Google Docs Rock

Here at SNO, we eat, sleep, and breathe WordPress. Why do we love it so? Let us count the ways! It’s flexible, reliable, and user-friendly. No matter what you want to do with your site, there’s probably a plugin or widget that’ll help you do it. You can publish content in just a few clicks—no complicated coding or frustrating software to learn. WordPress might just be the best thing to happen to the Interwebs since the Hamster Dance.

That said, there’s one facet of WordPress we aren’t crazy about. We know it’s tempting to compose your stories directly in the WordPress interface, but hold it right there, partner—resist the urge! We recommend composing and editing in Google Docs instead, and transferring your content to WordPress when (and only when) it’s ready to publish. Here’s why:

–Google Docs saves your work automatically every few seconds, while still allowing you to undo changes if you wish. Docs are stored in your Google Drive and can be accessed from anywhere at anytime.

–Google Docs are collaborative. In WordPress, only one user at a time can edit a story. Google Docs is designed to allow multiple users to simultaneously write or edit.

–Advisers and editors can leave comments on Google Docs without altering a story’s text–helpful if you want to suggest ideas or changes to a writer without doing their work for them.

–Flexible privacy settings let you decide who can access your Docs, whether that means everybody–even non-staff members–or nobody at all.

–Google Docs integrate seamlessly with SNO FLOW. All you have to do is paste your Doc’s sharing link into its corresponding assignment. It’s that easy.

So you think your site is eggcellent

The Site Excellence Badge is by far the most popular badge that we hand out in the SNO Distinguished Sitesprogram. To earn this badge, you’ll want to be sure that your site fits all of the criteria, and here are a few free tips that can go a long way toward helping you earn the coveted badge.

  1. Click through all of the categories in your navigation bar and be sure something has been published in each one in the last two months or so. If not, either publish something or delete the category from your navigation. All elements on the navigation bars should link to current content.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of your site and check forwhitespace. If you see some, rearrange and reformat the widgets until its gone. You don’t want any unsightly whitespace on your site.

  3. Check your photos. When you place an image on your website, that image needs to be an original photo taken by members of your staff, a photo taken by someone else that is used with explicit permission, or a photo that has been licensed for fair use.