Posted on 08/12/2021 11:24:56 PM PDT by ransomnote
This is a quick, basic example of how to post a thread for those interested in learning how to do so. I have learned through trial and error (and more errors), so if I need to change the instructions, please post the corrections on the thread for me to include in an update.
1. Select 'title' in the drop down menu.
2. Then copy and paste the title of the article into the search window, and click the 'SEARCH' button to the right.
3. If there are no prior instances of the article, move to the next part.
PART B: Check to see if the website is permitted on Free Republic.
4. At the top of the forum, click on 'CopyrightList.'
To become familiar all the sections of the list, and note additional restrictions mentioned in the comments above the different lists, plan on reading the entire CopyrightList post carefully for at least the first 3 times you use the list.
5. Once you're familiar with the layout of the list, the fastest way I know to compare the name of the site publishing the article you want to post (e.g., TheHill.com, WashingtonPost.com) to the CopyrighLists, is to past the name into your browser's search window and automatically search the page for it.
Example: If your browser is MSEdge, hold down 'Ctrl' and type 'F' to open a search box at the center top of the page. A browser 'search' or 'find' command will check the entire webpage for the word(s) you enter.
6. Paste the name of the website in the browser's 'search' box . If the name is present more than one time on the page, you can use the arrows to skip to each location, but I think all are included at the top of the page and you can just check the first one or two.
NOTE: mercurynews.com is hi-lighted in the list which includes the following instructions.
"Here's an updated alphabetical list of the sites that have complained about copyright violations thus far. The posting program will only allow excerpts and or deny posting where designated from the following sites:
These sites must be excerpted and linked only [300 words or less, 1/2 the words or less for short articles]:"
IMPORTANT ADDITION: For websites in this list, you may not post any images or art included in the article. Only Text is permitted (300 words or less).
7. Once you confirm that the website content can be posted to Free Republic, click 'POST' at the top of the Forum to start the process.
8. Choose the forum to which you will post your article.
Here's the next web page to post your thread. It may look a bit daunting but you get used to it. I'll walk through the boxes to fill in one at a time.
STEP BY STEP:
9. Type or copy/paste the title of the article in the first box. There is a character limit and it seems to be a little over 3 lines of text.
Use the title on the original article so others can search for it reliably. The title box does not accept HTLM coding.
10. Type in one or more 'Topics', or click 'CHOOSE' on the right edge of the box to choose one or more from lists. I'm typing in 'misc' which has to be lower case.
11. Keywords are optional and can be added later. Separate each with a coma.
12. Add author and date. I add multiple authors as needed, as much as space will allow.
If too many authors are listed to fit into the space, I add as many as will fit and then add the full list of authors within the body of the post (top). I don't know if that is correct. It's just what I have seen and learned to use.
When no author is given, I provide the name of the website.
If you are posting something you wrote, write 'vanity'.
[friendly suggestion: It's usually wisest to completely ignore those who may show up and ridicule you for writing a vanity, or tell you that there are 'too many' on FR, or complain that they don't like the author or website you chose.]
The date box accepts numeric format 08/09/2021 or text 'August' etc. If no date is given on the webpage, I use today's date.
13. Paste the simple name of the website or publication (e.g., greatgameindia.com or Great Game India) in the 'Source' box whon below, whichever is more recognizable, so people can decide if they are interested in content from that source.
AND
Copy/Paste the full 'Source URL' in the second box. Free Republic will use this URL to link to the article for those who want to check out the rest of the text or publication. If it's something you wrote, leave both blank.
14. Type or paste the text into the 'Body of Thread' box.
You can use plain text or you can use HTML code, but if you accidentally use both in one post (it happens), you can suddenly have a 'wall of text' or portions of a wall of text when you preview the thread before posting. You can accidentally pick up portions of HTML text you can see when copying and pasting.
The only way to 'repair' a wall of text, that I know of, is to add HTML formating throughout the entire post, or try copying and pasting the text a second time but avoiding combining the two styles of text (plain & HTML).
I've seen threads where the FReeper just types what is at the link. "Click the link for De Blasio's latest ridiculous comments about masks" or "More at link"
Find the excerpt box at the lower left. If the article is on the CopyrightList titled "300 words or less", check that box. If you forget to do so, Free Republic will (usually) kindly remind you.
NOTE: Some publications are not on the copyright list. After getting this far, if you try to preview your post, you may be told that the publication is not welcome on FR. It doesn't happen a lot - don't get discouraged. I think ZeroHedge is one of those. But I have learned that Zerohedge usually get's its content from a second website, so I find the second site and can often post from there.
15. You have the option of posting a comment in post #1. The only thing to keep in mind is that post #1 doesn't behave the way the rest of the comments on the thread behave.
Those posting other comments can paste a link, click 'enter' at the end of the link, and the link will then 'clickable' for others. The only way to make a link 'clickable' in post #1 is to format it in HTLM. This would require you to format everything in post #1 in HTML. For this reason, if you want to add links you might want to just wait to post them in comments following.
16. Just like a regular comment, click preview.
17. If you have errors that must be corrected, you will not see a preview but can scroll through the template you just completed, looking for instructions to correct errors that will appear in red letters above the problem section(s). The most common one I have is more than 300 words in the Body of Text box.
I sometimes have to delete words and preview again to see if I have removed enough.
Post your thread.
Congratulations. It gets easier with time and practice.
Mistakes will be made.
Expect unusual people to show up sometimes, simply to tell you they wish they hadn't seen the thread you posted, or post, "NOT THIS AGAIN!" Please don't take it personally. Some people just prefer to post complaints instead of threads.
