(old version of the global features page)

Constructing Global Features

The center column feature articles on the global indymedia site are usually composed by members of the www-features collective, and are generally of two types. The first type are 'syndications', which are features taken completely with little or no changes from a local IMC. The second are 'aggregations', which typically cover an event or issue that occurs simulataneously in different locations, and are covered by separate local IMCs.

An article is featured in the center column of the Indymedia portal site in order to give the covered issue or event extended and prominent exposure for the general Indymedia audience. Due to the volume of articles posted to the global newswire, and the increasing number of features syndicated to the global features wire, the www-features working group is unable to review every posted piece for inclusion in a feature. Due to this, there have been suggestions for organizing features distribution in a more automated manner, to decentralize the process and empower local IMCs to determine coverage on the portal site. This is still in early stages, however.

As a reflection of our open newswire policy, the www-features working group encourages anyone to submit feature proposals to the collective.

www-features can cover anything from local or global issues or events. They should be well-written with correct spelling in a simple prose style that explicitly describes the issue or event being covered. Global features should ideally focus upon under-represented voices in the mainstream media, and should at least have a sum geographical distribution that is proportionate to the distribution of the totality of geographic coverage in the Indymedia network. It is possible to submit a single newswire posting as a feature, but a proposal that includes numerous articles showing various facets of the covered issue, and/or a multiplicity of viewpoints is more likely to be published.

Before submitting a feature proposal to the editorial list, the URL or the web addresses of the appropriate articles should be gathered. This is done by locating the window at the top of your browser: the 'Address' in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and the 'Location' in Netscape's Navigator, starting with http://. You can simply cut and paste this address from the browser for your feature proposal.

This is a brief explanation of the format we use to propose features. The entire formatted text of the proposal should be composed and circulated to the www-features, with title, subtitle, graphic, text and internal html links to stories, and bottom placement links indicated.

It helps to know a little html, if you want to do any of the following: have more than one paragraph in your feature, have internal links in the body of the feature, use italics to reference other media outlets, correctly spell proper nouns from non-English languages that include various accent marks, etc.

Style Sheet

Text Guidelines

Example

HTML Tutorial

The html tutorial is just an introductory lesson and it may seem overwhelming but is actually quite easy.

Once you have composed your feature with text and appropriate links, you can send it to the www-features working group at www-features@lists.indymedia.org. Be sure to write FEATURE PROPOSAL in the title of the email. The collective will review your feature and respond appropriately (helping you with the html if necessary).

The www-features working group will then peruse your feature, and with a vote of three active editorial members, the feature will be added to the center column. As the www-features working group examines your article they may decide to add links to other articles that are similar. This is the beauty of working with a collective, everyone's work grows and gains strength.

Looking for how to get your UpcomingEvents listed?

-- ClarA - 17 Mar 2003