What is Minti about?

The Minti site is dedicated to allowing parents to publish an article providing that it is Parenting or Family Advice that aims to help parents with the raising of children.This is what makes Minti unique. Parents, grandparents, carers are all welcome.

• The Question and Answer area also allows for parents to ask and respond to questions on parenting topics and site help issues only.

• Member blogs, groups and forums are for free expression and not restricted to parenting advice, but the content must not breach Minti's terms and conditions of use.

You get points for doing all the things you can do on the site, basically the more you share, blog (in your own blog or groups/forums), comment or write parenting advice the more points you get.

*"Important" information about writing your article...

Gestalt Language is the best form of article writing that has the best reaction amongst readers. It is hard to argue with an author's own personal experience. Gestalt language is writing in non-confrontational language. "I feel", "what I would do", "from my own experience", "what worked for me", "what I believe". This form of writing articles is best used also for hot, debatable subjects and is the best form of writing to use to avoid the article being reported and community adjudicated on.

Consider...

• Parents are more likely to be most open to learning from real advice and real parenting experiences.
  
  
• If possible try to speak from experience, this allows readers to draw their own conclusions. (Eg. This is what I went through and what I experienced then give your advice, rather than ‘you must do this my way’)
  
  
• Sharing this way leaves no room for misinterpretation, is non-threatening, non-judgmental and fosters a safer environment for the community.
  
  
• A great goodwill to parents. Consider that you are ‘giving back’ to your direct community.

Understanding what makes an article?

Traditionally an e-article (online article) is more than 200 words with a maximum of 2,000 words. We aren't that strict, however 50 words as a real bear minimum is fine. However, don't get too disappointed, it may not have a higher probability of reach in Search Engines/Minti, may not attract good votes, or ensure your advice and message gets across to your audience, but that's all you may want to share.  We do encourage you to feel free to let yourself write more to avoid disappointment and possibly avoid low votes.

Definition of Parenting Advice in Minti: It is any advice directly providing benefit for other parents in bringing up their children, however that means everything related around the family unit and all the topics that fall under the family and parenting. However, the advice has to show why it helps being a better parent as a result (via experience sharing, quoting, explaining etc)

Maybe the stress test is..."will it improve the quality of life for other/my children", if yes, then why?

When researching this idea, I felt that the market was already saturated with that type of general advice, and real parenting advice based solely on sharing to improve the quality of life for children globally did not exist like Minti does and I see this as a unique feature of Minti and holds a higher purpose. So you can still write as before, you just need to make sure it also relates to children or effects on children or parents ability to parent better. You can almost relate any advice to the effects on the family, parenting and/or children.

I think it's awesome groups is for anything... We have areas like groups to handle other things like household tips and general tips if they aren't related to parenting then they belong in groups and not in advice etc

Copyright rules (fair use allowed) and Code of Conduct...Keeping the community fair and friendly

1. You must not copy someone else's work whole or in part thereof (offline or online) unless you have permission or the content is in the Public Domain (check at the end of the content for copyright conditions), but you can reference or get your ideas from other content, but you must follow fair use and cite your sources properly, giving authors credit where due.
   
   
2. Your article must be "in your own words" of the authors article you are talking about. Only quote 10% of the article (usually a paragraph or an important sentence) and you must include a link to the source after the exact wording.
   
   
3. You must also provide the link to the original source even if the article just gave you the idea. (Linking the source is fine in the "external links" area, it doesn't have to be in the body of your article),
   

The University of Berkerley outlines Fair Use very well...

How to obtain permission from an original author in less than 48 hours.

1. Send an email saying what site you are a member of, the benefits of having permission to reproduce their content.
   
   
2. Ask if you can site the source and will place a link back to their site directly to the reproduced content from your article in the "bookmarks" section.
   
   
3. Add the email proof into a blog post in the public Minti group called "Reproduced". It is the place to store all copies of permission, so you can also link to the permission post at the end of your article for proof.
   

