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Resources for ALI Main Site and Committee Guides: Committee Blogs

Because individual ALI committee pages are now set up as separate Guides in SpringShare's system, each ALI committee has the ability to set up and run a blog. These blog pages will appear as tabs/pages on the Guides to which they belong, and will not be automatically syndicated to the ALI site homepage.

If your committee would like to use the blogging option as a way to share news, please follow the guidelines and use the resources provided here, and make sure to notify the Webmaster (especially if you would like any of your blog content shared through the homepage news feed).

Blogging Basics

Basic Blog Rules

The basic rules for running a blog on your committee Guide page are obviously quite similar to the rules for your Guide as a whole, with a few additions.

  • Plan to update frequently and on a regular schedule, if possible. As a rule, blogs that post substantive content more frequently (or at least more regularly) earn more reliable engagement. This will require some planning ahead on your part, and deliberate management.
  • Create friendly URLs for your blog itself and for individual posts. Note that the system will automatically use the post title as a URL source, and you may want to shorten it in order to keep the URL easily usable.
  • Proofread and spell check before posting, please.
  • Upload copyright-free images only (i.e. either in the public domain or shared under an appropriate Creative Commons license).
  • Optimize or embed images (e.g. Flickr) to preserve space and minimize loading time. This goes for graphics (event posters, etc.) as well as photographs, memes, etc. See the main Site Management and Style tab on this guide for helpful image management resources.
  • Add alt-text for all images.
  • Organize text using headers, formatted lists, etc. for easier reading and accessibility.   
  • Use Arial 14 for body text. It’s easier on the eyes.

Content Guidelines and Main Page Sharing

Content Guidelines

  • Please use your committee blog only for ALI-related content. Ideally, your blog should be focused on event announcements, news, resources, and discussion topics specifically relevant to the work of your committee. Your communication represents the organization, and should not stake out personal positions or institutional commitments beyond ALI's scope.
  • Keep your tone and content professional. While a certain amount of creative fun is fine, remember your audience. Your committee's blog should remain consistent with the mission of ALI, and ought to represent the profession well both to ALI's own members and to others.
  • Please use the Teaser option. This provides a brief preview for sharing purposes.
  • If you use Tags for your blog, be sure to develop and maintain a controlled vocabulary/tag list. While the use of tags is not necessary, site style requires them to be clear and consistent if they are used. 

 

Sharing Your Content

  • Please set your blog up to share automatically on ALI's social media. How? Reach out to the Webmaster, and we'll get you set up to share on ALI's Twitter and Facebook.
  • If you have items you want shared on the ALI Homepage news feed, please notify the Webmaster. Email the post's friendly URL and a copy of its teaser copy to the Webmaster in order for your post to appear in the news feed.