Editors Only

Primary Instructions for Editors; Must reading for all editors.

  Instructions For Editors

Editor log-in Security measures

To make the site more secure from hackers, we've set up a system so editors can only access the admin panel from approved IP addresses. If you log in from, say, a coffee-house, the IP address will be rejected but you will immediately be sent an email that gives you a link to authorize the IP. If you forget about the email, and findyourself blocked from accessing your Positive Psychology editor admin panel, you can also authorize the IP address using https://www.positivepsychology.net/populum/whitecheck.php

Some internet service providers (ISPs) change IP addresses every time you log in. Some of our editors have to authorize a new IP address each time they log in. Once you get the hang of it, this takes under a minute. It's a hassle but we know it has blocked hackers from all over the world. 

 Here are some answers to questions from a new editor:

 

These are some of the things I struggle with when I consider editing:

 1) that i'm going to accidentally delete someone's work!

 No way to do that unless you click on the delete box, then take another step and click on delete articles button.

 

2) that i'm going to be too picky and have a hard time moving something forward.

 Nothing wrong with picky. If you're not sure about an article, you can leave a comment for other editors to see, so someone else makes the decision, but with your added input. There ARE iffy articles that concensus among editors decides. 

 

3) knowing the fine line between acceptable and not acceptable with regards to content, writing level, etc.

 Again, if you're not sure, leave a comment.

 

4) couple questions:

  S ometimes I see articles on Positive Psychology and I question the authenticity of the idea or attribution. so, I wonder what are the guidelines for requiring sources and fact checks. do the editors do that or must the writers provide it?

Writers should do it. If you doubt a claim or feel the writer is not convincing, it's perfectly appropriate to reject the article for further editing, adding a personalized note to the form letter instructing the writer to resubmit the editor with the support or documentation you specify.

 

5) what if it is a subject matter that the editor is really not that familiar with. does it matter in terms of judging the content? how do you get around that? or, are you simply focusing on the article's "readability."

It's a plus if you are an expert, but we can't wait around for experts to cover articles. Focus on readability and credibility. We can depend on our readers to correct the article in the comments. 

 

6) do editors ever rework a sentence or title for better reading without consulting the writer or does it always go back to the writer with a note?

Absolutely. Writers guidelines make it clear. If there's a paragraph that kills the article, then excise it and run the article. Title weak? Re-write it entirely. No description, add one. And then, tell the writer what you did and advise that he or she should have included a description.

 

7) How often do articles get sent back for reworking, or get rejected,? How often do editors go back and forth with writers.

 With some writers, this happens with a lot. Some cruise through. Usually, back and forth only happens once.   Some editors reject a lot more than others. I always encourage, that if you're not sure, add a comment for the other editors that it looks like it should be rejected but you're not sure. Others will get in on the picture.

 

8) When should I publish articles as diaries instead of articles?

Keep in mind that diaries are published live, without editing or screening. Diaries are not crawled by google news. If an article is not well written, if it has nothing new to say, and does not rate publication as an article, it probably qualifies to be published as a diary.   Or, if an article has been submitted using a handle or obviously fake name for the byline, publish it as a diary. We no longer ALLOW articles to be published with handles.

 If an article has hate speech,   or if it makes you feel bad, or disgusted, then reject it. If an article makes you angry, it may be a good one to publish and then leave a comment on, disagreeing with it. NEVER call writers names. Always attack the ideas, not the person. A good guideline is, will you be proud to have published it either as a diary or an article and can you justify your decision? Don't worry, you generally won't be asked to. I've found that maybe one out of 5,000 articles approved are disputed by senior editorial team members. We back up our line editors. And keep in mind that you can be proud to publish an article you disagree with if it will generate good comments, including comments that will thoroughly debunk the "con" arguments and help readers to see how to effectively debunk.

9) The article contains sexist language. Check out this article to get a good idea about guidelines relating to sexist language:

 

10) The article has been published on the writer's blog or website.

That's fine and the writer CAN claim that the article is exclusive if it has only been posted on the writer's site.

 

 Okay. Now, let's take a look at the queue.

 

Log in at http://www.opednews.com/populum/https://www.positivepsychology.net/populum/login_admin.php

 

The most recent articles are at the bottom. Check how many articles are listed. Only 50 show on a page, so, if there are more than 50, the older ones are on the second page. We'd really like you to start off clearing out the older articles first. Also check for red text which shows articles that are time sensitive. Don't let writers abuse this. If an article is flagged as time sensitive and it is not, please warn them not to do it again.

  Now, let's review the Queue columns.

 

Titles and author are in the left column, with word count.

Articles in Orange are quicklinks. You need to actually check out the link to see that it works, that it's on a credible site, not a non-credible site, a hate site or someone's blog that the submitter is trying to promote. Some links to blogs are okay, but only if the person also submits articles.

 

Note, on the left column, a number in parentheses. That's the number of words in the article.   Next, in the same column, there's the title, then the pen name, if the user uses one, followed by a real name. We don't publish articles by people with goofy, handle looking pen names, unless we know who they are. Many people will use a pen name, but have registered with their real name, which you'll see. If there is no identification of who the person actually is, publish the article as a diary. More on that later.

 

Titles: Our writers guidelines make it very clear that we have the right to change titles. If you can think of a better title for an article, by modifying or replacing the one the author supplied--go ahead and change it. Think of titles that would be better as headlines. Some writers just don't do well at titling. So help them.

 

URLS or links to other sites are NEVER allowed in this field.

 

Second from Left Column: Exclusivity

  Some writers give us 24, 48 or 72 hours of exclusivity. You may want to check those out first, since we are being given special treatment from them. (BTW, if they post to their personal website, I don't consider that interfering with giving exclusivity.)

