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Health & Fitness

Navigating the New Patch: How to Create a Blog.

     Navigating the New Patch requires time, patience and a dogged desire not to give up on the lone local online news source where ideas can be exchanged, announcements posted and information shared.

     For some the changes have been exhilarating. For others it has been a nightmare of too much information, too much white background, too much advertising, overly generalized categories and too few formatting tools.

     The first step is to understand how to create blogs as the new format leans toward using blogs as a way of posting thoughts to discuss rather than using an article where you have a comment stream that can be formatted to include discrete paragraphs that break up thoughts into smaller parts for clarity.  This shift leans more toward tweets and texts and tiny bytes of speech in the comment stream or you wind up with a comment as dense as a block of cheese.

     Starting a blog requires creating a profile under which you can post as yourself or a faceless avatar. Some former users have said that they cannot come back online.  It is not clear if IP addresses are actually being blocked or their old account is simply lost but setting up new account is as easy as going to gmail and creating a new name and address under which to post.

     Once you have a  profile it will come up on the top right hand part of the screen.  You can add a picture or an image of your choosing which will show up any time you post. You can change the image by going to Edit Profile which comes up when you hit the arrow besides your name.

     The start blogging button is about three quarters of the way down the home page.  If you miss the first one the second one is at the bottom of the home page and says the same thing, Start a Blog. 

     Hit the button to go to the next screen where you name and describe your blog and add an icon or image that will show up in the tiny circle. Starting a blog can be as simple as posting a single idea or creating a space for multiple articles to be posted under a single idea.

     It helps the reader if you identify the topic about which you are posting.  You can always go back and edit a piece to change information to make it easier to understand.

     For example, a blog on Organic Gardening, can be set up with a title and a small summary, and later you can add separate articles for raised beds, composting, mulch and irrigation.  The idea is that you will have organized your blog around a single subject to which you can add more and more information.

     Hit the next button and a new screen comes up and you are invited to write the next post. You can create a short note or write an entire article.  Just hit the tab at the top to choose. 

     Your article will have a title, you can add photos and videos, you can incorporate links, indent quotes and have more control over formatting than what is available on the comment stream.  You can also decide which parts of Patch your article or post will show up in, e.g., news, government, sports, schools, etc.. I still have not consistently figured out how to attach PDF's that were part of the old Patch. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

     When you get to the end you can save your draft to come back later for a final edit or post it right away. If you save your draft it will show up under your blogs on the top of the home page next to your name. If you post your blog but see that there are typos or you want to add or delete text the edit button at the top of the page allows you to go back again and apply any changes.

     While the old Patch had  editors like Cate, Brent and Tracey, who would respond to questions and requests, the new Patch requires a great deal of independence. It may well be that regional editors are managing multiple Patch sites so the personal touch that has been part of the old experience has given way to a more detached news source.  This appears to be true for the Marin County Patch's which all have the same layout.     

     While the old Patch gave us far more room to comment on articles the new Patch seems to favor writing articles rather than commenting on them in any depth.  It is still difficult to find a blog unless you know the name of the person writing it or you scan the Home page under "who's blogging" each time you sign on.  

     The old Patch broke down categories to fit the unique nature of each Patch.  Novato had two school categories, one for NUSD and one for Charters.  It also had categories for Hot Topics like the Housing Element. The new format has a generic list of "All News and Blogs" on the left and you have to find the sections under which articles are being posted to get to specific commentary. I hope this is one area that will change.  The personal touch by Cate, Brent and Tracey was a huge help.  Tracey and Brent were locals, Cate is from Massachusetts.

     As far as I can tell not all the old pieces got onto the new form but Tracy seems to be working to get more of the old onto the new. I am not certain why this change wasn't announced so that fair warning might have allowed more input but such is the life in online blogging.

     For many people it was simpler to comment on the articles written by other people rather than start our own pieces.  Since the new Patch only wants comments done as tweets or texts, in tiny, tiny bytes, it means taking a chance and posting about an issue that is near and dear to you. The next step is making your post accessible to the wider Patch Audience that shares similar interests. 

     I think its important to worry less about writing perfect pieces and add more blogs about discussions that you find relevant and that you want to share and discuss with people who read Patch. While some people complained that the old Patch was too negative, I believe it is the issues themselves that spark controversy. Local government has a responsibility to reach out to residents and keep them informed.  If they are unable to meet the task then it becomes the responsibility of residents to keep themselves informed.

     Patch is a unique way to reach out.  Unlike the Marin Independent Journal, that only lets a select few individuals contribute to editorials and Marin Voices, on Patch anyone can write in any depth about a given subject.  That is truly freedom of the press.

     There are other Patch's that have the new features but a more personalized approach to local issues. Back Bay Patch in Massachusetts is one of them. http://backbay.patch.com/  If you like their format please notify the editor Jim Welte, jimw@patch.com and share a comment at the bottom of your home page screen under "What do you think of the new Patch."  .

     Patch is for everyone.  If we want to make it better then being persistent in our feedback will help.  I was ready to give up at the start but thanks to the trolls just couldn't see walking away without trying.  Sometimes trolls do serve a purpose beyond aggravating and alienating regular posters.  In this case they were the motivating force behind my learning how to navigate the new Patch.


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