Submitting an Article for Publication – Revised 11-27-17

After you log in, you’ll see a “+ New” item on the top menu; hover over that, and select “New Post.”

Note Highlighted Text: These are new or updated.

The first time you post, you may want to set up your posting page. See “Screen Options” at the top-right of the page. Make sure the following options are checked: Suggested Tags, Categories, Tags, Featured Image, Excerpt, Sahifa Options (reviews only). Reminder: Every article MUST have a Featured Image, and all except very short articles should also have an image (preferably a different one) inserted in the text. Please make sure you provide “alt text” tags for your images. Just describe it with a couple of key tags. It will help Google find your articles better.

HEADLINE, BODY, EXCERPT
Include your headline on the top line where it says “Enter title here.” For the Title, Use Title Case (as in This Sentence) – Capitalizing the Major Words. Include the body of your article and any images in the main edit area, and a subhead in the Excerpt field. If you do not see the excerpt field below the article, toggle it “on” in screen options at the top of the page.

TAGS, FEATURED IMAGE
Use the “Set featured image” tool to assign the featured image for your article. The ideal image size for the Blogcritics Top Story rotator is 600 pixels wide by 270 pixels high. Any image that’s roughly that shape can be sized properly by the system – think the shape of a movie screen.

Add tags by selecting from the “Suggested Tags” area, or by manually inserting them in the “Tags (Simple Tags)” area. Tags are words or phrases for which a web search should find your article. For example, if it’s a movie review, the movie title, director, and stars are good tags, and possibly a genre term like “horror movie.” Generic terms like “movie” and “review” are NOT suitable tags. We have set up Zemanta Tags for your convenience in finding suitable tags. Do not overload your piece with tags. Keep it to a reasonable number – maximum 10 or so.

CATEGORY

Assign your article to the proper category (or categories) using the “Categories” field; check the box for the appropriate section (Music, TV, etc.). Select the broad category as well as any applicable sub-categories, including genre, etc. Select only ONE main category.

Star Ratings for Reviews (NEW)

If your article is a review, you may place a star rating box at the head of your piece. Under “Sahifa Options” below the editing space, choose “review post options.” (This is completely optional.)

Select “Review Post Position” and place the box at the top of the article
Select “Review Style”: Stars.
Click on: Add New Review Critieria: You will see a box come up to rate the item: 20=1 star, 33=2 stars, 66=3 stars, etc. So a “50%” would be 2.5 stars. Rate the item. In the box that asks for text, type in “Reviewer’s Rating.”
Type or copy a one-sentence summary of your review (could be the excerpt).

SUBMISSION
Once the article is ready to be submitted to an editor, change the status from “Draft” to “Pending Review,” and click the “Save as Pending” button at the top of that field.

MORE
To learn more about WordPress and how to use the publishing platform, visit this link.