The following is a brief guide for bloggers. If you need any help with anything, or have any suggestions, don't hesitate to e-mail me at layscience@googlemail.com.

Instructions

Logging In:
The log in form is in the menu bar at the top of the page. Once you've signed in, you can edit various user information by clicking on your name in the menu bar, or going to User Tasks -> User Settings on the menu bar.

Your Blog and Feed:
You have your own blog page and your own RSS feed. You can find these next to your name at layscience.net/writers.

Blog Entry:
To add an entry, go to User Tasks -> Add Posts on the menu. To update an existing entry, go to Manage Posts on the same menu.

The form should be pretty self-explanatory.

• The Categories selection is for the very broad site categories.
• In the Tags field you can add a selection of words or phrases of your choice describing the content (e.g. astronomy, Jupiter, icebergs, whatever).
• In the body you can use HTML, or use the handy little buttons to generate the HTML for you.
• If you want to upload an image to the server, click File Attachments, select a picture, and when it's uploaded and it appears right click it to get the URL to paste into the main body with an Image tag (or using the Image button).
• If you've written a post but don't want to publish it yet, go to the bottom, click "Publishing Options", and uncheck "Published" before saving.
• If you're publishing a previously saved post, make sure to select "Authoring Information" and clear the date in the "Authored On" field, so that the post is updated to the current time.
• Save submits the post.

Editorial:

There is no requirement for authors to post frequently. Post when you like, what you like as long as it fits with the general vibe and themes of the site.

New blogs will automatically appear on the front page, under the headline to the right. Feature articles are displayed more prominently with the latest one making the headline, and the next few running down the left side of the page.

Articles are flagged as features by the editor, but don't see this as a reflection on your writing - it will tend to be for editorial reasons (e.g big stories or attention grabbing or keeping a good mix) rather than anything to do with how "good" the post is.