We have two primary types of wiki content: guides that are required to be in a standard consistent format, and wikis that are very flexible.
The constraints we put on guides make creating a new guide very fast, as long as the type of instructions you're writing fit well into the format. If the instructions don't fit well, then you're better off using a wiki.
== What are the constraints for guides? ==
Guides must be step-by-step. Each step has:
* Up to three images
** All images must be at least 800x600
** All images must be 4x3. For layout consistency, we require all photos have a landscape 4:3 aspect ratio.
* Up to ten text bullets
** Each bullet must be less than 600 characters.
* All text markup must be in [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|Wiki].
== What are the constraints for wikis? ==
* Images must be at least 300x150. Aspect ratio is not constrained.
* All text markup and formatting must be in [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|Wiki].
== High Resolution Photos ==
The guide requirements are very easy to work with if you're taking photos. They can be quite a hassle to take screenshots and get them into this format. The best way I can recommend is to take full-screen shots (rather than specific windows) and then crop them as you upload. If you absolutely have to adapt existing images, you can uprez the screenshots prior to upload (but only do this as a last resort).
High-quality photos are absolutely essential for communicating repair. Every photo we display on a guide is 592x444. Every image is a link to a higher-quality version (1600x1200 if it's available, 800x600 if it's not). I'm honestly a little surprised there's confusion by this— consistent, high-quality, and high-resolution guide photos are the biggest reason users love iFixit.
== Consistent Aspect Ratio ==
The aspect ratio constraint is designed to be as painless as possible. We had to pick an aspect ratio to make everything look consistent. All of our guides line up correctly, and every step is a consistent height. Users need this consistency to trust that they can follow the directions. If we allowed non-4:3 images, things would look absolutely terrible.
-
Most people have cameras that shoot at 4:3 (every point-and-shoot in the world does this), so their images don't have to be cropped at all.
+
Most people have cameras that shoot at 4:3 (almost every point-and-shoot in the world does this), so their images don't have to be cropped at all.
If you do have instructions that don't fit well into the rigid guide framework, you can always create a wiki page instead. I don't recommend this for step-by-step instructions, but it works well for [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/Camera_Operating_Instructions|certain kinds] of photo documentation.
== No HTML ==
We do require [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|wiki text] everywhere. You can't copy/paste HTML into most wikis, either. This is important for a lot of reasons, which I can go into if you post a followup question.
Confession: We actually cheated on [http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-Mac-OS-X-v10-5-Leopard/751/1|this guide] and took photos of the screen, but that was because Apple doesn't really let you take screenshots during the OS installation process. It's also hard to take photos
== Creativity loves constraints ==
We have two primary types of wiki content: guides that are required to be in a standard consistent format, and wikis that are very flexible.
The constraints we put on guides make creating a new guide very fast, as long as the type of instructions you're writing fit well into the format. If the instructions don't fit well, then you're better off using a wiki.
== What are the constraints for guides? ==
Guides must be step-by-step. Each step has:
* Up to three images
** All images must be at least 800x600
** All images must be 4x3. For layout consistency, we require all photos have a landscape 4:3 aspect ratio.
* Up to ten text bullets
** Each bullet must be less than 600 characters.
* All text markup must be in [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|Wiki].
== What are the constraints for wikis? ==
* Images must be at least 300x150. Aspect ratio is not constrained.
* All text markup and formatting must be in [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|Wiki].
== High Resolution Photos ==
The guide requirements are very easy to work with if you're taking photos. They can be quite a hassle to take screenshots and get them into this format. The best way I can recommend is to take full-screen shots (rather than specific windows) and then crop them as you upload. If you absolutely have to adapt existing images, you can uprez the screenshots prior to upload (but only do this as a last resort).
High-quality photos are absolutely essential for communicating repair. Every photo we display on a guide is 592x444. Every image is a link to a higher-quality version (1600x1200 if it's available, 800x600 if it's not). I'm honestly a little surprised there's confusion by this— consistent, high-quality, and high-resolution guide photos are the biggest reason users love iFixit.
== Consistent Aspect Ratio ==
The aspect ratio constraint is designed to be as painless as possible. We had to pick an aspect ratio to make everything look consistent. All of our guides line up correctly, and every step is a consistent height. Users need this consistency to trust that they can follow the directions. If we allowed non-4:3 images, things would look absolutely terrible.
Most people have cameras that shoot at 4:3 (every point-and-shoot in the world does this), so their images don't have to be cropped at all.
If you do have instructions that don't fit well into the rigid guide framework, you can always create a wiki page instead. I don't recommend this for step-by-step instructions, but it works well for [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/Camera_Operating_Instructions|certain kinds] of photo documentation.
== No HTML ==
We do require [http://www.ifixit.com/Info/WikiSyntax|wiki text] everywhere. You can't copy/paste HTML into most wikis, either. This is important for a lot of reasons, which I can go into if you post a followup question.
Confession: We actually cheated on [http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-Mac-OS-X-v10-5-Leopard/751/1|this guide] and took photos of the screen, but that was because Apple doesn't really let you take screenshots during the OS installation process. It's also hard to take photos
