developerWorks is an award-winning community committed to providing quality technical content and resources to developers and IT professionals across the computer industry. Thus, developerWorks expects space owners to embrace the following editorial objective and guidelines.
Objective
Effectively serve the wants and needs of developers and IT professionals by answering their most important questions, solving their problems, and enhancing their professional skills and careers.
Guidelines
Whether your developerWorks space focuses on IBM products or open standard technologies, the content and resources in your space should always be:
Valuable to our community of developers and IT professionals (and, more specifically, valuable to the target audience of your specific space)
Relevant to our target audience and their professional interests
High in quality, with emphasis on technical matters
To help ensure the success of your developerWorks space, we ask that you:
Prioritize effective types of content and resources (such as tutorials; how-tos; tips; code; beta/preview software; developer/IT professional news items; forums; commentaries; and so on) that truly serve the wants and needs of your target audience.
Avoid ineffective types of materials (such as non-technical content; marketing or sales-oriented materials; and content that does not speak directly to IT professionals).
Provide a regular supply of new content.
Please note: developerWorks reserves the right to remove your space under (but not limited to) the following conditions:
Your space has outdated or irrelevant information.
Your space has prominent or persistent broken links.
Your space has insufficient information or resources.
Your space has poor quality (including poor grammar, spelling, presentation, or content).
To ensure the quality of our spaces and the integrity of the developerWorks site, we will remove spaces that are not published within the first two months of their creation, as well as spaces that are not updated at least once every two months after being published. You will receive a warning note after the first month. After 60 days without being published or updated, we reserve the right to permanently remove your space.
We appreciate your commitment as a space owner to the same ideals that have made developerWorks an award-winning technical resource in the computer industry. Please see the Editor tips
for best practices for successful development and maintenance of your developerWorks space.
When you first go to your space, you may notice three
default portlets on your page: developerWorks spotlights, developerWorks offers, and a Group or Expert space identity portlet. Click the down arrow in the upper right corner of each portlet to access the portlet menu. Click Edit to customize the portlets so that the information is relevant to your space. You may choose to display the spotlights and offers from the developerWorks home page or from one of our developerWorks zones. And you can add a picture to your Expert space portlet or update the overview information displayed in your Group space portlet. Note that these are required portlets, and they will appear on each tab of your space (if you choose to add tabs). When you've edited them to your liking, start adding more portlets to your page...
The best way to get started here is to just start playing around. Drag and drop any of the portlets in the left column onto your page (see image below). You can drag the same type of portlet onto your page multiple times. Editing screens will automatically appear for each portlet you drag and drop. Try this for each type of portlet so that you get a feel for what you can do with them. You can't mess up here -- if you don't like the portlet, just delete it or edit it. Nothing will show up outside the firewall until you click the Publish button. For an explanation of each portlet, see the section "Which portlet should I use?"
Drag and drop portlets from the left column onto your page
When you are comfortable with how the portlets work, you can change the look and layout of your space. Click Manage space --> Choose theme at any time to change the theme of your page. Click Add a tab at any time to add another page to your space. Change the number of columns on each tab using the drop-down menu on the tab.
Preview your space any time during editing to see what your changes will look like when you publish. View live site any time during editing to see your space as it currently looks to visitors (before your changes are applied). And when you are ready, click Publish to publish your new changes to the live site. Keep in mind that when you publish your space, it is automatically linked to from our main spaces Web page. For this reason we ask that you not publish your space until you are ready for visitors to see it.
Bookmark this page, our spaces FAQs, and our graphics
library and refer to them as necessary while you edit your
space.
Additional tips for administrators:
Update the abstract, keywords, and title of the space by clicking Manage space --> Edit properties in the top menu bar.
Manage users of your space (if a group space). You may choose how you want to process membership requests to your space: Manually review each one, or automatically approve all. The default selection is to manually review each request. To update this setting, go to Manage members --> Manage requests.
If you manually review each request, you'll receive e-mail notifications when users request to join your space, and the user's name will appear in your Review requests queue (Manage members --> Manage requests). Click on each request to review it and approve or reject it.
If you choose to automatically approve all membership requests, each user will be added to your space as a Regular member. Requests for Administrator and Editor member types will remain in your queue until you manually process them.
For each request you process, you'll decide whether to grant administrator, editor, or regular member access to the user. Administrators can edit and publish the space and manage its members. Editors can edit and publish the space, but can't manage members. Regular members have no editing capabilities, but have their name listed in the members list and have access to the space's message board (if applicable -- see below). Your space can have as many members as you'd like.
Add a message board to your space. A message board is a private forum only accessible to the members of your space. To create a message board for your space, drag the Message board portlet from the left column of your space in Edit mode and drop it onto your page.
Send e-mail updates to users. Administrators and Editors of a space can send e-mail updates to subscribed users, all space members, or their own list of recipients. To send an e-mail update, go to Manage space --> Send E-mail updates in the top menu bar.
