amount before approving the task to you).

Then, check your email. You will get an automated message letting you know if the task was approved, or rejected. If the task was approved, this email will include a link to the task. Now, you can begin building the page right away!

Mahalo will create How To Tasks for the How To Team to claim. Usually, these tasks will be of a more specialized, advanced level than the ones put up for Rush Week. These tasks are also on topics that Mahalo feels will be potentially high ranking. Team members can watch out for these in the "Open How To Tasks" tab. Browse this section until you find a topic that interests you. Then click on it, and press "claim." You are ready to start building your page!

All How To pages, at a minimum, must include:

1. A Guide Note
2. An Introduction
3. At least three Steps
4. A Video
5. Related Mahalo Pages
6. Tips

Guide Note: A Guide Note is a 200—300 word, two-paragraph synopsis of what this page is about. You will pull the most important information from your How To page and highlight it here.

Tips: Tips are bite-sized pieces of helpful information that readers can quickly scan before beginning the How To process. Tips can be warnings and cautions, or they can give specific information—like the cooking temperature in a recipe. You must include 3 tips in your article.

Introduction: The Introduction will expand on the Guide Note. Here, you will have room to put your How To into context. In 200 words, you can write about relevant history, alternative methods, or even a general outline of the process.

Steps: There must be at least three Steps in How To pages. If needed, you can add additional steps by clicking the "Add another Step" button in your task. The Steps break down, in chronological order, the process of completing your How To. You must write at least 200 words per step.

Video: All How To pages must feature an applicable, instructional video. Browse YouTube or Hulu until you find a good video. Put the link into its own Step box in the task, and write a 50- to 100-word synopsis of the video.

Related Mahalo Pages: This is where you highlight pages already existing on Mahalo that relate to the How to you are creating. Take a look at How to Find an Obstetrician for a good example of this.

DOUBLE BRACKETS: To make a word or phrase into an internal link to another Mahalo page, put double brackets around it.

[[Mahalo]] is a [[California]]-based [[Internet]] company. will look like this:

Mahalo is a California-based Internet company.

Put double brackets around all proper nouns, years, dates and any other terms you think would make an interesting Mahalo search.

To refer to a term differently in the text than what the page is called, you can use a "pipe" to separate the term, placing the page title first and the text second like this:

[[New York State|NY]] will look like this: NY. It will inlink to the page titled New York State.

[[Mahalo]] is an Internet [[Search Engines|search engine]]. will look like this:

Mahalo is an Internet search engine.

BOLDS AND ITALIC: To use italics, put two apostrophes on either side of the word or phrase you want italicized. Here is an example:

''The Great Gatsby'' will look like this: The Great Gatsby

To use boldface, put three apostrophes on either side of the word or phrase you want bolded. Here is an example:

'''Do not skip Step 5!''' will look like this: Do not skip Step 5!

CITATIONS IN TEXT: If you want to cite a fact you are writing in a text section of a Mahalo page (as opposed to a Fast Facts section), you can use <ref> to designate a link. Take a look at this sentence as an example.

[[Barack Obama]] is the 44th president of the [[United States]].<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/</ref>

Now here's how that would look on a Mahalo page:

Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States.http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/

Click that footnote number and it will take you to the bottom of the page, where your URL is now listed as a "reference."

NUMBERED BULLETS: When creating lists, just add a # symbol to the beginning of each line, and it will create a numbered list. Here is an example:

#Put one cup of water in a pot, and boil #Pour water into a tea kettle #Add tea leaves and let steep for five minutes

Now here's how that would look on a Mahalo page:

1. Put one cup of water in a pot, and boil
2. Pour water into a tea kettle
3. Add tea leaves and let steep for five minutes

All pages must be referenced and sourced.

A citation is NEEDED whenever you:

1. Use a quote
2. State a statistical fact
3. Paraphrase information from another source
4. Utilize someone else's opinions and interpretations
5. Are making a medical, legal, or financial claim
6. State specific and detailed information which is not commonly known
   
   

Citations are NOT NEEDED when you:

1. Are stating "common knowledge." A general rule of thumb is, if you are not sure whether something is common knowledge or not, it probably isn't. Common knowledge statements are claims that are generally accepted and known in a given community.http://www.uta.fi/FAST/PK6/REF/commknow.html
2. Are giving your own interpretations. In general, subjective and first person writing is not condoned on Mahalo. However, the nature of How To's demands that writers interpret information and present it in their own voice. Within reason, then, interpretive statements are allowed—but should be tempered with sourced opinion.
   
   

All How To pages must come with an applicable video link, found from YouTube or Hulu. Here is how to format your video:

First, select "Featured Object" from the "to Links" drop down menu on the top right corner of the page.

Then, click the "Video" button.

For the last step, copy and paste the video link into the "Embed a Video" box. Then, write a 50—100 word synopsis of the video content in the "Description Text" box.

All legal, financial, and medical pages must come with Disclaimers. Disclaimers should be included on your pages in this exact wording:

Legal How To's: The content in this page is not a substitute for professional legal advice. Please contact a law professional before using the information presented here.

Medical How To's: The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact a doctor before using the information presented here.

Financial How To's: The content in this page is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Please contact a finance professional before using the information presented here.

Do

1. Research the information you are presenting.
2. Write in your own words.
3. Add media. Don't just stop at one video. If there are other applicable videos, put them on your page! If there are good images, link them as "Featured Content."
4. Inlink to other relevant Mahalo pages.
5. Cite and source your work.
6. Add an "Images" section to the Links area of the page.

Don't

1. Plagiarize. All content on your Mahalo page must be 100% original!
2. Rely entirely on anecdotal evidence.
3. Be vague! Mahalo How To pages should be clear, concise, and informative.