 

Description

Articles should have descriptions. We can publish without them, but ask the author to add one, or add one yourself. URLS or links to other sites are NEVER allowed in this field and we don't want to include the source of the article there either. 

 

Category

Make sure the writer has selected the proper category. Change it if you disagree. It's your call. You can change the category at the accept/reject page, so you don't have to go into MODIFY to change it.

 

Tags

Make sure the article has all the tags it should. Green words represent articles tagged for groups.

 

Date Added

Each article is time and date stamped. Some writers submit more than one of the same article. Always delete the older one and assume the more recent one is the one to use.

If there's a red date, that means the article is more time sensitive. Please check those articles first.

 

Status: Accept/Reject

You'll rarely use this directly, unless you make a modification first.

 

VIEW

This is where you'll usually go, to check out an article or quicklink. You can mouse over the word VIEW to see a pop-up bubble which shows your the first few hundred words in the item.

Click Modify to edit any aspect of the item submitted.

You can edit.

You can fix typos, grammar, misused words.

You can delete a sentence or paragraph if it kills the article, like, if it says something offensive or uncivil. We want to keep this site civil. That doesn't mean you are censoring. You are maintaining standards. People can say things in a civil way. If they take offense,   too bad--good riddance. Professional writers and grownups will deal with editing. Most will be appreciative. Don't hesitate to help make the article better or save it from failing as an article.

 Formatting. Some articles come in with formatting problems. The font should be verdana 10 point. Minor accents can be bigger, but not the major body of the text.

Some articles lose paragraph formatting. This usually happens when an article is copied from MS WORD or some other word processor that builds underlying formatting into the text. If the user has just used text, without italics, bold, blockquotes or embedded links, it's easy to fix. Just copy the text, go to modify, then click on the legacy button at the bottom of the text submit box. Paste the text in. and then click the HTML button. Usually that will work.

 

Articles to View First:

In the tags column, green words represent articles tagged for groups. We'd like to see those, plus articles with deadline dates in red and exclusive articles addressed before other articles.

 

Article Acceptance Criteria

Good, smart writing, good ideas, preferably , but not absolutely the former. Hot news, different, new viewpoints and perspectives, great quotes and sourcing.   Does the article keep your interest, make you think get you asking questions or ask you good questions?

 

You can certainly disagree with articles and still accept them. If you accept an article you disagree with, you may want to add a comment immediately after the article.

 

Article Rejection Criteria

*   Hate speech, meanspirited, uncivil, unkind.

 

*   Unsubstantiated, unsupported claims

*   Bad writing, obvious failure to proofread or spell check., ie., typos, misspellings, grammatical errors.

*   The author insults readers or calls them names.

*   Old, out of date news or discussion, eg., an article on presidents day the day after it occurred, or an article on news that happened four days ago.   Day after holiday articles don't work. Two or three day after news event articles might work, especially if added depth and context and background are added.

*   Nothing new--rehashing old ideas with no new perspectives. Frankly, I let some of these through if they are well written with good narrative, imagery, etc. And I'll use it to reject rants that tend to be offensive just going over old ground. 

  *   Problems with format--paragraphs lost, too much big, tiny, colored fonts, too many different fonts. The rejection message gives ideas on how to fix the problems and prevent them in the future.

  *   Personal sob stories. Only use these if they reflect national issues and include narrative adding that context

  *   Too short., too long. We'll accept an article of any length, but some people say 600 words worth in 3000 words. Look for the beef and if there's too much fat, send back the article be edited down. We prefer articles of 500-1200 words.

  *   Quicklink to a blog by an anonymous person. Do not publish quicklinks to blogs where it is not clear who the person is, or where the blog uses a "handle" and there is no bio describing who the source really is.

  *   Author uses a fake name and does not identify who he or she is in bio or registration. Remember, in the byline area, the real name of the person is listed in parentheses, if a pen name is used. If there is no real name in parentheses, or if the parentheses also contain a pen name, the article must not be posted as an article. It CAN be posted as a diary. And don't forget to check the bio. Some members use a handle but identify themselves in their bio.

  *   Not really an article, more of a link. You can go to MODIFY then convert the article to a quicklink.

*   Promotional:   Selling products, promoting a website. Hard sells are inappropriate. A book review is okay, but not a sales pitch for a book.

 

What to do with articles that don't make it as articles.

Always remember that members could have posted their article as a diary, without moderation by an editor. If you don't find an article acceptable as an article, consider publishing it as a diary. If the article contains hate speech, offensive content or is just awful, you can reject it. If it is written so badly it would be an embarassment to the site, in your subjective opinion, that's good enough, reject it. But if the article is marginal, if it's too short, you might publish it as a diary.

If you want the article on the front page, make sure you unclick the check box below the box that has the different action options. Otherwise, the article will not appear on the front page.

  Article Acceptance/Rejection or Conversion to Diary

 Once you've made up your mind whether to accept, reject or convert an article to a diary or quicklink, you need to perform the action you've decided upon.

Easy editing of articles

    You can now, if you are logged in, see an edit link, next to the author byline for articles, diaries and below the title, for quicklinks. You can use it to easily edit articles that need corrections.

 

Easy to add tags

Now, if you notice that an article should have a tag that it's missing, you can easily add it. At the end of list of already existing tags, there's a link for adding additional tags. Just click it and you can add the tag or tags you know are missing.

Tags are an important part of the glue that holds together the website, so people stay longer, read more pages. Our tagging system definitely makes a difference. Adding key missing tags will help add to the "stickiness" of the site.