Blogging Guidelines

Please follow these guidelines when posting to this blog. (See also these additional guidelines specific to improving blog post content.)

If you are unfamiliar with the basics of how to create a blog post, refer to this guide from Google on the basics of creating, editing, or deleting a post, etc. You can also search how-to videos on Google related to the Blogger platform if you want more help.

Posts

• Title
  Be sure your post has a meaningful title, one that previews your post's content or that serves as a teaser. Poor title: "Assignment #1" or "Blog post for Sept 5." Good titles: "How Nestor Observed Decorum" or "Were the Greeks actually anti-intellectuals?" Also, your post should not simply restate a major theme from the period. "Printing changed everything." True enough. But it is already well known.
• LengthMake your post 300-400 words. This word count is important, since people often write too long when blogging. (Copy your post into something like Word Counter to be sure. If you go over 300 words, consider dividing your post with the "jump break" feature.)
• Audience and Tone.
  Write your posts as though they will be read by a general audience outside of our class. An informal tone is appropriate, but not overly so. Don't use "in speak" ("It's like what happened in class last time..."). Think of the broader audience.
• Visual Design.
  Break up the text. Use breaks between paragraphs and don't make paragraphs too long. For longer posts, use subheadings for sections of the post. 
• Include a picture toward the top that relates to the main point of your post or that (appropriately) generates interest for potential readers. However, do not spend too much time on this part, and do not violate copyright. Search for images using search.creativecommons.org. Please give attribution for using media you have not created, or seek permission from copyright holders if you are not using public domain or Creative Commons-licensed media. Put this attribution in the image caption or at the bottom of your post. (See this post with detailed instructions about finding and using creative commons-licensed content.)
• OR, Use personal visual media: a photo you've taken or an image you've crafted; a short video; a drawing; a chart.
• Consider inserting Links. As appropriate, link to other blog posts in this blog, or to other relevant sites beyond the blog. Make these meaningful.
• Consider using lists or bullet points (as I am doing here)
• Consider embedding media. Be wise about doing this so that what you include complements your words and does not detract from your message or damage your credibility. Be a little more formal than what you might casually post in everyday social media.
• Use labels (or tags). THIS IS MANDATORY. Labels will be the way by which we can easily index your posts, find specific assignments, or browse topics. Always use a label that identifies you as the author of the post, and follow this convention: "posted by Gideon B" (no quotation marks, and obviously substitute your First name and initial of last name. DO NOT capitalize "posted by"). You can add other labels that seem to fit your topic. Avoid casual, comical hashtag-type labels ("#soboring"). Separate labels by commas (this allows for multi-word labels, such as "political rhetoric, heroic speech, appeal to pathos" - etc.)

Commenting / Discussion

I've created a separate page on best practices for commenting. Please read!

Be sure to see these additional guidelines for improving posts.