Thursday, January 24th, 2008
What is a diary?
Diaries are the newest addition to Rays of Light in response to the widely successful system piloted on the Sports Blog Network. Diaries allow the community to blog their thoughts in posts of their own on the site. Essentially it’s a blog within the blog.
Why should I care about diaries?
The addition of diaries will serve two purposes to make the site better:
1. They will increase the amount of new content on the site each day.
2. They allow you to not only have a voice, but also to hear the voice of other very intelligent fans that read the site, but aren’t currently on staff.
What do I need to be able to post a diary?
The only requirement to be able to post a diary is that you are registered as a user of the site. You can sign up by clicking the “Contribute” icon located in the right sidebar. This will take you to the sign up screen where you will choose your login and enter your e-mail address. From there, we will send you an activation e-mail for you to activate your account. Doing so will send me an e-mail saying that you registered and will send you an e-mail with your temporary password. We have it set to default to marking you as a subscriber, which means no diary privileges. When I get notified of your sign up, I’ll contact you to assure you are not a spammer. Once you reply back to me, I will list you as a contributor and you will be free to post diaries as often as you like.
How do I post a diary?
Once you’re registered and listed as a diary contributor, you will want to login using the link in the navigation box at the top of the right sidebar. Once you login, you will be taken to a dashboard that looks like this:
From there, click on the option that says “Write a Post” and enter your title and post.
Once you’re all finished and have looked over the spelling and things of that nature, it’s time to post it to the site. Because we’re in the beginning stages of diaries, all of them are subject to moderation. By clicking the submit for review button, it posts it in the moderation queue for me to review, but it doesn’t send me any notification that it’s there. The easiest way to make sure your diary is review ASAP is to click the box that says “ready to post”
By checking this box, it sends me an e-mail instantly that a post is ready for me to look at. Once I approve the post, which is just to prevent spammers, it will be linked in the sidebar in the diaries section for all to ready and comment on.
Will my diary ever see its way to the front page?
Definitely. One of the things we’re most excited about is the ability to move high quality diary posts to the front page as featured posts. Consider it an audition for the show. Who knows, you may even find an e-mail in your box inviting you to join the staff.
Are there things I should focus on in my writing?
One of the best things to remember is to write things that people will want to read. For example, posting about something that is already on the front page may not be a great idea. Remember to keep the posts free of profanity and keep it focused on baseball or sports in general. The most important thing is to have fun with it. Talk it up to your friends. Get them to sign up and let’s start growing this community.
If you have any questions, send me an e-mail: 
Happy Blogging!!!!
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