Blog Hosting Policies and FAQ

[NIadmin]

NI Community Blog Hosting 

We welcome and encourage members of the NI Community to share their unique knowledge and experience with everyone. You can do all of these things: 

• Answer questions in the community 
• Write and/or edit long-form documents, which is useful for outlining complex tasks or answering an often-asked question. We even have specialized documents like those in Example Programs. 
• Start a new user group or help with the organization of an existing one. 
• Host, write and curate a community-hosted blog on a specific set of topics. 

If you are not sure if a blog is for you, reach out to the Community team, and we can discuss your ideas and suggest the best way to share them. 

Policies related to Hosting Blogs 

To ensure that all blogs are being managed consistently, we have defined a set of requirements to which we expect all blog hosts to adhere. 

As the host of an NI Community Blog, you must agree to abide by the following:  

• Your blog must have a specific theme or focus.  If you have different topics you would like to share, you can consider having separate blogs. General- purpose or personal blogs will not be accepted. 
• All blogs are subject to the Content Archiving Policy and the Terms of Use. 
• New blog posts are expected at least twice a month. Guest posts and co-blogging is encouraged to meet this goal. We recommend that authors have a backlog of two months of posts ready to publish when your blog is created. 

Blog Hosting FAQ 

How do I create a blog post? 

• Each blog is limited to a specified set of authors. If you want to be a blog host, please refer to Using Blogs in the NI Community for information about how to request one. If you want to be a guest author on a blog, send the owner a private message. 
• If you can author a blog post, you will see a Blog Dashboard on your blog page. Click “Start An Article” to begin posting.
• When writing a blog post, enter a subject, body, and, optionally, a teaser. The teaser text is displayed on the main blog page, like a preview, with a Read More link to see the full blog post body. 

                    -Add labels to categorize your blog posts into major themes.  

                    -Apply tags for more granular categorization. 

                    -Some authors have permission to edit some SEO options, including the canonical URL, title, and description. 

Can I schedule a blog post to be published later? 

• When creating a new blog post, select the option to Schedule Publication. You can then choose the date and time you wish the blog post to be published. 
•  Scheduled posts can be found by selecting View All Drafts from your Blog Dashboard.   

How do I edit a draft blog post? 
 

• Select View All Drafts from the Blog Dashboard on your blog page. Then, click the Edit button for the post you would like to edit. 
   

How can I add more author(s) to my blog? 

• Send a private message to NI_Community_Support with the usernames of the people you would like to add as an author for your blog. 

 
Can I collaborate with another member on a blog post draft? 
 

• When viewing all drafts for the blog you will only see the drafts you created. However, another member can provide you with the link to a draft that they have saved which you can then edit. Note: You cannot edit simultaneously with another member. 

 
How can my blog post become featured on the community homepage? 

•  The NI Community Team regularly reviews community content to be featured on the front page and around the community. If you would like us to feature your blog post, send a private message to NI_Community_Support and we will review your blog post.  
   

I have an idea for a new blog. How do I become the host of my own blog? 

• We always welcome new blogs to the NI Community! New blogs go through an approval process to ensure that blog owners will be committed to their readers. To start the approval process, please send a private message to NI_Community_Support and we will begin the process.