Vultr Docs Program Guide

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Program Overview

Vultr Docs is our knowledge base for the Vultr community. If you are a technical writer looking for assignments, you've come to the right place. This article covers our rules, payments, and FAQ. We've also published several guides to assist you as you plan your Vultr Docs contributions.

Thank you for contributing to Vultr Docs. We look forward to reading your articles! See these resources to get started:

• The Vultr Style Guide describes our preferred writing style.
• The Vultr-flavored Markdown Reference explains the quirks of our specific Markdown flavor.

How to Request an Assignment

1. Choose a title from our available assignment list.
2. Log in to your Vultr account.
3. Make your assignment request through the Request Article form. Please include a link to the specific assignment you are requesting.

Make sure we’ve approved your assignment before you begin writing because we may have suggestions, questions, or updates to the assignment notes. If you have a new article idea, please send us a brief description. If it's appropriate for our library, we'll create an assignment.

How to Submit Your Article for Review

1. Please edit and test your article.
2. Upload your completed article to the Vultr Docs team.
3. We will review your article and provide status reports via the ticket system at each step.
4. If we approve the article, we will send you a payment proposal.

Program Rules

• Request an assignment before submitting articles to Vultr Docs.
• Articles must be in English, with proper spelling and grammar. See our style guide for more information.
• You must submit original content. Do not plagiarize from other Vultr Docs or other sites.
• Articles submitted to Vultr are exclusive to Vultr Docs. Do not republish the article elsewhere after submission to Vultr Docs.
• After payment, the content becomes the property of Vultr. We may reuse the content as needed or rewrite it to improve readability.
• Do not mention other providers that offer similar services to Vultr.
• Use a minimum number of URL links to resources outside Vultr Docs.
• Violations of any program rules may lead to suspension from the Docs program and disqualify future submissions.

Payments and Rates

These payment rates are guidelines; we evaluate each article individually. We base payments on the amount of original writing, excluding code blocks.

• We review your account for payment eligibility.
• For PayPal payouts, your PayPal account must allow you to receive payments. We do not process PayPal requests (to Vultr) or donation pages.

• If you desire the highest payment for your article, we recommend these resources:

  • Use our style guide.
  • Use our Markdown tutorial.
  • Test your article thoroughly before submitting it for review.

New Articles

New articles that are ready to publish without editing by Vultr are eligible for the highest payments and an author's byline.

• New articles greater than 1500 words are eligible for up to $600.
• New articles between 750 and 1500 words are eligible for up to $300.
• New articles less than 750 words are eligible for up to $150.

Article Ports

We pay 50% of the new article rate, up to a maximum of $300, for ports of existing articles. Ports are guides rewritten for different platforms, such as an Ubuntu installation guide adapted to support FreeBSD. Ports should contain important new information and should not plagiarize the original article. Ports with only minor differences are not eligible.

Article Updates

With pre-approval, we pay 50% of the new article rate for updates to existing articles. Updates should contain important new information and should not plagiarize the original article. You'll find our available assignments here.

Topics

Users reading your articles are primarily interested in server administration and applications. Therefore, our documentation library consists of these major categories:

• Installation Guides are step-by-step installation and configuration instructions. The majority of our documents are installation guides.
• Quickstart Guides are useful for users who need a cheat sheet. For example, they know they need to open a port in a firewall but don't know the exact command.
• Best Practices are short documents that explain the best way to do a particular task.
• Troubleshooting Guides are step-by-step instructions to resolve common problems.
• Frequently Asked Questions are common questions with short answers, rarely more than one paragraph, and link to other documents as much as possible.

We do not accept articles about:

• Blockchain and cryptocurrencies
• Peer-to-peer sharing guides for programs such as BitTorrent
• Anonymous surfing guides for programs such as Tor, Shadowsocks, SOCKS5, or other proxy software
• How to bypass or "crack" licensing systems of applications
• Products primarily used to violate Vultr's Acceptable Use Policy such as media servers, robodialers, and shopping bots

If you need help selecting an article topic, please see our available assignments.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Ask a New Question

If you have a question we haven't answered below, please open a ticket and let us know. We'll answer your question and add it to the list.

