31 January 2013

Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!


Source: https://placester.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/url.jpg


Hello readers,

Lately I have received several queries along the lines of “Where are the URLs/Hyperlinks?”, “How do I subscribe?” and “How do I post a comment?” [added 02 Feb 2013] "I thought you had 2 posts today and I'm only seeing one in my afternoon e-mail?"

Let’s talk about the answers to those as I’m sure other readers have had the same questions and were too shy to ask!

HYPERLINKS

Every Upfront with NGS blog post has at least one Hyperlink (where you click on select text and you are taken directly to the URL for the referenced item).

When you are looking at Upfront with NGS on the website, the hyperlinks are in a dark green color (unless you have already visited that website and then they are in a burnt red color).  The easiest way to distinguish a URL (dark green against a dark grey font for the rest of the text can sometimes challenge us!) is to run your cursor/mouse over the text and then it will show up in a burnt red color with an underline.  Just click on that text and off you go.

When you are looking at Upfront with NGS via real-time e-mail (the one that goes out as soon as the post is published), the hyperlinks are in blue and underlined and quite easy to see.

If you receive an e-mail later in the day (mid afternoon) with any blog posts for the day, the hyperlinks show up as bold grey!

A bit complicated isn’t it?  And, once you get the hang of it, you will “see” all the hyperlinks and can happily click away to check out some really neat resources.



SUBSCRIBING

Upfront with NGS can be read by and/or subscribed to by anyone.  You do not have to be an NGS member to take advantage of the news posted in this blog.

You always have the option to read the posts directly on the Upfront with NGS website (btw, you should see the preceding four words as a hyperlink, per the discussion above).

If you, your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would like to receive Upfront with NGS blog posts as an e-mail, please subscribe.  To do so, go to this page, http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/, find the box shown to the left in the left-hand column of the page and enter your e-mail address.  It’s as easy as that to get a daily (Monday-Friday) e-mail with helpful information for genealogy and family researchers.

And, always feel free to use some other service to do the same.  For example, I use the Feed/Blog Alert feature of my e-mail provider (Yahoo! Alerts) to get blog posts where there is no e-mail subscription option.  I find getting blog posts via e-mail convenient to save and organize.



POST A COMMENT

Unfortunately, blogger (the platform that Upfront with NGS is based on) makes this a little tricky.

If you are reading the blog via the website, click on the article title (which is actually a hyperlink to a dedicated page for that particular post) or scroll to the bottom of the blog post (past the small print) and click on the word “COMMENTS.” (see image below)

Once you are on the dedicated post page, scroll to below the post and you will see the box below.  Now you can enter your comments.  Notice that “Comment as” gives you several options.  For example, I can post under my Google account, with my name/URL, anonymously, etc.  Select which “option” works best for you.


Do know that Upfront with NGS is a moderated blog?  This means that once you post a comment, the blog editor is notified and only once the post is approved (basically it is determined that it is a “legitimate” comment and not spam) will your comment be visible.  It’s as easy as that!

If you are reading the blog via a real-time or daily compilation e-mail, you will need to scroll to the very bottom of the page where you will see Upfront with NGS as a hyperlink (blue and underlined for both e-mail formats), click on that link and then follow the instructions provided above for the mechanics of posting a comment.

[added 02 Feb 2013] MORE THAN 1 BLOG POST -- How do I see both?

If you are one of our readers who receives an afternoon e-mail with the post(s) for the day (versus real-time posts or reading the blog directly), you may not always realize that there might be more than one post included!  

These "cumulative" e-mails are sent in the afternoon and the default is that the "most recent post" is the one at the top of the e-mail.  On most days, when there is only one post, that is the post you are seeing.  Now, if we happened to post more than one piece in a day, you will need to scroll down in the e-mail to see what was posted earlier in the day!

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I hope that these instructions have answered these questions for you. “Where are the URLs/Hyperlinks?”, “How do I subscribe?” and “How do I post a comment?”

If not, send an e-mail to [email protected] with how you are stuck!




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1 comment:

  1. Update 022813 -- since we've changed the format to the 3pm e-mail version (via feedburner), the blog post headline(s) are a link. Click on the headline of the article that interests you and you will be taken to the appropriate post.

    ReplyDelete