Replace this with an introduction, usually the first 1-2 paragraphs/10-15 lines of your post — see Step 3 below for details.
Replace all this with your article.
Here’s a handy checklist that makes the process look more complex than it is. I do everything in this order and it helps because I almost always forget something.
- Pick a Title. Do this early; the system appreciates it (you can always change the title later). <50 characters ensure it stays on one line. A couple title standards:
- Reviews should just be the title of the game: The Legend of Zelda
- Impressions go like this – Impressions: (Title of Game)
- Revisited pieces also – Revisited: (Title of Game)
- Other regular features work the same way – for example, My Idea of Fun: (Clever subtitle or game title)
- Set a Featured Image. This is the picture that appears on the homepage. Use the “Set Featured Image” box to upload and/or select a 620×200 graphic from our media library. Don’t link to graphics from other sites (that’s a good rule in general, but goes double for Featured Images).
- Make an Excerpt. This is the text that appears on the home page. Excerpts can be finicky. You need to set your excerpt manually or the system will just use the first few lines of your post and may cut off mid-sentence. Here’s what to do:
- Write your intro using the area at the top where it says “replace this with an introduction.”
- Ignore the —MORE— thing and the solid line beneath it.
- Visit the TEXT tab and select the content — everything from <p style=”text-align: justify;”> to </p> that closes the last sentence you wish to use.
- Hit CTRL+C to copy it.
- Return to Visual and paste it into the EXCERPT box.
- It should begin with <p style=”text-align: justify;”> and end with </p>
- Remember if you change your intro, you also have to update the Excerpt!
- Assign a Category. For aesthetic reasons, it’s best to use only one category per post. Just choose the most relevant if many could apply. You can use more than one category if you really want to, but it looks bad on the front page.
- Add Tags. Tags are like keywords. Type them into the Tags field, separated by commas (or hit Enter between each). Tags can be more than one word. The system tries to autocomplete your typing based on existing Tags to avoid repeats. Capitalize Each Word Please.
- Write the post. This is a very important step!
- Optimize the SEO. Scroll down to the WordPress SEO by Yoast box and improve your Googleability:
- Focus Keyword can actually be more than one word. Be literal here – the ideal Focus Keyword(s) exactly matches a word or phrase that appears often in your post, including the title. For example, the title of a game.
- SEO Title usually doesn’t need anything from you, so ignore it.
- Meta Description is also auto-generated from the beginning lines of your post. Feel free to customize it if you want to.
- Put your Email beneath the Tap logo. Change the placeholder text to whatever you want and link to your @tap-repeatedly email address.
- Delete this list and any other text that came with the template. Otherwise it’ll be published with your post.
I’m happy to answer questions and help out, so don’t hesitate!
Email the author of this post at (yourname)@Tap-Repeatedly.com.