Regarding Thumbnail Requirements

Hello everyone, I wanted to take a moment to reach out about thumbnail requirements. I've had to remove a fair number of blogs from the front-page rotation due to some issues with thumbnail requirements: https://www.chess.com/news/view/chess-coms-requirements-and-tips-for-thumbnails-and-images

The basic question we ask for any "top blog" is, "Is this consistent with the quality standards we have for the front page of the largest chess website in the world?" If we think the answer is no, we remove the blog from the front-page rotation and the chess.com/blogs page. The blog still absolutely exists under your account, but it's not circulating in those spots reserved for top bloggers. I try to reach out when we have to do that, but to be honest, that is not always possible as we have a lot of blogs in circulation, and there are a lot of other projects that are always underway.

The primary reasons that blogs are pulled from the rotation are the following:

• The thumbnail is not the correct aspect ratio or correct resolution.
• There is no thumbnail.
• The thumbnail may be deemed offensive or not family friendly.
• The thumbnail uses screenshots of chess boards from competing websites or softwares. For brand purposes, we do require Chess.com chessboards in all thumbnails.
• The thumbnail seems to be under copyright, and it's not clear that the blogger has permission to use the photo.
• Finally, we sometimes have to remove thumbnails for simply not being sufficient quality. Usually this is because the thumbnail has been produced by an amateur graphic designer (likely the author). That's always a tough decision, and I have nothing but respect for those of you who attempt graphic production, but that level of ambition demands a high-level of execution. It is extra hard to edit a photograph to professional standards.

Q: This is hard! How am I to do this!

A: Thumbnails are definitely challenging! We recommend using the resources in our thumbnail guide heavily if needed. There's lots of great photos there that will work perfectly! Also, we are NOT trying to remove blogs from circulation. We only take action when we feel we have to. Generally, if you feel confident in your production, it's probably suitable.

Q: I'm not sure if a thumbnail I want to use is ok. Can you check it?

A: Yes! If you message me with a blog draft, I can pre-approve thumbnails.