The purpose of this document is to ensure that all content on the Klat blog network is of professional quality and is properly formatted. Sloppy or improperly formatted work will be considered incomplete and returned to the author for correction. To ensure that your articles are published in a timely manner, follow this simple checklist.

• When pasting content from a word processing program, make sure to use the Post From Word function in the interface. This will automatically apply any text formatting and ensure that no strands of code appear in the body of the article.

• Please make use of the spell check features in the interface. Misspellings will be underlined in red and can be right-clicked to reveal possible corrections.

• Please read through your work before you submit it, correcting any errors you find along the way.

• Always categorize and tag your articles. Strong tags consist of specifics (names, places, the main subject of the article) and increase traffic to the article.

• Always include a page break. The best place for a page break is after the first paragraph of your article. Page breaks allow for article previews that promote strong search results.

A note about article categorization. Some categories are more general than others and this leads to their misuse. The most commonly misused category is “Lifestyle”. To avoid clutter on the Klat homepage, please reserve use of the Lifestyle category for appropriate topics such as fashion, décor, romance, philosophy and other such “how one lives” concepts. Sports, Arts and Entertainment and Health all have their own categories and should only rarely cross over with Lifestyle.

Common Grammatical Mistakes

Using quotes

How to use punctuation in relation to quote marks is one of the most common areas of confusion in English grammar. Generally speaking, punctuation that exists inside quote marks pertains only to the sentence within the quote, not the sentence in which the quote appears. For example, if I quote a man named Jim in the context of an article, my punctuation should look like this:

Jim said of that accusation, “I am innocent.” but did not comment any further.

Note how the word “but” is not capitalized. This is because the period inside the quotes does not pertain to the larger sentence, only the quote itself. If the quote happens at the end of the larger sentence, the period belongs outside the quotes, i.e.

Jim said of that accusation, “I am innocent”.

Using parentheses

Parentheses (these marks) are generally used to communicate ideas related to a given sentence but that don't necessarily fit in that sentence as they are. As with quotes, punctuation belongs outside of parentheses in regard to the larger sentence. Please do not overuse parentheses. If the sentence within the parentheses can stand on its own, it should. For example:

Good- The price of popcorn (five cents in 1930, ten cents in 1950) has regularly inflated with the price of movie tickets.

Bad- The price of popcorn has regularly inflated with the price of movie tickets (the cost was five cents in 1930 and ten cents in 1950).

Using Ellipses

The ellipsis, a punctuation meant to indicate a pause or begin a quote in the middle of a sentence, is a common point of confusion. The ellipsis always consists of three periods, no more, no fewer. Furthermore, there needs to be a space between the ellipsis and the word that follows it. Example:

Many writers like to use ellipses... not that they always use them correctly.

An ellipsis can also be used to begin a quote in the middle of a sentence, or to indicate an editorial cut within a single sentence of a quote. For example, if a full quote reads,

“Dr. Smith was not briefed on the results from the latest lab tests but presumed they would be identical to tests from earlier in the week.”

It's acceptable to edit the quote as:

Our source indicated that Dr. Smith believed the test results would be, “...identical to tests from earlier in the week.”

The quote can also appear as,

“Dr. Smith ...presumed they would be identical to tests from earlier in the week.”

Note how, in this case, the ellipsis is attached to the beginning of the latter half of the quote.

Indicating years

This is one of those exceptions to a common rule. When indicating a period of time, the proper punctuation includes an apostrophe, as in the 1950's, not the 1950s.

Indicating titles

When writing the title of a book, movie, TV show or other piece of media, always use italics, i.e. The Grapes of Wrath. This helps avoid confusion. For example, if the title of a movie is Joe and its main character is named Joe, readers will be able to tell the difference between a reference to the character and a reference to the movie as a whole by which is italicized.

Titles of smaller works, like articles, short stories and individuals songs, should appear in quotes. For example, when referring to the work of Lady Gaga, the song “Bad Romance” appears on the album The Fame Monster.