Peer Review | Writing Workshop | Collaborative Writing Workshop | Alternative Writing Workshop | Flea Market

If you and a couple of friends have got an idea for a great Guide Entry, then the Collaborative Writing Workshop is the place for you. It's a great forum This is where you can get together with other budding writers to develop brilliant Guide Entries while also developing your writing skills.

The Collaborative Writing Workshop is also the ideal repository for proposed Updates to topics that are already in the Edited Guide. There is a very strong ethos of collaboration at h2g2 and consequently it is essential to bear the following in mind when taking on an Update...

How to Submit an Update to the Collaborative Writing Workshop

• Please consider whether the information you'd like to include in the update might not make a better new entry on its own. For example, if you're considering updating the entry on Cricket and want to expound upon the Leg Before Wicket rule, why not write an entry solely about the LBW rule.
  

• For entries that truly need to be updated, it is important to incorporate as much of the old content as possible. You will be adding to the existing Edited Entry, not replacing it.

• Visit the Personal Space of the original author and post a polite and sensitive message there saying that you would like to update their entry. As you can imagine, authors of entries are justifiably protective of their work. If you feel passionately about a subject though, it's up to you to be an ambassador for it. This is a diplomatic exercise, so be prepared for ongoing negotiations.

• If the original author is agreeable, or long gone from h2g2, visit the existing Edited Entry and use the Test URL feature. To do this simply type in the URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/Test123456 where 123456 is the A number of the entry you wish to view the GuideML for.
  So, for this entry, A974441, you'd look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/Test974441 (remembering to leave out the letter 'A').

• Copy the GuideML for that entry into a text editor and make your changes.

• Create a new entry and paste in the GuideML, adding the word 'Update' to the title.

• Make sure you add the original author as a Researcher on your copy, using the 'Researcher List' section of the Guide Entry Editor.

For a detailed explanation of the Review Forums system, please read the Review Forums FAQ.

How to Submit an Idea/Update to the Collaborative Writing Workshop

Once you've created the new Guide Entry, as described above, then you need to put this entry into the Collaborative Writing Workshop.

To do this, simply click on the 'Submit for Review' button on your new entry and follow the instructions, choosing 'Collaborative Writing Workshop' from the drop-down menu. Post a comment in the text box inviting any comments. If there is no such button, then that's probably because you ticked the 'Not for Review' button in the Entry Editor; untick it and try again.