MAIN MENU

At the top of the homepage you will see the Main Menu that has the following links:

DIARIES

The diaries are the heart of the BooTrib community.  They can be posted by any registered user and are listed on the right side of the homepage screen.  You will find that the diversity of the community is reflected in the diary entries.  We all come from different backgrounds, and in some cases, different countries.  This gives us an opportunity to hear varying opinions on the world's political news as well as an occasional personal testimony of life.

One day you may feel brave enough to submit your own diary entry to the site.  Simply click on the "New Diary Entry" link in the menu bar at the top right of the homepage screen.  While HTML knowledge is helpful, it's not required to submit a text-only diary.  If you want to spice up your entry with features such as web-links or pictures, check out user superscalar's very helpful beginners' guide to HTML.

HOTLISTING DIARIES

Here at the Booman Tribune, there is a lot of collective passion and in-depth knowledge about the political issues of the day.  Sometimes a diary will grab your attention and will be something you want to re-visit later.  The site has a handy feature called "Hotlist" that allows you to bookmark your favorite entries.  To put a diary on your hotlist, click on the plus sign (+) next to the title.  This will create a menu on the right side of your screen with your selected diaries for quick viewing.  To remove a diary from your hotlist, click on the minus sign (-) next to the title.

RECOMMENDED DIARIES

You may be asking yourself why some of the diaries are considered Recommended.  This site operates on a rating system that allows the community to highlight diaries that they feel provide excellent commentary on an issue.  Any registered user can recommend a diary by clicking on the "Recommend this Diary" button on the right side of the entry.  The diaries that have the most Recommends are featured.

The software that runs the site also allows for time to play a factor in whether a diary makes the Recommended list.  This helps to refresh the entries on a day-to-day basis so various diaries get featured.

RECOMMENDED WORLD DIARIES

One of the things that sets the Booman Tribune apart from other political blogs is the commentary by many bloggers outside the United States.  Featured diaries by the international community are set apart in the Recommended World Diaries section.  The same rules apply to these entries as the previous Recommended Diaries section. The authors' country abbreviation is listed after their user name; for example: (GB) stands for Great Britain.

COMMENTS

The Booman Tribune is a democratic site.  This means that dialogue and debate is encouraged for each of the issues raised.  Every diary and front-page story has a comment function that allows users to interact with the author and fellow BooTribbers.  Don't overlook the spell-check feature when posting a comment, it's there for a reason and helps with the flow of discussion.

Comments can be viewed using several different views.  They are:

• Nested
  
• Threaded
  
• Minimal
  
• Flat
  
• Flat Unthreaded
  
• Dynamic Threaded
  
• Dynamic Minimal

Rather than completely confuse you on the different view options, you can play around with them while you're reading the diaries.  Choose the one you like the most.  The default setting is Nested in case you were wondering.

RATING COMMENTS

As mentioned above, this site operates on a rating system; commonly known as `mojo'.  Users are able to rate comments based on whether or not they feel the comment is helpful to the discussion.  This does not mean that you should down-rate comments you don't agree with.  The ratings are used to frog-march any trolls, or pond scum, from the site.  See the FAQ page for more info on trolls.  The `mojo meter' is as follows:

• none - no rating given for the comment
  
• 4 - Excellent
  
• 3 - Good
  
• 2 - Warning!
  
• 1 - Troll
  
• 0 - Mega Troll (only Trusted Users can give a Zero rating)

Users can give out mojo by clicking on the "Rate All" button that follows each comment on a thread.  With this feature, you can submit all your ratings at once for a page after you've read through all the comments; rather than having to rate each comment individually.

TRUSTED USERS

After you have been on the site for awhile and gained some mojo, you may find yourself as a Trusted User.  TU's are BooTribbers who have accumulated a higher-than-average amount of mojo and interact regularly.  If you become a Trusted User, you have a bigger responsibility to help keep the site running smoothly as well as welcoming newcomers like you.  Who knows, you may even be asked to write a welcome page like this one!

That's about all for this Newbie Guide.  On behalf of the rest of the Booman Tribune community, welcome to the frog pond and remember, Splash Nicely or be Frog-Marched!