Snippet

  • The snippet communicates the topic and value of the post with a one-sentence summary. Start each post with a <p class="snippet"></p> element.

Headings

  • Headings used should be Heading 2 and Heading 3 only. Heading 1 will be the post title.
  • Headings should always follow proper hierarchy for accessibility purposes.
  • Manually bold all headings. This may not have the desired change in the editor, but it will make the headings bold in the actual post, which helps create more visual hierarchy.

Images

  • Images should be center aligned unless left alignment is necessary.
  • Non-decorative images should have appropriate alt text.
  • Images may include a caption.
  • Screenshot images with white backgrounds may be difficult to discern as images. They should be styled by adding the following to the <img /> tag: style="border: 2px solid #BA0C2F"

This is an example image with caption.

Video Embeds

  • Use any size iframe embed code (e.g., Mediasite, YouTube) and adjust the width to 800 and the height to 450.

Call to Action

  • CTA should be located at the bottom of the post.
  • CTA should be bold and italic. For example: How are you planning on using this new feature? Let us know in the comments below.

References

  • When applicable, references should be added at the end of the post in a section with a heading titled References.
  • References should be styled with a hanging indent by wrapping each in a <p class="reference"></p> element.

Plugins

  • All posts should include the email subscribe form by inserting the shortcode: 
    [USM_form]
    • On long posts, insert the subscribe form in the middle of the post. On short posts, insert it at the end.
  • All posts should include social media share buttons at the end (before References) by inserting the shortcode: 
    [DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]
    • If the social media share buttons are running into the References header, change the References header to HTML and add style="clear: both"
  • All posts will automatically use the author bio box. Ensure the author of the post is correctly configured to the post author.

SEO

  • Use the Yoast SEO plugin below the post content.
  • Add a focus keyphrase.
  • For long titles, edit the slug to remove filler words.
  • Add a meta description.

Tags and Categories

  • All posts should be filed in at least 1 category.
  • All posts should have at least 2 tags.

Featured Image

  • All posts should include a featured image.