“‘P’ for Panic, ‘P’ for Peace.” Oops, nope, this isn’t the rerun of my second-ever article on Her Campus, LOL. It’s for this penultimate piece that ‘P’ is for Publishing. We’ve evolved — edgier now, though still thrilled by the written word. But don’t worry — the chaos is curated and the content is still unhinged.
Okay, yes — I suppose this calls for a bittersweet note, the kind that sounds like it should be accompanied by moody violin music and a dramatic slow zoom. So, before delving deeper, here’s the fine print:
This article is contextualized within the current practices at Her Campus (MUJ), including — but not limited to — the editorial environment, software infrastructure, and operational framework.
From my first article in the fall to spring now blending into summer — after writing on a multitude of motions and notions — it feels fitting, at this perfect alignment of season and reason, to lay out the nitty-gritty tricks, tips, and hacks that will help the next wave of talent serve Her Campus better as writers, editors, and more.
And why not? You’ve joined Her Campus.
You have ideas. You’ve got a flair. Andddd you are
Bold? Well, Good for personality, but not for the text in quotes
Follow this advice if you don’t want to make your quote vanish into… blue? Nope. Orange! The background colour of the quote block is orange in colour on the HC website. And by default, when you bolden your text, the colour is orange. Nestle it in a quote block and — boom! — orange-on-orange overload renders the text invisible. (You’d get to know about it only when you preview, or worse when published.) But here’s the trick: Bold + Quote Block = NO
Similarly, avoid putting hyperlinks in quote blocks — unless you want your text to pull a digital chameleon. So, Hyperlinks + Quote Block = ALSO NO.
Editorial Sections: Know Your Territory
Once upon a time, you started a brilliant article about a government policy. But you forgot to set the section. So CMS said, “Aww, sweetie, let’s just dump it in ‘Culture.’” The platform defaults to categorizing new articles under the “Culture” section, and sometimes, the system just won’t let you change it no matter what.
You’re writing about internships? ‘Culture.‘
Social commentary? ‘Culture.‘
Your 3 AM breakdown? Still ‘Culture.’
And just like that, your hard-hitting exposé on some government policy ended up sandwiched between articles about the latest fashion trends. Spooky, right? But true.
So, the solution? The moment you create your article draft on CMS: set the category, before you click “Save Draft,” for the first time. Immediately. With conviction. Check once and twice for what is the article type!
The Section Snag
Now that we’re talking about categorization of articles, ever wondered why you can’t see a neat little list or menu of just ‘Fashion’ or just ‘Work’ articles on the MUJ page? Because HC chapter sites don’t display sub-section links — unlike the national Her Campus site.
National HC site? Chic. Organized with logical structure. You can explore Style > Fashion, Life > Academics, Career > Work — taxonomy at hand.
Chapters? Not so much. The school-specific site links only to the major sections. The links to sub-sections are apparently missing for chapters.
But guess what? Here are the backdoors and you’re welcome!
The homepage of HC uses the following structure for section and sub-section links:
www.hercampus.com/[major-section]/[sub-section]
As in, www.hercampus.com/culture/ for the major section “Culture.”
And www.hercampus.com/style/fashion/ for a minor or sub section “Fashion” of major section “Style.”
But this is not how the links are structured for sections of individual chapters worldwide.
The prototype followed for them is this:
www.hercampus.com/school/[chapter name]/section/[major section or sub-section]
For e.g. www.hercampus.com/school/muj/section/culture for major section “Culture.”
And www.hercampus.com/school/muj/section/work/ for minor section “Work” of major section “Career.”
Basically, the URLs are giving Lana Del Rey. Ask me why? She’d be singing, “When you know, you know/It kinda makes me laugh, runnin’ down that path/When you’re good as gold/’Cause when you know, you know.”
Now you do.
Mind the Ad Gaps
You thought your article was perfectly laid out. Quotes? Aligned. Images? Gorgeous. Flow? Unmatched.
And then — in the preview — it happens.
A wild ad appears.
There are HC advertorials on the site that show up on the page when your article is published. You can view the locations, places, and segments of the article where those adverts would show up when the article is put up on the website by checking the preview when it’s in the draft mode.
Make sure the ads don’t disrupt the flow between different elements (quotes, images, tables, etc.) in your article. If they are, then try restructuring and adjusting those anathematized junctures by reformatting the parts your piece is divided into by adding or removing — line and paragraph breaks, embeds — or shuffling or splitting text into more elements and repositioning images.
Final Sprinkle of Wisdom
You’re not just writing and editing articles. You’re archiving voices and sculpting vibes one paragraph at a time. Trust your instincts, craft conversations, and never underestimate the power of a well-placed em-dash!
What better way to close this article than with the words of Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Her Campus Media, from her interview in an episode of From the Dorm Room to the Board Room, a podcast hosted by Brandeis University professor Andy Molinsky, where Stephanie said:
“Don’t feel like everything needs to be perfect to get it launched or to get it live. Just get something up there, and then you can build on the feedback and momentum to carry it forward. You don’t want to get stuck in the planning stages forever.”
Stephanie Kaplan Lewis (Co-founder and CEO of Her Campus Media)
Translation? The age-old adage — “Done is better than perfect.”
In other words: Just post the damn thing. You’re better off messy and seen than perfect and unpublished.
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Visit Deepak S. Sikarwar to catch my latest columns at HCMUJ.
For more, head over to Her Campus at MUJ.