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. Also in the Body this week is a discussion of how you can get involved in the New Diarists Group. More about this after the orange gnocchi doodle!
After that you can ask me any questions about the site you want. If I don't know the answers I'll go find 'em and bring 'em to ya (wink wink!)
Before we begin, a brief word from our sponsor:
Everyone is encouraged to review some of the previously written goodness that survives here in the DKos archives.
* Other diaries in the Welcome New Users Series.
* The Welcome New Users dKosopedia page.
* The list of teaching diaries republished to our Group page.
And finally, as DarkSyde eloquently stated:
With the exception of trolls, we're glad you're here!
And Now, Introducing our New Buddy System Group:
New Diarists is a safe place to practice diary writing skills with a mentor's guiding hand. Experienced diarists are welcome to join and buddy up with new diarists, and new diarists are welcome to ask for help. The group's Publication Manager provides a space where we can collaborate on diaries and help you with everything from content to formatting to promoting your new diary.
How-to and Help diaries will be published to the New Diarists Group. Visit the home page and click on the little ♥ to follow us. More help can be found at the Welcome New Users and Cranky Users Groups...click the ♥ to follow those groups, too.
Brand New to Daily Kos? Check out the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Ready to play? Send a private message aka kosmail to nomandates.
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Who Should Join the New Diarists Group?
Have you ever wanted to write a diary but are unsure how to proceed? Do you wonder if your content is appropriate, or do you want to learn the mechanics of diary posting including formatting with pictures or links? Well, this will provide a safe sandbox to play in. We'll team you up with a buddy who can consult with you and help you create a draft that the entire world doesn't have to see until you're ready!
Have you ever wanted to help a new kossack write their first diary? Then sign up as a mentor for new diarists. We'll add you to our pool of experienced kossack consultants and when the call for help goes out you'll have the choice of jumping in to assist. We already have a fine pool of consultants (hey, you kids, quit splashing in there!) and the longer the list the better!
Sounds Good to Me! How do I Join?
It's easy-- Just send a private message (aka kosmail) to nomandates asking for an invitation to join the New Diarists Group.
Here's how to send a kosmail: Click on this link for nomandates, the group's founder and leader, click the Send Message link just like in the box below and ask for an invitation to the New Diarists group.
Next, keep an eye on your Messages for a reply. You will be notified of a new message in your Welcome Back box found in the right hand column. It will look like that ---->
Click on the message and send a Reply confirming that you'd like to join.
The next thing that will happen (this may take a little time, but it will happen) is you will be sent a notification message that will say this:
Your permissions in group New Diarists have changed to BlogEditor.
I know what you're thinking: YIKES! But I'm new-- being an Editor sounds like too much responsibility for me!
Don't worry-- being an Editor simply means that you can now use the collaborative function in the New Diarists Group. We're all bozos on this bus editors in this group.
OK, I Joined-- Now How Do I Get Help?
Once you have been made an Editor in the group you can go look at the first teaching diary in the series. To find it, go to the New Diarists home page and click the link that says Queue on the left-hand side under the Buddy System banner.
In the queue you will see a diary titled How to Collaborate on a Diary. Go ahead-- you won't break anything-- go take a look! This diary will teach you how to create a draft diary and put it into the queue. Then send a message to nomandates just like you did in the box above to wrangle yourself an invitation and say, I'm ready for help with my diary!
You can, of course, ask for help before creating a draft.
nomandates will then put out the call to the group's experienced diarists, and you'll be assigned a buddy to help you. What could be easier!
Follow this group for your stream. Become a "follower" by clicking the little ♥ thingy under the GROUP name (like so ↑) Welcome New Users until it has a little check mark emblazoned on it.
Following the tag is also recommended, but you will find that we also regularly republish teaching diaries to the queue that do not have the WNU tag added.
Got questions? Comments? Ideas? We're all ears-- just join us in the comments. Remember, this diary is for New Users and aspiring New Diarists, so no question is too basic!
New Diarists' founder and fearless leader nomandates, along with other blog editors, will be available in the comments for questions.
nomandates will also be sharing some Q & A's from her mailbox from aspiring new diarists. Have fun, and as always, play nice!
You can also follow the new group on Twitter: @NewDiarists