Frequently Asked Questions

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What are “Article Submissions”, “Diaries” and “Quick Posts”?

One of the Cortex’s greatest features is that it really puts the focus on the registered Cortex community, allowing not only “diaries” and “comments” (as many other sites do), but also “Article Submissions” and “Quick Posts”. Each of these offers a new venue for expressing your opinions and sharing you knowledge, wit, and wisdom.

The greatest article depth can usually be found in the “Featured Writers” and “Top-Rated Submissions” columns on the front page.

“Diaries” come next with the “Quick Posts” and Comments rounding out the depth-brevity spectrum. Each section has it’s own treasures to offer. See here for full descriptions of each posting method.

“Article Submissions” – As noted above, you can submit your personally written articles to a vote by the Cortex community. If voted ‘Up’, your article posts directly to the middle column on the front page for maximum exposure. You should submit an article if it is something into which you’ve poured your heart and soul and believe that the front page is where it belongs. Typically, these pieces are in-depth, well-researched, and dually fact-checked. A solid point is backed by a well-reasoned argument.

If your submission does not get voted up, it’s automatically posted to the “Recent Diaries” section. This is done so that no one is forced to ‘sacrifice’ a “Diary” in an attempt to make the “Top-Rated Submission” column.

“Diaries” – Diaries can be more casual in nature and do not subject the writer to the scrutiny of either the community ‘editing’ process or the community vote. (though we highly recommend the community ‘editing’ process for those wishing to improve their writing appeal. You’ll be amazed how insightful it is.) Even so, diaries are still a place where many people put a significant amount of time and energy into the production of their piece and thus, certain rules should be followed to ensure that diaries experience maximum exposure both on the front page and within the “Diaries” page. (See those rules here!)

You are the only one who can post to your diary, and no one can say whether it posts or not. “Diaries” post both to the “Diaries” section and to the “Recent Diaries” listing in the right column. Diaries in the “recent” list have the opportunity to be move automatically to the “Recommended Diary” list if they accumulate enough ‘recommend’ votes from the registered Cortex community.

Diaries are created exactly like stories. They have an introduction, a body (for extended entries), and polls. Anyone can view them and comment on them. Be aware that anyone can (and will) comment on what you say. So be prepared. This is a community designed to encourage constant interaction. So use diaries at your own discretion but don’t expect any privacy for your writing. (It’s not that kind of diary).

"Advanced Diary Voting" -- Unlike most other "Scoop"-based sites that offer the registered user only the opportunity to either "Recommend" a diary or do nothing, Political Cortex offers the additional option of "Not Recommending" the Diary. This acts like an "anti-recommend" and subtracts one point from the Diary's score. A "Recommend" adds one point. The net amount of all votes creates a score for that diary. If the diary is able to acheive a particular "threshold" score, then it is posted to the "Recommended" diary list where it will hold a more prominent position among the diaries.

“Quick Posts” – The addition of the “Quick Post” is our deliberate attempt to spare the “Diaries” from unjustly being swept from the front page diary list before their time. The “Quick Post” is where you put the “Breaking News”, “Poll Alerts”, “link-and-a-graph” and other brief posts (no “one-liners” here either though. Save those for the comments sections.). This section will keep the pulse of the world and will appropriately be the content and focus of the Cortex’s “Nerve Center” section. This is where you go to get the most up-to-the-minute word on the world around us. Typically from here, more in-depth, related posts spread to the Diaries and Article Submissions.

“Quick Posts” post both to the “Nerve Center” section and to the “Nerve Center” listing in the right column. “Quick Posts” in the “Nerve Center” list also have the opportunity to be move automatically to the “Recommended Diary” list if they accumulate enough ‘recommends’ from the registered Cortex community.

Broad Spectrum: The three of these together, in concert with the comments sections, offer a broad spectrum of opportunities for you to share your voice with the community. In the end, it’s your judgment that will decide to which area you should post. If you’re wrong, the community will let you know.

:: ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS – EDITING -- VOTING ::

How do I submit an article?

Once you’ve created an account and logged in, you should:

1. Click on the “SUBMIT NEW ARTICLE” link your “USER MENU” in the top of the right column.

2. Write your story, if you haven’t already. Take the time to read the rules on the story posting page. Leave the checkbox labeled "Request editorial feedback” checked for community editorial feedback. Be sure to preview your article before submitting it.

Article submission is a two stage process:

Stage 1) EDIT QUEUE: What is the edit queue? Your article will initially be placed in the "edit queue". This is where all logged-in members of the community can view your article and make constructive suggestions for improvement. These will range from correcting typographical errors and improving formatting to noting unclear sections and proposing topics to include or expand upon. While the article is still in the edit queue, you can edit it as you wish by selecting the story from the edit queue and clicking the "Edit Story" button at the bottom. Make use of this opportunity to do so, as people will indicate what you can change to help get your article posted. Articles that include errors and that appear to have spent little or no time in time in the edit queue tend to get rejected.

Again, we encourage EVERYONE to use the ‘edit queue’ whenever they can. It is an invaluable educational experience. And don’t worry about subjecting yourself to the cold criticism of your peers. We’re one, great big, loving community – and besides your name never shows up next to your post in the edit queue.

Feel free to make editorial suggestions to any post in the edit queue and please be courteous. Unproductive comments and insults are unacceptable and incredibly lame. The Author is asking for your assistance and surely doesn’t care to hear any jokes at his or her expense. The Golden Rule applies here as does it everywhere.

When leaving an editorial comment (only in the edit queue), be sure to select the "Editorial" comment type. This ensures that the comment is hidden once the article is finally posted.

If you feel that an article is abusing the edit queue, press the "Move To Vote" button. Abuse of the queue includes advertisements, crap floods (nonsense posted to disrupt normal activity) and using the queue as publication medium i.e. an article that exists to sit in the edit queue. If enough users press the "Move To Vote" button, the article will be moved to the voting queue.

You must have an account to view the edit queue. If you have an account, you can see the voting and edit queues by clicking the "Moderate Submissions" link.

What is the etiquette of the edit queue?

Your story will be better received if you show what are considered good manners as a story author.

It’s considered good etiquette to post an editorial comment with your plans for editing the story. For example, if you will be working or sleeping for some of the time the story is in the edit queue, you should say you will not be able to respond to comments during those times so that other users do not feel you are simply ignoring any advice they give.

When you submit your story to the edit queue it may receive editorial comments. These are generally intended to help you improve your story, but the opinions expressed will certainly vary. Resist the urge to moderate editorial comments until after the voting process has completed, and remember your moderation should reflect the quality of the advice rather than your agreement with it. Criticism is to be expected in the queue, and as the author you are expected to be able to accept it.

2) VOTING QUEUE: What is the voting queue? Your article can spend up to 6 hours in the edit queue. After this it will automatically be moved to the "voting queue". You can choose to move your article to the voting queue before it happens automatically by unchecking the box marked "Request editorial feedback”. Make sure you are happy with your article before you do so as you will no longer be able to edit it yourself once it is in the voting queue. Remember that the site has a global audience, so some of those who would give helpful feedback will not comment immediately.

As a matter of practicality, it is much easier (and much better) to write your story in a good word processor where you can spell check (and hopefully grammar check) your article before posting it. If you do not have access to a word processor, try using an online dictionary or spell checker. While decent spelling and grammar is not all-important, you will come under heavy fire for making mistakes in these departments.

Once an article has been written and edited, it is put into the voting queue. Registered members of Political Cortex vote on articles in this queue to determine what happens to each. You are allowed to vote once on an article in the queue.

You have three options when it comes to voting:


1. Post to "Top-Rated Submissions" (+1) (to “Top-Rated Submissions” in the middle column of the Front Page)
   Choose this if you like the story, or feel it is really worthy of being on the front page.
   
