IBM Social Computing Guidelines

Rev11/01/09 UK Version

SAGE Blogging Instructions and Guidelines for SAGE Authors and Editors

The following document outlines information about how SAGE journal blogs are created, as well as their features and best practice guidelines. We have selected BlogSpot as our blog service (http://blogspot.com), a company that is owned by Google, which will again increase visibility of the blog. Below is an example of a SAGE journal blog for Violence Against Women: http://vawjournal.blogspot.com.

Blog features The SAGE journal blog template has key features we will explain below. However, if you would like to make changes to the template, as you will have administrative rights, we ask that you contact us with the changes to ensure branding and usability are not compromised. (There is a CSS style sheet in place, which you will not need to know how to use or modify.) For the sake of simplicity, we want you to be aware of the feature, but focused on the blogging.

Learn more The following links are provided by BlogSpot and provide additional information on BlogSpot's capabilities.

 Take a quick tour: https://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g  Watch a video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnploFsS_tY  Discover more features: https://www.blogger.com/features

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Key features Your initial blog template will be set up by SAGE and will include the template and header. Once you have accessed your blog, you will see the following features:

 Headline: Journal/book title (SAGE/Society logo). We will upload a headline taken from the journal or book cover.  Posts: The actual blog posting (explained in detail below).  About: Your picture and a short bio. You should add this information before your first posting.  RSS: Sage Journals Online (SJO) feed of the journal’s current issue articles (updates automatically).*  Blog Archive: Archives posts monthly (automatically).  Links: You can add as many links as you would like; SJO, SAGE, etc.  Twitter: If you have a Twitter account, you can set up a redirect which updates your Twitter each time you add a blog post. See twitterfeed for more information.*  Survey: This is a way for you to query your readers; votes are automatically tallied and you can update this monthly.*  Share/Add This: This feature, similar to those you see on news websites, allows readers to link posts to their personal pages, Facebook pages, etc.  Subscribe: Allows users to follow your blog.  Disclaimer: Disclaimer about privacy.

*Should you not require the Twitter or RSS feed, or the survey, please let us know and we will remove them from the template.

Screenshot of administration page for key features:

How to post This section provides a step-by-step guide on how to post an entry to your blog. The blog template and header will be set up prior to your first entry.

Gmail account: The blog spot account we have set up uses a Gmail (Googlemail) account as a username. You will not need to use this account, and SAGE will have this set up offline. The Gmail name will be your login. For example

Login: XXXXJournal Password: sage1234

Log in to the blog: To log in, go to www.blogspot.com and sign in with your name and password. This will bring up a ‘dashboard.’ You will notice the name of your blog, ‘XXXXXXXXX’ under Manage Blogs, along with a series of links. The only links you will need to be aware of are View Blog, New Post and Edit Posts, which will be explained below.

View Blog: Click View Blog at any time to see your blog and posts. Click back in your browser to return to the BlogSpot editor, and click Dashboard on this screen to return to your editing homepage.

New Post: The New Post link begins the posting process. The new page you see should look similar to an email template, and is modelled after Gmail for ease of use. Again, it is here that you will actually post a new blog entry.

To the right you will see two tabs: Edit Html and Compose. Click Compose; this will allow you to edit and type just as you would in Microsoft Word.

Sections of the New Post tab:

Title: Type in the title of the entry. Body: In the body of the template you will see a number of editing buttons, identical to those you would use in Microsoft Word, for example bolding, bullets etc. Once you type your entry (and/or paste in your entry from a Word document as you would to an email), you can bold, italicize, centre, change font and colour, bullet, add a link to the internet, spell check or insert a picture by simply clicking on one of the buttons. Share This: Should you wish to add the ‘share this’ buttons under each post, please paste in the following html coding underneath your post:

Links: In the Compose view, typing or pasting in a link will automatically provide a hyperlink, i.e. typing the following link www.blogspot.com automatically generates a link, whereas blogspot.com does not. Pictures: Again, adding pictures is essentially the same procedure as adding a picture to a Word document. Click the mouse inside the body of the text at the location you want to add a picture. Next, click the picture icon in the menu which will bring up a new screen for uploading a picture; click browse to locate and add the picture from your computer. Choose medium size. Click Upload image. This will populate your text with the image. You are then able to drag the image around the document if you want to change the placement. Publish Post: You must click Publish Post to make your post live and visible to readers. Save Now: This will save the post for later editing.

Once you click Post, you can view the blog or edit the post.

If you need to edit a post, simply go to the dashboard, click Edit Post and click on your entry. Make sure you click Publish Post when finished to make the changes and/or blog live.

Please do not hesitate to discuss with your contact at SAGE if you need assistance.

Blogging best practice It is recommended that bloggers post a minimum of twice a week. Posts can include anything from links to an interesting article you read in the news or another journal, information on upcoming articles in your journal, news, conferences, updates from your field. This blog should be an extension of your journal work to help keep your readers involved. Below are a series of posting tips on how to make your blog the most visible and most useful.

Posting

 Link, link, link: The web is all about links. When you find something interesting and relevant, link to it. You’ll be helping your readers, and you’ll generate links back to your blog.  Be interesting: If you write interesting things on your blog, it will be popular. Expose your personality – write about yourself, your research and the field, and what’s in the news. But remember that your blog is a public place so try to avoid causing inadvertent embarrassment.  Check your facts and permissions: Even though your blog will primarily be made up of your own posts and opinions, please check that your facts are accurate. Make sure you have permission to post any copyrighted items (e.g. images) to your blog, and be careful about posting or linking to items that may contain viruses. Do not post

full-text versions of research articles, but instead link to the journal where the article can be found.  Write about what you know: The best way to be interesting is to write about what you know. If you have a deep understanding of something, talk about the challenges and issues around it.  Quality matters: Use a spell-checker and keep things clear and concise.  Post length and content: Mix up the length of your posts. Don't be afraid to be brief (i.e. 200 words). When possible, offer analysis, new tips and tricks.  Updating previous posts: Be the first to correct your own mistakes, and don’t alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so.  Add value: Videos and supplementary content add value; link when possible. Find out who else is blogging or publishing on the topic, and link to their blog entries.

Commenting

 On your blog: Comment on other's comments in your own blog. This will increase the conversation and add more value to your posts.  On other blogs: Make your comments thoughtful, beginning often by referencing what stood out to you in the post or in another’s comments. Strive to include a valuable take-away message for anyone else reading your comments.  Frequency: There are no hard rules, but remember conversations are easier to join than start. Commenting on a few of the same blogs often can establish a relationship with the blogger and their audience.  Linking: If you are linking to content of your own, be sure it relevantly addresses the topic at hand. Consider including links to other blogs frequently. Linking to your own content in a comment is better received when the blogger recognizes you have commented earlier.

Promoting your blog

SAGE will promote your blog via cross-promoting with our existing marketing channels plus linking to your blog via our various websites. The blog template we provide for you will also include Twitter and Facebook buttons to enable your readers to promote your content via their own social media channels.

http://researchblogging.org/ Researchblogging is a website which aggregates academic blogs, making it easier for academics to see a listing of blogs which are available in their discipline should they wish to subscribe. It actively encourages those who blog about peer-reviewed research to register their content. We have seen a significant increase in blog traffic to SAGE-owned blogs that are registered with this site.

To register your blog with them go to the following url: http://researchblogging.org/account/createChooseBlog