Titles of posts: except for the first word, capitalize proper nouns only.
Tags: if you type slowly enough, WordPress will suggest a tag; if it’s what you want, or close to what you want, select it. If you really need a new tag, by all means make one. But let’s try not to create overlapping or marginally useful tags. Also, as with post titles, let’s keep them lower-case except for proper nouns. When tagging conference posts, let’s use the name of the city (e.g., “Philadelphia”); no need to add a tag like “conference” or “NSTA conference,” since there’s a category with that name.
Category: don’t forget to pick one! Otherwise your new post ends up in “X, Y, and Z,” which is a sort of catch basin that we need to clean out when something falls in it.
Bullet lists: use the bullet list tool.
Numbered lists: use the numbered list tool.
Long posts: you can break them at an appropriate spot with the break tool (just to the right of the link buttons). Let’s try and keep the blog home page a reasonable length.
Underlining: please avoid. Use other formatting (heading 2, heading 3, etc.) instead.
Dashes: for a long dash (“em-dash”), type three hyphens; for a short dash (“en-dash”)—used for ranges of numbers, dates, etc.—use two hyphens. WordPress will automatically convert them.
Photos: you can upload photos for storage on NSTA’s server or you can use a link to photos hosted elsewhere. In either case, you can adjust the positioning using the options in the editing tool. If you want to add space around the photo, or a border, you can do it under Advanced Settings. A 1-pixel border can help the photo stand out nicely in the post. These are two photo-placement settings I often use—the code goes in the “Styles” box on the Advanced Settings screen (“#666″ is a shade of gray):
- border: 1px solid #666; margin-left: 9px; [for a photo placed to the right]
- border: 1px solid #666; margin-right: 9px; [for a photo placed to the left]
If you have a question about how to format something in WordPress, or want to learn more, or have a suggestion, send Tim Weber an e-mail.
More to come …