2. I Don't Care (0)
   Choose this if you do not really care either way about the article. Note: that even these votes are important since the voting threshold that determines whether or not an article makes it to the “Top-Rated Submissions” column is calculated using the total number of votes made. That includes the “I Don’t Care” since such a vote certainly says something about the article in question – especially if there are many of them.
   
3. Send it to the "Recent Diaries" ! (-1)
   Choose this if you do not feel the article is worthy of posting as a “Top-Rated Submission”.
   Once you’ve voted, this part of the page will change to reflect your vote.

It is important to remember that, just because an article might not be about a topic you’re interested in, it’s not a reason to vote -1. Likewise, if this article has "been seen before", or "I saw it on the other site", or any such similar thing, that’s not a reason in and of itself to vote a story -1. Vote it 0 if you’re unsure or don’t really care.

How many votes does it take to make it to the “Top-Rated Submissions”?

Once you’ve voted, you can see the current vote tally for the story. There is a "post threshold" and "dump threshold" which are both defined by a mathematical formula based on the percentage of total registered users on Political Cortex. Once the voting score reaches either of these two thresholds, the story either posts or dumps. If a story posts, it will appear on the front page. Otherwise it will go to the “Recent Diaries”.

What are the steps to submitting an article?

Submitting an article takes ten simple steps:

1. Select the “SUBMIT NEW ARTICLE” link in the “USER MENU” in the right column.

2. Section – First choose the general section within which your article most comfortably falls:

• “Frontal Lobe – Opinion/Editorial”
• “Left Brain – Analysis/Investigation”
• “Code Blue – Activism”

3. “Request Editorial Feedback” – Check this box if you wish to receive editorial comments from the registered users before submitting your piece to the voting queue. This is highly recommended

4. Title - Come up with a spectacular title for your story. Something informative and catchy that summarizes your article while drawing the reader's attention.

5. Intro - A one or two-paragraph introduction. State what it is you’re writing about, why you are writing about it, and a short introduction to it. Generally it’s not acceptable to make your entire submission in this area. In fact the introduction will be limited to 300 words. If your entire submission is less than three hundred words, then you should post your submission as a “Quick Post” since both “Article Submissions” and “Diaries” have a 300-word minimum.

6. Body - This is where you write your detailed story. Please do not include your introduction here again.

7. Keywords – Important: This is a REQUIRED Field. Enter up to three keywords that you believe best describe the content of your submission. Use those keywords that you think a person would need to enter into a search engine in order for your article to appear at the top of the search findings.

8. The Poll - This is an optional section where you can include a reader poll. Pick a question and put up to eight answers in the lines below. Not every story needs a poll, but they certainly can add an interesting and amusing element of interaction and insight..

9. Preview the article a few times and make as many changes as needed. We would recommend you check all links manually and read your article aloud. Keep re-previewing it until you are 100% happy with it. Then preview it again.

10. SUBMIT!

How do I make editorial changes to stories submitted to the voting queue?

There is a small text link visible to the author in the navigation bar at the bottom of each story on the individual story page. Again, the editing queue is highly recommended for ensuring the highest quality posts.

How do I know when my story gets voted up to the “Top-Rated Submissions” or sidelined to the “Recent Diaries”?

There are three easy ways to tell if your story has been posted or dumped:

• Check the editing and voting queues. If it is not in either, it has either been posted to the “Top-Rated Submissions” or sent to the “Recent Diaries”.
• Check the Front Page and Diaries Pages.

What do I do if my story gets posted to the front page or sent to the “Recent Diaries?

Well if your story gets posted - celebrate on a job well done. If your story gets sent to the “Recent Diaries”, don’t be discouraged. You still have a chance there to move to the highly touted “Recommended” Diaries. And if not that, then no worries, the “Recent Diaries” is the favorite place of many of the readers and they will always have a significant and appreciative readership. Indeed, the VAST majority of posts spend their front-page life there.

Regardless of your article’s placement, use the ‘Editing Queue’ to learn what works and what doesn’t and come back that much stronger the next time.

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