On this page you will learn how to write for Activist Handbook. Any contribution is valued, no matter how small. Create a completely new page, add some resources to a page, or correct a typo.
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- Texts should be simple to read. Many visitors of this site are non-native English speakers. Short sentences are better than long ones, and simple words are better than difficult ones. You can also add translations for your own native language!
- Reference to resources that already exist on a topic, and make sure to give credit to those who deserve it. Are you adapting work from other sources which was published under a creative commons licence? Add the name of the author you based your work on. And, if possible, add a link to the original work as well.
- Your article does not have to be perfect. Others are here to help you. You can start writing an article, which others can finish.
- Make it accessible for everyone. Make sure to provide an alternative title for pictures so that people with screen readers know what is shown too.
- Make it look engaging: Add some illustrations, pictures and videos.
- Stick to our principles.
Every article should contain the following (in this order):
- Title: The title should be short and clearly describe what the page is about. It should clearly distinguish it from other pages. It cannot be a sentence or question.
- Subtitle: The subtitle should contain additional keywords that people might search for. But remember that the subtitle is not just for search engine optimisation, it also has to be relevant for website visitors.
- Short introduction. The introduction should:
- Explain what the page is about and why it might (not) be relevant for the reader.
- Outline the contents of the page.
- Encourage people to contribute to the page.
- Subtopics (bullet list): If there are any subtopics of the page, make sure to add a list directly underneath the introduction. Subtopics always use the following linking structure "activishandbook.org/main-topic/sub-topic".
- Contents: Make sure to structure the contents using titles.
- Local context
- Related articles (bullet list): To make it easier for activists to find the information they are looking for on this site, add a list of related articles at the bottom of each page. These articles can be from a different chapter. They should not be subtopics (as those are already in the 'subtopic' section).
- References to external resources (bullet list): Do not try to reinvent the wheel, it is very likely that someone else has already done some great work.
The first step when writing a new article is to collect resources. Resources can be external articles, books, movies, and more. Here are a few tips when collecting resources:
- Make clear what kind of resource it is by adding the type between brackets after the title like so: Title Of Resource [movie/video/book]
- Make clear what in what language(s) the resource is available when it is in a different language than the page it is on. Add it between brackets after the title like so: Titel Van Artikel [Deutch/Nederlands]
- Make sure to archive the resource. This way, even if the original link breaks (for example, when the link changes or the page is deleted), users will still be able to access the resource. Use web.archive.org to archive web pages.
We use consistent formatting and styling to make it easier for visitors to skim through our website and find the content they were looking for. The examples below show how to format our website.
To subdivide an article with titles, first use the Heading 1. Subsections of particular parts are marked with Heading 2, and so forth.
Make links bold if they are an important part of the page. For example: do not make links to external resources bold, unless the page's main aim is to help people find external resources.
- Think carefully about what kind of list style to use. If there is no particular order in which users are supposed to read the points, use a bulleted list.
- Use a numbered list if you would like to indicate a specific order of the items you are discussing.
Do not use different font families.
References look like this: