Composing a Post in TypePad for Handshake 2.0

We're looking forward to you using TypePad for Handshake 2.0.  You have been invited to have TypePad's Junior Author status.

For questions related to posting content to TypePad, please see TypePad's Support Knowledge Base.

From the top of the TypePad toolbar, from the Blogs dropdown menu, select Handshake 2.0. (Please click the image for a larger view.)

Each post a person writes is essentially a section of code that goes into a larger software program.  If we write bad code, we mess up the whole program.

To create "good code," text posted to TypePad must be in plain text. 

Here's the process we recommend to make that happen.

• Compose in Word and use Word's spell check and grammar check tools to assist with editing.
• Copy the text, open Notepad, then paste the text into Notepad which strips it of Word's formatting.
• De-select the text.
• Select the text in NotePad - which is now stripped, format-free text - copy it, and paste that into TypePad.
• Add the links by opening another browser window, find the desired site, copy its URL, highlight the text to link in TypePad, then click on the link icon (two links in a chain).  This opens a dialog box into which to paste the URL.
• Follow the same procedure for text used from e-mails or to be quoted and cited from other Web sites.
• Once you've finished the post, click the "HTML" tab and scan the code for any problems.  If you see anything looking like <span> or <font>, that's a problem and means something you're doing is adding "bad code" and not stripping the format.  The only way to correct it is to start over.

From TypePad's KnowledgeBase:
 
"Copying and pasting from other applications such as Word can generate error messages in TypePad, cause validation errors in your weblog and prevent your selected theme from appearing as intended. When pasting in content composed in a different application, the format used by the other application merges with the format TypePad uses. This merging can cause errors in the TypePad application and prevent spellcheck from working correctly. This also adds unnecessary code into your weblog posts, thus causing validation errors."  Here are the technical details.  Format from other programs can also interfere with feeds.

VERY IMPORTANT

Once you've uploaded your text to a post and saved it, please, please do not open the post again.  We edit the post, finalize the format, and add an image.  If you open the post again, the editing, the format, and the image are removed.  We have to start all over again.  Please do not open or change the post once you have completed your work and saved it for the final time.  Please email us any corrections or additions. 

Format

Other than bullet points if the content calls for it, please add no format - such as bold, underline, or italics - to your post.

Space and Time

Remember that space online is absolute, not relative.  Please include state names with towns or cities.  Sometimes names of nations are needed.  This helps users orient themselves to the "where" of your post and helps us and our clients with search engine results and listings.

Remember that time online is absolute, not relative.  "For two weeks" has no meaning if, a year from now, someone uses a search engine to look up information about "Roanoke Regional Airport" and a Handshake 2.0 post from six months ago is in the listings.  Most people won't scrutinize the date and time of posting.  Please include month, date, and year in posts that refer to time.

Typography

Instead of dashes, use space + hypen + space. 

Even though "services—represented" is correct, online, it ends up a very long term and breaks the flow of the text for both our site and for site that might want to copy and paste the line to quote it.  Symbols can also be transformed into a string of characters that look like swear words in cartoons, so the more plain text in the post, the better.

Byline

Please include your one- to two-sentence byline at the bottom of the post.  Please link the first use of your name to your LinkedIn Public Profile URL.  Feel free to include a link or links to your other sites.  Please word the byline as a brief, factual biography rather than as a pitch.

Handshake 2.0 As a Narrative

When natural and possible, please link text within your posts to other Handshake 2.0 posts. To see if a post related to the one you are writing exists on Handshake 2.0, please search for terms in the Google search box on the home page of Handshake 2.0.  When the posts on Handshake 2.0 interlink and refer to each other, this contributes to Handshake 2.0 existing as an unfolding story, or narrative, about business news, company leaders, news, products, and services, and business principles and best practices.

Style

A business blog post a) uses the particular to address the universal, b) informs, entertains, and/or moves the reader, and c) does so with art and craft.

The following checklist may be helpful.

A business blog post contains these strengths:

_____ Creative, keyword-rich title
_____ Specific, concrete words and details (“show, don't tell” style, specific nouns, active or "power" verbs, figurative language)
_____ Effective use of hook, lead, or in medias res opening
_____ Effective development of narrative
_____ Transitions between sentences and between sections to aid the reader's understanding of related points and ideas
_____ Effective development of narrative
_____ Voice:  Reader believes that the writer is in charge of the piece.

Mechanics
_____ Correct grammar, verb tense and number agreement, punctuation, use of comma
_____ Correct tense for quotes.  For interviews, past tense:  "It's a phenomenon," Jim Smith said. 
_____ Correct use of semi-colon (extra strength for no use of semi-colon)
_____ Correct spelling of each individual's name
_____ Correct spelling, capitalization, and spacing of company name (company's preference is usually expressed typographically on its "About" page)

The post contains none of these errors:

_____ Abbreviations (U.S., etc., govt.)
_____ Indefinite references  (There is…, There are…, It is..., It was…)
_____ Contractions (if the writing is formal)
_____ Inappropriate use of 1st and/or 2nd person
_____ Qualified statements
_____ Informal/conversational tone or word choice
_____ Verb tense shifts
_____ Slang, idiomatic expressions, clichés
_____ Trite words or phrases
_____ General, vague or elementary vocabulary
_____ Awkward and/or wordy phrasing
_____ Rhetorical questions rather than statements
_____ Sentences ending in prepositions
_____ Incorrect use of subjunctive
_____ Passive verbs
_____ Unnecessary words ("waste" words) - "Is every word doing new work?"  --William Zinsser

For a review of the greater context for writing for Handshake 2.0, please see our Definition of a Handshake 2.0 Blog Post.

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Thank you for helping us create outstanding content for Handshake 2.0.

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contact@handshake20.com

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