Instructions for how to post comments

One of us emailed me saying she didn't know how to comment, so I sent this to her. If anyone else needs info, this should help.

We're fortunate that we have a geeky son who (generally) will help us learn this new stuff too!

If you are able to view the blog, I think you are half done...............

I'll explain this using Internet Explorer--it should be the same for each browser, but some like Netscape might not work, or work as well. And for the Mac lovers (that's you Tally!) and vista users, good luck--I don't know how they work..................

To smoke test it, open the blog, and scroll down to the first post, titled Welcome to Our Here and Now
In the lower right hand spot of the post, (currently) it says "4 comments". (As more people post to this, the number will increase, duh)

Click on "4 comments"; this will bring up a screen, where the right hand part says "Leave Your Comment". The cursor should be flashing inside a text box. You simply start typing in that box. Or if you want, you can type your comment in your favorite word processing program, copy it, and paste it in the text box. There is likely some limit to the number of characters, so don't try to post War and Peace. I sometimes write stuff in Word, and save it, so when the blog bombs and it fails to post, I don't have to retype it...............

Now the hard part. Below the text box, there are several options for "Choose an Identity". If you have a google account, you can sign on using that. OR, if you don't, and I think this is easier: Click on the box called "Name/URL". In this box, type your first name or some handle that Tally knows you as, such as Ron R or Princess (my wife). Try to stay away from just "Ron" as there might be several Ron's she knows. Leave the URL box blank unless you have some sort of homepage that you want us to know about.

You can post notes using "Anonymous", but if you do and want Tally to know who wrote it, you need to put your NAME in the text box.

Then you should hit the PREVIEW button to see if what you wrote is what you want, and that your name shows up correctly. If not, you can hit the BACK button and change whatever. When you are happy, hit PUBLISH.

It is POSSIBLE to go back and edit what you input, and it might be possible to delete something you published, but that is for the "advanced group". My suggestion is if you publish something that is totally hosed up, leave it alone and just post an additional comment saying "ignore my last comment".

For the anal retentive (grin), to edit a post you have to sign in using the same account you posted with, click on Customize, then Postings, then Edit Posts. I not a rocket scientist, but I couldn't make it delete some of the test posts I did early on.

I recommend you try a test post on the first blog post. You can say "testing" or "thinking of you" or whatever. After you post, then go to the original blog, go to the first message, click on comments, and you SHOULD see your comment added.

Hope this helps.

ron