AcuWiki began life as DIYacu.com in 2010 as a hub for self-acupuncture. Since 2015 it has received seed funding and relaunched as a fully editable wiki of acupuncture & acupressure information. Other major upgrades have been linked body maps, condition-specific forums and a ‘reputation’ system to vet and incentivise all members.

CONTENTS


HISTORY

PRINCIPLES

HOW TO USE

REPUTATION


HISTORY


AcuWiki was born from two experiences: one, of using press needles in Japan, where they are ubiquitous, and two, that which is explained in the following video, of going to a high street acupuncturist and being charged $50 for someone to hear my complaint, ask no further questions and apply four or five needles to canonical acupuncture points for the condition. Had I known which points to use, self-applied press needles would have done the same job.

 

 

PRINCIPLES


AcuWiki works in much the same way as Wikipedia and was inspired by it. As such, all content is user-generated by a mixture of enthusiasts, patients, practitioners, and the general public, with the goal of distilling the world’s acupuncture knowledge into a free resource. When editing the wiki, there are a few principles to bear in mind:

AcuWiki articles should all adhere as closely as possible to the three principles of Plain English, Evidence & Balance. Here they are in an example of bullet points:

1. Plain English. Sometimes terminology is necessary but complex jargon is a barrier to understanding and prevents the dissemination of knowledge. Keep it simple.
2. Evidence. Valid conclusions need a solid foundation of evidence. Reference cited articles / studies as much as possible and give any personal experiences sufficient context so others can weigh your testimony.
3. Balance. There are always two or more sides to every story and this should be reflected in the AcuWiki. Be aware of your biases and wear your equitability with pride.

That said, do Be Bold (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold) with your contributions and editing.

HOW TO USE


Using the site is very intuitive:

 

  1. The Article tab shows the current published article.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.38.02

 

A new article can be created using the ‘+’ button:

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.39.32

 

  1. The Edit tab allows any registered user to edit the current article.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.38.11

 

The editor itself has two modes, visual and text, which correspond to WYSIWYG and HTML respectively:

 

The visual editor will suffice for almost all purposes, including formatting, hyperlinking, inserting video links, etc. Footnotes for references can be added by using 1 tags. Images and videos can be uploaded by using the Insert Media button:

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.41.32

 

  1. The Points tab shows all points and treatments related to the articles.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.38.21

 

New treatments can be added using the ‘+’ button:

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.39.32

 

  1. The comments tab is for comment threads related to the current article.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.38.28

 

Again, a new comment is added using the ‘+’ button.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.39.32

 

  1. The People tab lists everyone who has contributed to the article.

 

Screen Shot 2016-08-12 at 12.38.39

 

This brings us on to the subject of reputation:

REPUTATION


Each user’s reputation is a measure of their contribution to the site. Reputation begins at 10 after registration and is a affected by the following factors:

 

  • 10 – User edits an article
  • 10 – User rates a treatment
  • 5 – User creates a new article
  • 5 – User rates an article
  • 5 – User adds a treatment
  • 5 – User’s treatment is rated
  • 1 – User spends $1 in the store
  • -5 – 5 – User’s article is rated (reputation according to rating)

 

Users with a reputation of over 5000 become administrators and are given additional functionality.

Footnotes