From APEC HRDWG Wiki

This contributor’s guide is designed to ensure consistent content, formatting, and writing style across all pages of the APEC Human Resource Development Working Group Wiki. While anyone is welcome to view the APEC Wiki, content is created by a small group of government officials, academics and researchers across the APEC region. Contributors to the Wiki should follow the content and formatting guidelines below, many of which are aligned with the APEC Publications Guidelines.  If you are interested in submitting a video to be hosted on the APEC Wiki, please see the Video Submission Guidelines page.

Also please view the HRDWG Wiki Contributor's Tutorial.  This tutorial guides the viewer through many of the basic processes of Wiki contribution.

Content Guidelines

1. Tell a short story.  Wikis are useful tools because they allow contributors to tell a short story all on one page. Pages are intended to be informative and explanatory in nature, and include a summary of key research topics, an overview of key APEC projects, or summaries of APEC events.  Research concepts should be written as analyses, syntheses, or summaries in a way that appeals to a wide audience and is easy to read. 
2. Link.  A wiki is an interconnected network of pages on topics that all relate to one another. In order for the wiki to work, each page within it must be linked to other pages. This allows readers to explore the wiki according to their interests, moving from one page to another as they choose. A wiki page that is not linked to other wiki pages is isolated from the network and will not be visited by viewers. Before you write your wiki page, check to make sure that someone has not already written on your topic. Then spend time searching other pages, making note of those that relate to or overlap with your topic. As your write your wiki page, be sure to insert links from your page to other pages and external websites when relevant. Use the Insert Hyperlink button to do this. Please avoid links to web sites that are subscription-based, password-protected or commercial in nature and do not post copyrighted material inappropriately. 
3. Make it relevant.  The APEC HRDWG wiki houses information relevant to APEC and specifically to the Human Resources Development Working Group. Contributors are expected to tie the subject of their wiki pages to APEC and HRDWG priorities or projects in the first paragraph of their article. 
4. Use outside sources as appropriate.  Contributors may use outside sources to add context, substantiate claims or demonstrate a multiplicity of viewpoints. Text written by someone other than the wiki contributor should be indicated as such with quotation marks and a reference should be added at the bottom of the wiki page. Use the Reference button on the Wiki Editor toolbar to insert or edit references.
5. Limit the length.  Although the table of contents and subject headings make it easy for readers to find what they’re looking for without having to read the entire article, wiki pages that are to-the-point and allow readers to quickly educated themselves on a topic tend to be more useful. If your wiki page is longer than 15 pages, references included, when pasted into a Word document (Times Roman, size 12), you should consider breaking your subject into sub-topics and creating several different wiki pages to cover the material.

Formatting Guidelines

All wiki pages should be consistent in their layout. Please adhere to the following guidelines:

The Page Title 

The content of a wiki page should be evident from its title. When naming wiki pages, be concise and use terms that will have meaning for an APEC audience.  Because of the way wikis are designed, the amount of “traffic” your page will receive will be correlated, in part, with how easily users can find it through linkages to other pages and through searches.

The "Lead"

Begin your article with introductory text (also known as “the lead”). The lead should establish significance, include mention of any controversies and be written in a way that makes readers want to know more.

Headings 

When you transition from one subject to another within the same page, type a new heading to indicate that the topic has changed. Highlight the text that you would like to function as a header and select “Headings” from the Format drop-down box on the toolbar. Headings are hierarchical, so you should start with Heading 1, then Heading 2, then Heading 3 and so forth. As you indicate which text should be headings, the Wiki formatting tool will 1) automatically make that text larger and bolder and 2) link the headings to the table of contents at the top of the page.

Appendices

Appendices, if necessary, can be placed at the bottom of an article. Appendix titles should all be level 2 headings so that they appear as sections rather than subsections in the table of contents.

Notes, Footnotes, or References Appendix. This section, or group of sections, presents the explanatory notes and a list of the references that support the information in the article.
See Also Appendix. Provides internal links to related APEC wiki articles. Links already included in the body of the text are generally not repeated in "See also". The links should appear in a bulleted list, in alphabetical order.
Further Reading Appendix. This includes any relevant websites, articles or books that have not been used as sources and that you recommend for readers of the article.

Images

Images should ideally be spread evenly within the article, and relevant to the sections they are located in. All images should also have an explanatory caption.

Tables

The use of tables is encouraged when it enables the contributor to present information clearly and concisely. The table should always be supplemented by prose.

Wiki Editor

Many of the tools in the wiki editor toolbar will be familiar to those who use Microsoft Word (e.g. the cut, copy and paste tools). Lesser known tools are described below.

