How To Write an Article

Submitting an article to HowToDoThings is easy. However, there are a few formatting requirements that can be a little tricky until you get the hang of the system. Below is an outline of the article submission process.

In general, before you are able to submit an article, you must have a numbered list present in the article, you must have a title entered in the title field and you must choose at least on subcategory that the article fits into.

1. REQUIRED. Click "Write an Article". You'll always see a link to the "write an article" page in the left-hand navigation whenever you're logged into the site. You'll see this link on other pages of the site as well (such as "my dashboard"), but you'll always be able to access it from the left navigation.
2. REQUIRED. Add a title. You'll see that the first two words - "How To" - of each article are already pre-populated in the article title field. This indicates where you should add the remainder of the title and serves to remind you that every article title must begin with "How To".

   Once You've added the title of your article, you can choose to add a subtitle, or move on. The subtitle field is directly below the article title field.

3. REQUIRED. Choose a category. You must select at least one subcategory that your article fits into. You'll see a list of all the categories you're approved to write in. Click on the appropriate category title to access a drop-down list of subcategories. When you've reached the lowest-level category you'll see a box next to the category title. Click on the box next to the appropriate category and a check will appear to indicate that the box has been selected.
4. Write an article summary. This is the description of your article that will appear beneath the article title when readers are browsing through a list of articles on the site. It's your chance to grab a reader's attention and get him to click on your article and read more. Please limit the article summary to two sentences, as the amount of text that is displayed beneath the article title is limited.
5. Read the instructions! If this is your first time submitting an article, PLEASE read the instructions in the article content field. They give a brief overview of our formatting guidelines. If you read and follow these rules it will save both you and us a lot of time in the future.
6. REQUIRED. Add your article content. You can either type the article directly into the article content field, or you can copy and paste your article from Word (or a similar program).

   There are a variety of tools associated with the article content field that you are welcome to use. They appear in the toolbar directly above the article content field. In another article, we provide a complete description of how to use the article toolbar. However, there is one tool that you must use: the numbered list.

   The numbered list ensures that each article is submitted in a step-by-step format. To use it, simply highlight the portion of text that you would like to include in the list (this will likely include the majority of the article) and then click on the numbered list icon in the toolbar, which has a 1, 2, 3 listed as the icon.

7. Choose a cost and difficulty. Use the cost and difficulty fields to indicate to your readers how complicated and/or expensive the "how to" process you're describing is. These are optional.
8. Author signature. The author signature allows you to add a short byline that will appear beneath your article when it's published. Click on "author signature", add a few words about your experience and link back to your personal website or blog. This is optional.
9. Add any additional notes. The "required tools", "caution" and "quick tips" fields allow you to emphasize any important points to readers and/or include additional information that didn't fit into your article. These are optional.
10. Useful Links. Add the title of your link (what you want the hyperlink to appear as) in the "useful link title" field, then add the corresponding URL (including "http://www.") to the field directly below. If you'd like to add more than two links, you can save your article, open it again for editing and more fields will appear.
11. REQUIRED. Submit your article. In order to submit your article for review, you'll need to change your article's status from "draft" to "final" before clicking the "Submit" button. If you keep your article as a "draft", it is saved in your dashboard, but not submitted to the editors. Once submitted, you won't be able to edit your article, so make sure that it's complete before submitting it.