by C.V.Rajan

Created on: April 11, 2009   Last Updated: May 04, 2009

Presence of multiple articles under same title and the need for rating to sort them based on quality is the unique feature of Helium. Every Helium member is expected to rate articles written by others so that qualitatively, better written articles are ranked up for the benefit of readers who hunt for information in Helium.

Let us first consider rating of two different (not-leapfrogged) articles.

== Priority No.1 : Value (Worth of the Content) ==

Of a pair of articles presented to you for rating, Helium expects you judge which article has got "better value" over the other and to vote that article up. Helium has also given a 3-point scale "slightly more", "more" and "by far" for you to stamp your judgment.

So, the prime consideration is "value" of the article. In value, the following are to be considered by you:

* which article out of the two gives you more and better information?

* which one, according to you, looks more factual and authentic?

* which one does full justice to the title?

* which one is written in a style that is easy to read, easy to grasp and easy to retain? This is valid for rating creative writing too.

* which one is consistently retains your interest right through (i.e. not boring)? This is valid for rating creative writing too.

Based on the above criteria, you can rate one article better over the other appropriately.

== Priority No.2: Quality of Presentation and Quality of Language ==

In addition to "value", we must also consider "quality of presentation" of the article. Under this, taking for granted that both the articles are equally good (or at least comparable in their values) and that both are written basically in good English free of grammatical mistakes, typos and punctuation errors, we must now give weightage to the following:

* Which one is presented pleasing to the eye and also in a format best suited for Internet readers?

This aspect includes use of small paragraphs, use of reasonably simple writing style (i.e. not using too long-winding and pompous sentence structures, not using all-caps etc), use of sub-headings, numbered lists, bullet lists etc

All other things being equal, the article that scores over the other on the above criterion deserves to be rated better.

How to Deal with "Quality of Presentation" and "Quality of English" issues?

In good quality of presentation, you must consider absence of the following:

* Too large paragraphs

* Word count less than 400 (other than Recipes and Market place articles specifying lesser word count)

* Use

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