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:

.

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

[LNewman]

Would you believe the cat ate my home page?

[sweetliberty]

[Risa]

>>Let's all work together to spruce the place up a bit...<<

Your point is well taken, sweetliberty; I shall get to work on my homepage right away.

regards,
risa

[MaryFromMichigan]

"I shall get to work on my homepage right away."

Well? :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks for including my page in your list. I am honored. I was winging my way to Australia when you posted this. I am just now catching up on everything I missed while I was gone.

I agree, our profile pages are one of the best parts of FR. They give dimension to the individuals here. It is disappointing to click on someone's name to find out a bit about them and then find NOTHING on their profile.

Thanks for encouraging FReepers to create a profile page. :-)

[sweetliberty]

Welcome back. So did you have a great time down under?

[Mama_Bear]

So did you have a great time down under?

We had the BEST time! The country is beautiful and the people are truly some of the warmest and friendliest I have ever met. They just couldn't do enough to help us find our way around. Except for the 13+ hour plane trip to get there, and the harrowing freeway cab rides on the WRONG side of the road, it was a perfect vacation.

[sweetliberty]

That IS a long plane ride. I think the longest I've ever been in a plane at a stretch was about 5 hours...LAX to Honolulu. That was bad enough. Glad you had a good time. Any adventures?

[Mama_Bear]

Any adventures?

Well, being an incurable animal lover, getting to cuddle a koala was the highlight of the trip for me. (Wading in the surf of the Tasman Sea was kinda cool too.) :-)

[sweetliberty]

Sounds like fun.

[woofie]

I like drab

[sweetliberty]

[LilFreep]

I'm trying with my Freep Page, but how do I add a background? HTML background code doesn't seem to work. :(

[lowbridge]

bump

[LilFreep]

HEY! I've finally gotten some stuff on my Freep Page, check it out. :)

[sweetliberty]

"how do I add a background? HTML background code doesn't seem to work. :("

I haven't gotten that far myself yet. Maybe PBWY can help.

[sweetliberty]

I see you got it figured out. Looks nice.

[meow]

Uh ok. I can't do anything fancy with HTML like I'd like :( because I'm a dork like that. But atleast we can use images.

Thanks for the ping!