Are you a lurker? (How to post comments)

I've put together a mini tutorial on how to participate in the blog for those who may lurking due to unfamiliarity with the forum.

Lurkers, in webspeak, are people who come to a blog to read the posts and comments but do not contribute (or only comment anonymously). It isn't criminal, or unexpected for that matter, to be a lurkers on a blog. However, like any good host/hostess, the blog author wants party guests to mingle, not stand in the corners!

I like to think of a blog (short for web log) as an online soapbox of sorts. One puts one's ideas out there for public consumption and comment. Folks might simply listen quietly from the sidelines (i.e. lurkers). They could get up close, cheer you on and wholeheartedly agree with you. Or, they could fervently disagree with you and have no qualms about letting you know (it is called flaming when it becomes zealous). Blogs provide an opportunity to connect with people you might not otherwise.

Now, most blogs will have near daily entries and some even post multiple entries in a day. As for this blog, we are striving for a weekly update. However, you are welcome to post responses to our entries or leave comments as often as you would like.

Oftentimes it can be just as interesting to read the comments left on a blog as it is to read the author's entries. So where are these comments? You can get there two ways.

1) Click the title of the post for the day and a single page will open containing the post along with any comments that have been left; or, 2) Find the "# Comments" at the bottom of the post to see how many comments have been left, then click on this link and the comments alone will open in a new window.

How do you add your own two-cents? Good question. Both of the options for viewing the comments allow for you to add comments as well. When you are reading the single page of blog entry and comments, look for the "Post A Comment" link in the bottom left corner and click on it. If you are reading the comments in a separate window, the area to leave a comment is provided at the bottom.

In each case, fill in your comments in the box provided. Below this you will need to type in a series of characters. This is a security function that keeps automated spamming systems from posting spam on the blog.

Next, you will need to choose how you will have yourself identified with your comments.

If you sign in with your Google user id and password name that appears on your outgoing emails will appear in your comments.

You can select "Other" and type in your name and if you like, your web page address.

Or, choose to be "Anonymous" and have no name attached to your comments.

Lastly, you can either preview how your comments will look on the blog, or you can go right ahead and publish them. Be forewarned though that once you publish comments, you cannot go back to edit or delete them. (You must contact the blog author and ask them nicely to do that for you.) If your comments do not appear immediately, do not fear. Sometimes there is a lag between when you post and publishing. Just check back a bit later.

That's all there is to blog commenting. Go on... give it a try and stop with the lurking!