Google search engine - influencing the relevance of the wiki

[najevi]

I don't know a lot about search engine optimization but I did find it interesting to note how vsk.wikia.com has climbed on the search results list at google. I used the following keywords for three separate searches:

• page 2 - "virtualskipper" up by 2
• page 19 - "vsk" down by 7
• page 18 - "Virtual Skipper" up by 5

The notes about relative change are comparing today's result (18-November) with results I'd noted on 12-August (when the wiki was 60 days young and most of the infrastructure was finally in place).

Read here to understand how you might help to influence the relevance google places on vsk.wikia.com

[Very Crankie Yankee]

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[Very Crankie Yankee]

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[najevi]

• VCY, thank you for your kind words. The models and tutorial you described would be a welcome addition at the wiki.
  
  Separate forms exists for uploading boat models and skins. A form simply ensures that a consistent set of information is presented to describe each model or skin. It is not important to populate every field on these forms. In my experience there are usually other users who are happy to fill in these blanks after the fact. It's another way to involve more users in the wiki.

The best way to ensure author anonymity at the wiki is to create an account that is used exclusively for anonymous content. Since the account creation process is free the only cost to the actual author is remembering to switch accounts when you want to post anonymously. The other tip is to post with no spelling mistakes! The same author can usually be recognized based on eccentric spelling and/or grammar. See also: vsk/MoS#Writing

I regularly use two login accounts at wikia. One is named najevi, the other is delica. My goal with the second account is not anonymity but it could just as easily been used for exactly that.

Caution: If you make a contribution while you are not logged in then your current IP address will be recorded as the "username". If you think about this for a few seconds you will realize that this is the worse form of privacy. That should be obvious if your ISP issues you a static IP address and just a little less obvious if you have a dynamic IP address. Dynamic IP addresses are typically static for several weeks or months at a time.

[Very Crankie Yankee]

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[najevi]

Accuracy is preserved via peer pressure from the community of active contributors.

If it is the will of that community to distribute misinformation then that is what the wiki will present to the world. However, in practice it is typically the occasional rogue user who might attempt to contribute misinformation.
Every page edit is logged and the edit history is visible in a recent changes log.
Every user has the ability to undo a recent edit by another user.
Every wiki article has a companion talk page where discussion of erroneous or controversial edits should take place.

You may configure your personal preferences such that whenever you contribute to an article then that article get's added to your personal watchlist. You may then opt-in to be alerted via email of any subsequent edits to any article on your watch list. (I use either the weekly or daily "digest" version of this notice so as to cut down on email inbox clutter.)

If a particular user or anonymous IP address is seen to be vandalizing the wiki then there are ways to block that user (or IP address) for varying periods of time. Having said that, it has been my experience that this level of reaction is rarely appropriate. A polite note at the offending contributor's talk page seeking clarification of the intention of their edit is usually enough to stem the tide.

In wiki culture the assumption of "good faith" is paramount.

Even the most juvenile vandal tends to respond positively to a respectful enquiry message. Very often, the wiki contributors/administrators who post stories/complaints about incessant vandalism are also the contributors who use inflammatory statements themselves or they are heavy handed administrators who tend to abuse the sysop privileges they have been granted.

So it tends to be case of "what goes around comes around".

In such a niche community as the Virtual Skipper community I doubt that there is sufficient motivation for a large scale misinformation campaign. If it should happen then the tools described above are available to nip it in the bud.

CAUTION: The VSK wiki has been given special permission to host ZIP files. We all know that these are the expected form for boat models (maybe 40 or 50 of these) and skins (maybe hundreds of these) however this could be abused by an unscrupulous person to distribute malware. If you should discover such content in a ZIP file at the wiki then leave a message at the talk page for that ZIP file. You may also insert the special template {{delete}} at the ZIP file's information page. Either way it will be noticed and the offending file removed in fairly short order.