Content guidelines

Guidelines for publishing content

The Tree-Nation platform is structured to create a great communication channel for reforestation projects. The goal is to bring planters and users closer to each other and contribute as much as possible to global reforestation. In order to keep Tree-Nation a good place for everybody, we have a few rules you should keep in mind. We reserve the right to modify or delete any content that does not follow these guidelines.

In the Tree-Nation platform, we have two types of posts: short posts and articles. 

• Short posts: these are meant to showcase pictures or videos and a short text. 
• Articles: these are meant to describe in more detail the activities or subject that you would like to showcase, and it can include several pictures. 

All projects are required to post a minimum of 3 short posts, or 2 short posts + 1 article per month. This helps keep your followers engaged and updated. 

If Tree-Nation sees that there are less than 3 posts by the end of each month, a quick reminder will be sent to the project holder. Remember that posting your regular activities also increases your Verification Quality Score (VQS). The higher the score, the more attractive a project is to our sponsors. 

Your posts can include tree planting updates, news from the field, introductions to new team members, or pictures of the planting team. You can also share information about the species you're planting and the local fauna. We are flexible about the information you want to post as long as it’s related to your project and your objectives.

Tone:

The content that you generate must not have a marketing-oriented or promotional tone, as the objective is to educate our audience about your project and reforestation efforts. The content mustn't include promotional or marketing campaigns about your organization.

Table 1. Tone - Do's and Don'ts 

Text: 

Remember: Communicate about your project activities, not about your organization or brand.

• • For short posts, the text is meant to be brief and clear. Try to explain what is happening in the picture you are adding and be straightforward. Our Tree-Nation community wants to know what you are doing and learn something too.
  • For articles, the text can be longer and include more pictures. Remember to make the text as easy to read as possible, while explaining what you are doing or the topic you would like to showcase.
    • Remember: it’s important to highlight that articles are meant for longer texts and not a compilation of pictures. Use this tool wisely to explain in further detail your activities or an aspect of your project that you want to showcase. 
  • Here are some examples of topics that you can talk about: 
    • Proof of planting: planting activities that show people planting on our planting sites.
    • Monitoring activities.
    • Nurseries.
    • Species: what species the project is planting, why are they important, and what are their benefits for the environment.
    • Results: how many trees have been planted so far, where, and by whom.
    • Difficulties faced, risks, and mitigation plans put in place.
    • Types of planting methods.
    • How many farmers/locals are involved in the activities. 
  • Remember that you have established the key elements for your project (About section of your project page), so content related to that is greatly appreciated and will give consistency and coherence to your posts. 
  • Don’t add links to your organization’s website. We remind you that you have the option to add the link to your organization’s website on the profile of the project holder. The posts should not reference any direct link. 
  • Please don’t write your posts IN CAPITAL LETTERS.
• Adding hashtags related to your key elements to your posts gives more visibility to your project. Through hashtags, our users will easily find your projects in the Projects section of the website while they search for topics they are interested in.

Table 2. Text - Do’s and Don’ts 

Do's	Don'ts
This post explains what is happening in the picture in a simple and straightforward way. It teaches the audience about the many struggles reforestation activities go through and how they solve these issues.	This post shows a very good picture, but does not explain what is actually happening in the picture, does not give much information, and leaves some questions open.

• For short posts and articles, pictures, and videos are the protagonists! It’s the first thing that will catch the attention of our users, so don’t hesitate to put vibrant and high-quality pictures. 
• Make sure these pictures are showing what you are doing! Planting activities, farmers, species you are planting, animals spotted at your planting sites. You have a huge variety of options.
• We recommend taking pictures of before and after the planting activities, as they show the change and your project’s impact. 

Table 3. Quality of pictures -  Do’s and Don’ts

• Collage: You are free to make a collage if it ensures better visibility for the users, with a maximum of 2 pictures per collage.
• Watermark and logo: Remember to not include any logo or watermark with your logo on any pictures or videos you post. 
• Geotag: To ensure that images maintain the highest quality, please reserve photos with geotags for the planting reports you submit directly to your Tree-Nation project manager. Geotags can often occupy significant space in a picture, diminishing its visual appeal for our Tree-Nation community and sponsors.

Table 4. Collage and logos - Do’s and Don’ts

• You’ll have a selected list of hashtags that you can use for your post and also have the flexibility to add them throughout the text of either the short posts or the articles. 
• Remember that the hashtags should be related to your key elements (About section of your Project page). 
• Don’t overpopulate your posts with too many hashtags! 1 to 2 hashtags is more than enough. You can add the hashtags in the key elements section of the updates. This will appear as an option when you create your update/article. 

Please keep in mind: 

• Tree-Nation reserves the right to edit and/or delete posts that don’t adhere to the guidelines. 
• NEW: Tree-Nation will make a selection of our favorite posts, which will be featured on our social media like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The selection will be based on the number of likes and comments these posts received, and how well they represent the activities of your project. So be creative and showcase what you are doing.

Don’t forget our terms of use: Remember that these guidelines do not replace our terms of use; they are supplementary. Make sure you always respect our terms of use as well. You can read them here.