Blog Submission Guidelines & Process

[MeganBowers]

• Blog Guidelines
• Content
• Formatting
• Writing
• Images/Videos
• Miscellaneous Formatting
• Submission Process
• Frequently Asked Questions

Blog Guidelines

Below are guidelines for the blogs we publish. If you have any specific questions, contact us at dg_communitycontent@alteryx.com.

Content

We have four blogs on Community--here are descriptions of the type of content we post on each one. 

Analytics: Alteryx corporate news, company events, product news, and thought leadership. The articles on this blog are generally written by Alteryx employees.

Engine Works: Alteryx Designer, Alteryx Designer Cloud, Alteryx Server, and Auto Insights how-to's, tips, and tricks. These articles are technical, but they can be fun as well.

Alter.Nation: Community news, events, user stories, and more. This blog is about all things Community!

Data Science: Alteryx Machine Learning, Intelligence Suite, and data science use cases. This blog has machine learning and data science articles for beginner and advanced users.

In general, we are looking for content that:

1. Is beneficial to Community members
2. Is well written and tells a story (step-by-step tutorials and technical help articles are in the Knowledge Base)
3. Highlights interesting Alteryx use cases

Additionally, our blogs can have a casual tone, so don't be afraid to have some fun with your writing!

Formatting

Below are the formatting guidelines for blog submissions. Following these will result in less back-and-forth when we review your article. There is also an example Word Doc attached to this article which you can download and put your content in to make formatting easier. 

Writing

• Writing should be clear and free of typos and grammatical errors; please use a spelling and grammar checker or have someone proofread your draft before submitting it
• Do not use all caps, italics, or underlines for emphasis
• Capitalize Alteryx tool names (e.g., the Download tool)
• Capitalize Alteryx product names (Alteryx Designer, Alteryx Server, Auto Insights, etc.) and external product names (Excel, Tableau, etc.)
• Use the full version of an acronym before using the acronym in your article to help with audience understanding (e.g., using the term Machine Learning and then calling it ML later if needed)
• Please keep in mind how blog articles are differentiated from Knowledge Base (KB) articles: a blog article should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. It should tell a cohesive story, even if it is technical in nature. A KB is a technical tutorial where a numbered list of steps alone will suffice if it walks the user through how to accomplish a specific task.

Images/Videos

• Images must be high resolution, text must be readable
• All media (not created by you) needs citations. Unsplash and Pixabay are good options for public domain images. Giphy is a good option for GIFs.
• Images and videos should always be center aligned
• If you would like to provide the cover image for your article, the dimensions should be 1000x500 px. Our team can also create an image for you.

Miscellaneous Formatting

• 1 line break of space in between paragraphs and all images and headers
• Code should be provided in text form so it can be formatted in code blocks (by our team); no screenshots of code unless it is to show the entire interface/workflow
• Be cautious with numbered lists with many layers of indentation--this can make an article hard to read and reduces the story element

Submission Process

For Community members:

1. Email a word document draft of your article to dg_communitycontent@alteryx.com.
2. The Community content team will review it and get back to you on whether your submission is suitable for the blog. If it is, we will let you know our target publish date.
3. If needed, we make edits to your draft and send it back for you to approve. Sometimes, we may also need to reach out to internal Alteryx teams for approval.
4. Once approved, we will publish the article under your name on the appropriate blog.

*note: if you are an Alteryx employee, please fill out the Community Asana request form to submit a blog. (Contact dg_communitycontent@alteryx.com for more information.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can you publish articles with more than one author?

A: Yes, take a look at the beginning of this article to see what it will look like. 

Q: If I have already authored blogs on the Community before, can I create my article in the Drafts section on the blog?

A: We do not receive notifications when items are updated in the drafts section, and it is not always clear when an article is ready for review. Please email us at dg_communitycontent@alteryx.com if you have a draft that you would like us to review and publish so that we don't miss it!

Q: I have an idea, or part of a blog post, but I need help putting it together as an article. Can you help?

A: Yes! Email us, and we can collaborate or let you know what else your content needs to become a blog post.

Q: How do I update an article that I wrote previously on the blog?

A: Typically, we do not update blogs. If there is a minor update or a link you want to add, you can comment on your article, and it will notify anyone who has liked or commented on the article in the past. If your blog is only relevant to older versions of Alteryx, email us, and we can add a disclaimer at the top. If you have significant changes you want to make, we recommend writing a new blog post and referring back to the old one. We can also archive the old one if that is what you prefer.

Q: How do I alert the community team that an article (which I did not write) has errors or needs to be updated?

A: For any content on the community, you can click on the three dots in the top right corner of the page and click "Notify Moderator." This will take you to a screen where you can write a short description of what your issue is with the blog post. Our team will be notified, and we will take action to resolve the issue.

Q: How do I get my bio to appear below my blog article?

A: Fill out the Title and Biography sections in your community settings under the Personal --> Account Information tab:

 

Let us know when you send your draft that you would like your bio at the bottom of the article, and we will enable this feature for you.

Q: I think my writing fits better as a Knowledge Base (KB) article. Can I submit a KB article to be published?

A: At this time, Knowledge Base articles are authored only by Alteryx employees.

Q: How do I know what is a good topic to write about? And how can I tell if others are also writing about it (so I don't duplicate any content)?

A: A good place to start is by looking at what articles we have posted recently to make sure there isn't one too similar to your idea. You can also email us with your ideas before getting started on writing so that we can inform you if we know of any other similar content in the works.

Q: Can you send me data on how my articles are performing?

A: Yes! You can sign up to receive a Blog Report monthly in your community inbox by messaging @MeganBowers and indicating you would like to opt-in to getting the report. Find more information on the stats that are included here.

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Thanks for helping make the Community an even better place with your awesome blogs! We look forward to reading them.