Has It Been Posted Before?
Before you post an item, please:
1. Search for the post
Search for the post using the search bar (either in the blog or the Dashboard):
2. Browse All Post
In the Dashboard, select "Browse All" from the "Post"
dropdown menu. You'll see:
This displays all posts on Neatorama. Bolded posts mean that they're
not yet published. The posts with the "QU" next to them are
queued to be posted every hour (every half hour in the morning). The scheduled
posting times are listed to the left.
If you're curious, "SC" means scheduled, "ST" means
staggered (this type of post is reserved for NeatoShop product posts),
and "DR" means draft.
You can click on the post title to open it in a new tab. Please go ahead
and browse through these yet-to-be-published posts
3. Draft Posts
It's a good idea to browse the Draft Posts from time to time, so you
don't accidentally work on a post that another author has already been
working on.
Step-by-Step Posting Instructions
1. Blog Channel Selection
Depending on your author-level permission, NeatoCMS allows you to post
to the main blog, a specific channel (e.g. our Halloween
channel, our kids channel NeatoBambino,
and our wide-format channel Spotlight),
or both.
The first step is to determine where you'd like to publish the post.
Check the checkbox "Post to Main Neatorama Blog" or select the
specific channel from the dropdown menu. If you do both, then the post
will be published at both locations.
2. Title
Descriptive title works best, as they tend to generate longtail
traffic. For example, "Toilet
Paper Ads" work better than "You Advertise on What?!"
Even though the latter may bring in higher short-term traffic from people
who curiously click on it from their RSS reader, the former will generate
higher overall traffic from longtail searches. While there's no absolute
requirement to choose one form of title over the other, when in doubt,
it's best to use a descriptive title.
Note that this doesn't mean the title has to be boring. On the contrary,
you can combine the use of descriptive keywords and wit to create
the perfect title.
3. Permalink
As you type, the permalink field will be automatically populated. This
is part of the URL of the post. There is no need to enter this field manually.
NeatoCMS has two ways to write the post body for most authors, Form Editor
and Visual Editor. Either way works, but they're not interchangeable.
If you write a post using the Form Editor, you can only edit it in that
editor and vice versa.
Let's take the first method:
4A. Post Body using the Form Editor
This is the simplest way to generate a typical Neatorama post:
Note that linebreaks will be preserved, for example:
Image
You can either provide the image URL or upload an image from your computer.
If the image is approximately 200 pixels, the system will automatically
size it to 150 pixels wide. If the image is larger than 600 pixels wide,
the system will automatically shrink it to 600 pixels wide.
Video
Select the "Video" tab, then simply input the video URL you'd
like to embed.
Proceed to input the Original Link, via links and photographer credit,
if any.
While the Form Editor is straightforward, you may want to write the post
in the Visual Editor which provides more flexibility.
4B Write a Post using the Visual Editor
Image
Please include an image with your post. Neatorama uses two types of images:
a 150-pixel wide left-aligned thumbnail and a large centered image. The
maximum width of the image is 600 pixels wide.
Inserting an image using the Visual Editor involves uploading the image
by clicking the "Choose File" button at the bottom fo the editor.
Then, after you uploaded the image, select it on the Visual Editor by
clicking on it, then press the "align left" or "center"
button.
Embedding Video Clips
It's very simple to embed YouTube or vimeo clips. All you have to do
is put the video clip URL between brackets. For example:
5. Tags
Tags is now the primary method of categorizing posts on Neatorama and
its channels. (We no longer use categories).
It's important to include tags that are not overly broad. For example,
"science" is too broad, but "nanotechnology," "robotics,"
and "chemistry" are good tags.
Tags can also be useful in grouping similar posts (e.g. "art with
unusual medium," "stupid criminal" or "unusual laws"),
identify posts of artworks by a particular artist (we use the artist's
name), or location (e.g. "Florida," a state filled with unusual
things.)
Then, you can reference the series of post by the tag URL. For example:
"We've seen several of Vincent Van Gogh's art on Neatorama"
and you can linkify the name with http://www.neatorama.com/tag/Vincent-Van-Gogh.
6. Related Links
Enter a search term and press "Search" to find related Neatorama
posts and NeatoShop items. For example, search for the term "Star
Wars":
Select the posts and items you'd like. You can find more items by clicking
the links at the end of the search results, or search for more terms (simply
erase the original "Star Wars" and enter a new search term.
The checked posts will be remembered).
When you have the post, the Related Links will be displayed at the bottom
of the post:
7. Image Gallery
Image gallery lets you display a lot of images without taking a lot of
space. Here's how to start:
Click "Add Gallery," then click "Gallery 1."
Click "Add Another Image" - You can either paste an image URL
or upload a file, and add a caption text.
Insert as many images you'd like by clicking "Add Another Image."
In the example above, we've inserted 7 images along with their captions
into the gallery.
In the body, insert the gallery with this tag: <!--gallery(1)-->
and this is what you'll get:
Note that you can add as many galleries as you'd like. In the example
post above, ParaNorman
Mystery Box, we inserted 3 galleries and a total of 37 photos.
8. Poll
Adding a poll to a post is a great way to increase interaction. It's
easy to insert a poll: Click on the poll link, then fill in the poll question
and answers.
You can rearrange the list order of the answers by dragging the
icon with your mouse up or down.
9. Publish Option
Now you're ready to post! In the top right-hand column, there are several
post publishing options:
Hourly Publish Queue is the default option. Your post
will be queued for automatic posting every hour (every half hour in the
morning). This method allows us to regulate the blog's posting schedule
more easily. You can see the Queue in Dashboard > Posts > Browse
All > Queued
Note that you can rearrange the listing order of the queue by selecting
the drag-and-drop icon and moving the post up or down (The bottom-most
post is first in line to be posted). The new post order will be automatically
saved.
Banked - These are saved posts that are ready to be
published during those "lean times" when we just can't seem
to find things to post. Obviously, banked posts are not suitable for time-sensitive
materials.
Save as Draft - Select this if you want to save it as
a draft. Note that all other publishing options require you to complete
the Blog Channel Selection, Title, and other required fields. Save as
Draft does not require you to do so. You can save an incomplete post.
Publish Immediately - Got a hot post? Publish it immediately
with this option.
Staggered Queue - This is used exclusively for NeatoShop
product posts (it inserts a NeatoShop posts every 10 regular posts on
Neatorama). Please do not use this option.
Scheduled Date/Time - You can schedule a post to be
published at a specific date and time in the future. The current server
time (PST) is displayed as a reference.
Discarded - Use this to discard a post you don't want.
Editing a Post
In order to edit a post, either one that is already published or saved
in draft form, simply click the
icon. You will find this icon next to the post you authored in Dashboard
> All Posts:
or in the post itself (the Edit icon will not be visible to regular readers
or other authors):