How to Rate (Or Not) a Bad eHow Article

Ever read an eHow article that was just plain bad? What do you do if you're still supposed to rate it? You don't have to lie. Here's how to deal with a bad eHow article.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Wait to Rate ~ Don't lie and give the article 5 stars. Don't rush to give it a bad review and move on. If you can, take a moment to be constructive. Read the article again and try to figure out where the writer went wrong. Lazy grammar or spelling? Bad advice?

2. Private Message ~ Send the author a message. Let them know that you are eager to give their article an excellent rating as soon as they have fixed a few things they must have overlooked. Be kind and constructive with your criticism. Be as specific as possible. "It needs work" is not constructive. Let them know you will be happy to go back and rate it when they have sent you a message that changes have been made.

3. HORRIBLE Articles ~ If an article is just completely horrible and it would take more time to critique it that it took to write it, you may wish to skip it completely. If this is the case, it would be nice to send the author a list of links you think would help them improve their writing. If you still want to rate it, go ahead and be honest.

4. NO NEGATIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS!!! ~ Public comments are not the place for criticism. They will remain even if the article is fixed. The author will be embarrassed as your criticism will be available for all to view. If you need to leave a comment, but have nothing positive to say, leave a bland comment. "Interesting article" is appropriate.

Tips & Warnings

• Lying to give positive rating helps no one.
• Don't feel bad to send critiques privately. We all want to improve.
• Please be specific. Vague critiques are not helpful.
• If the author does not respond to a private message, forget about it and move on.
• NO PUBLIC NEGATIVE COMMENTS!!! You wouldn't like it if someone did it to you.

Resources

• More Articles

[jfjones]

on 4/3/2009 Good advice. This is always a sticky situation to handle.

[vallain]

on 3/27/2009 When I personal message people on eHow with suggestions for improving their article, all have responded by thanking me. they don't always implement my corrections though.

[lynnhsmomof2]

on 3/25/2009 Great advice Kate. I hope people will take it to heart. I guess you can thank the Mel"bot" for resurrecting your forum thread about this article. Your getting a lot of views due to it. 5* on the article. :)

[cadence]

on 3/25/2009 Great tips. There is a way to handle negative articles maturely, and things you should not do as well.

[joni04]

on 3/25/2009 This is the kind of thing us newbies need, to know the "right" way to do things around here!