How and why to write a blog post?

Why write a blog post?

A blog post is a way of sharing information or your reflections about the community, a tool or an event. You might want to talk about something you are doing, a project you are involved in, or an event you are organising. Blog posts are usually quite short and informal in the style of a conversation rather than a formal communication. You can choose if your blog post appears on the front page of the site or on a Group page. See the information below.

How to create a blog post

1. Make sure you are logged into the site.

2. Click on "My Blog" (left column, inside user block) and click on the link "post new blog entry".

or

"Create Content" (left column, inside "content block") and select "blog post"

4. Write your post:

• Write the title of your post in the "Title" box - a short, catchy title is a good idea.
• Write key words about your post in the "Tags" box. Each tag is separated by commas.
• Write your post in the "body" box write your post.

5. If you want your blog post to appear on the main page of a Group inside this community, then select the relevant group listed under "Audience".

6. If you want to atach a file to your post select "file attachments".

7. If you want your blog post to appear on the front page of the site, then go down to "Publishing Options" and check "Promoted to front page".

8. Press the button "submit" at the end of the page.

What are tags and how to use them?

Tags are one or more key words associated to a given content on the site (post, page, blog, file, etc), enabling all the members of the site to find content that has been categorised by its members. The collected tags used across the site are are displayed in the right hand column organized  by font size, where the bigger the size of the font, the more frequent that tag is used. 

When you click on a tag in  the side column it will take you to all the content in the site that has been tagged with that word (or those words).

You are always invited to add one or more tags to the content you create, separating each word or expression with commas.

How to participate in a group?

Groups are a place for members to have a space for a particular focus or interaction. Groups can have a discussion forum and can produce their own newsletter. We have one group for all community members (Community Group) and other national and interest groups will open when there is a need for them.

• See which groups you belong to by clicking on "Groups" on the panel under your name in the left-side.
• If you want to subscribe to a group, click "Subscribe" next to the group name.
• If you want to read or post the messages in a group, then click on one of the groups and see the posts that have been made. To add your comment to a topic, then click on "Comments". Add a subject for your post and write your comment. Click "Post comment".
• If you would like to start a new group, contact the site facilitators.