HE FIRST THING you should notice is the nice, beautiful, even paragraphs that make up this blog submission. In a few minutes, you will be allowed to see the “results” of this submission — that is, how your article actually looks once it’s been posted on the blog — and you will be amazed at what a lovely result comes from submitting nice, even paragraphs of text. Nice, flowing, even paragraphs of text will make your blog look fantastic … no matter what device or browser is reading it. Also, your article will continue to look wonderful, even after five, ten, or twenty years.
You see that I have started a new paragraph now. Again, the emphasis here is on evenly spaced, flowing paragraphs. Even two nice paragraphs would make a fine article for the blog, but you can write as many as you please. However, many people won’t read your article if it gets too long. By the way, you’re allowed to use the first person singular, if you wish, since we always clearly say, “This is a guest blog by Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so.” You’re also allowed to use contractions, if you wish, because sometimes using contractions makes an article easier to read.
* * Corpus Christi Watershed Blog • Website URL Link
Now, see how I just added a link? To add a link, put three stars, the web address, and then (in brackets) how you want the URL link to display. Again, if you don’t yet understand how the link will look, you will once you see the “results” of this submission (see above).
PLEASE DO NOT USE more than one link in your blog unless it’s absolutely necessary. Too many links will make your blog look horrible. If you must refer to various sites, you can always say something like, “On the CCW website,” or else, “can be found by following the link above.” By the way, once we post your article, it becomes property of CCW. In other words, it will be online forever. The reason is, we don’t have enough staff to spend time taking down articles. It’s hard enough to get them up in the first place! (Did you notice how I used italics there? That was to show you how you can add italics.)
Some people wait till the very end of their article to include a web link. From a formatting perspective, we don’t recommend this. It’s better to have your link followed by at least one paragraph … even if it’s just a short little “closing” paragraph. Besides, some people might not read your entire post, so don’t place the link at the very end. Finally, if you need to include some kind of physical address (not recommended, because then complete strangers will have your info), do so by listing it as John Doe, 2345 Maple Street, Vienna, Ohio, 64577.