1. How do I include images in my articles?

For security, our article submission system does not allow directly embedding images in Markdown. If your article includes images, please upload to a public location such as imgur.com, and then use a standard Markdown image directive, like this:

![Alt text for image](https://i.imgur.com/example-filename.png)

Important note about images: Articles in Vultr's documentation library must be accessible, which means all images need alternative descriptive text. As a general rule, use images sparingly unless required. If you use images, include sufficient information so a person who cannot see the image can use your article.

2. Can I write articles anonymously?

You can choose to be anonymous instead of publishing your name on your articles.

3. What are the benefits of the Trusted Author Program?

The Trusted Author application form lets you tell us a little about your experience so that we can connect you with relevant assignments. The Trusted Author program is an open process, and we approve all applications. You are not required to join the Trusted Author program.

4. I'd like author credit, but I prefer to use an alias instead of my real name.

Vultr does not publish aliases for author credit. You have the option to leave the author name blank if you prefer not to use your real name.

5. Do you have a list of available assignments?

Yes! Please see our available assignment list.

6. I wrote an article but didn't request an assignment. What do I do?

Before you submit your article, please request an assignment. If you want to write about a topic that isn't on our available assignment list, please let us know. If it's appropriate for Vultr Docs and doesn't duplicate another article, we'll add it to the list and assign it to you. We require this step to prevent assignment conflicts.

7. How many articles can I request at a time?

To avoid assignment conflicts, we assign one article at a time. Do not create multiple accounts to circumvent this policy. Creating multiple accounts violates Vultr's Terms of Service.

8. How can I make as much money as possible?

Some authors rush to deliver multiple articles to maximize their income. Unfortunately, these articles are usually low quality and require our team to edit them, resulting in lower payments if published. You can increase your payments by following a few simple tips:

• Thoroughly understand your topic and write unique content instead of hastily rewording another guide you found online.
• Don't submit your first draft. We have editing tips in our style guide.
• Test your article by performing all the steps exactly as you wrote them.

The secret to earning money by writing for Vultr Docs is straightforward: Deliver tested, edited, valuable content.

9. Why didn't you agree to publish my article?

Requesting an article assignment or accepting an assignment does not create any obligation by Vultr to publish your article. We may ask you to make changes or corrections, or the team may decline to publish your article without an explanation. We will make a payment offer after reviewing your article.

10. Can you send me a copy of my article?

Unfortunately, no. Please keep a copy of your article before submitting it. How did you test and edit the article if you don't have a saved copy?

11. Will you tell me why my article was not published?

Vultr does not provide editor notes for unpublished articles. Because we pay well above the industry standard rate, we expect our authors to submit ready-to-publish articles. If you need tips on technical writing, we recommend the free Google technical writing course.

12. My article meets all the guidelines, but it wasn't published. Why?

Not every article will be accepted for publication even if it meets all program guidelines. The decision to publish an article depends on many business factors, and Vultr may decline to publish articles at our sole discretion without a detailed explanation.

13. I sent an outline, and it was approved, but you didn't publish my article. Why?

Our approval of an outline concept does not create a contractual obligation to publish an article. It only means the outline isn't on our list of unpermitted topics.

14. Can I advertise myself as a Vultr employee on my LinkedIn profile or blog?

Payment for articles does not constitute an employer-employee relationship. Therefore, authors may not represent themselves as Vultr employees online.

15. I was offered less than expected. Why?

These payment rates are guidelines; we evaluate each article individually, prepare a payment proposal, and obtain your consent before publishing. We will not publish your article unless you agree with our proposed payment.

16. How can I receive payment for my article? Can you pay in Bitcoin or Payoneer?

We do not pay in Bitcoin or Payoneer. You may choose to receive payments through PayPal or Vultr account credit.

17. Must my PayPal email address match my Vultr account email address?

You are welcome to use a different PayPal address than your Vultr email address.

18. Can I write articles about virtualization technologies such as VirtualBox, VMWare, KVM, or XEN?

Yes, if the article is specific to Vultr Bare Metal. Vultr Cloud Compute, High Frequency Compute, and Dedicated Cloud products do not support nested virtualization.

19. Can I host my code samples on GitHub, GitLab, or elsewhere?

No, all code samples for your article must be included in the actual article. We may choose to migrate your code samples to the Vultr Docs GitHub repository at our discretion.

Summary

Thank you for contributing to Vultr Docs! Please use the Suggest an update button below each Vultr Doc to report errors in our documentation. Also, if you have questions about the Vultr Docs program, please contact us. We appreciate your feedback.