How to Use the Associated Content Publishing Template

This article will explain how to publish written articles (not audio or video) on Associated Content. After reading this you will know the basics of the Associated Content publishing template. You will also have answers to some of the more common questions about the Associated Content publishing templates.

General Information
The various templates are accessed by pressing the "Publish" tab near the top of any Associated Content page. The resulting page will present several choices, but most are very similar. Choose a template that best fits your article. If you are not sure which template to choose, select the "General Article" template. You will be given an opportunity to select an appropriate library section on page 3 of the template.

Every field of the template forms includes a "?" icon to the right of the field title. This is the help icon. If you are unsure or just curious about what the field is, click the "?" icon. A separate window will open with help for that field. Many questions that you may have are answered in the help sections.

Template Overview
Most of the templates consist of 5 pages.

1. Exclusive/Non-exclusive. Pay/No-Pay
   
2. Headline/sub-heading/abstract/article
   
3. Highlights/factoid/supporting links/category
   
4. Photo
   
5. Preview & publish

Each page has a "save" and/or a "save/next" button at the bottom except page 5. Use those buttons to navigate through the pages. Do not use your browser's backward and forward buttons. You'll lose changes.

You can stop at any page short of pressing the "Publish" button on page 5 and your article will be saved, but not published. It will be listed as "Incomplete" on your My Content page. You may return to any unpublished article by clicking the "e" icon to the left of the article title on the Content page. Step back through the template pages using the "save/next" button after making your edits.

Page 1: How would you like this published?
Here you select from two choices.

1. Are you publishing this exclusively to AC or not?
   
2. Are you submitting this for payment consideration?

The difference between exclusive and non-exclusive is explained in the help section of the template. Basically, exclusive means you haven't published this elsewhere and do not intend to. You assign full rights to AC to use your articles as they see fit. Non-exclusive means you reserve the rights to your article though AC can still do pretty much what they want with their copy. Exclusive submissions tend to get slightly higher monetary offers.

The second selection is "This content is being submitted for payment consideration." Your choices are yes or no. Yes will put your article in queue for an Associated Content manager to review. If they feel your article meets their needs, they will extend an offer. If not, they will reject your article, but usually suggest you submit it for free. If you select no, your article will publish immediately* upon completion of the template. Selecting no does not prohibit your article from making money under the page view bonus program.

You may select any combination of Exclusive/Non-exclusive and Pay/No-Pay. However, the question often asked is "Why would you choose exclusive and no-pay?" The simple answer is "Don't." If you are not being paid up front don't give your article away. Of course, AC may devise some scheme in the future that entices this combination, but until they do, don't do it.

Not all templates provide a payment option. If none of your templates offer a payment option (e.g. General Article), you probably have set your country to something other than United States in your CP profile.

Page 2: Your article
This is where you will input the text of your article. There are four areas to fill out on this page. All are required fields. There is also one important button. Before you start filling out page 2, consider whether you want to use the on-line editor. If you switch edit modes all of your changes will be lost.

Turning the editor on provides you with a tool bar to apply bold, italics and other formats. Don't bother using the formatting features of your word processing software. They won't translate into the template. Save your formatting activities for after your text is entered.

Turning the editor off allows you to input text or html code directly. Keep your html simple. AC article bodies must not contain images. Use only the basics tags such as bold (b or strong), italics (i or em), and underline (u). Do not use anchor/href tags in your article. The AC interlinking parser may interrupt your intentions based on AC's own keywords. The purpose of this primer is not to explain everything about AC so trust me on this and don't try to create links inside your article.

Headline
This will be the title of your article. Good headlines contain words that convey the article topic and are easily found by search engines. Include you keyword/phrase in the headline.

Subtitle
The subtitle is only displayed when the full article is on screen. You may use it to expound the headline or just have some fun.

Abstract
This area is for a two or three sentence synopsis of your article. The abstract will display along with your headline where ever your article is listed on AC. Write your abstract so that is explains your article and makes a human want to read it.

Article
Other than the precautions above, you have a few choices for entering your article text. You may type directly into the form. Some prefer that. Most write their articles off-line and copy/paste the text into the template. It is strongly recommended that you use a plain text source to paste text into the template.

Word processing software uses many proprietary codes to which the internet does not respond well. Copying and pasting directly from Microsoft Word or other similar software can introduce strange codes that create unexpected results. It is best to paste your article into a plain-text editor like Notepad first. Then copy the text again and paste it into the template. AC does provide a pop-up box (if you aren't blocking pop-ups on your end) that tries to clean up MS Word documents, but it doesn't do the best of jobs.

Page 3: Highlights/factoid/supporting links/category
These sections display around your article, but not inside the body. Everything on page 3 is an optional entry except the category selection.

Highlights
They are used for quick points or takeaways. Put the topical points or themes from your article here. You are limited to 100 characters so keep it brief. I typed "This is my first highlight" in the first field of the template. You can see the results to the left in the box labeled "Takeaways."

Factoid
This section is labeled "Engaging or interesting fact." It can be used for a "related fact, interesting quote from your content or humorous trivia." You have much more room to enter text here. Don't try to re-write your article. Just provide an engaging highlight.

Supporting Links
In these three fields you may enter your reference resources. You are limited to 120 characters. One nice feature about the supporting links is that you can make them live, clickable hyperlinks. You must use the standard html anchor tag with the href feature. You can find an example of how to create a hyperlink by clicking on the first resource at the bottom of this article labeled "How to create a link."

Category
This brings us to the only required entry on page 3, selection of a category for your article. The categories listed match the library sections of the Associated Content web site. You may choose up to 5 categories by holding down the "ctrl" key while selecting from the list. Mac users can do the same by holding down the mythical cmd or apple key. (It's been years since I used a Mac so you're on your own.)

Page 4: Upload a photo
Here you may upload pictures from your computer to illustrate your article. You may upload up to 5 photos. Each will display as readers turn the pages of your article. A separate navigation icon is provided for viewing pictures. This is handy if your article turns out to have fewer pages than pictures.

Be sure to credit your pictures correctly. Even if they are "free use" photos, you must still credit the photographer. You may also provide captions in the area to the right. Photos are optional, but give your article more eye appeal.

Once you've completed uploading a photo or not, press the "Finish and Preview" button.

Page 5: Ready to publish
Here you are given the opportunity to preview how your article will look when published. There are place holders for the advertising blocks. You'll get a pretty good idea of the finished product. You may cycle back through the template and make edits by selecting "Make changes now."

Once you are satisfied with the article you must press the "Publish" button on page 5 before the article will publish or go into the queue. The "Publish" button is located in the upper left corner. Once the "Publish" button is pressed the article will go into the review queue (payment options) or publish immediately* (non-payment).

Recap

• Fill out all require fields
  
• Make use of your abstract
  
• Don't paste directly from your word processor
  
• Credit your photos correctly
  
• Don't forget to press the Publish button

*A CP that has at least 3 published pieces may publish instantly. New CP will have to have their articles reviewed by a content manager before the article can be published regardless of payment request.