You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Rantburg style guide reminders
2007-01-21
A few simple reminders as we get into the new year:

  • Provide a source for your post. If you don't your post will be deleted. None of the moderators have enough time to look for the source of your post.

  • Shorter, not longer, titles. Remember, the URL does NOT go into the title box. Snarky and catchy titles are fine.

  • File it in the right place. If it's about the current intifada in Frankistan, don't file it under 'Great White North'.

  • We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT. That includes general thuggery around the world, such as Zim-bob-we, and the politics surrounding the WoT. The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it here on Rantburg. We assume y'all read other weblogs for the other news. Wierd animal stories, of course, are always welcome: they go into the SAST as a 'non-WoT' item. But domestic issues in Australia, surface crawlers on Mars, and the general state of Lindsey Lohan's rehab shouldn't be posted here. Unless Fred does it in which case it's okay.

  • Opinion pieces go into the 'Opinion' category. Tricky, eh? This includes blog pieces. Some exceptions exist: VDH, Lileks, and Marc Steyn can go into any appropriate category. All the rest go into Opinion. And that's not an invitation for other blog-owners to post stuff in Opinion just to advertise their own blog.

  • Please format the post. Help us make the post readable. Think of it as a chance to teach English composition to the MSM. Delete the fluff and the stuff we already know. If there are no line breaks, put some in. If there are too many line breaks, take some out. Some gentle editing to make a post readable helps all of us, especially the moderators who then don't have to go back and re-edit stuff.

  • No ellipses and no 'snips'. Readers assume you're editing the post to just the good stuff (see above). Therefore you don't need ellipses or [SNIP]'s to tell us that you edited the post. Since you gave us the source URL (right?) a reader can always go to the original.

  • Your comments are in hilite (yellow) text. Use the 'HILITE' button. Start your comments on a separate line.
    If you do it will look like this.
    Don't put a leading line space before or after, as illustrated. And don't bury it like this. Do not use italics instead of hilite. Do not insert FONT commands: Fred has already settled the proper font and size for your snark.

  • Strikout text can be placed in-line in the text. Some here complain when we use too much of it. Unless you've got a sure-fire 'mad-libs' winner, use strikeout text sparingly.

  • Don't embed pics from outside Rantburg. We have an ever-expanding library of pics (even after Fred cleans out the attic we have more than when we started). Embedding a pic with a URL takes bandwidth and it may upset the owner of the site from where you're getting the image. If it's an absolutely great pic e-mail us with it and we'll get it in.
    Outside posts also die, in many cases. A Rantburg image will be around as long as there's a Rantburg.
  • Check for duplicates before you post. I miss that one myself sometimes (thanks to Emily and Steve for the gentle 'gotchas').

    And as always, thanks for all your support. You make Rantburg a special place.
    • Posted by:Steve White

    #20  Here, here, fever!

    Thanks to all of you here and guiding me to get some style too! Not the "leggings for men" type style, but a way to vent some steam at the idiocy that abounds in our own nation! Gives me hope that "We the People" will actually have a future on this here ground we live on!
    Posted by: BA   2007-01-21 21:21  

    #19  Only when I got to the 'Burg did I get style, and I thank ye for that.
    Posted by: fever   2007-01-21 19:54  

    #18  It would be nice to have a category for Iran.

    It's lumped in with Lebanon and Syria. At this point it's more appropriate*.

    *Besides, regardless of how much Dinnerjacket sez how important they are, Iran doesn't deserve a category of its own IMNSHO.
    Posted by: Pappy   2007-01-21 14:54  

    #17  Thanks, NS. I simply gotta take an HTML course one of these days. I copied your comments and will keep them by my computer.
    Posted by: Jules   2007-01-21 12:21  

    #16  We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT

    The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it here on Rantburg

    Dunno. Paris Hilton and the Rosie/Trump stuff gets lots of attention
    Posted by: Intrinsicpilot   2007-01-21 11:58  

    #15  And we are blessed for it, #14 tu.
    Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-01-21 11:39  

    #14  And how is Lindsey? I mean, two days of rehab and we've heard nothing! NOTHING!
    Posted by: tu3031   2007-01-21 11:32  

    #13  Thanks for reminding me! I got an e-mail at work last week with a picture that's perfect for Rantburg, but never got a chance to forward it for consideration. Done now.

    Fred, it's up to you, but I think it would be useful for certain political stories about Kennedy, Pelosi, Kerry, etc. :-D
    Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-01-21 11:31  

    #12  Is there a way to check urls for dups? It can be hard to find them if the submitter snarks up the original title.

    It would be nice to have a category for Iran.
    Posted by: KBK   2007-01-21 11:30  

    #11  I have noticed that Mods allow 1 totally off-topic post per day. I suppose bratty, over-paid celebrities are Kultur Kampf material, but 1 is enough.
    Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550   2007-01-21 11:22  

    #10  To access the the picture archive:

    Click on the Submit an article thingy near the top of page 1.

    When that page pops up, look to the top left, and you'll see the word Photos. Click on that and you'll get thumbnails of the hundreds of photos/pictures/visual resources Fred keeps on file.

    Nb: right below the Photos link at the top left of the page, in even bigger letters, it says Before you post, read this! Click on that to read Fred's rules for submissions.
    Posted by: trailing wife   2007-01-21 11:16  

    #9  Type in the html code, bold is < strong>text< /strong> (without the spaces)etc. Use the preview button to see if you got it correctly.
    Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-01-21 11:00  

    #8  Who is Lindsey Lohan?

    Miss Lohan is that poor unfortunate who doesn't realize that the sovereign rememdy for a hangover is two Exedrin washed down with a bloody mary.
    Posted by: trailing wife   2007-01-21 11:00  

    #7  I like Ptah's suggestion and would add to it a 1-2-3 simple guide for how to post articles correctly (for us tech idijts). I know that once I coped a URL and placed it in the article but I did it wrong. Also, some of us are fortunate enough to have Macs for our creative work but unfortunate enough to have those same Macs for communications and text work; any suggestions on how to make formatting work from a Mac would be appreciated (can't underline, can't bold, etc.)
    Posted by: Jules   2007-01-21 10:24  

    #6  AoS is clearly on the march.

    But it might be wise to reconsider one assumption:

    We assume y'all read other weblogs for the other news.

    For many. Rantburg is the only reliable source of snark on the web.

    Who is Lindsey Lohan?
    Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-01-21 08:10  

    #5  I would like to make two recommendations, Fred, to make things easier for new visitors and those of us whose memory is suffering increasing age-related bit-dropping errors.

    1. I suggest putting a link to this article, or a summary thereof, either in the yellow-colored side-bar or as a link in the article entry page.

    2. While you're at it, could you put in a link to a page with the moderator color coding chart?
    Posted by: Ptah   2007-01-21 07:40  

    #4  Any way we can browse you inventory of photos when we are posting an article?
    Posted by: CrazyFool   2007-01-21 05:20  

    #3  Barkeep, I'll have some of what Thoth is drinking.
    Posted by: GK   2007-01-21 02:13  

    #2  Shorter, not longer, titles.

    I read that last part as titties at first. I'm glad we got that cleared up.
    Posted by: Thoth   2007-01-21 01:51  

    #1  I had been considering emailing you some fun photos to use, but after learning about your large inventory will hold off on doing so.
    As always, thanks for the tips.
    Posted by: Jan   2007-01-21 01:16  

    00:00