Never write in the blog tool: The preference is to write in Harris so there is a copy for print. If you can’t use Harris, use any other program — just don’t use the blog tool. If you use Harris, always save and then use the “Blogit” button and paste into blog tool. If you use any other text editor, save the story as a .txt file. Open the .txt file and past it in using the insert text button (Brieftcase with a T on it) in the blog tool.

Just-the-facts headlines: Write headlines with keywords that are useful, factual, to-the-point.

Use Blogit in Harris: Use the Blogit key to cut a story from Harris before pasting it into the blog tool. If you don’t have “Blogit” key in Harris, go to “View”, “Toolbars” and select “Blogging.”

Use simple text editor in other computers: On PCs, use Notepad to write (you can cut-and-paste from this); on Macs, use Preview or Text Edit (you can cut-and-paste from this). Open the .txt file and past it in using the insert text button (Brieftcase with a T on it) in the blog tool.

Size and location of photos: Post all photos as large and left, except vertical mugshots, which should be small and left.

Credit photos: Photo credit examples
* Staff photos: Joe Photographer/The Oregonian
* Special to The Oregonian: Joe Photographer/Special to The Oregonian
* The Associated Press (no byline): The Associated Press
* Family photos: “Courtesy of …”
* Police or company photos: Name of agency (No “Courtesy of …”)

Double-check: Use the “Preview” button before publishing. After publishing look at the post on the site.

Send out a posted message: In the preview mode, copy your story and paste it into an e-mail. Send the e-mail to $posted and editstaff@oregonlive.com. Include in the subject line the location of the post — “Oregon Local News,” for example — and the headline. In the body copy, include the categories selected and then paste in the full post. This needn’t be done for posts to personality blogs.

Never unpublish or delete a post: Copies migrate across the site and are read by search engines. Don’t even unpublish temporarily. Rewrite if you need to in the original version. Track down an online team member if you need to get something off the site.

Read comments: You’ll get an e-mail on each comment from the stories you’ve posted. If a comment crosses the good-taste line, follow the link to “Edit this comment” and click on the delete button. Here’s a basic list of what should be deleted: Profanity; personal attacks; ethnic or racial slurs; personal information about an individual, such as an address, e-mail or phone number; libelous material; accusations about an individual that are not already part of the public record or well-documented; advertising or promotional material; witch hunts; copyright and trademark infringements.

Never edit comments: Approve or delete — no tweaking.