The LXer Article/Story Submission How-To

Forum: LXer Meta ForumTotal Replies: 4
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dcparris

May 16, 2006
4:03 PM EDT 		Many of our readers find interesting stories on other sites that we might want to link to here at LXer. Others desire to write insightful - or sometimes, inciteful - editorials, tutorials, and other articles to be published through LXer.

You can use the "Publish it here." link to submit stories. Before you go "hog wild", though, please take a moment to check out these instructions. We have tried to make the form as simple as possible, but it still may not be completely intuitive.

If you are interested in publishing an original article (that is, written by you), you may want to request our article template to help you format your article. It could save you a minute or two if you already know HTML, and might be a big help if you don't.

Here's how to use the Story Submission form:

  • Headline - The actual headline for the story (self explanatory, no?)


  • Source - e.g., LXer, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Oklahoma Gazette, C|Net, etc.


  • Author - The author's name, if known - for Press Release, just put "Press Release"


  • Link to external article - Paste the URL for an article published on another website (doesn't apply if it's your article that you are posting on LXer)


  • Lead - Provide a little blurb about the story to get readers' attention. Sometimes the story may have such a blurb, or you can use the first paragraph. You can also make up your own.


  • Body - The body of the article goes here, but only if you're publishing the article yourself. If the article is published on another website, you should just leave the body section blank. Otherwise, make sure you use good html to section off your article. If your article is a lengthy one, consider adding sub-headings - (h3) - for readability. Request our template.


  • Groups - Select the group you think is most applicable. If you don't see a good match, just leave the Groups empty.


  • Category - Not everything is a news story, so choose the story type you think it is.


  • Preview & Add News Item - Please Preview any original articles before clicking the "Add News Item" button. As long as you click "Preview", you can keep editing your article. Once you click "Add News Item", you have no opportunity for further editing or review. Your article is in our hands at that point.


    • I highly recommend you use the Preview feature to check articles you are publishing through LXer. We generally fix problems when we find them, but you really should make sure your story appears as you want it, because our editing may not suit your taste.

    That's how you submit an article! You should take note that we are not required to publish an article just because you submitted it. Many of the articles that come through our news queue never make it to the newswire. Duplicate posts are just one example of many things that could prevent your article from being published. That said, if you have a question, please feel free to e-mail the editorial team.

    And don't forget the main thing - Have fun!
    Scott_Ruecker

    May 20, 2006
    11:51 AM EDT     		Also,

    When submitting an article please do not copy and paste the entire article into the body field. Re-publishing an article without permission is very bad, as in against the law.

    Only provide a small lead, not the entire article. Make sure you preview the article as well. Not checking to look for spelling errors has gotten me many times. I learned. :-)

    Hope this helps.
    grouch

    May 20, 2006
    1:08 PM EDT     		This should be linked from the story submission form, and as a permanent link on the side.
    ozar

    May 21, 2006
    9:39 AM EDT     		I've gotta agree with grouch - I submitted my first story about an hour ago, but just now found this helpful Submission HowTo. :-)
    wjl

    Jul 28, 2006
    1:17 AM EDT     		Hmmm I just had an issue with myself:

    Being *not* a native english speaker, I had one of those errors where I mixed "its" and "it's". I detected it *after* I submitted the whole thing, so my question - which isn't answered in this howto AFAIK - would be:

    Can I still edit my post while it's in your waiting queue?

    Thanks, wjl
    dcparris

    Jul 28, 2006
    5:37 AM EDT     		You don't have access to the queues, but you can always send an e-mail to the editors _at_ lxer.com.

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