BarkingDogs.net

How to Post an Entry on the Barking Dogs Forum

You can email your post to forum@barkingdogs.net. Within 24 hours of receiving your submission, we will paste it into the Forum for you.

If you prefer, you can also enter your words directly into the Forum itself.

There are three ways to make an entry directly into the Forum:

1. You can post your own separate entry in which you tell your story, make your case, or otherwise express whatever it is that you have to say.
2. You can comment on someone else's post
3. You can comment on a comment that somebody made about someone else's post, much as you would in any conversation carried on between several people.

How to Comment on Someone Else's Post by Entering Your Words Directly into the Barking Dogs Forum

When you go to the Barking Dogs Forum, the first thing that comes up on your computer screen will be a series of posts. Remember, a post is an entry in which the writer tells his story or otherwise says his piece. You can think of a post as being a monologue, or consider it to be the opening statement in a conversation.

The shorter posts can be read just as they are. For the longer posts, only the first few sentences will be visible. To see a long post in its entirety, click on Read More, and the document will unfold to reveal all that the writer had to say.

If you scroll down to the bottom of any post and click on Post a New Comment, a screen will come up that will allow you to comment on what the writer had to say. Just put the heading of your comment in the Subject box and write what you have to say in the Message box. Then, after you click Post Comment, your words will appear below the post upon which you commented.

You can also comment on somebody else's comment, as opposed to commenting on someone else's post. To comment on a comment, just click the Reply to this button and, when the screen comes up, fill in the boxes and click Post Comment.

You can make a comment whether or not you have established an account with the company that administers the LiveJournal network. However, before you can make your own post, you must first set up your own, free of charge, LiveJournal account.

How to Get Set Up to Make Your Own Post Directly into the Forum

The LiveJournal format was created in 1998 by a young computer science major named Brad Fitzpatrick, and it has since evolved as a way of allowing groups of people to communicate with one another over the internet in an interactive fashion.

There are two basic types of LiveJournal accounts: Private accounts set up for individuals, and Community accounts, set up to accommodate a greater level of participation among a larger number of people.

Before you can post to a Community account, like the Barking Dogs LiveJournal Community Forum, you must first set up your own private account. To learn how you can set up your own Personal LiveJournal account, free of charge, go to http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=104. Scroll down the page until you come to the Accounts section. Click on the link called How do I create an account? How do I get started?

Once you have opened your own Personal LiveJournal account, you will then be in a position to post your submissions, unassisted, directly into the Barking Dogs Forum.

How to Enter Your Own Post Directly into the Forum

Type the web address (URL) of your new Personal LiveJournal account into the address field of the browser of your choice. The first screen that comes up will read: Below are the most recent journal entries recorded in Your Name's LiveJournal. Click on your name. After you have clicked on your name, the User Info screen will appear.

Before you try to do anything else, take a moment to log onto the LiveJournal network by entering your Password and User Name into the boxes on the upper right side of the User Info screen. LiveJournal will not allow you to make a post until after you have logged in.

The next thing you have to do is to join the Barking Dogs LiveJournal Community. The LiveJournal system will not allow you to post on any Community Journal unless you first join that community. Fortunately, it is ridiculously easy to do, and you only need to do it once.

How to Join the Barking Dogs Live Journal Community

To join the Barking Dogs LiveJournal Community, go to http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=barkingdogs. At the top of the page, find where it says Below is information about the "Barking Dogs" community on LiveJournal. To join this community, click here. Just click there. That's all there is to it. You only need to join once. When you post again in the future, you can just skip this step.

The Final Steps For Posting Directly into the Barking Dogs Forum

Before you can post, you first need to get back into the User Info screen for your Personal LiveJournal account. (See four paragraphs above).

In the upper left hand side of the User Info screen, point your cursor at Journal, then pull down to Update and click. The Update Journal screen will appear. Just put the title of your entry in the Subject box and type whatever it is you want to say in the Entry box. After that, scroll down to the bottom of the screen to the drop-down box that says Post to. Pull the Post to box down to select the Barking Dogs Community LiveJournal. Then all you have to do is to do is click Update Journal, and your post will automatically appear on the Barking Dogs Forum.

How to Use the Forum to Document Your Own Personal Barking Dog Ordeal, and Why You Should Take the Time to Do It

Return to the Forum Overview

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This page is part of Section Twelve:
the Forum/Live Journal section of barkingdogs.net