	Wikitext. Converts regular text to a simplified version of HTML and vice versa.		Insert horizontal line. Creates a dividing line between sections.		Superscript. Insert a character above a letter.
	Find and replace. Allows content contributors to find a word or phrase and replace it with something else. This can be done once or at every occurrence of the word or phrase.		Insert template. Allows users to insert and build off pre-populated wiki page templates.		Block quote. Formats text to appear as a block quote, indented and single spaced.
	Remove format. Replaces formatted text with unformatted text		Insert special tag. Allows users to label text with one of the following identifiers: nowiki, includonly, onlyinclude, noinclude and gallery.		Insert a hyperlink. Link text in the body of the page to a different page or a website.
	Insert special character. Allows content contributors to select symbols, arrows and other special characters.		Insert/edit reference. Allows users to insert or edit citations for text in the body of the page.		Remove hyperlink. Undo the link between text in the body of the page and a different page or a website.
	Insert/edit table. Use this feature to insert a new table or edit an existing one by adding additional columns and/or rows.		Insert/edit formula. Use this feature to insert a new or modify an existing formula.		Maximize the editor size. Expand the editor to fill the full length and width of the computer screen.
	Insert/edit image. Allows users to insert a new image or edit an existing		Subscript. Insert a character below a letter.		About the FCK editor. Learn about this internet web editor.

Style Guidelines

Abbreviations. Since the wiki is read by people unfamiliar with APEC acronyms and abbreviations, all acronyms and abbreviations used must be defined at first use (e.g. The report was issued by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).)

Abbreviations for APEC Committees and Working Groups

Abbreviations for Member Economies

When listing member economies, they should proceed in the official APEC order and names should be separated by semi-colons (e.g. Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; etc). The term ‘three Chinas’ must not be used. Always refer separately to the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; and Chinese Taipei.

Acronyms should be expressed in all upper case letters with no periods (full stops) between letters. If many are used, please include a glossary at the end of the document. If terms or acronyms are used and they do not appear in a Standard English dictionary, they should be defined at first use.

Dates. When expressing dates numerically please use day followed by month and then year–DDMMYYYY. Thus 12.2.93 represents 12 February 1993. Do not use 12th May or May 20, 1998. Use 20 May 98 or 20 May 1998.

Terms. The Senior Officials’ Meetings or SOMs prepare for the annual Ministerial Meeting, which has been followed by an informal APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting since 1993. The Leaders’ Meeting should not be referred to as a ‘summit meeting’. Leaders should not be referred to as ‘Presidents’, ‘Prime Ministers’, or ‘Chiefs of State’, but as Economic Leaders. Please refer to the Chair, rather than the chairman or chairperson. The Executive Director heads the APEC Secretariat, which should not be referred to as a ‘headquarters’.  They oversee professional staff members (PSM) and support staff members (SSM) of the APEC Secretariat.  Members of APEC should be referred to as ‘member economies’ or ‘members’ or ‘economies’. The terms ‘nation’, ‘national’ or ‘country’ MUST NOT BE used as a synonym for an APEC member economy. The term ‘member economy government’ may be used as appropriate. Listing of APEC Member Economies should be noted (see abbreviations above).

The following errors are often made:

Use of Bold and Italic Letters. Use bold for headers or titles (the Wiki Editor will format this automatically as you select the appropriate setting from the “Format” drop-down box). Use italics (sparingly) for emphasis, for the titles of books and journals and for non-anglicized foreign phrases: ad hoc, et al., and so on.

Seasons. Because APEC spans both hemispheres, the use of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Autumn is inappropriate and references should always be to the calendar month rather than the season. References to quarters should also be avoided where possible since not all economies use the same financial or fiscal reporting year. If quarters must be used then please define at first use.

Spelling. Either British English or American English is acceptable. Use only one standard throughout the passage for consistency. When using -ise, -isation (realise, organisation), please maintain it throughout. But please do not hospitalise. 

Example: Wiki Page Not Consistent with Guidelines

See if you can identify the errors on the wiki page posted below. 

Checklist: Before Posting a Wiki Article

Content Guidelines

• The article is informative and explanatory, providing a broad overview of the subject.
• The article includes links to other relevant pages and websites.
• The article is broadly relevant to the work being done by APEC and specifically relevant to the priorities of the Human Resources Development Working Group.
• The article incorporates outside sources as appropriate and indicates them as such using quotation marks and references.
• The article is an appropriate length for the subject matter.

Formatting Guidelines

• The content of the wiki page is evident from its title. 
• The lead establishes the significance of the topic, interests viewers in reading further and ties the content of the page to APEC and/or HRDWG priorities. 
• The article includes headings that make clear divisions between topics and appear in the Table of Contents. 
• The article relies primarily on prose but also incorporates bulleted lists, tables and images as appropriate.
• The article includes appendices (References, See Also and Further Reading) as appropriate.

Writing Style Guidelines

• All acronyms and abbreviations are defined at first use. 
• All abbreviations for APEC committees, working groups and Member Economies have been used consistent with the above standards.
• When listing member economies, they are in alphabetical order and separated by semi-colons. 
• All dates appear as DDMMYYYY. 
• Footnotes/references have been included at the end of the document. 
• All text in the article has been selected as either “normal” or “heading” and is formatted consistent with that selection. 
• The author has used common APEC terms consistent with the guidelines under the “Terms” portion of this document. 
• The article does not include any references to seasons of the year. 
• The article uses British English or American English spelling and is faithful to one or the other throughout.