Writing articles

• 1.

  Avoid partial or misleading messages

  When you write the individual articles, make sure each article can stand alone. Each text must be readable by itself, because you cannot be sure by which path the user arrived at the page.

  And remember: The message is not just what you think you are saying, but it is what the reader can learn from your choice of pictures and presentation. Each person reads using the insights and attitudes they brought with them. So consider it “self help” when you try to describe your target audience as precisely as possible.

• 2.

  Avoid long sentences and break your text up

  Try not to bundle too many points into a single article. If you have many points and messages, then it is better to write more articles and link them together. You could also put the main text into the article, but use important comments and explanations as image captions for the associated images displayed along with the article. This makes it easier to read for all ages.

  Try to make your texts short enough, that the user should never have to scroll to read the rest of the story. Additionally, it is easier to read several short paragraphs than one big paragraph.

  Try to keep articles below 600-800 characters (including spaces). But never go below 350 characters (with spaces) or the articles will become too short and the pages will look mostly empty.

• 3.

  Let the Titles be your guide

  The Title is the showcase for your article

  Use the title to pull the reader into your text. The titles are how users decide which article to read next. A single user rarely reads every article, they choose based on their own disposition. If a user starts reading an article that does not live up to its title, then they will soon quit.

  Short titles with a single and clear message is the easiest to decode. Make sure the title contains the main message of the article. And avoid “about”-texts. Titles such as “About coffee…” or “Regarding excavations…” do not really tell the users what they can expect from that article.

  Write short titles

  It is a fine balance to write a title that is both interesting, short and contains a clear message.

  It must not exceed 45-50 characters (including spaces), as it will not fit inside the title fields in the touchWall’s Graphical User Interface.

  Differentiate your titles

  One often needs to review the list of articles contained in the system. Sometimes you will find articles that, while not identical, still contain very similar texts. Writing good titles will surely help you tell those articles apart.

• 4.

  Replace text with images

  Images convey more information than words do, so if you can express something with an image or a video-clip instead of text, it could be a huge advantage for the user.

  If you are having a hard time squeezing your message into the format of the article, then try saving up your text area by using pictures with captions instead.