The zip code home page is the first page users will see when the enter your "zip code neighborhood". The page is divided into three sections.

LEFT

At the far left of the page is the mail menu, which is constant through all pages at ConnectionsPlanet.com. Beneath the menu is space for special links and ads. These are ads for items such as the Connections Planet Dating site, and other special ads.

CENTER

The center of the page is the area for 6 headlines and 6 stories. The center section also contains the local weather for your zip code.

CONTENT

The home page of your zip code neighborhood is for general news, or to lead readers to other pages on your site. For ex sample, if you church news page has information about a "Fun Fair", the home page could have this story:

Church Fun In The Sun Day Planned

The (Denomination) Church at 31st and Vine is going to have a" Fun In The Sun Day" on July 33rd from 8:00 am 'till 10:00 pm. Activities for the day include a Bake Sale, Carnival Rides, and a potluck dinner.

Pastor Joe Jones said that the money raised will be used for new seat covers for the churches pews.

For more information about the event, click on the link ant the top of this page for "Our Churches"

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HEADLINES

The headlines are limited to 50 characters (which includes spaces). If you type more than 50 characters, the additional characters will be dropped. When you compose a headline, you are not trying to tell the story. Your goal is to let the reader know what the story is and to encourage them to read more. A headline that needs work might be:

3rd Grade at Main Street School presents a Concert.

A better headline is:

3rd Grade Spring Concert Features Jazz, Rock

BODY TEXT

The stories are limited to 1500 characters each. For most stories this will be plenty of room. Just remember to cover the "5w's & 1 h" (Who, what where, why, when and how).

Most importantly is don't worry too much about rules of journalism. Write as if you were talking to a neighbor. If you get in a bind, ask yourself, "What am I trying to say?, and write down your first response. Write it quick and move on.

SAFETY

Be careful what you write. Your friends and neighbors are not the only ones who will be reading your words. There are bad people out there - people who know how to misuse the Internet - unfortunately!. Do not write about:

LINKS AND CODE

For safety reasons, inserting special codes (such as the code for bold, italics or special fonts) into your titles and text is not allowed. This is a security precaution to protect everyone's sites. Sorry, there can be no exceptions.

RIGHT

The space at the right side of the page is your advertising space. Every page on your cite can hold up to 12 ads.

PRICING

We suggest that ads be priced at $25.00 per month. However this is up to you. A rural zip code with a few hundred people may not support that price, while a zip code site in downtown Atlanta, Chicago, D.C. (for example) may support higher rates. Please... do not set your prices out of reach to your community. Our primary goal is to serve the community.

COMMISION

Ads that you sell for your site will earn you 50% commission. If you were to sell all ads (12 ads per page X 15 pages X $25.00) would generate $ 4,500.00 per month with your "piece of the pie" being $2,250 per month.

A company that sells security system may be interested in the home page and the "Public Safety" page.

AD SIZE

As an option, we can scan the advertisers business card or camera ready copy and insert the graphic into the page.

• There is no charge for us to scan the card or artwork.
• To use a scanned image, send us 2 clean copies of the ad / card ( no smudges, marks or wrinkles).