How to create a great company article: Difference between revisions

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==Getting Started==

If you haven't already, please read the basic guideline [[Getting Started]] where the Neutral Point of View ([[NPOV]]), and other general guidelines are discussed.

If you haven't already, please read the basic guideline [[Getting Started]] where the Neutral Point of View ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view NPOV]), and other general guidelines are discussed.

==Collect ~~information~~==

==Collect Information==

Our aim is to create an informative article for each company, with references which explain where we got the information. As you might expect, an Internet search via Google or another search engine is generally the most effective way to research and find information.

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* You can collect the company's logo from the official website. Currently ICANNWiki only supports .jpg/.jpeg and .png formats so if the image is in any other format (such as .gif in this case) , you can use any simple image converter such as Windows Paint or Adobe Photoshop to convert the format.

** Sometimes logos are well defined images and you can just "drag" them off, and other times you may need to "crop" it off the page. This is easy with a Mac, just use the keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-4). Instructions for PCs can be found [http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm here]

** Sometimes logos are well defined images and you can just "drag" them off, and other times you may need to "crop" it off the page. This is easy with a Mac, just use the keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-4). Instructions for PCs can be found [http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm here].

** When uploading a company logo, try to give it a name which includes the name of the company and the word logo, like "ABC-Logo.jpg". If you use just "logo.png" ~~over time~~ some logos will overwrite others.

** When uploading a company logo, try to give it a name which includes the name of the company and the word logo, like "ABC-Logo.jpg". If you use just "logo.png" some logos will eventually overwrite others.

* Most of the information needed for the info box, for example, type, industry, founded, purchase, ownership, headquarters, country, products, revenue, website, etc. you can find from the basic search results.

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The topic that comes next is the history of the company. This part of the article mainly covers all the milestones of the company, from its establishment to the present.

* Some of the companies, such as MelbourneIT, has a [http://www.melbourneit.info/about-us/our-history "History"] page with detailed chronological information included in their official websites. We can use this information to create the history part keeping two things in mind. First, do not copy or paste anything, create your own content based on the information. Secondly, try to include as many references as possible. Typically the companies only use important newsworthy landmarks. So chances are, you can find a lot of references for these events on the ~~internet~~.

* Some of the companies, such as MelbourneIT, has a [http://www.melbourneit.info/about-us/our-history "History"] page with detailed chronological information included in their official websites. We can use this information to create the history part keeping two things in mind. First, '''do not copy or paste anything''', create your own content based on the information. Secondly, try to include as many references as possible. Typically the companies only use important newsworthy landmarks. So chances are, you can find a lot of references for these events on the Internet.

* '''Note:''' It is best to cite sources other than the company's own website and as many different sources as possible.

* Lets take the first fact for example. It said, in 1996, the University of Melbourne created MelbourneIT. By simply searching with [http://www.google.com/search?q=1996+University+of+Melbourne+melbourneIt "1996 University of Melbourne MelbourneIT"] we can find a [http://www.networkinsight.org/advisors/gerrand_peter.html viable reference] to support that fact. For most of the cases, the history part of the official website will try to summarize every event and by searching for references you can find more detailed information on each event which can help you write more information on the company. In this case, this link has helped to write a whole topic on how MelbourneIT entered the domain registration business.

* In this way, you can chronologically arrange all important milestones, events or any other information in the history with proper references. You may not find references to all of the points mentioned in the history page, you may not even need to cover all of the points in the first place. Just keep an [[NPOV]] policy and include whatever you find necessary and interesting.

* In this way, you can chronologically arrange all important milestones, events or any other information in the history with proper references. You may not find references to all of the points mentioned in the history page, you may not even need to cover all of the points in the first place. Just keep an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view NPOV] policy and include whatever you find necessary and interesting.

* For some companies, you may not find an organized history page. In that case, you can perform a chronological search starting from the foundation year of the company to the current. For example, MelbourneIT was founded in 1996 and if there is no pre-arranged history information, we could do a search like [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1996 "MelbourneIT 1996"], [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1997 "MelbourneIT 1997"], and [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1998 "MelbourneIT 1998"] to the current year [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+2010 "MelbourneIT 2010"]. It may sound like a lot of work, but for most of the companies, you will only find information for some of the years. In this way, you are simply making sure that you are not missing any important or interesting information or events.

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And feel free to browse through the existing [http://icannwiki.com/index.php/Category:Companies company articles] for more ideas.

==References==

Don't forget that each article needs references, preferably from a variety of reputable sources! Be sure to cite often,using the ref tags (look at finished articles to see how this works, or ask an admin like [[User:Ray|Ray]] or [[User:Jonah|Jonah]]). Do not use ICANNWiki.org as a source, as the articles will eventually be removed.