Fairness and Respect

You are not allowed to "flame a member" for their opinions and comments. Take the argument offline or into a group area. Flaming a member will result in your account being reported and you may get terminated.

Reporting a Members Article...

What's not easy to fix is damaged feelings and emotions. This is were we all must assume that members don't intent to outright copy and we also need to assume that sometimes we even forget to remember how to give authors proper credit, that is OK, as it's so easy to change and fix and still share advice (avoiding plagerism, fair use). More often that not, most authors love the spreading of their message, they just don't like anyone claiming it as their own. Easy fix!!! Unfortunately emotions aren't!!! So lets go easy with one another and lets all worked together in helping each other in keeping with creating a magical site and happy experience.

However, if you copyright word for word (and you don't state at the end of your article that you have permission or what you are copying has not stated that it is in the public domain and therefore free to copy word for word), then please keep in mind that it will be reported and members will report your article (you can check for copyright by selecting a line of the content and pasting this in google, as google indexes publications and documents not just websites).

The trick here is not to get upset as a member who owns the article, as well as the members who report the article...it is an exercise in sorting the issue out to protect the members of Minti from being sued by the original authors.  Copyright is a global rule affecting every website and everyone in a commercial arena so we must treat this as an important consideration when writing (publishing) an article accessible from all over the web.

**We are moms/mums and dads and we deserve the 'softer touch' ...we all lead such emotional lives already and Minti is the place for the helping hand not heavy hand, especially if members don't mean to!!! Protecting each other and help each other with mistakes is what the Minti friendship and community is about...lets continue to help and inspire and support each other...through ups and downs of the Minti journey. Lets aim to stick together all the way.

Making an impact with your article...

Amazing advice from parents I have read, have either moved me to tears, made me laugh or made me think really seriously about how I parent my son. What has made it such an impact on me is that they are almost as good as reading a magazine article. Why? Well, great all round articles I find are the ones that that consider the following below...

1. Appeal to your audience and consider your style of writing…

a) Think about who your audience is...

• Some are first time mothers, some have many kids, and some are single parents. Some are aunties, uncles, grand-parents, god-parents or child carers.
• Most are looking for someone who has experienced the challenge(s) they are facing.
• There is a strong desire for first-hand advice from experienced parents, they want to be the best parents they can.
• Most want to stop reinventing the wheel, and avoid some of the pitfalls of trial and error.
• Some feel exhausted and confused, keep your article easy to read. Write as you would talk to a friend.
• Everyone is in a time scarce situation.  Getting quick access to relevant information, related links, pictures, and tags all helps.
• Some overwhelmed parents appreciate details, (ie. Background to problem, solutions and results).
• Generally our readers are 80% mothers and 20% fathers so consider a mix of parents.
• After you have written your article it is automatically added to your Watch-list and you will receive a personal message to your member area if someone provides a comment.  Review the comments and decide whether you would like to improve the article based on feedback received.

b) Consider your style of writing your article…

• Be friendly and use positive language, make the format easy to read. Put spaces between your paragraphs, do not bold or capitalize your whole title and the entire article...
  
• Headings that stand out are ones that are "Title Cased"...the first letter is capped. Example..."The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog"

An excellent article that demonstrates the value of real advice and real parenting experience that has such a positive impact is "Spend time with your kids before it's too late!"...this only thing is missing is a picture of a cute kid, (which would really have pulled my heart strings) but it is written very powerfully that I get the feeling, to conduct a sanity check to make sure I am spending enough one on one time with my son and sharing really special moments with him. (Luckily, it makes an impact without having to have a picture of cute kids to make the advice more emotive).

