We have seen a lot of FanPosts through this free agency period that end with some filler from people just trying to reach the 75 word minimum. That is why the genius SB Nation developers invented the FanShot application. Follow me through the jump for a little lesson on when it is appropriate to use FanPosts and Fanshots..
Anytime you have something to say that is going to take a couple of paragraphs to get out, by all means use the FanPosts. Honestly, I get really excited when I log on to MCM and see that someone has posted a new FanPost, but there is a time where it is more appropriate to use a FanShot. If you come across a link on the internet that you want to share with the MCM community, throw it in a Fanshot. It takes less time to write because you don't have to write 75 words over and over, plus there is a good chance it will get promoted to the front page.
Here are some instructions on FanShot use:
First step - click here. New FanShot. Not New FanPost. FanPosts of just links will end up with FILLER or whatever clever Mets Suck/Phillies Suck words you can cram into the remainder of 60+ words.
POSTING LINKS:
This is what the LINK section will look like. Notice the green highlight of the word "LINK." I've put placeholder instruction text in it before capping it. It's self explanitory, but let me elaborate anyway, because my fingers are a pompous arrogant ass and like people like to hear their own voice, I like to see my own text. My fingers are assholes.
LINK TITLE: This will be the text that will be the headline on the right-side bar, and if gondeee bumps it to front-page, will be the blue clickable text that automatically zips you tot he URL that you set. Rick Rollin' is only about 87 years old in internet years, so don't bother.
DESCRIPTION: Your snide remarks and comments about the contents of the URL. Best part? No minimum word count. So no need for FILLER, ever. Unless you want to be an ass and put FILLER 74 times just to piss everyone off, but doing so will likely make gondeee not front-page you, and he'll likely repost it himself and hog all the credit.
POSTING QUOTES:
Quote posting, I find to be more appealing, because if there's an interesting quote said by someone, it's easier for me to get interested in the contents of a URL. That being said, it should be self-explanitory through the label, as well as my placeholder text, that the aformentioned quote be entered into that box. But not the entire article, because that's lame, and more importantly, it's no longer a quote, but plagiarism.
QUOTE SOURCE: This is where it gets a little tricky for those who don't know some HTML. Don't worry, there are millions of people out there that don't know. So let's break it down to where anyone can understand it: I'm assuming that you've already copied the URL for where your quote came from; that being said, let's look for that weird block of characters that starts with <a href=""
In between those two quotation marks, paste your URL. Do not delete any of the brackets, leave all of the stuff that came with the page intact.
Now after the first ">" and yet before the "</a>" tag, this is where you enter your customized text that will be the clickable type that sends the user to your desired URL (No Rick Rolling, please).
Now, now that you've established your quote, quote source, you can actually hit your enter key after the "</a>" tag, and start a new line, to where you can write yet another snide remark/comment of your own personal thoughts that everyone else can ostrasize/critique. At your own risk, naturally.
There you have it. If you have any questions please let me know.
(Obviously parts of this post were stolen from our friends over at Talking Chop. A big thanks goes out to G-Ram for bringing this post to my attention.)