Help:Opinions

Opinions are the next generation in blogging. They allow anyone to write an article about virtually any sports-related subject and publish it in a meaningful context.

Imagine the following:

A piece of news hits that you think needs a response. It could be anything -- your favorite player gets suspended, your team makes a trade, Bud Selig does something silly, the NHL players get locked out, etc. You want to write an article expressing your point of view, for the whole sports world to read.

Fifteeen years ago, there was no World Wide Web. Only a columnist at Sports Illustrated or an analyist for ESPN's SportsCenter had the sort of reach you were after.

Seven years ago, there were fledgling sports opinion websites, and of course, the start of the big sports websites. You could have started one of the former. But writing for the latter? No way.

Two years ago, you could have started a blog. Maybe you did, and maybe that blog is still going. In any event, you know that blogs take a huge time commitment and require that you update it on a day-by-day basis. Too many days without content mean readers leave, and never come back. You want to opine on this particular subject. You do not want to have to devote your free time to being a part-time sportswriter.

Today, there's a solution -- an Opinion. Read below to find out what you do.

Eight Simple Rules to Writing an Opinion

 * Step One: Create a free account. You do not have to do this, but not doing so will make it impossible for you to sign your page.


 * Step Two: Type the title of your new page in the box below. (Before you hit "Create," you may want to open this link in a new window.)


 * Step Three: If the "Create" button took you to the template, you are almost done.  If it took you to a page with a lot of writing, well, someone already took the title you wanted.  (Sorry!)  If that's the case, repeat Step Two with a different title.  Otherwise....


 * Step Four: Write your page! You can learn more about writing and editing pages at Help:Editing Overview.


 * Step Five: At the bottom of your page, but before where it says , put --~ .  It looks funny, yes, but it is really cool.  That little squiggly-line thing will "sign" the page with your username and append a timestamp at the end.


 * Step Six: Click "Save page." Congrats, you have written your article!

Now, let's get people to read it.


 * Step Seven: In order to help bring your opinion to the masses, we suggest adding it to categories. For more on that, see Category:Opinions.  Specifically, though, be sure to link your article up with the topics it involves.  See this opinion for example -- it is in categories MLB Opinions, Buster Olney Opinions, Bert Blyleven Opinions, and National Baseball Hall of Fame Opinions.


 * Step Eight: You may wonder why the above-linked opinion is also in Category "On the DL."  That is the title of the author's Opinion Library.  Opinion Libraries act as a repository of opinions by that specific author.  It is highly suggested that you create one for your own opinions.  To learn more about Opinion Libraries, click  here.