Want to add something to your space, but not sure which
portlet to use? The table below provides a description and
image of each portlet. The images are examples of what each
portlet might look like after being edited.
Portlet description
Example image (after editing)
Blogs
Use the blogs portlet to link to developerWorks and
non-developerWorks blogs on your space. You can pick from a
list of developerWorks blogs, or enter your own blog RSS feeds.
You may specify how many blog entries display in the portlet, as well as how many characters display per entry, and each entry will include the date and time of the
blog posting. End users can expand or collapse the entries in
this portlet. The blog portlet supports graphics.
To link to a single blog (instead of an RSS feed), use the list
portlet.
Featured content
Use the featured content portlet to feature a single item on your space. Specify
a title, image, and abstract for the content you want to
feature.
Forums
Use the forums portlet to link to developerWorks and
non-developerWorks forums on your space. You can pick from a
list of developerWorks forums, or enter your own forum RSS feeds. You may specify how many forum postings display in the portlet, as well as how many characters display per post. Each post will include the date and time the entry was posted. End users can expand or collapse the entries in
this portlet.
To link to a single forum (instead of an RSS feed), use the list portlet.
Image
Use the image portlet to add an image to
your space. No borders will be visible on this portlet
in published mode.
List
The list portlet is a multipurpose portlet. Use it to link to
single items, not RSS feeds. You may include a hyperlink and
optional explanatory text for each item in your list. The list portlet supports graphics.
Podcasts
Use the podcasts portlet to link to developerWorks and non-developerWorks
podcasts on your space. You can pick from a
list of developerWorks podcasts, or enter your own podcast RSS feeds.
To link to a single podcast (instead of an RSS feed), use the list
portlet.
Web feeds
The Web feeds portlet is another multipurpose portlet
(like list), but for RSS feeds. End users can expand or
collapse the items in this portlet.
developerWorks Web feeds
Use the developerWorks Web feeds portlet to feature developerWorks Web feeds on your space.
Create your custom feed by applying filters to developerWorks content.
Filter by content area (Linux, Web development, and so on), content
type (articles, tutorials, downloads, and so on), keywords, and/or
publish date. End users can expand or collapse the items in this
portlet.
developerWorks offers
The developerWorks offers portlet is a default portlet on every space.
Click "Edit" in the portlet window to change the content area associated
with the offers. The offers show up as thumbnail images in the
portlet, which link to relevant events, conferences, products, and other
offerings.
developerWorks spotlights
The developerWorks spotlight portlet is a default portlet on every space.
Click "Edit" in the portlet window to change the content area associated
with the spotlights. Spotlights include links to relevant content on
developerWorks, new downloads or tools added to the site, and more.
developerWorks briefings
Use the developerWorks briefings portlet to link to developerWorks briefings on your space. Choose
which briefings to display, or display all briefings held in the country (or
countries) of your choice. If no briefings are scheduled for the location you
select, a message will display in the portlet informing users that no briefings are currently
scheduled for this location.
developerWorks library
Interchangeable with the developerWorks Web feeds portlet, use the
library portlet to create custom RSS feeds of developerWorks articles and
tutorials. Filter by content area, keyword, and/or publish date.
developerWorks wikis
Use the developerWorks wikis portlet to link to list of
developerWorks wikis, or enter your own wiki RSS feeds. To
link to a single wiki, use the list portlet. End users can expand or collapse the items in this portlet.
Message board
The message board is a private forum for your space, only accessible to space members. You may specify how many threads display in this portlet, as well as how many characters display per thread. You may use more than one instance of the message board on your space. Note that the display settings you select are specific to each instance, but the content is identical.
Following are best practices that we
hope you'll find helpful as you set up, promote, and maintain your space on
developerWorks. If you know of tips not listed here, please
let us
know.
Fill out your developerWorks profile. Your developerWorks profile is linked to from your space and is the page users see when they click on your screen name from any of our community services (blogs, forums, and so on) -- if applicable. List your space in the "Home page" field of your profile, and write about it in the "Professional expertise" and "Biography, interests" fields. If you own a group space, encourage your space's members to fill out their profiles, as these are also linked to from the Group space portlet. To access your profile, click on the View link next to your screen name in the Member list on group spaces, or click View profile under your name in the Expert identity portlet on expert spaces.
Submit your space to social networking sites like
digg, del.icio.us, slashdot, and technorati. In
addition to these, if you use community resources
elsewhere on the Internet where you have a personal
profile set up, consider linking to your space from
there. When your space becomes robust, check to see
if Wikipedia has an entry related to your topic and
add a link to your space in the related resources
section of Wikipedia's entry. Remember to do this
only after your space has had time to build up many valuable
resources, or another user might remove the link from
Wikipedia.
