h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Please don't think I'm having a go at you, I just want to understand.
Whose idea was it to have an election? How long is your term of service?
Who voted and how often? Who counted the votes and ensured the election was fair? How many people were put forward and how many lost?
I do understand that a large group needs organisation if it is to have any coherence but I thought the whole point was you didn't like the coherence of the official guide.
Forgive my curiousity but for a group who seem to quite passionate about not being deemed official you seem to have more structure than the official guide structures. Thats what I find hard to grasp, on one hand you want/need organisation; on the other you want to be treated as a simple collection of like-minded individuals. Help me to understand.

Well that was a complete mistake Kathy, I've posted something to you which is absolutely nothing to do with you whatsoever so I'd like you to ignore it for now ...what I meant to say was:
Hi there! I'm androyd one of the Assistant Community Editors who have volunteered to help new members. Welcome to the largest collaborative writing project er...anywhere. Take a look at some guide entries and see if you can add to the collection. If you feel there is a subject you can write about try doing a search first to see what already exists. I recommend you visit here before you get going:
http://www.h2g2.com/Writing-Guidelines
Also I don't know if you've realised it yet, but the guide is about more than guide entries. Try these links to make new friends or even get a virtual job. I did.
http://www.h2g2.com/C572 the world of h2g2 - the university is to be highly recommended if you have a particular area of interest. Enrol today!!
http://www.h2g2.com/A5752 newcomers welcome page
http://www.h2g2.com/A214796 aces homepage

If your are wondering how to make your user page cool and exciting you might like to check out Bruce's GuideML clinic at:
http://www.h2g2.com/A187229
Where all your questions will (probably) be answered.


If you need help with h2g2 or just want to talk then just reply to this message or click on my name and leave a message on the help desk.

Still I bet you're intrigued now as to what that is all about...

I know I was...

Well, that was pretty interesting . . . thanks all for the orientation! I almost got angry when I saw that! I really need to go to do real world work, but this is a great way to procrastinate, particularly the towel list. So, tell me, does the italian restaurant hyperspace drive exist anywhere?

Kathy

I wrote an entry for the Edited Guide about an Italian restaurant on a mountaintop in Pennsylvania that doesn't move around much but does have occasional problems with bears and cold weather. It's at http://www.h2g2.com/A292664

If you've got a favourite place in your hometown, why not give it a write-up?

BTW: If you ever get anywhere near that place, the sauce is to die for. The last time I visited there, I bought a case of sauce to take home with me - 200+ miles away!

*gets hungry just thinking about it*

That's wonderful. So I just write an entry and submit it and it automatically gets put in, O Great Guru?

Just about...

You write the entry and submit it to the peer review pages at http://www.h2g2.com/PeerReview On that page, other Researchers will offer any suggestions they feel will make the entry better (or sometimes worse) and you may or may not want to heed their advice.

Also lurking around the peer review forums are the h2g2 Scouts (of which I am one) who are always on the lookout for new and articulate entries. When they find one, that entry gets suggested to the paid staff who run the site. If they agree with the Scout's choice, the entry gets sent out to an h2g2 Subeditor (I'm one of them too) who edit the entry for style and add the appropriate GuideML (our version of html/XML). Then, the entry gets sent back to the paid staff who give it a final read and commission artwork from the in-house art team.

After that process, the entry gets placed into the Edited Guide. But anything you write is part of the Guide and able to be found by the search engine - the Edited Guide is just the part that has been through the process and has a consistent (hopefully) sound and layout.

Hope that helped!

- X

Thank you!!!!

Glad I could help. Give me a shout when your first entry is finished...



- X