Submitting Cache Up NB Content – An FYI

As Cache Up NB continues to grow, we are seeing more and more article contributions from our readers which is absolutely fantastic. I personally think it is great to see that more readers are finding interesting topics to share with our community and I am hoping to see more of this in the future.

So that having been said, there’s a couple of things everyone should know about how to submit content, what should and shouldn’t be submitted, and how to manage the articles you submit.

Managing Your Own Submissions

For starters, any user is permitted to submit a new article for publication by simply clicking the Submit Story link found on the navigation menu at the top of every page on Cache Up NB. This brings you into the article editor where you can put in a headline, and write the full article.

What you may or may not know is that if you don’t “submit” it, that article sits in a “drafts” folder until something is done with it. If you click on the “Dashboard” link (found along the right hand column of this page, where it shows your username and avatar), you’ll see along the left hand side a “posts” widget where you can click on “Posts” to see info about every post on our site. For articles you submitted, or only half finished, they can be edited by yourself so you can either retract them, or even delete them. If you start writing something and then don’t submit it, it will sit in the drafts folder forever so try and either finish off your submissions or delete them. Our editors here also periodically review the “drafts” and either contact the author and get more info, or delete them.

What Makes A Good Submission

Remember that Cache Up NB is all about sharing news, stories, and other relevant information about geocaching that folks from NB might be interested in. So that having been said, here’s a few things to keep in mind when submitting an item to be published:

• Articles should have a good length to them. Remember we are sharing news and information to our readers so whatever articles you do write should have a good amount of content in them. Single line questions, or articles with only a few sentences are really meant more for forums and not as main articles to be posted here. Try to make sure you include as much content as you can in a submission.
  • I am trying to come up with a pretty basic Q & A type of page that people can utilize without diving into a full blown forum. Suggestions are welcome on how best to handle that.
• If you are relaying/re-posting a full blown article from another site, be sure to include a reference to where the article was originally published, and include the entire article, not just snippets. Also try to include something at the beginning that is not from the original article that gives the reader a rundown on what they are about to read. Lastly, try and make sure whatever article you are sharing is relevant and interesting to cachers in NB.
• Try to space the article well. Lengthy articles that consist of one giant paragraph don’t look very nice when seen on a page. Try to find logical points within your article where you can separate various pieces by paragraph. Don’t get too obsessive about it but try and break it up a little bit.
• If you have access to images or links that are relevant to the article, try adding them into your post to add a bit of splash to it.
• Avoid posting flame bait. Articles which contain large amounts of negative commentary towards a particular cache, cacher, or other geocaching association will most likely be deleted. There’s nothing wrong with posting a commentary about a particular topic, but try to avoid pointing the finger at someone specific or turning your article into a massive rage against someone else. Cache Up NB is not a place for trolls and flame bait.
• Have fun. Geocaching is really about having fun and enjoying the sport so try and make your submissions fun and interesting. Not everyone is good at writing so if you have a really cool idea but just aren’t the writing type, pick another cacher on here who does write well and pick their brain on an article idea. You can always collaborate somehow.

Hopefully this gives folks a bit more information on how to submit and what to submit. Keep the articles coming folks.