What content will be useful to write on a page on Red Planet Travel

The idea behind Red Planet Travel is for the community hierarchy to write, receive and process travel information in such as way that the most important facts and information are presented to the right travellers as quickly as possible on any page.

Who should be reading this?

Advanced members of our community and people who own/operate places where travellers go.  If you are just starting out at Red Planet Travel read our page writing reviews and using page drop boxes.

As a member of the community your Reputation Score will increase (or you may manage/own a place where travellers go like a hotel or attractions which you will have a special interest in) and then you can assist in this process.

Over time this data can be collated and the most important information extracted for these sources as well as information know or collected by the people who choose to have some sort of title or relationship with a page.  See Page Captain, Page Crewmembers.

Information Gathering

It is useful to systematically consider the information required to provide a complete picture of the place for all possible visitors.

Journalism students, police and researchers are taught to use the 5 Ws (who, where, what, when, why) and at Red Planet Travel we like to add the 'how', in basic information gathering.

If you apply these questions to both the place you are documenting and to all user groups (e.g. kids to senior citizens, singles, couples, fit or disabled), you will be able to create a comprehensive guide.

  The Place  Red Planet Travel Visitors 
  - example questions - example questions
WHO Who built it? Who repaired it? Who owns it? Who comes here? Consider from babies, kids, teens, 20s, couples, families, elderly, are they fitness addicts to those with some disabilities?
WHERE Where is it? What is it nearby? Where do people that come here come from?
WHAT What exactly is it? Including related information e.g. what is nearby? What does it cost to visit this place?
WHEN When was it built? Historical information, present state and future plans? When do people come here e.g. when should I visit; time of day, time of year? Any meterological or atmospheric considerations? Social considerations e.g. School Holidays or Festivals?
WHY Why it is here? Why was it concieved? Why should people come visit it?
HOW How was made? How to visit it?  

You are not expected to be able to create a page with all this information immediately. It is an iterative process; as more information is thought about, and more contributions from others are received the page will build over time.  

Things change too; prices change, buildings are constructed and demolished - so our pages need to be constantly reviewed and updated.

Page Structure

Each page on Red Planet Travel has Page Sections and Tags that can be added and edited.

Page Sections

Page Sections are paragraphs of texts that break down information about a place and it's features into short easily readable chunks.

 

Tags

Tags are keyword searchable topics that allow visitors to filter very quickly places and activities that interest them and their group;  for example a user could filter a restaurant, with a good view that serves English Food, and has a play area for his kids.

You can search for tags on every place page.  Use the Destinations search at the top of every page to find places.

Worked Example

This is example we look at the page for the art work and platform of the Mirador de Roc del Quer in Andorra

The Mirador is a work of art that you can actually use; it is at the end of a short walk located above the village of Canillo in Andorra.

The page is to be read by people thinking about going to see it.  So we need to build information relevant to them into the page.

This comes from Red Planetters experience of the place; and supplemented information from reviews and from drop box submissions as we've seen.

By using "the place" and "visitors" columns in the Information Gathering table above we can work through all "angles" and produce a comprehensive information page.

- WHO row/The Place column: "Who built it? Who repaired it? Who owns it?" 

We can see this is covered by the sentence:  "..the platform and bronze relaxing man by Argentine Miguel Ángel González..."

- WHO row/Red Planet Travel Visitors: "Who comes here?" 

This is covered by the sentence: "..Perfect for a morning or afternoon stroll for young and old: 5/10 mins walk from the car park - get a fantastic view of the Canillo valley.."

We can continue for the WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, WHY & HOW....   

As you see this gives a systematic way to discover useful information.

Review & Drop box Processing

As a Page Captain, Page Crewmember, Page Location Owner, or Section Editor your task is to maintain the page with updated information.  Travellers will send in snippets of information, and Red Planetters will write reviews.

You can use this information flow to update pages about places you know about without having to visit them and experience it for yourself.  People with different perspectives will also send information in to the system which will allow you to update the page with relevant facts for others with their status.

Please read this page for instructions on how to update the page with data supplied in page drop boxes and reviews.