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 Finding Your Community to help you boost your mojo and meet other like-minded folks here.
After that you can 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). I also invite those wiser than I to contribute and correct (or raise a ruckus, just don't scare people).
Follow us over the jump to back your own community, discover new ones, or vote on your favorite!
Who are the co-hosts of this series?
The very cool diarist Laughing Planet revived the Welcome New Users diaries and I recently joined with him to continue this series. If you would like to contribute to this series just let us know!
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.
New to the place? Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stories and diaries and comments? Does it feel like you're drinking from a fire hose? Trying to get your feet wet without drowning in diaries?
Whether you're seeking a group of like-minded people, a smaller group to relax and hang out with, or trying to build up your mojo and become a
Trusted User, community diaries are safe places to get to know others who share your outlook and interests. They're often non-political in nature, and you won't have to wear your flame-proof undies if you respect the written (and sometimes unwritten) rules for communities.
Many a kossack has come here for the front page stories and diaries and stayed for one of the communities. For the sake of this diary I'm using this reference page of DKos communities. This is by no means a comprehensive list of communities within DKos, and I mean no disrespect if you weren't mentioned. Please feel free to tell us all about it in the comments! I encourage you to visit communities you're interested in, subscribe to your favorites, or be inspired to find,or even create, a community of your own.
First rule of community diaries: Play nice, and don't diss the community you're visiting, or complain about it elsewhere if one of its diaries makes the Rec list! People come to these sites for mutual support and networking, and these diaries serve as community-building places within the greater DKos. If a certain diary offends you there's plenty of others to peruse, so just keep moving on until you find one you do like.
Don't say I didn't warn you--
Don't mess with the pootie people!
So, let's start with the Pootie Diaries!
Click here for Pootie and Woozle Diaries
To me, this is one of the friendliest and most fun community around, and is reliably posted daily. For the newcomer, pooties are cats, woozles are dogs, and furbutts and featherbutts are self-explanatory (don't blame me! I didn't make up these terms!) Any and all animal lovers are welcomed here.
This is a non-political diary and we do not discuss political issues, nor do we come into this diary and name call or ask that it be taken down because we do not believe that it is relevant. That will only result in starting a flame war, which we do not want. If you play nicely in our sandbox, we will play nicely in yours. We also ask that you visit the sites featured at the bottom of this diary, as it will result in feeding pooties and woozles who do not have a home. Now, have a great time and add any photos that you think the community would enjoy. :)
IGTNT (I Got the News Today)
Click here for the IGTNT series.
As someone who saw what many returning soldiers endured after the Vietnam War I am repeatedly moved to tears by the compassion for military families in this community.
The purpose of the I Got the News Today series is to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.
Black Kos
Click here for the The Black Kos community.
Although I'm a lurker at Black Kos, I'm also a subscriber, and love the writing there.
First, we want to bring issues in the black community to the forefront by compiling information from various sources such as news items, commentary articles, and our fellow Kossacks who publish diaries...Second, we want to provide solutions to the issues raised. Issues such as education in urban areas, health care, wealth disparities, racial disparities in sentencing guidelines, and voting education are just a few we'll tackle.
GLBT & Friends (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender)
Click here for the GLBT & Friends community.
The purpose of the series is to provide a gathering place for GLBT people, our friends and our allies, and to give the broader Daily Kos readership exposure to GLBT perspectives, ideas, news, history, events, and personalities. In WGLB, we gather as a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community to discuss issues of interest to the cause of promoting ourselves as we strive for equality at home and abroad. All are welcome to participate, but we try to stay topical and in this series gay positivism is expressly encouraged. We strive to make every GLBT person and our allies welcome. We also use the diary on Fridays as a chat room, where folks touch base and share their weekly highs and lows with our support group of regular contributors.
Brothers and Sisters at Daily Kos,
Click here for Brothers and Sisters at Daily Kos
Brothers and Sisters is a weekly series for prayer* and community. Originally hosted by Pastor Dan, proprietor of Street Prophets, it became a community effort at the beginning of 2009. We use an asterix on prayer* to indicate that those who do not find theistic vocabulary helpful are welcome to share their joys and concerns with us.
The diary is scheduled Sundays at 8 PM Eastern Time.
Political News and Humor Diaries:
Fox News making you crazy? Check out the daily Countdown With Keith Olbermann series. CityLightsLover describes the community like this:
The Countdown diary runs every weeknight before the repeat show. My goal for the diary each night is to sum up each segment, including what Keith says & what his segment guests say, as accurately as I can. I do throw in my own "commentary," but I try my best to make sure people know those opinions are mine alone. I think a part of the success of this community is the atmosphere I try to create & maintain. I encourage & welcome spirited but civil debate about the issues covered in the show - with a little fun thrown in, too. (The food pictures provided by one of the diary participants are becoming as beloved as the diary subject itself!).
Did you know that Keith Olbermann is a Kossack who also posts diaries here?
In need of political humor? Find your soul mates at The Daily Show/Colbert Report Chat for a place to talk and snark during the late-night comic shows.
Insomniacs can nurse their funny bones at Insomniac's Venthole with Craig Ferguson.
Hey-- it's January, and you know what that means!
GUS (Gave Up Smoking)
Click here for a list of Gave Up Smoking diaries. And don't forget to leave a tip in the butt can!
As anyone who has ever quit smoking knows, having a team of supportive allies can make all the difference in quitting smoking and staying quit.
GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us!
The GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information: quit-smoking links, helpful GUS diary writing tips, and the GUS Buddy List.
WHEE (Weight Loss, Healthy Eating and Exercise)
Click here for WHEE diaries.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
Whether you're interested in Books, Gardening, Living Frugally, Cooking,Bird Watching,Home Repair,or venting about What's Your F***ing Problem, there's a community out there for you.
In a future edition we hope to cover Diary Series such as Cheers and Jeers, Top Comments, Diary Rescue, and Jotter, so stay tuned!
If I didn't get to your favorite community, let me hear about it (or let me have it!) in the comments, and remember, this is your place to ask questions about how DKos works. I may not have all the answers (I may not even understand the question), but there's bound to be someone here who does.
Come on in-- the water's fine!
UPDATE: I had to add this awesome comment by blue aardvark that really explains why the communities are so great for both newbies and oldies:
As I've said before (2+ / 0-)
If politics is war (and it sometimes feels that way), and we Kossacks are an army (or more than one) - then pootie diaries and other community pages are the USO, where tired warriors get rest, relaxation, and a reminder of some of the things worth fighting for.
by blue aardvark on Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 04:21:37 PM PST
