Is Anybody Home In FReeperville?

May 28, 2003 | sweetliberty

[sweetliberty]

When I first joined Free Republic, the single most useful tool to me in becoming familiar with the forum and finding stuff that was helpful was the home page feature. It was nice to wander the FR neighborhood and see what others had bookmarked and learn a little about these people called FReepers. Back then, the pages were somewhat limited if you used the bookmark feature, but still, there were many unique and some very elaborate pages. Browsing these pages I learned about the FR lexicon, the html sandbox and bootcamp threads, I learned about moose and cheese, CPAC, and many other relevant things. I found important links, beautiful graphics and great quotes along with inspirational passages and prayers and hilarious cartoons and photoshop creations. I quickly felt quite comfortable in my new cyber home.

Somewhere along the line many of those fabulous pages got nuked by accident and most were never rebuilt. The most recent change in the format allows for bookmarks to be on a separate page. Jim and John have given us these blank html enabled pages limited only by our imaginations, and the vast majority of FReepers have done nothing with them. If I had happened onto the forum now and tried to familiarize myself with the neighborhood in the same way, I would have to say that FReepers must to be the most boring people on the planet, not even coming close to living up to their "bigger than life" reputation. Of course I know that nothing could be furthur from the truth.

Imagine moving into a neighborhood where all the houses look exactly alike, just these dull, drab, crackerbox affairs with the curtains drawn tight, the only thing differentiating them at all being the names on the mailboxes and, in some cases, the flags flying on the front porch. That is very much what our FReeperville neighborhood looks like these days and that is too bad. Oh, there are some "homes" that have added signs to the front door and some who have posted an embellishment or two. Some have done some work on their pages and a few have gone all out and created a real work of art. Those pages are really enjoyable to visit. Each FReeper could do so much to enrich the forum just by doing a little "home improvement" on his or her profile page. Some of you have obviously done some work at one time but your "homes" have fallen into disrepair. Please take a little time and cut the grass, mend the fence, paint the house, and for heaven's sake, haul off the junk in the yard.

In all fairness, some of you may not even realize that this feature exists. Membership in the community doesn't come with a how-to guide and new FReepers are pretty much on their own. Some may be aware of it and have just not gotten around to it. Others are intimidated by html and still others are afraid of their privacy being invaded. Let's address these issues one at a time.

• To create your home page start by clicking on your screen name in the upper right hand corner of the latest posts page. On the page that opens, select "my profile". Scroll to the bottom to where it says "you can edit this page" and click on it. In that big blank space you can do anything you want (within reason of course).

• For those of you who keep meaning to do something with your home page and just haven't gotten around to it, make the effort. Look at it as contributing to the beautification of the neighborhood and making it a pleasant place to be. It really does add another important dimension to the FReeping experience.

• If you're one of those who doesn't know html and feels a bit intimidated by it, you're not alone. True, there are a lot of techno geeks here, but there are more of us that are learning as we go and there are a lot of useful tools here to help. Most of the basics can be found here and here. Keep in mind that it isn't necessary to use html. You can do your page in plain text. There are any number of directions you can go with that. You can tell a little about yourself, your family, your work, your activism, or you might list some favorite quotes or tell a story. Or you could talk about what brought you to Free Republic. If you want to do something extra and don't know how, just ask. Most FReepers tend to be very helpful. FReepers have taught me most of what I know about how to do cool stuff like posting graphics and links and such. We may snarl and growl a lot, but most of us don't bite.

• Finally, there are some folks who may have a need to remain anonymous because they may be well-known or perhaps because of the line of work they are in, or even just as a matter of personal preference. We respect that, but would still appreciate your sharing. If you're concerned about your privacy, it's really very simple. There are many ways in which to express your individuality without giving away personal details. Be creative.

Use this thread to share ideas or to make or ask for suggestions. Look at other FReeper pages. Most of all, have fun with it.

