"Please Comment" Wiki Tag is an alternative to Answer Me. Its entire purpose is to provide a reverse index (by clicking the title of this page) of pages containing the tag. Anyone interested in finding pages that have made explicit requests for contributions can do so by using this page. This is an alternative way of contributing to Wiki than Recent Changes.
Because Wiki has no real rules, there are no rules for the use of this tag. However, here are some suggestions for guidelines on how this tag could be used advantageously.
Wiki Zens can add this tag if:
They would like to make a contribution, but are not 100% certain of themselves and would like comments from a 'more experienced' source.
There is a question that has not been answered in a while.
On FAQ pages for any unanswered question.
Wiki Zens can remove this tag if:
The question or topic seems to be adequately addressed.
Please Comment has the following advantages over Answer Me:
It reads like Plain English.
It is a polite request rather than an abrupt 'command'.
It applies to many more situations. Basically anytime you'd say "Anyone else have any thoughts?", replace that with Please Comment. Anytime you'd say "But then again, I'm no expert," replace that with Please Comment.
Technically, the Please Comment tag is 'noise', but it is searchable noise. Those who would like to increase the Signal To Noise Ratio can search for Please Comment requests and replace them with appropriate 'signal' content.
I vote "YEA". -- Nick Bensema
Yea - I think Please Comment is kind of like a failing Unit Test or Acceptance Test for Wiki. Change it until it passes the test.
All text on a wiki implicitly says Please Comment. By marking some text Please Comment, we would imply that all other text is to be treated differently.
Different text is different in its Signal To Noise ratio, and the authors often know this as they click Save. Noisy text may implicitly say Please Comment, but can you find it when you want to help tidy up Wiki's loose ends?
Do you really need help finding loose ends to tidy up?
Please find the page I made lots of comments on, but which I feel is still inadequate. I am not up to the task myself, it requires a more complex understanding of the issues than what I have. Please find that page, I beg you.... found it yet? Would it help if I gave you a list of Wiki Names - maybe you'll see one that strikes your interest.
Here are some alternatives to Please Comment. If you want to make a list of pages where you'd like people to add stuff, put the list on your home page. If there is a certain page where you want a question answered, post the question on that page. If you're in that phase where you can't articulate a good question, ask a bad question, or ask an open-ended question like "What's this about?" or "Could someone please explain this better?" If you can't think of anything that seems right, try posting something that you're sure is wrong and thereby spur criticism. (This only works with Recent Changes; i.e. when the changes are recent, and when the people who read Recent Changes care at the time. When these conditions are not met, which is often, then Please Comment is an effective alternative.)
There is no need to plan a project or establish a new convention. Just make whatever improvement to a specific page that you're capable of making now. Later you will be able to make better improvements. Proposed plans and conventions like Please Comment are tempting ways to contribute without contributing--ways to put off real participation by thinking more. Have courage, it's only wiki. (If there is no need, then why was it made? Have faith in your fellow Wiki Zens. There's nothing wrong with trying out new conventions, especially on a new convention like Wiki.)
There are pages which are better off being not further commented on, like Wiki Prayer and other Wiki Favourites. Assuming Please Comment on those pages only leads to sadness.
Yes. People need to exercise good judgement or they will do bad things. Saying Please Comment doesn't improve people's judgement. Not saying Please Comment doesn't improve people's judgement. Another solution, when people mung with nice pages that should be left alone, is to wait a little while and then clean up their mess. This might help improve their judgement, and it certainly fixes up the page.
Who said this first?: 'Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.' asks Chris Garrod who caught this meme years ago on someone's .sig.
Good judgement isn't entirely a mystical quality -- better information leads to better judgements. Wiki Tags are a way of communicating meta-information to improve the process of collaboration. Of course, if in your good judgement the Please Comment tag is inappropriate for that page then you could, well, remove it. That's Why Wiki Works after all.
Better information does lead to better judgement (though the skill of good judgement is what we're talking about above), but Please Comment does not add information. If you want to say something, just say it. People here will listen. No need for Wiki Taggery or Pussy Footery. (Please Comment adds information. Specifically, "There is a request for comment somewhere, and you can find it right here".)
Also, bad judgement is OK, too. That's the only way to develop good judgement.
I vote yes. It's faster than Recent Changes to identify pages where the author is specifically asking for further discussion.
(Hmmm, search turns up twelve pages including ones which only mention Please Comment to explain what it is. Does that prove it mostly useless?)
Some people are still using Answer Me. Please Comment is on some pages many times, especially FAQ-style pages. Actually, comparing the usage between Please Comment and Answer Me, I'd say Please Comment is doing a very good job. It'll just take time for it to rise in Wiki's awareness.
Is Please Comment appropriate when you would like a comment to be expanded? Would Please Elaborate be a better choice? Or perhaps just "Please Comment further"?
Another Alternative for Please Comment might be: Ask Wiki. -- Fridemar Pache
There are several services on the Web, like Ask Yahoo. After my experience they work very well. Why not Ask Wiki ... This could be a candidate for a set of userdefined Twin Pages. As each Wiki community accumulates dedicated expertise, this could be a helpful addon. A page Ask Wiki (with many Twin Pages to related peer wikis) could accumulate a list of more or less open questions. By the way, I have not yet searched, if the domains Ask Wiki.com, Ask Wiki.net, ... are registered. If not, take this idea and use it to become a millionaire like the man who sold the domain "wiki.com" for 3 million dollars. I gave the link for this info in (sorry, was just interrupted by my friend, who registered Ask Wiki.net some seconds later for me, after the idea was posted here) the Meatball Wiki. You may do the same thing with Please Comment and join the first Domains Wiki as a wiki-entrepreneur.
So my answer for deciding on a new Wiki Word is:
ask yourself, if it is worth to be registered as a domain-name,
do it in a wiki community with peer entrepreneurs,
discuss openly the value with bringing in your own alternative(domain)s
feel the joy of being released, to spill out all your best ideas (they will increase the value or your domain and the alternative domains of your peers)
See original on c2.com 