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How To Submit Your Own Content To The PurplePort Blog - Open To Everyone!

The Purple Blog is the place for interesting articles, interviews, and updates to be shared here on PurplePort.com with the PurplePort Community as well as across our social media pages and beyond.

We want to create fun, informative, interesting and beautiful blog posts about all things within the realms of the modelling and photography industry.

Any member of the PurplePort Community can submit a blog post and send it to us for approval for the opportunity to be published on The Purple Blog.

If a blog post is accepted and published after we've reviewed it, that will earn the creator a thank-you gift from us of PurplePort VIP membership for a determined length of time (depending on the length of the post and some other factors).

We want to encourage the learning, teaching and sharing capabilities of the PurplePort Community whilst at the same time giving our members free ways to promote themselves and their work.

Please do not be disheartened if a blog post you make doesn’t make it through to the publishing stage. We’d like to reassure you that the busy Groups section on PurplePort will be the next best thing if you’d like to share your content.

What kind of content is acceptable?

Content on The Purple Blog is shared across our social media pages when it's published, so please bear in mind that blog posts must be of a certain standard to make it through the approval process (the term 'Smart Casual' is a good way to approach writing your own content for The Purple Blog).

This means well-thought-out, researched, enriching content that you think would improve the experience of being a PurplePort Community Member, bringing to the centre stage your own work, processes, approaches, techniques and helpful suggestions for newbies in the field etc. (The list goes on I'm sure!).

What kind of content is not acceptable?

Content that would be better suited to the Groups section on PurplePort, unfinished content, content that is lacking in informational value, overly negative content, small-time personal opinion pieces, poor quality images, and casting calls.

If you're concerned something might not be quite right for The Purple Blog, make a group post first, and then send a link and your queries to Penelope Purple if you'd still like to take it further.

Submitting a post to The Purple Blog

These are the current features and recommendations for using our blog. Please take careful note of them if you feel like you may want to write your own blog posts here on PurplePort! After acquainting yourself with these aspects of the blog, please see our simple Step by step instructions below.

Embedding Youtube videos

Simply copy and paste the URL of the video from Youtube that you’d like to share from the search bar to the desired spot in your post.

Uploading Photos

If these photos appear on PurplePort somewhere, then the easiest way to put them into your post is to copy and paste them in using the image URL. Or you can use the image icon to do the standard upload process with photos from elsewhere. No copy and pasting images into your blog draft.

Tagging People

When you'd like to refer to another PurplePort Member in your post, e.g. referencing their work/crediting them, you can use the ‘@’ symbol followed by the account name (which may appear under a different name if the user’s PurplePort ‘Nickname’ is not the same as their account name… confused me at first too, but fear not, it will work when it's published).

Title and short description

Each post needs these. Fill them in at the top of the page. Use a capital letter for the beginning of each word in the title for consistency with the rest of our posts.

SFW header image

The header image is the main image that will appear above the title and elsewhere. The dimensions are 1400 x 450px. This image must be SFW, as it needs to be able to be shared on social media pages. Please, no blurry header images :P

Getting permission to use other people’s photos

If you are using photos that are not your own in your blog post, then you must have permission to do so.

Use a word processor for your draft

Writing up your draft in a word processor of your choice will make the process more enjoyable, I recommend using Google Docs.

Beware of copying and pasting text, ALWAYS clear formatting

When you paste in your content to your draft blog, you must highlight all the text and click clear the formatting (found at the bottom of the ‘Format’ drop-down list in Blog Create mode). Trust me, without doing so will cause avoidable discomfort later.

Use appropriate headings

Please make use of our headings from the drop-down list, appropriate use of them will make the reader’s experience much more enjoyable, and I won’t have to send it back to be edited. We recommend using Heading 2 and Heading 3 for consistency.

Use Grammarly

Grammarly is a proverbial godsend. It’s free, so please install it. Spellchecking is not something anyone likes spending their time doing.

Proofreading before submitting your post for approval

Grammarly is unfortunately not perfect (close, though), and things like a sentence making no sense at all can still slip through...

Blog post tags

These appear at the bottom of the post. Make sure that your post has them and that they are relevant. Type in the word/s, then hit the Enter key. They help people find similarly tagged blog posts.

Personal and social media links

Don’t forget to mention your website and social media pages, a list at the bottom of the post would be good. Also, FYI, you can turn any highlighted word into a link when you click on the link icon (looks like a chain) and paste in your desired URL.

Edit mode and Saved mode differences

There will be some slight visual differences between the edited version and the saved version of your blog, so don't be alarmed and make sure that you save often and check from time to time what your blog actually looks like saved before you send it off for approval.

Step-by-step instructions for creating and submitting your blog for approval

Go to The Purple Blog page and click the 'create' button on the top right of the page.
Give your post a Title, Short Description, and SFW Header image (1400 x 450px).
Paste in your content, select all text and clear formatting. Now you're able to save your blog as a draft (save button at the bottom right of the page).
Add Header fonts, images, and videos that you wish to appear in the blog.
Save often if you're adding things/making lots of changes. Find your blog again by clicking the 'My Blogs' button on the top right of The Purple Blog page. Scroll down to the bottom left of the page to find the 'Edit' button.
Proofread for errors with the help of Grammarly.
Make sure there is a list of your own links at the bottom of the blog.
Press the 'Submit for approval' button at the bottom right of the page.
You will get a notification when your blog has been reviewed and something in the 'Revisions' section (at the top of your blog) has been added for you to read and make changes accordingly.
When there are no revisions to be made to your blog, it will be scheduled to be posted on a specific date (it will most likely not be immediate as we like to pace our posts generally)!

What do you gain from submitting your content to The Purple Blog?

A free platform to promote your work and your brand
A gift of VIP Membership if we decide to approve your blog
It's a creative outlet for you to share your passions with the PurplePort Community and the world
Maybe you already have your own blog and would like to also use The Purple Blog as a place to share your content and promote your work
You can inspire others to get creative and try new things
A chance to teach others and share your knowledge
Spreading positivity and productivity

Do you have any more questions?

Feel free to message Penelope Purple if you are stuck on anything blog related, but please give it a good go yourself before you do :)

Make the most out of your PurplePort account and try this free feature today. We are really looking forward to seeing your blog submissions, so don't be shy!

What is PurplePort

PurplePort is a modelling website that brings models, photographers and other creatives together with one fantastic service. We provide the tools and help you need to get together and create amazing photos.

Established in 2010, PurplePort has grown from strength to strength and now has 40,000+ active members worldwide. With features such as integrated messaging, calendar, shoot plans, image albums, references, credited photos, busy member forums, hundreds of articles, and dedicated full-time staff to help you, it's easy finding the perfect creatives you need for your next photography project. It's a fresh, fast, and feature-rich alternative to ModelMayhem.

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