Writing Guide

Writing guide for LCO blogs

We are always looking for content that serves the programming community, don't worry too much about grammar. We understand that for some of us, English is a second or third language. Just make sure that grammerly is installed as an extension and that's it. We care more about code.

What to write

We don't bound programmers on subjects. Feel free to choose topics of your own/community interest. Just a tip, keep your articles code friendly, we care very less about SEO. Here are some broad ideas:

  • Tutorials, installation guide, break down of complex concepts, language gotchas
  • Cheatsheets such as Markdown, Github, flexbox, etc
  • Experience in interviews, framework selection, client experience
  • Installation guide such as Flutter, Django (Linux, windows, and possible MAC)
  • Deep dive and inner working of concepts
  • VS guide. Example Mysql Vs Mongo, React Vs Vue. Make sure to include code examples. Just text or table guide will not make it to our blog section.

Writing series

If you want to write a series of articles for us (Example: Ansible series), reach out to us first with a guide to a number of articles and their topics. We can definitely sponsor such a series with payment. But articles will remain free for the audience.

Images and attributes

Make sure that you use images that are copyright free and you are providing proper attribution to the resource person/website. Here are some resources that you can use:

How to write

Writing is your creativity and your only goal should be to serve and contribute to the programming community. Your end-user is a programmer and he loves to get direct examples and code. Use tools like Draw.io to create flow diagrams to explain concepts and flows.

  • Make sure your article includes a title, that describes the exact content. No click baits, please. that's for youtube
  • Code should be included directly here as hashnode supports copy to clipboard. No need to add gist from Github or any other place. Use Fenced Code block with language name to include code.
  • Link to languages and frameworks/libraries that are less known. React, Angular, Python doesn't need a link back as they are well known to all of us.
  • Try ignoring Wikipedia definitions, unless you are breaking it down in your own words in the very next paragraph.
  • Avoid articles that are just printing star patterns. Interview questions are welcome if you are breaking them down really well. We are not looking to include articles that just mention the question, 3-4 lines of explanation, and then dumps the code. Competitive Programming questions need to have detailed explanations, diagrams, code walk-throughs.
  • If you are not a designer, you can use canva to design images. Otherwise don't worry, we will add an image for you.

What to avoid

Politics

Having a political opinion is great but we like to keep this platform free from it. Reference to any kind or country in politics is not allowed. Feel to have an opinion on React Vs Angular and publish them but no reference on politics.

Plagiarism

Of course, you know it and avoid it. Give proper attribution.

Hate

Criticism is a great tool but in today's world of expose and Roast, it's being misused a lot. Feel free to criticize a subject but make sure you provide a proper solution from your side. We are developers, if we find problems, we prefer to solve them.

Before you submit

In order to contribute, we first need to add you as a contributor. Reach us out (with previous article or sample article) so that we can add you as a contributor.

  • Your account should have your Name, a bio, and a picture of you.
  • We don't support anonymous articles as of now.
  • Please remove all personal call to actions such as "Follow me on Instagram"
  • At the end, you can mention your social links or Github link.
  • Make sure article read time is longer than 3 minutes

Reward Program

We try to reward your contribution to the community. First, this blog is ad-free and there is no paywall. All articles are open to all. Your work is part of this open-source community. We try to encourage contributors in every possible way.

  • Swag distribution from LearnCodeOnline, Hashnode, etc (more are joining soon)
  • Mention on Instagram and youtube channel
  • Payment for series.
  • Paid Interns for article contribution.

Our Team

Not only the community, but LCO team is also deployed on writing articles and sharing knowledge for this blog section. We are constantly hiring more talents, so feel to reach out, if you got something in mind. Instagram is the fastest way to reach me.

Version 1 of writing guide. Of course, this will change in the future. | 24th Jan 2021