The WisdomCard StyleGuide: Editing and Formatting Instructions
Your goal is to create a WisdomCard that organizes the best sites, wisdom and resources on a specific health topic. Each WisdomCard leads people to credible and useful health web sites, blogs, videos and resources making it easy for them to find the very best health information on any topic.
Overall Standards
As you examine sites for inclusion in a WisdomCard, judge each site by asking if it is:
- Safe
- Credible
- Would you recommend the resource to a friend or family member?
- And most importantly: Does this wisdom or resource help the user based on the topic they are searching for?
The Basic Elements of a WisdomCard
- 1) Each WisdomCard should include at least 30 to 60 high-quality links when possible.
- 2) Our goal is to feature at least 3-5 fantastic resources in each section of the WisdomCard template.
- 3) ALWAYS include 5 Great Resources in the first section.
- 4) Make sure the Section Template Headings are relevant to your topic and are grammatically correct. Please note, the WisdomCard topic title gets automatically added into the template.
- 5) If a particular section doesn't make senses or needs to be reworded to be grammatically correct, please update accordingly.
- 6) When possible stick to the Template, but you may add or remove sections if necessary.
- 7) Must-have resources: Check eMedicine.com and UpToDate.com for information on your topic. These should be included in every card for which the sites have info.
- 8) Complete the "Guide Wisdom" section by including one or two useful and relevant facts on the topic.
- 9) Select at least one "Guide Favorite" by inserting this code: {{toppick}} after the most useful links on the WisdomCard.
- 10) Insert "Warning Icons" to indicate sensitive sites or alert people about special issues. (See the code for Warning Icons below).
- 11) Organize each link so that it specifically relevant to the section it is listed under.
- 12) List "Related Searches" at the bottom of each WisdomCard.
- 13) Check spelling and formatting to make sure that it is correct.
- 14) You may link to any type of media in your search result (audio, video, text, Flash, etc.).
Criteria for Selecting Great Links and Resources
Selecting links, content, and resources for each WisdomCard is an imperfect process, but the goal is to make each WisdomCard great by providing the best quality links that are consistent with our quality standards.
Generally, here are the criteria:
- A) Will this link connect the user directly to the information related to the topic and category?
- B) Does the link provide relevant information that would be useful or inspiring to someone dealing with this disease, condition, drug or treatment?
- C) Does the site contain annoying elements such as music or pop-up ads that will irritate visitors? It may be OK to link to such pages if they provide particularly good content, but whenever possible find another link. When relevant use the "Warning Icons".
- D) Is there a source or author identified? You've probably seen "SEO" pages—dubious content created to attract search-engine traffic, rather than to provide information or help others. These often masquerade as legitimate sites. One sign of a spam or SEO page is that it is hard to identify the source of the information. Some people blog anonymously, which is fine, but you should be able to tell that there's a real person at the helm.
- E) Has this source already been cited? Be careful here. Many health sites license their content from the same few sources (Healthwise, A.D.A.M., Mayo Clinic). The correct way to attribute this licensed content is to put the original source first, then the publishing site afterwards in parentheses. Like this:
- A.D.A.M. (via MedLinePlus): Viral Gastroenteritis
- F) Is the link heavy marketing content or spam? If so, it should NOT be included.
- G) Is the content well-written and easy for an average person to understand?
- H) Does the content contain anything that might be offensive to an average adult? [Specifics: Saying "cancer sucks" is probably OK. Showing a picture of a breast in connection with relevant health content is OK. Gratuitous profanity, nudity, photos of dead bodies, not OK. If you're not sure, ask our reviewers by posting notes in the discussion section of your WisdomCard or email guides <at> organizedwisdom <dot> com.]
- I) Does the content take a stand on a controversial issue? It may still be good, provided you identify that point of view in the link. Our goal is to provide a diverse collection of information and an unbiased view. This does NOT mean we want to link to junk or unsafe information, however.
- J) Would you recommend the site/resource to a friend or professional for the topic? Read our post: How to Judge the Credibility of Health Sites - 10 Tips to Weed out Spam Sites.
Criteria for Selecting User-Generated Content
We also want to guide people to useful information, knowledge and Wisdom created by patients, caregivers, and those who have real life experience on a particular health topic. Our goal is to link to the very best blogs, postings, articles, message boards, chats, forums, support groups and user-videos as well as evidence-based information.
There is a great deal of amazing user-generated health content on the Web. The challenge is wading through the clutter, filtering out the junk, and guiding people to the very best stories, advice and wisdom that will help people.
Please take great care when reviewing user-generated health content.
What Wisdom Is
Personal experiences with an illness, treatment, condition or side effect, particularly if the person includes information that will help someone else experiencing the same thing.
Recommendations of books, Web sites, products, hospitals, health care providers. (However, be careful here—many bloggers participate in pay-to-post programs. Look for disclosure statements and do not include items that are sponsored.) Questions to ask your health care providers.
Ideas to consider as you think about health conditions and actions. How-to guidance for specific health-related activities (how to find a yoga teacher, how to read your diabetes monitor, how to comfort someone with cancer, etc.). These will need to be carefully reviewed to make sure the advice is not dangerous or inaccurate.
What Wisdom Isn't
Political advocacy. Consumer-oriented wisdom—how to appeal a Medicare denial or how to choose a Part D prescription plan—may be appropriate for inclusion. Avoid links that promote a specific candidate, party or legislative program. Personal experiences that do not yield useful wisdom.
Photos that depict genitalia in unessential ways (even if they are medically related—a clinical diagram is probably OK, but use a "warning" icon to alert users).