__NOTOC__

[[Category:Getting started]]

[[Category:Loose initiatives]]

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ==Getting Started==
-If you haven't already, please read the basic guideline [[Getting Started]] where the Neutral Point of View ([[NPOV]]), and other general guidelines are discussed.
+If you haven't already, please read the basic guideline [[Getting Started]] where the Neutral Point of View ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view NPOV]), and other general guidelines are discussed.
-==Collect information==
+==Collect Information==
 Our aim is to create an informative article for each company, with references which explain where we got the information. As you might expect, an Internet search via Google or another search engine is generally the most effective way to research and find information.
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 * You can collect the company's logo from the official website. Currently ICANNWiki only supports .jpg/.jpeg and .png formats so if the image is in any other format (such as .gif in this case) , you can use any simple image converter such as Windows Paint or Adobe Photoshop to convert the format.
-** Sometimes logos are well defined images and you can just "drag" them off, and other times you may need to "crop" it off the page.  This is easy with a Mac, just use the keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-4). Instructions for PCs can be found [http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm here]
+** Sometimes logos are well defined images and you can just "drag" them off, and other times you may need to "crop" it off the page.  This is easy with a Mac, just use the keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-4). Instructions for PCs can be found [http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm here].
-** When uploading a company logo, try to give it a name which includes the name of the company and the word logo, like "ABC-Logo.jpg".  If you use just "logo.png" over time some logos will overwrite others.
+** When uploading a company logo, try to give it a name which includes the name of the company and the word logo, like "ABC-Logo.jpg".  If you use just "logo.png" some logos will eventually overwrite others.
 * Most of the information needed for the info box, for example, type, industry, founded,  purchase, ownership, headquarters, country, products, revenue, website, etc. you can find from the basic search results.
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 The topic that comes next is the history of the company. This part of the article mainly covers all the milestones of the company, from its establishment to the present.
-* Some of the companies, such as MelbourneIT, has a [http://www.melbourneit.info/about-us/our-history "History"] page with detailed chronological information included in their official websites.  We can use this information to create the history part keeping two things in mind. First, do not copy or paste anything, create your own content based on the information. Secondly, try to include as many references as possible. Typically the companies only use important newsworthy landmarks. So chances are, you can find a lot of references for these events on the internet.
+* Some of the companies, such as MelbourneIT, has a [http://www.melbourneit.info/about-us/our-history "History"] page with detailed chronological information included in their official websites.  We can use this information to create the history part keeping two things in mind. First, '''do not copy or paste anything''', create your own content based on the information. Secondly, try to include as many references as possible. Typically the companies only use important newsworthy landmarks. So chances are, you can find a lot of references for these events on the Internet.
 * '''Note:''' It is best to cite sources other than the company's own website and as many different sources as possible.
 * Lets take the first fact for example. It said, in 1996, the University of Melbourne created MelbourneIT. By simply searching with [http://www.google.com/search?q=1996+University+of+Melbourne+melbourneIt "1996 University of Melbourne MelbourneIT"] we can find a [http://www.networkinsight.org/advisors/gerrand_peter.html viable reference] to support that fact. For most of the cases, the history part of the official website will try to summarize every event and by searching for references you can find more detailed information on each event which can help you write more information on the company. In this case, this link has helped to write a whole topic on how MelbourneIT entered the domain registration business.
-* In this way, you can chronologically arrange all important milestones, events or any other information in the history with proper references. You may not find references to all of the points mentioned in the history page, you may not even need to cover all of the points in the first place.  Just keep an [[NPOV]] policy and include whatever you find necessary and interesting.
+* In this way, you can chronologically arrange all important milestones, events or any other information in the history with proper references. You may not find references to all of the points mentioned in the history page, you may not even need to cover all of the points in the first place.  Just keep an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view NPOV] policy and include whatever you find necessary and interesting.
 * For some companies, you may not find an organized history page. In that case, you can perform a chronological search starting from the foundation year of the company to the current. For example, MelbourneIT was founded in 1996 and if there is no pre-arranged history information, we could do a search like [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1996 "MelbourneIT 1996"], [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1997 "MelbourneIT 1997"], and [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+1998 "MelbourneIT 1998"] to the current year [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=MelbourneIT+2010 "MelbourneIT 2010"]. It may sound like a lot of work, but for most of the companies, you will only find information for some of the years. In this way, you are simply making sure that you are not missing any important or interesting information or events.
@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 And feel free to browse through the existing [http://icannwiki.com/index.php/Category:Companies company articles] for more ideas.
+==References==
+Don't forget that each article needs references, preferably from a variety of reputable sources! Be sure to cite often,using the ref tags (look at finished articles to see how this works, or ask an admin like [[User:Ray|Ray]] or [[User:Jonah|Jonah]]). Do not use ICANNWiki.org as a source, as the articles will eventually be removed.
 __NOTOC__
+[[Category:Getting started]]
+[[Category:Loose initiatives]]