2. Improve the rating of your article and you as a member within the community…

c) Simple Layout suggestions (you can be as individual as you like with your articles!):

• Select a meaningful title linked to what you have written.
• Write an interesting introductory sentence or paragraph.
• Provide the content of your advice or article, making sure to include key (important) words.
• Sum up your article with a brief conclusion.
• You can add links within your article, but remember that your reader may click on this and be taken away from your article before they had a chance to read it all. Instead under the heading’s [related articles] and [external articles] select or add some links.
• If you do add links within your content, keep links relevant to the paragraph, links should help with the reader’s understanding.
  

d). Look, feel, supporting links and keywords (tags increases the likelihood you will get visits)

• Bold your headings DO NOT bold the entire article or CAPITALIZE the entire article.
  
• Personalize the feel; why not pick an Avatar from the member pages to show what image best reflects you the author!
• Try to add at least one picture relevant to your article, parents love pictures!
• Do not cut and paste another person's article or content that passes off as your own.
• A possible photo source is Flickr.com but be sure that the photo is open for use (Creative Commons license) and that you provide a reference back to the source in line with the copyright conditions.
• Useful places to find reference information or sources to support your article include Wikipedia.org or a Google search on the topic.
• It always helps to add some relevant tag’s (keywords to refer to the article) to make sure your article is found.  If the tag you want is not on the suggested list then put it in yourself.
• Having pictures, good links, and relevant tags will all help build visitors to your article from Minti and also from results in Search Engines, like Google.
• In addition it will encourage bloggers to refer/link to your articles and generate discussion/comments at Minti and within the blogging community.

A note on Providing Content on the Minti site...

If you post anything, you guarantee to us that:

• You do have legal rights to post your material and it will not violate any laws, or copyright law or the rights of any person; and
• All information and materials of any kind, including graphics, text, or otherwise posted by someone on the Minti Site ("Member Content") are subject to the following terms:
  
  
  By posting Member Content you give us the royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to: allow other people to use the Member Content as described in these Terms; and to use, distribute, display, and create derivative works from this Member Content, in any and all media, in any manner, in whole or in part, without any restriction or responsibilities to you; You understand that we are not responsible for the truth, completeness, objectivity, or usefulness of any Member Content, nor do we endorse any Member Content; We do not verify the identity of people using our Site, and you assume the risk of believing any Member Content you read; and We do not screen, monitor, edit, or review Member Content. We do have the right to monitor or remove any Member Content at any time and without notice if we believe it will improve our Site. We can also suspend or terminate use of the Services by anyone who does not follow these Terms.
  
  
• You are entirely responsible for any copyright breaches and MUST seek permission to replicate any content whole or in part thereof.
  

You should also be aware that any message posted to our Site will become public and any personal information you post in an article will be accessible to any visitors to the Minti Site. Except for private areas, which are Member's Lounge's (only friends of the member can view and participate) and groups where the creator of the group has selected the group to be private. Take care in not divulging any specific personal information such as home address, specific places you frequent, rather it is recommended to talk broadly, like the daycare, shops, not the name of the daycare or shop. Don't show pictures with a name of a place in the background, unless your traveling and don't go there everyday or even occasionally.

View an examples of good all round advice;

• Eight tips for encouraging kids to enjoy books
• Checklist for preparing a new babysitter
• How dads can bond with their baby or toddler
• Mini Pill affecting breastmilk taste

 
How to get ideas for advice?

• One thing that is useful is having a look at photos you have taken on your journey of parenting. It may jog your memory of the issues you where dealing with, easy or challenging, happy or sad times.
• You may also review the parenting books you may have read at the time and remember what worked for you, as it may have been a mix of things.
• Try and remember when you canvassed for advice from other parents, and what you actually ended up doing. Each parent has their own formula and everyone is different with parenting styles, so this type of advice is very useful.
  

 
Does your article currently have a ‘poor’ rating?

Conduct a sanity check, have you used all the tips on ‘How to write a good article?’ If not, then perhaps review and amend areas that your article doesn’t have.  Votes can improve and you are free to edit your article as and when you like.

View a good example that uses all the tips:

• Mini Pill affecting breastmilk taste

Happy Minti'ing!!!