I just noticed that the text of the https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/faq-how-to-improve-the-chance-of-having-your-poll-on-the-hom... FAQ thread has a few typos. I've highlighted them below, and marked my suggestions with strikethrough text:
Thisis an update to hb's guidance:
Hi Everyone,
We're currently still in the mode where we hand-select polls for the home page.So what can you do to improve the chances your poll is on the home page?
1. Have a clear call, non-personal, to action as the first sentence of thedescription. The idea is that this initial sentence should be a question and benon-personal (e.g. it stands alone). It's fine of course to have moredescription after this.
Good: Which of these movie posters is the scariest?
Bad: I locked my keys in the car, blah blah blah
2. Ensure that your first five items (a) have images (b) the croppingof the images is good.
We are dealing with technical issues related to cropping and it's bad when thevery large home page images are cropped poorly. So, if necessary, reorder yourchoices - BEFORE YOU PUBLISH THE POLL - so that AT LEAST the first two optionshave images andthat are cropped reasonably. For instance, images with text on the bottom(titles) often don't crop well.
This is in addition to guidance that hb has previously provided:
• Polls with two to five choices, must have images for all choices.
• When a poll has more than five choices, the first five must have images.
3. Keep Poll Titles short and punchy.
4. Triple-check your description text for grammar, nounsubject-verb agreement, use ofplurals, etc. If the description isn't great,we have to do a manual override onyour text for the home page.
-hb
Additional guidance from the IMDb editors:
5. There have been several great polls that the IMDb wanted to use, but couldnot use because of problems with the title. The IMDb Editors cannot currentlyedit titles for polls.
Poll titles need to have initial caps for all words (except for "the"and other articles/prepositions) and they generally avoid exclamation points(too much like ad copy, alas). Generally, film and television program titlesshould be in quotation marks.
6. As the editors can’t go in and tweak the headers or copy, they are lookingfor polls that are ready to go copy edit-wise (double quotes around TV showtitles, single quotes around movie titles). They like the clever headlines(“They Do Run Run”) that make you wonder what the poll is about, but headlinesthat pose a (brief) question (with a question mark at the end) do performbetter. (They also cue the users that it’s a poll and we want them to engage.)So they welcome question polls (along with the clever teasers).
7. Since IMDb is US/North America focused, the IMDb editors prefer"Favorite" in the title instead of "Favourite". IMDb usesAmerican English on the site, so for the Homepage, we give preference to pollsthat follow both Associated Press (AP) Style Guide and American English. Wedon't disqualify a poll, but it's a good guideline for users.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/02/
http://writingexplained.org/ap-style
8. A respected and inexpensive guide to good writing is "The Elements ofStyle, Fourth Edition" by William Stunk Jr. and E. B. White. ISBN-13:978-0205309023
https://www.amazon.com/dp/020530902X/ref=dra_a_rv_mr_ho_xx_P202_100
9. When in doubt about capitalization, use this online tool:
http://titlecapitalization.com/
Enter your title and select:
Capitalize words with four or more letters (AP style)
10. The word sexy should not appear in the title.
11. Decades can be abbreviated as '10s, '20s, ... '80s or '90s.
12. http://writingexplained.org/ap-style/ap-style-versus
AP Style holds that you should spell out “versus” in ordinary speech andwriting. For example,
* The proposal to revamp Social Security versus proposals to reform SocialSecurity and Medicare at the same time.
In short expressions, however, the abbreviation “vs.” is permitted. Forexample,
* The issue of gun rights vs. public safety has been with us for some time.
13. This is a useful guide for common grammar mistakes:
35 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Writing
A Cheat Sheet for the Most Common Usage, Grammar, and PunctuationMistakes.
http://writingexplained.org/35-Mistakes-to-Avoid-Writing.pdf
Thisis an update to hb's guidance:
Hi Everyone,
We're currently still in the mode where we hand-select polls for the home page.So what can you do to improve the chances your poll is on the home page?
1. Have a clear call, non-personal, to action as the first sentence of thedescription. The idea is that this initial sentence should be a question and benon-personal (e.g. it stands alone). It's fine of course to have moredescription after this.
Good: Which of these movie posters is the scariest?
Bad: I locked my keys in the car, blah blah blah
2. Ensure that your first five items (a) have images (b) the cropping
We are dealing with technical issues related to cropping and it's bad when thevery large home page images are cropped poorly. So, if necessary, reorder yourchoices - BEFORE YOU PUBLISH THE POLL - so that AT LEAST the first two optionshave images and
This is in addition to guidance that hb has previously provided:
• Polls with two to five choices, must have images for all choices.
• When a poll has more than five choices, the first five must have images.
3. Keep Poll Titles short and punchy.
4. Triple-check your description text for grammar, noun
-hb
Additional guidance from the IMDb editors:
5. There have been several great polls that the IMDb wanted to use, but couldnot use because of problems with the title. The IMDb Editors cannot currentlyedit titles for polls.
Poll titles need to have initial caps for all words (except for "the"and other articles/prepositions) and they generally avoid exclamation points(too much like ad copy, alas). Generally, film and television program titlesshould be in quotation marks.
6. As the editors can’t go in and tweak the headers or copy, they are lookingfor polls that are ready to go copy edit-wise (double quotes around TV showtitles, single quotes around movie titles). They like the clever headlines(“They Do Run Run”) that make you wonder what the poll is about, but headlinesthat pose a (brief) question (with a question mark at the end) do performbetter. (They also cue the users that it’s a poll and we want them to engage.)So they welcome question polls (along with the clever teasers).
7. Since IMDb is US/North America focused, the IMDb editors prefer"Favorite" in the title instead of "Favourite". IMDb usesAmerican English on the site, so for the Homepage, we give preference to pollsthat follow both Associated Press (AP) Style Guide and American English. Wedon't disqualify a poll, but it's a good guideline for users.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/02/
http://writingexplained.org/ap-style
8. A respected and inexpensive guide to good writing is "The Elements ofStyle, Fourth Edition" by William Stunk Jr. and E. B. White. ISBN-13:978-0205309023
https://www.amazon.com/dp/020530902X/ref=dra_a_rv_mr_ho_xx_P202_100
9. When in doubt about capitalization, use this online tool:
http://titlecapitalization.com/
Enter your title and select:
Capitalize words with four or more letters (AP style)
10. The word sexy should not appear in the title.
11. Decades can be abbreviated as '10s, '20s, ... '80s or '90s.
12. http://writingexplained.org/ap-style/ap-style-versus
AP Style holds that you should spell out “versus” in ordinary speech andwriting. For example,
* The proposal to revamp Social Security versus proposals to reform SocialSecurity and Medicare at the same time.
In short expressions, however, the abbreviation “vs.” is permitted. Forexample,
* The issue of gun rights vs. public safety has been with us for some time.
13. This is a useful guide for common grammar mistakes:
35 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Writing
A Cheat Sheet for the Most Common Usage, Grammar, and PunctuationMistakes.
http://writingexplained.org/35-Mistakes-to-Avoid-Writing.pdf





