Best methods for quoting stuff ...

Now more than ever, it's vital that people understand what words are yours and what words belong to someone else.

It's imperative that we make it really clear who says what, and there are about a dozen ways to do it.

My suggestion? Use blockquote when you quote somebody. Always.

What's blockquote, you ask? Allow me to demonstrate.

This is regular words being used to set up a quote I borrowed from somewhere else:

These are the words that I borrowed from somebody else.

Note that they're indented and clearly set aside from the rest of the text.

My words again. And here I provide a link back to where I found these words.

Some people wrap quotes around passages they're referencing ... that can get clumsy. Some people put 'em in italics. Effective, but sometimes unclear.

With blockquote, you leave no doubts, and that's what we really need to strive for.

Another important rule: When in doubt about attribution, OVER-ATTRIBUTE. It might read clunky, but ... again ... we want to be clear above all else.

How to create a blockquote:

Open your blockquote with this: <blockquote>

Close your blockquote with this: </blockquote>

Hence, in your entry, it'll look like this:

<blockquote>This text will be blockquoted.</blockquote>

This text will not be blockquoted.

Last note, it's almost never appropriate to clip out more than a paragraph or two at any given time. You're not here to reprint stories in their entirety (or even small minority) ... you're here (within this context) to point to interesting stuff and provide some insight when possible.