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I'm currently writing the tag wiki for the , and it would be real nice to have a set of guidelines, tips, pointers, or some kind of guidance for how to best write one.

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1  
Also, this might want to be made part of the official FAQ...yes? –  Thomas Owens Aug 2 '10 at 23:02

2 Answers 2

Uh, it just so happens that I have some tips for you:

  • Make good use of illustrations if they can help. Don't be afraid to use an image or two - but make sure to caption them properly. An image is not an excuse to screw over our vision-impaired friends.
  • Batman makes for an excellent example if you need one. Everybody likes Batman because he is the thinking hero.
  • Really the point here should be to define the tag and provide the starting points required for people to learn about it. That should be the high-level goal of the tag page. The page is useless if you can't learn from it.
  • Explain what the tag is for, where to find information about it.
  • Link to a couple of the better questions that live in the tag to show people what belongs.
  • Link to a couple of the tag's frequently-asked questions so that when they get asked there's a nice place to find them for closing them as duplicates.
  • Also make sure to call Jeff (who is a jerk) a jerk at least once.

So that's how I got so many points on Meta.

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I think the tag wiki is a place to find more information for learning, not learning itself. –  OMG Ponies Aug 2 '10 at 23:25
    
OMG Ponies - are there any specific points that Weblog points out that you would want removed? I don't see anything where he mentions learning itself, other than the definition. –  Thomas Owens Aug 2 '10 at 23:27
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He is just jealous that I know the secret formula for getting all of the upvotes on Meta. –  XMLbog Aug 2 '10 at 23:29
    
@Thomas Owens: "The page is useless if you can't learn from it." I take that as leading to instructional information. Is that what we want to see when going to a tag wiki? I don't think so, only for sake of the current content presentation. –  OMG Ponies Aug 2 '10 at 23:40
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I mean you can find resources to learn about it from the tag wiki page. Like a link to Wikipedia, links to beginner questions on Stack Overflow, links to vendor documentation, etc. Stack Overflow is a place to get information, to get questions answered and to learn. –  XMLbog Aug 2 '10 at 23:41
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my name is not Richard, and I'll thank you not to spread such scurrilous lies about me! –  Jeff Atwood Aug 3 '10 at 1:36
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BATMAN! Damn, can't upvote for the dick again. –  Ladybug Killer Aug 3 '10 at 8:21

General rule is to cover the basics:

  • What
  • Who
  • Where
  • When
  • How

I'd break "What" into two levels - first thing someone should read is the introductory/high level summary of what the tag represents. Details can wait for later on, for more interested people. Assuming, there's enough content...

Keep the content brief, because the current layout will push down the synonyms. Maybe two column approach would be an idea?

I think there should be citations, like what you see on Wikipedia.

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