STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Click here to watch the video instructions.

OPEN A NEW DOCUMENT

Select NEW POST  from the Menu Bar, which appears in a black box at the top of your screen when you are logged into BindleSnitch. (If you are not logged in, you will be logged in automatically. 

Enter a Working Title in the ADD TITLE box. (You can change this later if you want to.)

QUICK TIPS ON HEADLINES         More Headline  Tips and Tricks.

CATEGORIES

Categories are used to determine where your articles will appear on the website. Select categories from the list in the right sidebar, a non-working sample of which is shown here.

YOU MUST SELECT A CATEGORY BEFORE YOU CAN SAVE YOUR WORK DRAFT OR PUBLISH YOUR ARTICLE.

Many articles may fit into several categories, but you can only have one category for each article so pick the most appropriate one. You can, however, change the category whenever you want in order to attract more readers. 

Use the Et Cetera (ETC) category for articles that don’t seem to fit into any of the other categories.

BONUS CATEGORIES (artwork, fiction, music, poetry, and video) are only visible when readers are not using an ad blocker, but articles assigned to these categories WILL appear on the Home Page and on the Bonus Category pages. 

DO NOT USE **Uncategorized, **bindleSnitch, or **top picks. Articles assigned to these three categories will not appear anywhere on the website until they are re-assigned but you CAN use Uncategorized to post “private” articles. They won’t appear on the website, but you can distribute the link to that article via email or social media. We reserve the right to reassign articles to more appropriate categories at our discretion.

Save your Working Title and Category by clicking SAVE DRAFT in the PUBLISH BOX on the right sidebar. (Note: you can change the working titles and category selections later if you wish to do so.)

USING THE FULL-SCREEN TEXT EDITOR

We STRONGLY recommend that you use the FULL-SCREEN TEXT EDITOR. You will find that it makes composing articles easier and faster.

You can access the Full-Screen Text Editor by click on the Toggle Switch on the Editor Menu as shown ABOVE. (You will, however, have to exit from the Full-Screen Text Editor in order to perform the following functions: selecting or changing categories, adding tags, inserting featured images, and inserting the required excerpts. You will also have to exit from Full-Screen mode to save drafts and to publish your articles. Clicking on the Full-Screen option again will exit from the Full-Screen Option.)

You can write your article, edit it, check grammar and spelling or add any of the embellishments listed on the menu bar.

REMEMBER: DOUBLE SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS. SINGLE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS AND AFTER PUNCTUATION. 

USE A SPELL CHECKER: We strongly recommend that you install the Grammarly Free Online Writing Assistant on the browser you are using to connect with BindleSnitch.  

QUICK TIPS FOR IMPROVED READABILITY

PUBLISHING YOUR ARTICLE

In order to publish your post, it must have a CATEGORY, an EXCERPT, at least one TAG, and a FEATURED IMAGE.  There is a  CHECKLIST box at the top of the right-hand column, as shown at right. Right now, there are just four items on the checklist, but this may change from time to time. Once the four items on the checklist have been completed, they turn GREEN automatically. Once all of the items on the checklist are “in the green,” the publish button will appear in the PUBLISH BOX at the bottom of the page. Click on the PUBLISH Button to save and post your work. (The PUBLISH button only appears when all of the items on the CHECKLIST at the top of the side bar are GREEN.)

AFTER YOU HAVE PUBLISHED YOUR ARTICLE: Review the finished product by returning to the home page. Check to make sure that your featured image looks good on the home page, and make sure that your headline doesn’t exceed two lines of type. Then click on your article and review it to make sure that everything looks and reads the way you wanted it to look and read.

COPYING AND PASTING ARTICLES INTO BINDLESNITCH

ADDING EXCERPTS TO YOUR ARTICLES  Click here for more information on excerpts

  ADDING IMAGES TO YOUR ARTICLES

ADDING AUDIO FILES AND VIDEO CLIPS

ADDING TAGS

ADDING  HYPERLINKS

ADDING TEXT EMBELLISHMENTS

 CUSTOMIZE YOUR MEMBER PROFILE

GOOD MEMBER PRACTICES