For those of you who are new to the experience, web logging (blogging for short) is nothing more than modern-day journaling, with all the conveniences of the World Wide Web. As a visitor to this blog, you can read posts, make comments of your own (find out how below), and click on links that take you directly to related articles. And unlike most websites, which are pretty much the same from day to day, a blog is being updated constantly.
Blogs are also more flexible than regular websites in that you don't have to keep coming back to check for updates--you can have any new content sent directly to you. We give you several options.
FEEDS - Get Culture Watch delivered to you
Just like you have Favorites for the websites you like to visit often, blogs have an equvalent feature called Feeds. One added feature is that Feeds allow you to know at a glance if there's any new content without having to visit to the blog itself.
To Subscribe to a Feed: Getting a feed to Culture Watch is easy. Just look on your command bar on the top right of this page for the orange RSS logo square like the one you see here. (If it's there, skip now to the next paragraph). If you don't see the orange icon, you probably have an older version of your web browser (the page that lets you surf the Internet). You just need to look at the top of the grey navigation bar to the right of this text. At the very top, click on the words "Subscribe to this blog's feed." A new page will open up with a bunch of different types of feeds like Google, AOL and Yahoo. If you don't know which one to choose, just look for the orange RSS button (like the one above) with the words "View Feed XML".
Click the orange button, which will open up a page asking if you want to subscribe. Look for the yellow star with green plus sign and click on "Subscribe to this feed." That will open up a pop-up window to confirm your choice. Click Okay.
The feed is now in your Favorites Center (accessible by clicking the yellow star icon in the command bar at the top of your page. When you do, it will open up a box on the left side of your browser page with that yellow star and the orange RSS button. Click on the RSS button and you should see "FamilyLife CultureWatch". If it is bold, there are new posts. Just click, and you'll be able to read them.
To get Culture Watch Digest by Email: If you just want a semi-monthly sampling of the posts on Culture Watch sent to you by email, enter the word DIGEST in the Subject line of an email addressed to CultureWatch@familylife.com.
COMMENTING - Get your two cents in
If you have a comment or perspective on an individual post, we want to hear from you. All you have to do is click on the article's title at the top (or on the word "Comments" in the little type at the bottom. Either way, it will open a form that should gives you a place to include your Name (how you want it to appear on your comment) and Email Address (so we can contact you). If you have a website or blog you want people to find, put that in the URL box.
Now the important part. Start writing in the box labeled Comments. When you're finished, you can click the Post button to have it available to all the blog readers, or you can Preview it to check it before you send your thoughts out into the blogosphere. Please make sure your posts are non-offensive and honoring to both Christ and the readers.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask us directly at CultureWatch@familylife.com.
Happy Blogging!
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