Many people don't have great skills in english or grammar... I barely have a grasp of grammer myself and my friends often get a giggle at my expense when I write articles.  I write using word so that I can spell and grammar check; most people have this program on their computers and those that don't can download free open source programs that do the same; or upload to an online checker.

I use my own experience as a parent, my life experience and from areas that I have worked in to write my articles; I like to link to more detailed information when possible to illustrate my point & further validate my opinion.  I usually search for these links after I have written my postings to assist those who wish to do further research on the topic for themselves.

It does not seem that many people are deterred from writing articles; as you can see the standard and size of postings varies greatly on the site; which is why the voting system is there, highly rated articles are the first listed when someone searches a topic.  These ratings are averaged out by votes made from other readers & participants on the site.

The sole reason that I have written this series of articles is so that people have the tools to improve their rating if they are unhappy with the response their advice receives.  Many times people have valid points, however they present them poorly & they remain unread because people can' be bothered reading them.  You can tell that they are disappointed by the feedback that they recieve; however most of the feedback on this site is productive & helpful; it is a persons individual choice to take it on board & be grateful, or to be offended & gain nothing.  I think everyone should read Minti's Editorial Guidelines & Writing Advice That Will Benefit Us All before they post an advice article.

Every member can go back & edit their article as many times as they like; the majority of mine have been deleted, re-written, updated & reposted on many occasions.  The first time was because people went through them & voted them down as a personal vendetta, (not recommended as admin can tell when this happens), the rest have been because I wanted to improve the readability & content. 

 LOL thanks, one of my friends said my writing is terrible, (in regards to 'correct' use of english).  However, it is pretty easy to tell what the topic will be about by my advice titles... That is one thing that I find really important... If the author isn't clear about their chosen subject, then how is anyone else meant to be?

What nonsense!  That's what is so disappointing about Minti - moderators are so crititcal.  We are MOTHERS....NOT AUTHORS!!!! 

If you asked your mother-in-law for some advice and she gave you HER advice in just a sentence or twoo...It's still her advice!!!  Regardless of your opinion on it. 

Advice is advice...whether you think it is lengthy or not....moderators ruin the esperience for many who feel their advice is not even worthy of being published if it is not "lengthy" enough.

If you want lengthy accurate advice - buy a book or see a doctor.

If you want genuine advice form other mothers - then be prepared to let them share what they know. 

Besides, mothers are busy and don't always have the time for backing up their advice with detailed research..they just know it worked for them!

If Minti is a so-called "community of parents" then this should be recognised as one to help one another - not a "community of parents who are good writers that attract readers and thus advertisers!"

Also - some parents may only speak a little bit of english and be limited in that regard to how much they can share adequately.  That doesn't make it any less advice either.

I am not sure who you are quoting... I didn't write that and unless you have taken Jo's comment out of context, she didn't write that either... As for whether Mothers are authors or not; an author writes yes?  Posting/publishing advice on a public forum then makes said person an author does it not? 

Usually when asking someone you know for advice verbally on a one on one basis, you would have lower expectations of the expertise of that advice than you would if the person were addressing potentially millions of people. 

What constitutes good parenting advice is really up to the parent reading the advice.  I really wouldn't suggest that buying a book would be more accurate than reading something online.  However, I do suggest that perhaps posting inaccurate advice - whether you are a mother or not - really is irresponsible.  People who post facts and figures that they claim is based on research really should validate them by quoting their sources, which of course also gives credit to the original author.

PS - Personally I prefer to read intelligent, well thought out, substantiated information, I think that parents are more than capable of providing advice that meets that criteria.

Thanks Jo, I actually wrote this to help people who get upset because their advice postings receive low votes... There are some advice postings that people have taken time on and poured their heart and soul into.  They have written about topics that they have a lot of knowledge or experience in.  There are others who have written about topics that they feel passionate about and they have linked to the sources of their research to both validate it and give their claims credit.  I agree, far too many comments are making it through to the advice section; there are plenty of great articles about how to write and present information... Hopefully this one helps someone too.

Hey there Tee, thank you for your comment, and keep on writing your advice for us ; )

Hey DW, thanks heaps for the feedback! 

I had forgotten this advice was so long, might be time for an edit.  I think it is really important for people to remember that if they choose to put their opinion/experience/advice out there, they must be willing to accept that not everyone will necessarily agree with it.  There may be the added bonus of those who can concur and expand on the information you provide, and most important of you, you might help someone ; )

Thank you Bel, I appreciate your support, I hope it helps people that want to write advice and need a little more confidence to do so.

ok this time i will say its a great article hehe if i could i would give u 5 stars for this but i have already voted last time

love emz xx

You're right I did edit it.......lol.....I went back after a while and it was like.......wow, I could have done that so much better, so I did!!  I'm much happier with it now......it pays to read other members advice and learn how to word it and space it.

Thanks Lui!!