Dangerous Prototypes blog style guide

From DP

This is the style guide for the Dangerous Prototypes blog.

Contents 1 Contact form 2 General style 3 Titles 4 Pictures 5 Videos 6 Category and tags 7 Extra links 8 Content 8.1 Example flow of post 9 Wordpress tutorial 9.1 Step by step 9.1.1 Add a title 9.1.2 Add a picture 9.1.3 Link to the original article 9.1.4 Add a sales line 9.1.5 Add a 'via' link 9.1.6 Add tags and a category 9.1.7 Save the post as pending 9.1.8 Preview 10 Post examples 10.1 Forum post 10.2 Contact form post 10.3 Comment post 10.4 Part post 10.5 App note post

Contact form

• Apply to the Dangerous Prototypes contact mailing list (crew only please)

General style

• We are an editorial team, always use we, us, and our, not I, me, and mine.
• No emoticons, smilies, :), etc.
• How to quote a source: Via Make. (replace Make with the name of the website)
• How to quote an image source: Image source.
• The DIY electronics we post about are called 'hacks' or 'projects'. The people who make them are hacker or makers.
• If you're talking about a project we do, it is always a 'project'.
• Please don't use vulgar or swear words in posts.

Titles

• Make titles descriptive not cute, it's better for our search results.
• Capitalize the first word and proper nouns.
• No period
• Do not capitalize every word:
  • OK: Super fast PIC microcontroller
  • Bad: Super Fast PIC Microcontroller

Pictures

Each post must have a picture.

• Pictures should be 490 pixels wide
• Use this tool to size pictures.
• Make sure the quality is good
• When you upload the image in WordPress choose no alignment, no link
• If there isn't a picture of the project:
  • Try Creative Commons image search.
  • Include a link to the picture source that looks like this: source image.

Videos

Videos don't show up in RSS readers or on our Facebook page, try to use a picture at the top of the post if possible.

• Put a picture at the top of the article, post the video after the break using the 'more' line.

Category and tags

• Try to put each post in 1 or 2 categories, and give it a few tag words
• Please use max 3 categories, 1 or 2 is better
• Try to avoid the general categories (cool, interesting, etc) unless no other category fits

Some categories are reserved:

• Prototype - reserved for DP project announcements
• Project names - for anything related to that project (including external sites)

Extra links

If our project is mentioned in the post, please link it to the main wiki page.

• Project list

If microcontroller is mentioned in the post (MSP430, PIC, AVR, ARM, etc), please link it to the quick start guide (if any).

• Quick start guides

If a 1-Wire, I2C, SPI, or other chip is mentioned, see if we have a Bus Pirate demo to link to.

• Bus Pirate chip demos

Content

1. Link to the original article

• Always link to the original article, even if we saw it somewhere else like Hack a Day.
• If the post is about one of our projects, include the name in the first sentence and link to the project manual.
  • Example: cam0 hacked a laundry card with the Bus Pirate.

2. DP product sales line

• If the post is about one of our projects, copy and paste a 'sales line' from the last post about it:
  • Example: Get a Bus Pirate for $30, including worldwide shipping at Seeed Studio. Adafruit also has the Bus Pirate and probe cables in stock and ready to ship.

3. Source

• If we found the original article somewhere else, include a via link to the place we first saw it. Examples:
  • Via Hack a Day.
  • Via the forum. (include link to post)
  • Via the comments. (include link to comment)
  • Via the contact form.

Example flow of post

• Title: Laundry card hacking
• [490px image, no alignment, no link]
• cam0 hacked a laundry card with the Bus Pirate.
• Get a Bus Pirate for $30, including worldwide shipping at Seeed Studio. Adafruit also has the Bus Pirate and probe cables in stock and ready to ship.
• Via Hack a Day.

Notes:

• The title is descriptive and only the first letter is capitalized
• It includes an image, sized to 490px, no link or alignment
• The first sentence links to the actual webpage we're discussing, and links to the project from our site that it used
• It includes the Bus Pirate sales line (where to get one, and how much it costs)
• Since we saw this post at Hack a Day, it includes a via link to Hack a Day's post.

Wordpress tutorial

• You will receive an email with your WordPress login name and password.
• Login to WordPress here
• DO NOT PUBLISH ON YOUR OWN, we'll review your first few posts together:
  • Set your finished posts to 'pending review'.
  • Send Ian an email with a link to the post preview, he will schedule the post

Step by step

Add a title

Add a picture

Size and upload a picture

Link to the original article

Add an opening sentence with a link to the original article

Add a sales line

Add a 'sales line' at the end if the post is related to something we sell

Ex: Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors Adafruit, Open Source Control Systems, and eHaJo.

Add a 'via' link

Add a 'via' link at the very end if we saw the original article somewhere else

Add tags and a category

Save the post as pending

Preview

Click the preview button to preview how the post will look, and send Ian an email with a link to the pending article

Post examples

Forum post

• ChronoBlot DIY remake of the ChronoDot

Opening sentence:

schazamp shared his ChronoBlot remake of the MaceTech ChronoDot in the project log forum:

• Who posted it in the forum? schazamp. Be sure to link the schazamp's personal website (if any)
• A link to the project on the main subject. ChronoBlot

Block quote:

I made this ChronoBlot a while back, but now that I have a Bus Pirate, I can easily test it out, set the clock, and set the alarm (and write scripts to help with that), so I’ll be updating it soon and wanted to track it on this projects forum.

• A quote
• Put it in a block quote (" button in WordPress)

Thanks and forum link:

Thanks schazamp! Via the forum.

• Thank the person who sent the link
• Add a link to the forum is not linked in the opening sentence: Via the forum.

Sales line:

Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors.

• If our project is used add a copy of the sales line from the last post

Contact form post

Five cheap breadboard prototyping tips and tricks – list #2

Opening sentence:

Following up on their first list of tips, 43oh.com presents this second list of cheap breadboard prototyping tricks. SD card headers, LED diffusers and more.

• Put the link of the original article in the opening sentence and the previous post link.

Block quote:

• Optional quote from contact email, not used here

Thanks and contact form link:

Thanks opcode! Via the contact form.

• Thank the person who sent the link
• Add a link: Via the contact form.

Comment post

GPRS Arduino shield with SIM900 module

Opening sentence:

McZ tipped us to the GPRS shield using the new SIM900 cellular data module in a followup to our position location with GSM cellular post.

Block quote:

GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900MHz … for voice, SMS, Data, and Fax in a small form factor and with low power consumption. It is controlled via AT commands (GSM 07.07 ,07.05 and SIMCOM enhanced AT Commands), and fully compatible with Seeeduino/Arduino and Mega.

Thanks and comment link:

Part post

MAX8934G dual-input linear Li-Poly battery charger

Opening sentence:

Block quote:

Thanks:

App note post

App note: Hot-surface warning light with no external power

Opening sentence:

Block quote:

Thanks: