Monday, December 1, 2008

Triond December Newsletter

Today article publisher Triond sent out its newsletter for December. Topics covered include profile personalization, Twitter, plagiarism issues, trend discussion, and proper use of tags.




Happy Holidays from Triond! Do you feel the holiday spirit like we do? Fun, seasonal music is on the radio and we are working and planning for a great 2009. This December, we hope you enjoy spending time with your loved ones, feasting on festive meals, and submitting your articles to Triond, of course!

This month’s newsletter is a bit longer than usual. We’re ending an amazing year with some very important information and useful tips, so please read carefully. Here’s to 2009 and beyond!

In This Issue

* What's New at Triond? Profile Personalization and Twitter
* Plagiarism: What to Do if it Happens to You
* Dear Triond…
* What's Hot?
* Using It Wisely: How to Tag Your Articles Effectively

What's New at Triond?

Profile Personalization

Last week we launched a completely redesigned platform for creating your profile page (Missed it? Read Profile Personalization 2.0 on our blog). Many of you have already designed great profiles that really show off your creativity. If you haven’t let loose the creative beast, it’s a must do.

Your profile is not just a place to see listed articles; it’s also an online creative portfolio. Make sure that your profile accurately reflects your personality, style, and hard work. Take creative control by selecting one of several color themes, then chose exactly which types of content are displayed on your page. You can send your new profile to colleagues, friends, family, even potential employers. Just think – you’ll never have to search for a writing sample again!

Triond's Twitter

Tweet, tweet… Triond has joined Twitter! Do you have Twitter? Follow Triond at twitter.com/triond and read about our latest features, service updates, and other news from an insider’s perspective.

Plagiarism: What to Do if it Happens to You

At Triond, we truly value the creation of original, genuine work. Everyday our Editorial team works hard to prevent the publication of copyrighted or duplicate content. However, the world of online publishing is very large and there are other publishers – both small and large – who have no problem to copy and paste stolen work, word for word at times, after it has been published on Triond. These publishers have no respect for your hard work, your copyright, and of course, they have no originality of their own.

When you publish work on Triond, you retain the full copyright, so you have the right to defend it! In the past, when Triond has found out about an instance of plagiarism, we have done the following:

* Find a contact person at the offending publisher. Usually an email address can be found at the publisher’s domain, in their “About Me” or “Contact Us” pages.
* Contact the person with a short and to-the-point email asking them to remove the offending plagiarized content.
* If they have not complied with the request after a few days, send a Cease & Desist Letter.

We try our best to handle plagiarism problems swiftly, but it is a long procedure that can take time to accomplish. Since you retain the rights to your work, you can also follow the above steps on your own. We encourage you to be proactive in protecting your work; issuing a Cease & Desist Letter is effective more often than not, especially coming from the owner of the copyright. Legal action need not be taken if the plagiarizer understands the crime and stops committing it. If you don’t know how to write a Cease & Desist letter, you can find many templates online. Fill out the template according to your content item's details and then send it to the site's contact person.

With hundreds of thousands of articles on Triond, and billions of webpages in the world, it would be nearly impossible to actively search out and contact every copyright infringement. Our Editorial process ensures that your work is original, and with your help, we can make sure no one takes advantage of your creativity.

Dear Triond…


It’s been almost four months since we released our Online Editor. While we are happy to see more and more articles submitted through this great tool, we know that even some of the most simple interfaces need an explanation every once in a while. This month, we’ll answer your questions on submissions.

Dear Triond,
How can I link to a website without pasting the whole web address or URL into my article?

Many websites have long, ugly-looking URLs that are a pain to type into the browser address bar. Instead of simply copying and pasting an ugly URL into your article, create a descriptive hyperlink to the page you are referencing.

Inserting a link is easy in the Online Editor. Just follow these steps:

1. Copy the URL of the page you would like to link from your browser’s address bar
2. Type a title for your link in your article and then highlight the phrase that you want people to click on
3. Find the “Insert/Edit Link” button that looks like a chain, click it and a new window will open. Paste in the Link URL, determine the target (whether the link will open in a new window or in the same window as your article), and then type a title for the link (this will show when you mouse-over the link).
4. Click “Insert” and you’re done!

Wasn’t that simple? Now go to the Online Editor to try it!


Dear Triond,
My article’s pictures aren’t showing up correctly. How come they are different than what I wanted?

The best way to make sure that pictures appear exactly as you want is to use the Online Editor. In the Online Editor, it’s easy to embed images using the “Insert Image” button. For more details, visit the Online Editor Help Center.

Regardless of whether you use the Online Editor or the Submit a File method, you must have the picture saved as a file on your computer, or know the source link for where the picture is located online. You will need the location details to identify and embed your images.

As a reminder, don’t use a copyrighted photo unless it has a license that allows resharing. And ALWAYS make sure you give credit where credit is due by sourcing your images. For more details on embedding images when submitting a file, visit the Help Center topic “How do I embed a photo.”


What's Hot?


The end of the year is a time ripe for introspection, and this year in particular we certainly have a lot to think about. We’ve just witnessed an historic moment in the U.S. political scene that will affect the entire world. Struggling economies in several countries are causing headaches, but also presenting new opportunities. Talk of “recession” and “bailouts” bring out contrasting emotions such as fear and hope. But we can all look forward to the holidays at the end of the month!

All of these topics – financial articles, job-hunting tips, economic insights, and holiday-themed writing – are great subjects for your work on Triond this month. Make your end of the year articles get noticed by heeding our advice to create truly relevant content.

Using It Wisely: How to Tag Your Articles Effectively

Remember last month’s introduction of a more refined category selection? Since we’ve implemented this feature, we now pick a specific category for your content item based on the tags of your article. You can help us put your content items in the best place by tagging each article with the name of the category in which you would like it to be placed. For example, if you write a Haiku, tag the item with "haiku.” It will be sent straight to the Haiku category. The same goes for "poetry", "pets", and so on. Less categories, more tags, better Triond.


That’s it for our December update. Happy holidays from everyone at Triond! As always, check the Triond blog for regular news, and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/triond. If you have questions, comments, or want to share a suggestion with us, just email the Triond Support Team at support@triond.com.

Happy Publishing!
Triond

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