Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs:

Captions: Every photograph needs a caption, in print and in online articles. Captions help to tell the story of the article, and encourage a reader to stay on the page (often they will read the headline, first line and captions). Captions should be full sentences but without a full stop at the end. Add a caption in WordPress by clicking ‘add media’, selecting a photo and adding a caption to the information about the photograph, or by clicking the pencil symbol on an existing photograph.

Hero image: Main image that every story needs. Always try to use a photograph with people in it, and never a logo or poster.

Hyperlinks: Every online story should have at least one hyperlink. Proper nouns should be hyperlinked wherever possible, unless they are very commonly used (e.g. Bristol City Council). Hyperlink only the first mention of a particular organisation. All hyperlinks except the ‘read more’ story should be set to open in a new tab. Highlight the text, click ‘add/insert link’, click ‘link options’ and select ‘open link in a new tab’.

Image size: Online, hero images are cropped to a 16×9 format and should be at least 800 pixels wide. In print, photos should be at least 1MB or they may be too small to use.

Photo names: All photographs uploaded to WordPress need meaningful names that allow them to be searchable.

Pub of the week: Weekly online pub or bar review, e.g b247.staging.proword.press/food-and-drink/pubs-and-bars/pub-of-the-week-the-victoria-park. After the final sentence, there needs to be a picture of the outside of the pub and then its name, address, website, phone number or email (as appropriate) in italics below.

Read more: Every online story needs a link to another story at the bottom to keep readers on the site. This should be formatted all in bold, with the headline of the story hyperlinked: Read more: Bristol Energy reports £1.2m loss

Related articles: Every online story needs at least three related articles. Select these in the related articles box in WordPress on the right hand side.

Restaurant reviews: Well-researched and descriptive write-up of a new opening or old favourite, e.g b247.staging.proword.press/food-and-drink/features-food-and-drink/beijing-cooking-pot-restaurant-review. Do not say that you are reviewing in order to ensure you get impartial service. Take photographs during the review: at least one of the inside (ideally showing some people to use as the hero image), the cafe or restaurant from the outside, the menu to check the prices and each dish you try. Keep your receipt to claim it back on expenses. After the final sentence of the review, add in the picture of the outside and then its name, address, website, phone number or email (as appropriate) in italics below.

Reviews: Including music, theatre etc. Write in present tense. Avoid personal pronouns wherever possible e.g “I ate the lobster, which was cold” becomes “The lobster dish arrived cold”.

SEO: The meta description box needs to be completed (see subheadings for more detail)

Shop of the week: Weekly online feature of around 700 words about one of Bristol’s independent shops, e.g b247.staging.proword.press/lifestyle/shops/shop-of-the-week-rollquick. After the final sentence, there needs to be a picture of the outside of the shop and then its name, address, website, phone number or email (as appropriate) in italics below. One feature each month is published in the lifestyle section of the print magazine. It may be necessary to get back in touch with the author to get larger photographs from them for print. Find their email address in the ‘users’ section of the website.

Subheadings: Every online story needs a subheading, which should be a full sentence without a full stop at the end. It should not contain the name of the author or repeat anything from the headline. To ensure it pulls through to Facebook and Twitter, make sure you paste it into the meta description box in the Yoast SEO box.

Read more: Bristol24/7 style guide