Posts that are advertising or linking to products that aren't medically related or for which the user has been paid. (Look for a "disclosure policy" link—these will often tell you that the poster accepts pay for posting.)
Stay away from posts from someone promoting their own products -- for example, a plastic surgeon writing about the benefits of a tummy tuck. If such a site does offer great information (let's say the surgeon has a page on "Preparing for Your Tummy Tuck"), use a warning icon to alert our audience that there's an advertising element to this link.
Poetry, creative writing, or random musings on a topic.
While it's possible to create wisdom around the role of spirituality in healing, be sensitive to content that promotes a specific religious path. Work to include multiple viewpoints.
Editing Instructions
You may edit the WisdomCard in sections, by clicking the "edit" button to the left of each section header, or you may edit any portion of the WisdomCard by clicking the "edit" button at the bottom of the page.
Formatting Instructions
Use the following formatting instructions in conjunction with the WisdomCard template pre-loaded for your WisdomCard topic. Here is an example of a completed WisdomCard template.
Guide Notes
Each WisdomCard should have a Guide Note, which can be an interesting fact about a topic or useful piece of relevant information. Guide Notes should be no more than 2 or sentences. To include a Guide Note, simply insert your "copy" on the top of the template where it says INSERT INTERESTING FACTS HERE. It is important that this be well-written, accurate and engaging, as it is the first thing people will read on a WisdomCard.
PAGENAME
You will notice the WisdomCard template contains formatting tags like {{PAGENAME}}. This is NOT something you have to replace. Putting PAGENAME in double curly quotes tells our system to automatically insert the name of the page. Less work for you!
Link Formatting
Put the first link right under each header in the template (no space in between). Put an asterisk in front of each link, then the name of the site, a colon, and a space. Next, open a set of square brackets ([). Add the URL, a space, and then the link text, then close the brackets (]). Add a short text description to help the user understand what the page is about. Be sure there is no more than one line of empty space before the next header.
Example of two links:
- WebMD: [http://www.webmd.com/allergies/default.htm Allergies Health Center]
- YouTube Video: [http://youtube.com/healthvideo Joe Smith gets tested for allergies]
Inserting Video Clips
If you find a video that contains really good wisdom about your topic, we have the ability to embed it in a WisdomCard. The basic format is
- {{#ev:service|id}}
Where: = service is the name of a video sharing service. = id is the id of the video to include Be sure to include the "|" divider in between service and id.
Warning Icons
Use the code below to include graphical icons next to links that should be highlighted. When people scroll over these images on the WisdomCard, they will be able to read the Warning text you include along with the icon.
What do our icons mean?
Guide Favorite - Guides place this next to their favorite links or to highlight exceptional wisdom or inspirational sites. Please choose at least 1 Guide Favorite per WisdomCard.
Warning! - Guides flag links that include information that is controversial, sensitive or sponsored by a biases source/company.
In Memoriam - To honor bloggers or wisdom from patients who have passed away.
To include anyone of the 3 icons, simply paste the appropriate code after each deserving link. There should be a space between the closing bracket of the link and the warning icon. Please only use one Warning Icon next to a link.
- {{toppick}} Guide Favorite
- {{Warning}} Controversial
- {{Commercial}} Commercial Site
- {{Pharma}} Site created or sponsored by pharmaceutical maker
- {{Unknown}} Unknown Source/Author
- {{PDF}} PDF
- {{Scroll}} Scroll down to reach relevant content
- {{Mature}} Graphic content suitable for mature audiences
- {{LawFirm}} Page created/sponsored by law firm
- {{Inmemoriam}} In Memoriam
Example:
- YouTube Video: [http://youtube.com/healthvideo A teenager gets tested for allergies] {{toppick}}
Latest Headlines
We include a News section on each WisdomCard -- "5 Latest Headlines About {{PAGENAME}}". We're primarily using Topix as our news source, although if the results are better at Google News, please use the best results you can find -- all you have to do is grab one URL and paste it into the template twice. Here's how:
- Go to www.topix.com
- Type your topic into the search box
- Scroll down to the bottom of the search results page. You'll see a little orange logo with "RSS" next to it.
- Right-click on this logo and copy the link location.
- Paste it into the News code where it calls for a URL. The result will look something like this (using "lymphedema" as an example):
- ==5 Latest Headlines on {{PAGENAME}}==
- <rss number=5 desc=off>http://www.topix.com/rss/search/article?x=0&y=0&q=lymphedema</rss>
- * [http://www.topix.com/rss/search/article?x=0&y=0&q=lymphedema More {{PAGENAME}} News from Topix]
Headers
Use the template as your guide, but don't be afraid to also use your own judgment. For instance, the "stages and survival" category is probably not appropriate for the "nosebleed" topic, while "Causes" might not be appropriate for "Pregnancy." If that happens, just delete that category heading from your template. Likewise, for a disease with a high fatality rate, you might not find any "hope and inspiration" -- if that's the case, edit the header down to "Wisdom and Stories." Again, use the template as a tool, but you may alter the template to fit the wisdom and topic.
Related Searches
Enclose each health topic in two pairs of square brackets. Put each condition on a separate line with an asterisk in front of it, just as with the other sets of links.
For example:
* [[Diabetes]] * [[High Cholesterol]] * [[Insulin Pump]]
Note these are search terms, not links to outside sites like the rest of the WisdomCard. By placing the pairs of square brackets around the terms, they will automatically link to other WisdomCards with those titles (if they exist).
