Urgent Update: Essential Blox Guidelines for Authors Released

URGENT UPDATE: New guidelines for authors using Blox have just been released, confirming critical protocols for article submissions and photo usage. Effective immediately, all contributors must adhere to these updated practices to ensure consistent and efficient publication processes.

The Daily Journal has outlined specific byline formats for articles, emphasizing the importance of clarity. Authors are now required to include their name, email, and phone in the following format: Name | email | phone. For staff reports, contributors should list the byline as “Daily Journal staff report” without the article “The.” This is crucial for maintaining professionalism and proper attribution.

In a pivotal move for photo management, authors must now duplicate any reused images from previous articles before attaching them to new stories. This process should be completed by highlighting the photo and selecting “Duplicate” at the top right corner of the Blox webpage. Failure to follow this procedure could lead to publication delays.

Additionally, unlocking assets has been simplified. When encountering a locked asset, users can click to highlight it and then select “Unlock” for immediate editing access. This enhancement aims to streamline workflow and minimize disruptions in the editing process.

All articles must now include a summary for online and social media distribution. This summary, limited to 1-2 sentences, should encapsulate the article’s main points and is easily entered under the “Summary” tab in Blox.

Crucially, authors are advised to include 5 to 10 keywords in the designated “Tags” section to optimize visibility on Google and internal site searches. This step is vital for enhancing discoverability and attracting a wider audience.

The Daily Journal strongly recommends adhering to the slug format: yearmonthdate-section-description, ensuring clarity and consistency across published materials.

Finally, once a story reaches the first edit stage, authors must copy and paste the slug into the #general channel in Slack for Mike Frey to review the following morning.

These modifications are in effect as of October 15, 2023. It is essential for all authors and contributors to familiarize themselves with these updates to maintain the integrity and efficiency of the publication process.

Stay tuned for more urgent updates as we continue to enhance our reporting standards.