Writing Articles

You are able to write and submit articles for publication. If your article is accepted and published, it will appear on the Home page until it is cycled off by the publication of newer articles.

You may quote articles written by other authors, provided you quote and link to your source(s) and give the original author(s) full credit. Claiming another author's work as your own constitutes plagiarism, which is punishable by law. You alone will be held accountable for the content of your article.

In the Write Article screen, your name and email address appear first. These identifiers are not editable, however I have enabled a privacy feature, which will protect your actual email address from appearing on the article when it is published.

The next element of composing an article is the Category under which it will be published. Click the down-arrow next to the "Category" field to view the entire list of available categories. Select the one that is best suited to convey the tone and content of your article.

In the "Subject:" field, give your article an appropriate "Headline", remembering to keep it short and compelling. A good Headline will grab a visitor's attention and make them want to learn more about the subject matter.

Finally, enter the actual text of the article. You may make full use of UBBC Tags and Smilies to enrich the article and make it visually appealing and easy to read.

If you don't see the UBBC and Smilies legend under the Text box in this screen, you may be able to activate it by going into the Edit Profile screen and clicking a check-mark in the box that reads "Forum/Articles Legend". This option will appear at the bottom of your Profile screen if the site administrator has made the use of UBBC Tags and Smilies available. Make sure to click the Edit Profile button to save your change(s). The UBBC Tags and Smilies are available to you, it's fun and easy. It's worthwhile to learn how to use them. You can access a help file for UBBC tags, and a help file for using Smilies by clicking the menu at the left of this page.

When you are satisfied with the content of your article, click the Send Message button at the bottom of the screen. The person responsible for the site's topics will review your article and may edit spelling, grammar, punctuation or certain words to make the article suitable for the site's intended audience. By submitting an article for publication, you agree to allow it to be edited in this way by the site's publisher.

If your article is accepted for publication, it will appear on the Home page of the site until enough new articles are published to cycle it off the page. However, it will still be viewable and searchable by members until the site administrator archives it permanently.

HELPFUL HINT: It may be easier for you to enter the content of your article in a text editor such as Notepad prior to putting it into the Text box area in the Write Article screen. Using this method, you can comfortably check spelling, punctuation, and links to sources and authors quoted. If you take this approach, just copy and paste the finished article into the Text box area of the Write Article screen.