Maximum Minti 4 - Is This Advice?

Writing advice is a really great way to participate on the Minti site.  In my previous advice article, I talked about ways to select your advice topic, and where to read more information about writing advice.  This particular advice article is about deciding whether or not you should be posting an article in advice, your blog, a group blog, or answering as a comment in Q&A.

I have something to say - where should I post it?
At the moment, there are still a lot of advice posts that should clearly be in Q&A, and some that should be in either a personal, or group blog.
Personal opinions and experiences are a part of providing advice - and for some, writing about their traumatic experiences provides them with relief and healing, and gives many readers confidence to start their own healing process. Merely venting; or providing your personal opinion; without providing a solution or course of action that's helpful - isn't advice. While poems and email warnings can be lovely, once again, they belong in personal blogs, or group blogs.  These postings detract from the genuinely helpful and original advice articles that have been posted.  As a collective group of advice, it brings down the total value of information produced by site members.

Finding appropriate advice quickly and easily.
People shouldn't have to sift through to find the real advice when they click on 'read advice' they would already have done that on a web based search.
When someone looks for advice on Minti, they should know that they are getting quality advice that is going to be of assistance to them. Be it parenting advice or information about the site itself and online communities that will help them to get the most out of their experience on Minti.  To enable people to find advice on the topic they really need, choose an appropriate title - think group and sub group when you do this... Sensational or controversial titles, may get you more views, however they are annoying, and can also invite low votes, and negative comments.

Helping Minti be the online 'parent-advice-o-pedia' of choice.
Minti's profile is growing daily, and increasingly, when you google a parenting concern, it is Minti advice that features highly on the first search page.
It is because of this that I think we need to raise the standard and tidy up the advice section, so that we can be taken seriously. Even if people choose not to join Minti, they should feel that if they need good advice, or want to recommend an advice site to someone else, that Minti has good quality, down to earth, original, positive, helpful advice. It should be easy to read, presented in a format that is easy on the eye, and we should take note of the little red line that appears under incorrectly spelt words, and try to get that right too - whenever possible, we all make typos - however they can be edited later.

Writing advice that reflects well on all the members of Minti.
All the articles in the Advice section are a reflection of the people who make Minti tick; the creators; admin; the members.
The same can be said for all the comments that belong to that advice - so we need to try not to resort to swearing, or personal attacks - any single one is a reportable offense anyway.  ANYONE can read the advice section and vote on the advice - let's hope that it is advice that shows Minti in a good light. We owe it to each other and certainly to the team that created Minti to keep this in mind at all times.  Good advice helps people, by offering useful information; is reasonably accurate; legible; sensible; solution orientated; thought provoking; or at the very least offers handy tips.

Information on Minti written by the Minti co-founders and administrators to help you with advice postings.

The links below should provide you with more than enough information to understand how to create great advice, staying within the guidelines for the site, and for online sites in general.  It will help you turn your idea into information that you can share online and help other people with - so it is well worth reading, and it will save you any disappointment just in case you accidentally breach a guideline and get reported.

Minti's Editorial Guidelines by rachelcook

Minti Frequently Asked Questions by matthew

Avoiding Copyright Issues by angieh

When Should I Use The Report Link by rachelcook

Hopefully this has given you more insight to help you write your advice, and you can turn your experience, area of expertise, thoughts and ideas into great advice to contribute to the site.