Project Building 101

Websites are neither books nor government reports. You have less than ten seconds to convince an audience to stay. Write punchy copy that tells a compelling story. Every word counts.


PROJECT INTRO

  1. What are you engaging on/what do you already know?
  2. Why are you engaging?
  3. How should the community interact?
  4. (Why should they care?)

CONTENT GUIDELINES

  1. Shorter/digestible/chunked is better.
  2. Keep it at an 8th-10th grade reading level (Hemingway editor or Readable).
  3. Keep it free from jargon/technical language.
  4. Use rich media if possible.

DON'T FORGET ACCESSIBILITY

  1. Add the alternative text for your images (and graphics) for people who are blind or visually impaired.
  2. Use the built-in headers in the paragraph format button to change text sizes.
  3. Do you have subtitles and/or closed captioning on videos for people who are deaf or hearing impaired (or may struggle with language)? (Youtube does this for you.)

A REMINDER ABOUT THE TOOLS

  1. You can add multiple instances of the Open and Closed Environment tools (but not the Mixed Environment tools).
  2. Give a clear question or prompt. (We have a great guide to help!)
  3. If you have ground rules or expectations, communicate them.
  4. Registration is required (or not) at the tool level.
  5. Always check the tool settings!
  6. You will not be able to delete a tool from the project IF you have gathered ANY input. (You can unpublish it, though.)

Websites are neither books nor government reports. You have less than ten seconds to convince an audience to stay. Write punchy copy that tells a compelling story. Every word counts.


PROJECT INTRO

  1. What are you engaging on/what do you already know?
  2. Why are you engaging?
  3. How should the community interact?
  4. (Why should they care?)

CONTENT GUIDELINES

  1. Shorter/digestible/chunked is better.
  2. Keep it at an 8th-10th grade reading level (Hemingway editor or Readable).
  3. Keep it free from jargon/technical language.
  4. Use rich media if possible.

DON'T FORGET ACCESSIBILITY

  1. Add the alternative text for your images (and graphics) for people who are blind or visually impaired.
  2. Use the built-in headers in the paragraph format button to change text sizes.
  3. Do you have subtitles and/or closed captioning on videos for people who are deaf or hearing impaired (or may struggle with language)? (Youtube does this for you.)

A REMINDER ABOUT THE TOOLS

  1. You can add multiple instances of the Open and Closed Environment tools (but not the Mixed Environment tools).
  2. Give a clear question or prompt. (We have a great guide to help!)
  3. If you have ground rules or expectations, communicate them.
  4. Registration is required (or not) at the tool level.
  5. Always check the tool settings!
  6. You will not be able to delete a tool from the project IF you have gathered ANY input. (You can unpublish it, though.)
Discussions: All (1) Open (1)

  • Allow participants to discuss a topic with one another

    over 3 years ago

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    The forum is our most open tool. It allows participants to post their comment, respond to someone else, and like/dislike comments they see. 

    • Make sure your forum topic is focused enough to generate meaningful and productive discussion. Add additional forum topics to host more than one discussion at a time. 
    • Provide any context, rich media, or links you'd like participants to have access to, here in the description space.
    • You can always set expectations around conduct beyond the site's terms of use. Or, link participants to the site's moderation page. A kind reminder to keep the discussion respectful never hurts.
    • If you have a sensitive topic, you may want to facilitate the discussion yourselves as well, responding directly to comments.
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