Welcome, New Users, to Daily Kos. This Diary is intended to help you orient yourself to the site and ask questions about how to use it.
In the Body of this diary you will find some links intended to get you participating more effectively. Feel free to ask me any question you want. If I don't have the answers you seek I'll go out and find 'em and bring 'em back to ya (wink, wink).
In this edition we especially encourage the shy or the lurkers to venture forth and ask questions. In the comments we also encourage all former lurkers to join in and share their tips, tricks, and experiences with all. Whoever you are, come on in and have a little fun!
But first: Who are the co-hosts of this series?
Laughing Planet and I take turns hosting the revived Welcome New Users diary series. Before we begin with new material, I encourage everyone here to review some of the
previously written goodness that survives here in the DKos archives.
And, if you're new, don't miss
The Welcome New Users dKosopedia page.
We know you're out there, lurkers. After all, we're all former lurkers ourselves. According to our resident statistician, Jotter, the percentage of registered users who read without commenting or writing diaries on any given day is about 50%. When you add in unregistered readers, the rate of lurkage may be as high as 90%. This site is so big and there are so many front page stories and diaries scrolling by that it may seem impossible to break in and take part.
But if you enjoy conversation with smart, literate, thoughtful people who respect debate and source their claims it's worth the time and effort to join in. If you need rational, logical information for that argument with your neighbor, co-worker, or in-law, this is the place to find it —- just ask!
Just as in real life, participation in a online community like dailykos builds political commitment which leads to action. And, just as in real life, if you don't register (on the site) you can't vote (by recommending diaries and comments).
In real life I'm probably the most private person you would ever meet. I lurked for weeks before registering for an account, and my natural reticence was ultimately overcome by curiosity. I had questions. I wanted to understand more of how dkos worked. I was curious about some of the references and site history. And, also, I wanted to play.
TIP: CREATE AN ACCOUNT
If you haven't done so, register by hitting the Create Account button on the right hand side of the page under Menu.
You can be as anonymous as you please. You don't have to use your real name or post your email or any other personal information if you don't want to. Once you register there's a one day waiting period before you can post a comment. After one week, you can write diaries, recommend other people's diaries, and rate comments, so it's good to have an account set up and ready to go for the next time you have a question or are itching to speak up.
TIP: FIND A COMMUNITY
Find a comfortable place to hang out and get to know people. There are many smaller communities embedded within Dkos; places where like-minded people hang out and get to know each other..
The FAQ’s (which are your friend!) list many communities, as does this previous Welcome New Users diary,Celebrating DKos Communities.
If you treat others with respect you'll be warmly welcomed, unless you make the mistake of going into a community like the pootie diaries pootie diaries just to complain about their existence. Instead of upsetting a group that's having a good time, find another place where you do want to hang out. Communities are not limited to political topics.
Are you into gardening, cooking,or bird-watching?Could you use support with a chronic ailment, or are you coping with disability, your own or someone else's? There's a community for that, and a place for you. The communities create cohesion, friendships, and alliances that help us work together even better towards ultimate purpose of this site, which is Electing More and Better Democrats.
TIP: VISIT OPEN THREADS
While commenting in a diary stay on-topic lest you be suspected of thread-jacking. But what if you want to share on off-topic comment, ask a general question about the site, or post a link to a news story you haven't seen covered elsewhere? Open Thread is published at intervals throughout the day on the front page, and is the place where you can post random news items, sports updates, jokes, and comments that might not fit in anywhere else. My favorite hangout is Midday Open Thread which posts at noon daily. It suits my schedule and I see a lot of familiar faces there. You’re also allowed to pimp your own diaries or diaries you especially admire in Open Thread.
TIP: GET INVOLVED IN A CONVERSATION
Once you've found a comfortable place, start a conversation by posting an original comment to a diary or story, or by replying to someone else's comment. You'll see orange + and - numbers after the title of your comment. Plus numbers mean hey, someone read and liked what you said! If you see a minus number, also known as a Hide Rate, reconsider your approach. Your comment will NOT be hidden if someone merely disagree with you, but it will be hidden if you break a site rule. The rules are common sense guidelines that (mostly) promote rational discourse among adults. Name calling, promoting right-wing talking points, and threats of violence will get your comment hidden by Trusted Users in a hurry. But you’re not here to be a troll, right? (If you are, I guarantee you won’t last long, and banishment is forever!)
Even if people don't directly respond to your comment, notice who recommended your comment by clicking on the orange number. Here's a fun tip: Recommenders aren't listed in the order they recommended you; they're listed in order by their UID number. That's not some perverse form of birth control-- it's the order in which you registered here. To see your own UID number, hover your mouse over your own name in a comment and look down in the lower left-hand corner of your screen. You can also check the UID numbers of people who have recommended you by hovering over their names.
When people respond to your comment, or any time you like what someone says, give them a thank-you Rec. Here’s how to follow a conversation: Right under Menu and Home on the right side of the page you'll see [Your name's] Page. Click on this, and then click the second button that says Comments. Here's where you'll be able to see all of your own comments, who recommended them, and who replied to them. I keep this page open as a separate tab so I can tab back and forth between reading and responding quickly to anyone who's talking to me.
TIP: POSTING A WINNING DIARY
When you’re ready to make the leap to post your first diary (or, as we say, "Lose Your Orange Cherry") be sure to read Nurse Kelley Sez: What Makes a Diarist Successful?
TIP: SAVING A DIARY FOR LATER
Let’s say you want to save this diary, or Nurse Kelley’s diary above for future reference. Here’s your guide to Following Your Favorites and Hotlisting.
So—have we made you feel welcome and convinced you to delurk yet?
Please come on in and have some fun with us in the comments. This is your safe place to post your first comment and ask questions. If you’ve been delurked forever here’s also your place to have some fun and tell us what drew you out of lurkdom and into the maw of the Great Orange Satan. We're all ears!