Page Design Principles

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There are several principles that you should follow when adding content to the KatzIS website:

Contents

[edit] Experiment and Improve

  • If you see an error - correct it.
  • If you see a typo - fix it.
  • If you see incorrect information - update it.
  • If something is missing - add it.

[edit] Remember that this is a public site

Everything that that is on this site can potentially be found. While editing is limited to the members of the KatzIS community, all of the content is accessible to anyone.

Everything that is put on this site sends a signal about you and about the PittBusinessIS community. Please be respectful and professional as you contribute and participate.

[edit] Be careful with personal information

Because the KatzIS wiki is publicly accessible, it can (and probably will be) a target of phishers, spammers, and other parties hoping to find information that they can use. Hence, it is important to be cautious about the use of personal information.

Follow the KatzIS privacy policy.

Never place personal contact information for other people (e-mail, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) on the KatzIS website without their explicit permission.

Be careful about placing your own contact information online. If possible, use techniques that hinder automated collection of e-mail addresses and other personal information (e.g. adding an image of an e-mail address instead of simple text).

[edit] Keep Page Design Simple

Simple page design supports easier page creation and modification. It also results in a cleaner design and easier to read materials. Most of what is needed can be accomplished with the following five types of wikitext structures:

  • Headers ==Level 1 Header==, ===Level 2 Header===, ====Level 3 Header====
  • Bulleted lists (* and ** at the beginning of a line) and numbered lists (# or ## at the start of a line)
  • '''Bold''' and ''Italicized'' text
  • Internal links - [[Alumni]] and External links - [http://www.katz.pitt.edu]
  • Images [[Image:<filename>]] and File Attachments [[Media:<filename>]]

While there are other capabilities (such tables), which are described in more detail in the editing tutorial, your default should be to use the basic elements described above in order to minimize creation cost, maintenance effort, and interface complexity.

[edit] Create Documents for People to Use

The materials in this wiki are for people to use. You should write in such a way that makes them easier for your target audience to use. This means doing things like:

  • Directly address the reader whenever possible - You prefer to be talked to (rather than being talked about), so will they.
  • Create smaller, purpose focused documents that can be combined (as opposed to large comprehensive articles)

[edit] Finish What You Start

It is more useful to (and more professional) have simple page that is finished than have a complex collection of content that is half-done. Start things you can finish and finish what you start.

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