Check out this interesting assortment of FReeper home pages, in no particular order:

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Lady GOPLindaSOGmikrofon ppaul SkoozTailgunner JoeTexaggie79AKbearOuachitaAgThornflamefrontGrammy BearJustAmyMama_Bearmtngrl@vrwcSabertoothvelvetJulieRNR21truenospinzonesouthernpatriot_usam1-lightningEnemy Of The StateAdmin Moderatorwesterncanoncpforlife.orgPippinRadixmichiganderRegisteredTootersecurbhjdegeJohnny GagesheltonmaclawgirlST.LOUIE1Alberta's Child ApacheTearbentfeatherdeadheadlowbridgeRevelation 911Victoria DelsoulOvertaxedsavd_rn7PeaceBeWithYouBillierdb32JedismomArchie Bunker on steroidsSAMWolf JamesWilsonNix2Mr. Mullinerthatdewdarchycarlo3b

[maxwell]

Hey, why ain't I on yer list, sweets! I got more crap on my page than most folks!

(Well OK it is outdated... I am coming up on my 2-year anniversarally and the page ain't changed much... Well I ain't changed much, actually... Bwahaha...)

Thanks for the pingaling, bro, I always like to know when I'm gettin' hollered at... Well actually I kinda dig gettin' hollered at... It's cause folks care... ;)

[JamesWilson]

I'm honored and humbled that you would include my profile page amoung your list of interesting ones. Thank you. I enjoyed reading your page, too.

[fight_truth_decay]

I assume I have been directed to this thread because I have a 'bare bones' homepage. I do appreciate the ping, but am not into making homepages.I have taken the time; however, to take down the cobwebs. I visited several Freeper websites to which I have been directed, and find the hosts very talented.

I joined FR, as I was most impressed with the many "out of the mainstream media" articles discovered, posted and definitely the collection of commentary that follows. I view the stories posted as the outer edges of a puzzle, with Freepers working together to compile more accurately the 'big picture'.

Thanks sweetliberty,

f_t_d

[sweetliberty]

Thre was no cut! I just chose a few random ones I happened across. I never even got to the West Virginia page before posting this. Sorry. Your page is very special.

[sweetliberty]

I like it. LOL!

[sweetliberty]

"Home page for lease. Terms negotiable. Free 30-day trial period available. See site to appreciate"

Teehee....

[sweetliberty]

"Well actually I kinda dig gettin' hollered at... It's cause folks care... ;)"

.

[TruthNtegrity]

Bookmarking and bumping.

[Bellflower]

Thanks for the ping sweetliberty. I once poured my heart out making my homepage and just when I finished it my computer went off line and my homepage was lost in cyberspace never to be seen again. Maybe someday I will try again, but alas, I don't think it could contain my heart quite like the first one did. I am enjoy looking at other freeper's homepages though!

[bjcintennessee]

Yeah! There they are! Thanks.

[Don W]

I'm terribly sorry, but I have no interest whatever in mucking about designing a webpage. I have had 3 or 4 megs of webspace from my isp for 6 years now, unused, and it is going to stay that way. The same goes for this site, or any other. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Call me whatever you want.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Love your tag line!

[MaryFromMichigan]

Your page is very sweet!
West Virginia sounds like a great place to live!
Thanks for sharing!

[sweetliberty]

Hint: if you redo your page, save everything to a word document.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', Max !!

[Conservative4Ever]

thanks for the list of homepages. I have now been inspired to try and create a page. Will put it on my list of things to do. Although I am not the creative type...will do my best. Sir, yes Sir.

Red

[MaryFromMichigan]

Hi, sweetliberty! Thanks for starting this!
(And mentioning my page!)
I do appreciate the sense of community here!

[sweetliberty]

There is nothing quite like Free Republic. And we're growing and becoming better known all the time. For the most part, FReepers are a great bunch of people with a lot to offer and I for one an grateful for all those who contribute to that sense of community, not only on the threads but through local chapters and community activism AND on the home pages. There are a few grinches and scrooges and unpleasant sorts about, but thankfully they are the exception, and fortunately they can't resist making their presence known so we know who to avoid in the future.

[archy]

Since there are links to all y'alls' home pages......ping!

'Preciate it! Since mine's one of the ones linked, I need to remove or fix a few now-dead or otherwise expired links, especially to a couple of those on my *song of the month* listings, some of which are on pretty fragile websites.

But you needn't be any sort of HTML master to get a retailed page up, as my meataxe effort proves. And even a minimalist version consisting of a FReeper's home location link and flag, their most currently used FReeper tagline, and maybe their photo from FReeper LGBA's *Freeper photo album* compilation would be a dandy start. And for bookmark links, a link to this article could certainly fairly head the list. -archy-/-

[Conservative4Ever]

Ok...page us ready, but how do we copy it to the site. Help please...I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

Red