ARTICLES
- Keep it concise – aim for half the words you’d use in a normal document. Casual language is fine. Avoid jargon and acronyms that the general public won't get.
- Make the text scannable or skimmable by highlighting/bolding key words
- Uselistswhere possible
- Write in the upside-down pyramid style: ie. give a summary at the top of the page and put the most important information first, and then provide other details lower down. Remember that the most important information should be on the top half of the page -- above the point where the reader needs to scroll down. Consider making a Table of Contents with links to the various headings.
- Provide detail lower down the page and by using links to related articles.
- Once posted, re-read the article online and edit again if necessary.
- More: http://www.gooddocuments.com/homepage/homepage.htm and http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
HEADLINES and Titles
- Keep them short and active. If necessary have two heads - a shortened one for the frong page and longer for the top of the article.
- Avoid using acronyms in the headline, particularly those that won't be easily understood e.g. OSCE, ASEAN, UNGA. Find other ways to make the point.
- Avoid using all upper-case. The system will take care of the formatting and make it so it looks similar to other content on the site.
- Remember the context: you don't need to say "ICBL is saying X" as this is on the ICBL website, so concentrate instead on what we are saying in the head. Also, make sure your head looks different to others on the news page or front page.
Selecting Heading 1 in the toolbar.
- For News Articles you have the option of a different Title for Front and a Title. The first is what will show if the article is listed on other pages, the last is what will show on top of the article itself.
- Once posted, re-read the head and adjust as necessary.
Use the Headings as provided by the system to emphasize titles within the body of the document. Always start on Heading 1 for the first level, then Heading 2 etc.
BLURBS
- Keep these short too. But if you have a pic on the front then you have a little more space so use a few more words than you would if you didn't have a pic.
- Avoid repeating words from the headline. Use the blurb to provide more information, for example answering questions: What, When, Why, Who and How.
- Once posted, re-read the blurb online and edit again if necessary.
Note that the three first articles on the front will show the full blurb that you provide, all others will have their blurb shortened to 150 characters. The full blurb will still be shown with the article in www.icbl.org/news