By Raymond Wade on February 9, 2026
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Welcome to the APALD contributor guide! As a registered member with contributor permissions, you can share stories, insights, and updates about recovery and illicit drug awareness. Our system uses security features to sanitize content, ensuring safe and proper display by removing troublesome code while preserving valid HTML. This keeps your posts looking great without risking site vulnerabilities.

Follow these detailed steps to create and submit a blog post or aticle. We'll cover best practices for formatting to work seamlessly with our code security features.

Prerequisites

• Membership: You must be a registered APALD member. If not, visit the Membership page to sign up or log in.


• Contributor Permission: You must be granted contributor permissions. (This must be granted by an APALD staff member or site admin.)


• Login: Go to your Profile Dashboard. (You must be logged in to access contributor features.)


• Tools Needed: A web browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox). A basic knowledge of HTML for formatting will help, but it is not required. No "advanced" coding is required as our system handles most of the hard stuff.

Step 1: Navigate to the Article Creation Page

From the navigation menu in your profile dashboard, click Create New Article.

Step 2: Enter Basic Details

1. Title: In the "Post Title" field, enter a concise, engaging title (e.g., "My Journey Through Grief"). Keep it under 100 characters for SEO and display purposes. Use plain text—no HTML here, as it's auto-sanitized.


2. Category: Select the best category or categories for your post from the dropdown (e.g., "Personal Reflection", "Stories", "News"). This helps organize posts on the site.

Step 3: Write and Format the Content

The "content area" is a textarea where you enter your post body. Use simple HTML for formatting and our system will validate and display the content safely. (Avoid complex or unsafe elements to prevent stripping.)

1. Formatting Tips for Compatibility:
   
   
   
   • Paragraphs: Wrap text in <p>Your text here.</p> for proper spacing. Don't rely on line breaks alone—our system may normalize them.
   
   
   • Headings: Use <h2>Subheading</h2> or <h3>Sub-subheading</h3> for sections. Avoid <h1> as it's reserved for the title.
   
   
   • Bold/Italic: <strong>Bold text</strong> for emphasis, <em>Italic text</em> for italics.
   
   
   • Lists:
     
     
     
     • Unordered: <ul><li>Item 1</li><li>Item 2</li></ul>
     
     
     • Ordered: <ol><li>Step 1</li><li>Step 2</li></ol>
     
     
     
     
   
   
   • Links: <a href="https://example.com">Link text</a>. Ensure URLs start with "https://". Our system allows target="_blank" and rel="noopener".
   
   
   • Images: <img src="https://website.com/images/your-image.jpg" alt="Description" width="300" height="300">. Always include alt text.
   
   
   • Blockquotes: <blockquote>Quoted text here.</blockquote> for quotes.
   
   
   • Avoid These: No <script>, inline style=, onclick, iframes, embeds, or classes/IDs. They will be removed. Stick to semantic HTML.
   
   
   • Line Breaks: Use <br> for single breaks, but you may prefer paragraphs.
   
   
   • Special Characters: Enter directly (e.g., ♥) or use entities like ♥ or &.
   
   
   
   


2. Length Recommendation: Aim for 500–1500 words. Break into short paragraphs for readability.


3. Proofread: Check for typos. Our system doesn't have built-in spellcheck—use your browser's tools.

Pro Tip: If your HTML doesn't display as expected, it's likely invalid nesting (e.g., fix <strong><p>...</p></strong> to <p><strong>...</strong></p>). Test simple formats first.

Step 5: Preview Your Post

1. Click the Preview button at the bottom of the form.


2. A modal or new tab shows how the post will look with HTMLPurifier applied.


3. Review formatting:
   
   
   
   • Images not loading? Check URLs.
   
   
   • Text clumped? Add more <p> tags.
   
   
   • Links broken? Verify "https://".
   
   
   
   


4. Edit and preview again as needed.

Step 6: Submit

1. If satisfied, click Submit Post.


2. You'll see a confirmation message (e.g., "Post submitted for review").


3. Admins review for appropriateness (usually within 48 hours). Once approved, it appears in the Articles section under whatever category or categories you selected.


4. Track status in your Profile Dashboard under "My Articles".

Common Pitfalls and Best Practices

• Stripping code from the Content: If content vanishes, it has been flagged as unsafe code by our security system. Rewrite using only allowed tags: p, h2–h3, strong, em, ul, ol, li, a, img, blockquote, br.


• Mobile-Friendly: Use responsive images (our CSS handles most of this automatically).


• SEO: Include keywords in title and content. Always add alt text to images.


• Ethics: Ensure content is original, respectful, and aligns with APALD's mission. No promotions or spam.


• Help: If stuck, contact support via the Contact Form or check FAQs.

Thank you for contributing! Your voice helps build our community. Questions? Comment below or reach out.

Last Updated: March 1, 2026

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How-To