Making proper posts

[Steppy]

So, just decided to write this guide to help people make their posts easier to read.
You don't have to do every part of the guide, it's often enough to just make sure that your post is not one big wall of text. But following this guide will make your posts look more colorful and prettier

Formatting the text doesn't take much time, and it will look alot better aswell.


Basic rules

There are some things that are common sense, but some people doesn't seem to think about it.
Make sure that you're using decent grammar, and be helpful if anyone have any questions to ask.

Text


Rows

Make sure to change the row once in a while so you don't get a huge wall of text. Then it's pretty much impossible to read, and people will just give up.

Punctuation

Make sure to use punctuation and commas in the text. It will be really annoying to read otherwise.

Sections

Make your guides in different sections if it's a big guide. Give each section a different color, so people can see which section they're in more easily.

Headlines

Use headlines for each section. It will make it even more clear what section you're on.
Make different kind of headlines aswell. If it's a big section, it can have a big headline with the section name (for example, if you're making a gold making guide, the headline for that can be "How to Make gold".)

That section can have several smaller headlines aswell (for example, "Using the auctionhouse", "Farming" etc.).

You should of course have different font sizes for the headlines depending if it's a big headline, or a small one.
I usually make big headlines size 4, and small ones, size 3.

Attributes

Use the font attributes.
The bold attribute is good for headlines, or if you want to put strength on a specific word (for example: "This is really...")
In this situation, you could have used caps lock instead if you wanted to, but using the bold attribute often looks better.

The underline is also good for putting strength on specific words, or mark out something that is an really important thing to think about (for example: "...then you should almost be done. But it's important that you think about...").

Colors

As I said earlier, use colors to make it easier to see which section of the guide that people are reading.
However, remember that MMOwned uses a dark-gray background for the text tables, so don't use colors such as dark red, or dark grey. Think about things like that!

Alignement

Aligning your text properly is something worth thinking about aswell.
You can have everything left-aligned, or headlines center-aligned, then the rest of the text to the left.

But it's not superimportant how you align it, it's a matter of personal preferance really.


Other things


Lists

Using the number or dot list can be good for things aswell, for example if you want to make a table of contents, add a step to step guide etc.

I've had some problem with the dot lists, and if you find yourself having problem aswell, you can just make the lists yourself by using * or numbers.

Images

Images can make the guide look alot better, and it's alot easier to explain things with pictures, than with text. However, Scale down your pictures so they're not superhuge!
If you have to post a big picture, add the html link to the picture instead of inserting the entire image.

Some tips

I can give you a tip for how I usually write my guides:

I write my guide down, and skip any textformatting (exept putting small things such as bold on some places where I might miss it later.) at first
I also write some specific notes at this first stage. If I can't figure out which word I'm looking for, I write a short note at the place that the word should be on (for example, if I can't figure out the word tomorrow "You should probably be able to recieve your item **//day aft. today".)

When my guide is written, I go through stage two, where I format all the text.
When I'm done with step two, Step three starts - The final step.
I simply read through my guide, and change some things that doesn't look good. This is also where I fix the notes that I made on stage one.

Anyway, thanks for reading my guide, and good luck with your posts! :wave:

[Zeluous]

MMOwned handbook = win?

[Steppy]

Oh, haven't seen that one before actually /facepalm.

I only read the handbook really quick now, but doesn't seem like it took up exactly the same things as my guide did (exept for the "don't repost" thing and such. But mayby I didn't read the handbook enough.

[moxie11]

Condescending redundancy is never taken well, even on MMowned.

[Steppy]

I didn't mean for it to sound condescending, but I realize that I did sound like a jerk. Sorry about that, I'll try to edit the text to make it sound less criticizing, since that wasn't my intent.