This site is intended to be used by many people so here are a few hints and tips to keep your web administrator happy and keep the quality of the site high!

Quality Counts

  • The best thing you can do for a post is define a good title.  Posts that are named “7 ways to do xyz” are read much more than “Exploring XYZ”.   Keep posts short and direct.
  • When linking outside the MauiSchoolGardenNetwork site, always use “New tab or page (target=”_blank”)” option.
  • Please avoid writing in “blog speak”.  We don’t expect you to be a professional writer but avoid phrases like “Click here”, “Here’s a link” and similar phrases.  Instead just reference the title or other reference (i.e. Instead of “Click here to read 7 ways to do xyz”  use “Another great article you may enjoy is 7 Ways to do xyz

Using Categories

  • Each post should have one primary category.  When you are setting categories, you will see the word ‘Permalink’ appear. If a primary category is set, it will appear in bold.  Please use the primary category that makes the most sense. If you don’t know whether or not to select a category, check out this category guidance.   For example, if you are writing an article about how your school planted bananas, select the primary category of Planting.  Additional categories could include your school, Maintaining, etc.
  • You can and should use multiple categories.   However, if in doubt, don’t use it.   For example, don’t put something in the MSGN Newsletter category unless someone has asked you to write an article for the newsletter.

Uploading Images and Media

  • We encourage you to have at least one photo with every post.  Even if you are referencing a video or  Flickr or Picasa slide show, select one image to use as the Featured image.  This will show up as the thumbnail on the post excerpts.
  • Please do not try to upload full sized photos to the site.  Guidance is a maximum long-edge length of 700 px at 72 dpi.  If you get an error uploading photos, please let the webmaster know.
  • When you put up a image and are referencing another site, it is often good practice to link the photo to the site. (Kids click on photos … not words!)    To do this, in the image editor,  change the Link URL to the referencing link.  Go to the Advanced tab and select “open URL in new window”.

Page Formats

  • Please do not change the default format of a page.  Consistency is key in items being user friendly.  The site is set up to use 2 formats.  One for most MSGN and general content (wide post with 1 sidebar) and one for Special Programs (sidebar2, post, sidebar 1).