Publishing Guidelines

Scope: Platform-specific and CMS-specific rules for exporting, formatting, and publishing content. Rules here are operational—they govern how content is entered and submitted, not how it is written.

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6.1 CUE (McClatchy CMS)

Required Fields & Settings

(REQUIRED)

• AI Disclosure checkbox: Check “Created With AI” in the General section for all AI-assisted content
• AI Disclosure text: Add “This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.” at the top of the article body
• Credit line for freelance: Use “Special to McClatchy Media”
• Tags: Apply TH-CSA and The Commons to all articles (subject to change)
• Dek: Enter as a separate CMS field—do not place inside the article body

Section Placement

(REQUIRED)

• Do not home stories to generic sections like “Local News” or “Sports”
• Use designated sections (e.g., “Homebuyers Guide”, “Travel”, “Wellness”, “Lifestyle”, “FIFA World Cup”)
• Do not use “Real Estate News Destination” as a section

Headline Casing

(REQUIRED)

• CUE main headlines: Sentence case—capitalize the first word and proper nouns only
• Us Weekly (UsW) and WW main headlines: Title case—capitalize all major words
• UsW uses all-caps subheadings; WW does not
• Adjust casing per destination site style guide before publishing

6.2 WordPress

Required Fields & Settings

(REQUIRED)

• Post status: Set to Draft—do not publish directly; all content requires peer review and human approval before going live
• Author: Named individual byline—never a staff or team account (see General Guidelines §1.5)
• Featured image: 1200px+ wide, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300K+ pixels—same requirements as the Hero Image spec (§3)
• Permalink: Follow URL structure rules in the article format spec—4+ keywords, stop words stripped, front-loaded

AI Disclosure

(REQUIRED)

• Add “This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.” at the top of the post body
• Enable any available AI disclosure settings in the WordPress theme or plugin if present

Tags & Categories

(REQUIRED)

• Apply TH-CSA and The Commons where the platform supports tags (subject to change—check for updates)
• Set a specific category per destination site—do not use generic defaults (e.g., “Uncategorized”, “General”)

⚠️ Destination-specific settings—custom fields, theme requirements, and plugin configurations vary by WordPress site. Confirm with the site owner before publishing to any WordPress destination for the first time.

6.3 Apple News / Apple News+ (Us Weekly)

Writing and format specifications for Apple News (headline requirements, formula constraints, subtitle, AI content policy, image specs) are defined in Platform Guidance §10.2. That section is the authoritative source. This section covers CMS entry steps for Apple News publishing.

News Publisher—Required Fields

(REQUIRED)

• Apple News headline: Enter in the Apple News title override field in News Publisher—90–120 characters (110–119 sweet spot, data-validated); write as a distinct headline from the SEO/Discover title
• No question headlines for organic algorithmic reach (exception: human editorial curated featured slots—see §10.2)
• No number-led headlines
• Subtitle field: Must be populated in News Publisher—Apple pulls from first paragraph if left blank
• Content categories: Select appropriate topic categories (technology, lifestyle, sports, etc.)
• AI-generated or AI-assisted content: Include byline or co-byline; tag as AI-generated in News Publisher metadata

Additional Notes

⚠️ Additional Apple News distribution settings (feed configuration, section targeting) are pending. See Platform Guidance §10.2 for the current complete spec.

6.4 Other Export Destinations

⚠️ STUB—Additional distribution platforms and export rules pending. Do not populate until guidance is provided.