Blog about your space. You can
leverage blogs to promote your space in two ways: First, you blog
about your space in your own blog, and second, you add intelligent posts to other
people's blogs and include a
link to your space in your post. The second method only works
if you contribute something of value to the blog (possibly
more than once) and become recognized as a person who other
people would be interested in hearing more from. If you simply promote your space by commenting about yourself on other people's blogs, it will be viewed as spam.
Link to your space from your e-mail
signature. Just think of all the people you send
e-mail to! You can also include a link to your space
under your signature in posts you make to discussion
groups, forums, and blogs. Just make sure you're
adding value to the discussion and submitting meaningful
posts so you gain credibility and aren't seen as
"spamming"
(See the previous tip about
blog posts).
If you are a developerWorks editor, link to
your space from your zone. developerWorks editors
can include links to their space on zone top pages, in
article and tutorial resources, in blog and forum
postings, and in weekly newsletters. developerWorks
editors can also peruse the list of spaces
periodically to see which new ones relate to their
zone and add appropriate linkages.
Get other Web sites to link to your space. If
you know of a Web site that's closely related to your
space, ask the Webmaster to add a link to your space and
offer to do the same in return.
Tell others about your space when you meet them
in person. Don't underestimate the value of
talking to your friends, coworkers, and others
about your space.
We recommend using the Featured content portlet on your page and updating it at least once a week, as it's the
most visible item on your page and won't receive automatic updates (as will portlets containing dynamic feeds).
Check portlets with dynamic feeds for relevancy and freshness at least once a week.
Remember your audience.
developerWorks targets and supports a technical audience, so try to keep this in mind when choosing content for your page.
Also keep in mind that you are providing content for a multicultural audience, so it's best to avoid U.S.-centric puns, idioms, and colloquialisms.
Optimize your page and any content you write for internal and external search. When you first request a space, we will ask you for meta keywords and a meta title and description to use for search purposes. You will be able to update this information once your space is created. Refer to the developerWorks meta tag guidelines for tips on optimizing these elements for IBM internal search.
Use appropriate graphics. The blogs, featured content, image, and list portlets all support images.
Choose an image from the developerWorks spaces graphics library
(http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/graphics.html).
If you need to use an image that is not in the graphics library and has not been created by the developerWorks visual design team, please confirm that either 1. The image is not copyrighted, or 2. The image is copyrighted and you have received permission to use it on your space. This information must accompany your request for it to be honored. Please send the image and copyright details to Ami Dewar (dewar@us.ibm.com) and allow one to two days for the image to be available.
Consider relevant cross linkages on your page, the developerWorks site, elsewhere on
IBM.com, and beyond to non-IBM sites.
Consider writing unique content for your Featured content portlet. If you need a place to host your content,
developerWorks can set up a wiki, blog, or forum for you and can help you determine which one is best for your needs. Contact Jennette Banks (ljbanks@us.ibm.com) for wikis and blogs; Candace York (cyork@us.ibm.com) for forums. Before making your request, search the developerWorks site to see if what you have in mind already exists (and point to that to avoid duplicating efforts).
Regularly check your page for broken links and outdated material. Persistent broken links or outdated material can affect your credibility. To find broken links, we suggest using the Firefox link checker tool (download the extension from https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/532/). Open your page in a Firefox browser and go to Tools --> Check page links.
Regularly track the traffic to your space. As
space owners, you may request to receive a weekly metrics
report (showing unique visitors, page visits, and
visits) for the developerWorks spaces category. Use
Microsoft Excel's AutoFilter to view traffic for only your space:
Place your mouse cursor between columns A and B of the file, and move it to the right, widening column A to show individual URLs.
Highlight the word Global Site Spaces (cell A3) and click on Data --> Filters --> Autofilters.
Click on the downward pointing arrow in cell A2, and select Custom...
Set filters as desired in the Custom AutoFilter
dialog box, and press OK. [Note that when a
filter is set, the downward pointing arrow will be blue instead of black. Click on that arrow to change the filter.]
Below is an example of a Total Page Views
report:
The above settings produced the following results (not all are shown here):
5/13/07 (Sun)
5/13/07 (Sun)
5/13/07 (Sun)
5/14/07 (Mon)
Unique Visitors
Page Views
Visits
Unique Visitors
/www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/mashups
100
150
105
200
Consider adding tabs to your page. If you find
you're running out of room on your page, or you
want a better way to organize the content on your
space, click the Add a tab button near the top
of your page in Edit mode. Be sure to give each tab a relevant name.
Add a message board to your space. If you own a group space, a message board is a good way to get your members involved. The message board acts as a private forum for your space, accessible only to your space's members. Members can post, reply, view, and watch the threads on the message board.
Define acronyms on first occurrence unless common parlance (HTML, XML, UNIX). Along with this, try to avoid using acronyms for IBM products unless the product name is well established in the marketplace.