I hope this helps. Others can improve on it, and if I see suggestions, I or others may post an updated version.
1), 2), and 3) is inefficient.
Paste THE MOST UNCOMMON word in the title, only. Then look at the list when you search, and see if any of the 20-30 titles look similar.
Example: “Lindsey Graham tells CNN of his gaseous emissions from his rear.”
Look for the word “gaseous”, only. You will see:
“Lazamataz is noted for being gaseous.”
“The atmosphere of methane on the gaseous giant, Uranus, puzzles scientists.”
“In an interview with CNN, Graham admits to being gaseous.” <<<<<<-—— THIS ONE IS SUSPECT
And, see, you wouldn’t use “emissions” in my example, or else you’d get 50 articles about Biden’s unreasonable auto emissions standards.
Use THE MOST UNLIKELY word in the title.
This step is often overlooked :)
I think I successfully posted Twice...and then I went insane.
Oshkalaboomboom is correct in #3. Search one or more major words in the title box. Currently if you search “kabul”, you will find different headlines from different news sources about the same story of troops being sent into Afghanistan. Whole titles do not work well.
@Lazamataz is a FR treasure!
“NOT THIS AGAIN!” Please don’t take it personally. Some people just prefer to post complaints instead of threads.
—
LOLOL Is thaT RIGHT? I’ve posted over 20K threads. Never had a complaint. (ducks)
One thing folks need here is a thick skin and a thicker skull.
Just remember , only you can prevent zotageddon. Please don’t feed the radicals who visit this site and act like they own it.
There are two other important threads that FReepers need to read. One of them posted by a most wise and intelligent man. (blushing)
An exhortation to those who post thread (normally post as much of the meat of the article as allowed, describe videos, etc.)
FR ^ | Sat, 02/06/21 | daniel1212
Posted on 2/6/2021 11:09:38 AM by daniel1212
You do know that you can post more than 10 words in a thread, don't you?
05/11/2011 | Responsibility2nd
Posted on 5/11/2011 11:44:13 AM by Responsibility2nd
One thing I will take issue with is using Free Republic’s search function.
How many times have we seen that fail? How many times have we seen a FReeper state that he did search? So what to do?
Ctrl-F.
When you are at the main screen - https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index - use Ctrl -F (Find) and type in a specific word from the title of the article you are wanting to post.
Don’t use Biden for example, that’ll get you way too many finds. Maybe Delaware for instance as that has been a popular news story.
If you don’t see Delaware as a find - post it. If you do see it has been posted - then do not post a duplicate. Even if it is from a different news source.
Ctrl-F. It is easy, it works, and it is NOT tied to FR’s poor search functions.
Another helpful note in this How To thread....
If you do mess up the Title as Ransom has done in this very thread - you can always ping, private reply, or hit report abuse to alert a Moderator and ask them to correct it.
They can even delete part of the original post if necessary. Like bad words for instance. Sometimes a Breitbart article might contain F-bombs that the OP might not see.
Mods can fix mistakes.
Thank you for posting this! Great work, documenting such a complicated process... somebody should streamline the posting program 🤔
Honestly, it should be as simple as adding a link + comment, like the modern world these days, with dup check, etc. Categorization could happen afterwards.
I really don’t care for the “forum” aspect in practice. Originally, these were more autonomous groups by design, it’s why “fr” is synonymous with “news” in old URLs, that was Free Republic, the rest was supposed to be “different site.” E.g. there is ugly code to move threads between forums, it wasn’t a designed function. But now I’m rambling.
Gosh, if only there was someone at FR smart enough to do something about this. (KIDDING!)
But have you ever thought about eliminating the 8 different forums and just use one open forum for all threads?
I've been here since 2005 and I still don't know what a VetsCoR forum is or what it's used for. Same with RLC Liberty Caucus and GOP Club.
Anywho. Thanks for all you do.
This step is often overlooked :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are times I recall the admin allowed frequent posts (1 a day if not more) and I think it was during an election or critical issue because the forum was rushing by with heavy posting and those who signed on in the afternoon didn'ts stand a chance of going back several pages through prior posts, and then important articles would be missed.
I wanted to post something from 2015 because it's relevant now. We have more information now and the comments would likely be different. No one is actively researching it so maybe the only way to have people see it would be to repost?
I dunno. :)
I have checked the forum for an article, labored over filling in the information, clicked 'post', found 3 of us posted in the last 5 minutes, had my thread locked/deleted with a note from Admin "Search works." ;}
I also seem to have times when search doesn't work, my thread is deleted and I'm told "Search works."
I am grateful to be a guest on FR, and don't want anyone to be discouraged. I hope more become comfortable and familiar with posting.
____________
It's a pleasure to hear your thoughts on both practical and political issues, and the history and intention behind FR, in a casual spontaneous post, so you escape the definition of 'rambling'. You might have to add a few more 'beverages' to your tagline and engage in 3 pages of soliloquy before the idea might surface in a few minds.
Pretty much what I said earlier, but you said it better and reinforced it.
Thanks for the information on Copyright list while posting a new thread!
1. If you have to post an exceprt, don't just post the beginning. Often the first few paragraphs are boilerplate or items already well known about the story. Find the sentences which make this author's version unique. Too often the good stuff seems to start at about word 290 of the 300 word excerpt.
2. Comment in post #1. What can you add and what do you think about the story? Do you agree or disagree? I haven't posted a lot, but when I do I usually feel strongly enough about it to write a few paragraphs about it.
3. Don't excerpt your own blog. You're just using Free Republic for click bait.
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