Since we all work on Macs, I encourage you to subscribe to this podcast in iTunes:
Apple Quick Tip of the Week
It is a short (minute or less) weekly session, detailing a Mac shortcut.
What work related podcasts do you listen to? I also enjoy Media Artist Secrets, but it is sporadic and geared towards graphic artists and illustrators.
— Brian
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Text wrap, breaking news online training session
InDesign tip:
In yesterday's design session, I touched on some of the finer points of using text wrap. I ran into some trouble wrapping text around a clipped photo and, as I suspected, this was because I was dealing with an .eps file rather than a .tif file. (Seems I've been using the wrong preset in the new RTC setup, delivering .eps files to me, instead of the preferred .tifs.)
Anyhow, the middle, round shaped text wrap option is the one you'll want to use if flowing text around a clipped photo.
One of the other tips regarding text wrap I touched upon was the use of the beloved Apple-B keystroke which brings up a screen on which, among other things, you can click an "ignore text wrap" option (helpful for captions).
Finally, I pointed out that sometimes when columns of text won't line up beneath a photo, it could be a function of a lack of text wrap offset on that photo.
Publicus tip:
Rob Johnson expressed an interest in learning how to post a breaking news story (adding a headline across the very top of our homepage).
The key to adding a story to that position lies in assigning the story a keyword of "WDHBreaking". I reviewed the significance of the different colored boxes that precede a headline in the story list in Publicus.
In review: The red boxes indicate taxonomy and if you scroll over the boxes, the taxonomy will appear in a little box. Green boxes indicate a keyword has been added. This is likely a "WDHBreaking" keyword to place a headline in the uppermost part of our homepage or a "WDHMultimedia" keyword used to place a headline in the Multimedia content well of our homepage. Yellow boxes indicate a story has been added to a special section (a theme has been added to the story).
If you have other Publicus questions that you can't find an answer to, consult this part of our Gannett Intranet.
— Brian
In yesterday's design session, I touched on some of the finer points of using text wrap. I ran into some trouble wrapping text around a clipped photo and, as I suspected, this was because I was dealing with an .eps file rather than a .tif file. (Seems I've been using the wrong preset in the new RTC setup, delivering .eps files to me, instead of the preferred .tifs.)
Anyhow, the middle, round shaped text wrap option is the one you'll want to use if flowing text around a clipped photo.
One of the other tips regarding text wrap I touched upon was the use of the beloved Apple-B keystroke which brings up a screen on which, among other things, you can click an "ignore text wrap" option (helpful for captions).
Finally, I pointed out that sometimes when columns of text won't line up beneath a photo, it could be a function of a lack of text wrap offset on that photo.
Publicus tip:
Rob Johnson expressed an interest in learning how to post a breaking news story (adding a headline across the very top of our homepage).
The key to adding a story to that position lies in assigning the story a keyword of "WDHBreaking". I reviewed the significance of the different colored boxes that precede a headline in the story list in Publicus.
In review: The red boxes indicate taxonomy and if you scroll over the boxes, the taxonomy will appear in a little box. Green boxes indicate a keyword has been added. This is likely a "WDHBreaking" keyword to place a headline in the uppermost part of our homepage or a "WDHMultimedia" keyword used to place a headline in the Multimedia content well of our homepage. Yellow boxes indicate a story has been added to a special section (a theme has been added to the story).
If you have other Publicus questions that you can't find an answer to, consult this part of our Gannett Intranet.
— Brian
Monday, April 28, 2008
Slugs, anyone? 'E' at a glance
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Slugging it out
I've been noticing, for the past few months, that there seems to be some confusion about the correct way to slug stories in NewsEdit.
The correct way is: Publication (WDH, SPJ, WRT, MNH) Date (0426) slug (Biofuel)
Things to keep in mind: If you don't put spaces between the publication and the date, the story will not send to the Web correctly. If you put more than 1 space between publication and date and slug, the story will not send to the Web. If you put a space AFTER the slug, the story will not send to the Web. If you make your slug more than one word using a space between them (i.e. Tax Day or Obit Smith) the story will not send to the Web. The use of commas, quotes, dashes, etc. means the story will not send to the Web. A story NEEDS to be slugged publication, date, slug (one word).
Fact boxes should have identical slug names to the story they go with (including capitalization) and then have _aa after the slug (without a space between).
