While we want you to keep your entire freedom of expression, we’d like to share the following guidelines on how to create the best content possible for LMR. By following these guidelines, you’ll maximize the potential of your content.
Essential points
Write for all readers. Some people will read every word you write. Others will just skim. Help everyone read better by grouping related ideas together and using descriptive headers and subheaders.
Focus your message. Create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content, in sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages.
Be concise. Use short words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers.
Be specific. Avoid vague language. Cut the fluff.
Creating good content
The recipe to create good content is pretty easy - it must be
Compelling : content should generate emotional engagement in our readers. Whether it’s enthusiasm, curiosity, or just thinking.
Structured : content should be made of structured and identified thoughts. Make paragraphs and use headers.
Illustrated : huge chunks of texts are neither compelling nor structured. Throw an image or two in it.
Complete : don’t leave people missing part of the topic.
Creating structured content
Structure makes both writing and reading easier and faster. You should always aim to help people find the information they need, quickly and easily, and to guide them through the process.
Structured content helps make the writing consistent, clear, and future-proof. It also helps you never lose focus.
It helps readers scan the content, identify the chain of thought, and skim through if they need or resume the reading at a later date.
A basic structure would be
Title
Introduction : 1-3 sentences introducing the topic and what the result is going to be
-
Body : Made of different parts, identified by headers.
Each parts can have sub-parts, identified by sub-headers
Conclusion
Additional links / Sources
Remember to break down your paragraphs in 3-4 sentences blocks each focusing on one idea/concept. Each sentence shouldn’t have more than 25 words, and ideally be under 14 words.
Photography
Bad imagery can make great content perform poorly. Whereas good imagery can dramatically improve the overall quality of a post.
Specs
We suggest using the following specs:
Minimum size : 960x640 px
Minimum resolution : 72DPI
Format : JPEG or PNG
Compressed with Caesium to ensure the size of the file is as small as possible (optional)
Composition
Try to offer photographies that are easily readable :
Subject is clearly identified
Photography is correctly exposed (neither over nor under)
Clarity/Contrast is kept at a natural level
Subject is not at the exact border - either keep a space, or cross it boldly.
Language
Plain language
When we use words people understand, our content is more findable, accessible, and inclusive. We shouldn’t assume the level of English of our audience, and we should always aim to make our content as easy to understand as possible.
Write positively
Use positive language rather than negative language. One way to detect negative language is to look for words like “can’t,” “don’t,” etc.
Yes: To get a donut, stand in line.
No: You can’t get a donut if you don’t stand in line.
Abbreviations and acronyms
If there’s a chance your reader won’t recognize an abbreviation or acronym, spell it out the first time you mention it. Then use the short version for all other references. If the abbreviation isn’t clearly related to the full version, specify in parentheses.
First use: Network Operations Center
Second use: NOCFirst use: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Second use: UTC
If the abbreviation or acronym is well known, like API or HTML, use it instead (and don’t worry about spelling it out).
Active voice
Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.
In active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.
Yes: Marti logged into the account.
No: The account was logged into by Marti.
Words like “was” and “by” may indicate that you’re writing in passive voice. Scan for these words and rework sentences where they appear.
Further formatting guidelines: Please check the attached files for further guidelines about punctuation, formatting, etc...