We spend a lot of time correcting slugs so things can be sent to the Web correctly. If everyone would just slug things correctly, it would save us a lot of time and probably make things easier on reporters, too. Just something to keep in mind.
--Kristy
The correct way is: Publication (WDH, SPJ, WRT, MNH) Date (0426) slug (Biofuel)
Things to keep in mind: If you don't put spaces between the publication and the date, the story will not send to the Web correctly. If you put more than 1 space between publication and date and slug, the story will not send to the Web. If you put a space AFTER the slug, the story will not send to the Web. If you make your slug more than one word using a space between them (i.e. Tax Day or Obit Smith) the story will not send to the Web. The use of commas, quotes, dashes, etc. means the story will not send to the Web. A story NEEDS to be slugged publication, date, slug (one word).
Fact boxes should have identical slug names to the story they go with (including capitalization) and then have _aa after the slug (without a space between).
We spend a lot of time correcting slugs so things can be sent to the Web correctly. If everyone would just slug things correctly, it would save us a lot of time and probably make things easier on reporters, too. Just something to keep in mind.
--Kristy
Friday, April 25, 2008
In the news, about the news
Noted Madison newspaper to print final daily
This story first appeared in our state news section about 2 months ago when the announcement was first made: The Madison Capital Times is going to a purely online format, with two weekly tabloids (one about entertainment, one being a news magazine) still being published.
Being journalists and seeing as how we're focusing so much on our online content ourselves, I'm curious to see what our opinion of this is. It looks like the Capital Times has been hurting for a long time — that current circulation of 17,000 is really low for a city of Madison's size — so it's not a big surprise.
-Benton
This story first appeared in our state news section about 2 months ago when the announcement was first made: The Madison Capital Times is going to a purely online format, with two weekly tabloids (one about entertainment, one being a news magazine) still being published.
Being journalists and seeing as how we're focusing so much on our online content ourselves, I'm curious to see what our opinion of this is. It looks like the Capital Times has been hurting for a long time — that current circulation of 17,000 is really low for a city of Madison's size — so it's not a big surprise.
-Benton
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Placing your dates and times
I've noticed with increasing frequency one common error that must tediously be changed each night.
It has to do with coming events. I've seen them listed in all manner of ways, but only one is correct and its proper use will save the copy desk precious time.
When listing a coming event in a story, AP style is time, date, then place. For example: The show will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the theater.
Time ranges also are often entered incorrectly. If the event involves a time range, that should include the a.m. or p.m. with both times and be separated by the word "to." For example: The meeting will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The most common reason for this to be incorrect, I'm guessing, is that these items often come from news releases via e-mail that are just copied and pasted into the NewsEdit file. Many of these releases do not conform to AP style, so a little extra care should be taken after they have been copied.
So in the future, please remember to take a little time to get the date placed properly.
-- Andrew
It has to do with coming events. I've seen them listed in all manner of ways, but only one is correct and its proper use will save the copy desk precious time.
When listing a coming event in a story, AP style is time, date, then place. For example: The show will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the theater.
Time ranges also are often entered incorrectly. If the event involves a time range, that should include the a.m. or p.m. with both times and be separated by the word "to." For example: The meeting will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The most common reason for this to be incorrect, I'm guessing, is that these items often come from news releases via e-mail that are just copied and pasted into the NewsEdit file. Many of these releases do not conform to AP style, so a little extra care should be taken after they have been copied.
So in the future, please remember to take a little time to get the date placed properly.
-- Andrew
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Diagnosis incorrect
Something I've noticed lately, and which happens to be a pet peeve of mine, is the incorrect use of the word diagnosis. You cannot diagnose a person. You can only diagnose a disease. A doctor can give a diagnosis of, say, mono, but a person cannot be diagnosed with mono. However, a person can receive a diagnosis of mono.
I bring this up for two reasons. 1. to make sure I have it right since I've been changing it on proofs lately. And 2. if I am right, as a friendly reminder to editors and reporters. If I'm not right, someone please let me know asap.
Any other pet peeves anyone has they'd like to bring up?
I bring this up for two reasons. 1. to make sure I have it right since I've been changing it on proofs lately. And 2. if I am right, as a friendly reminder to editors and reporters. If I'm not right, someone please let me know asap.
Any other pet peeves anyone has they'd like to bring up?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
