What is this?
iBrattleboro.com is an online community news website written by and for the people of Brattleboro and surrounding towns. It is a place to share the "talk of the town," a virtual meeting place to write about local stories, comments, announcements, events, news, and creative work.

The best term we have heard for this is "citizen journalism" - and you are the citizen journalist.

Why?
All people need to have a voice in their community. We believe in freedom of speech, and enjoy dialogue. You can cover the news by sharing what you know, see, do, and hear about.

Can anyone submit something?
If you have a local story to tell, this is the place. Anyone can submit a story, events, or links. We ask that it be of interest to Brattleboro and southern Vermont, of course, and we hope everyone is polite. Be sure you have your parent's permission, though.

Parents! Do not let your children use this site without your permission. Teach them not to reveal personal information about themselves.

If you so choose, there are commercially available filtering programs available to help you filter out adult language which may occur on this site. Go to Google and search for internet filter software. You can also use features of this site to limit what is seen. Registered users, for example, can block stories by authors they do not wish to read, including anonymous comments.

You must determine as to whether this site is appropriate for your child.

Please review the site Policies for more information.

How do I register?
Send an email to info@ibrattleboro.com and tell us the username you would like to be known by. We suggest a variation on your real name.

How do I contribute to iBrattleboro?
It's quite simple, really. Click on the above link that says "Submit Story" and write away. Please sign your name if you are submitting any sort of opinion and haven't yet registered.

What section should I put it in?
Take your best guess, based on the topic of your story. (We might change it, of course.) Stories only get published once, in a single section. You do not have to submit the same story for multiple sections.

What can I contribute?
That depends on you. We'd like to see stories about subjects that interest you. Share your expertise. You can write a story or a poem. You can review movies, concerts, and plays. Tell everyone about a recipe you made or book you read. Spread the word about an event. Contribute wit or opinions. Make it local.

You can also add your comments to what has already been written.

It may sound corny, but you put the "i" in iBrattleboro.

Please review the site Policies for more information.

Please, no classified ads, job postings, or things that resemble ads as story submissions. They are not stories. You can buy a real ad and support what we do.

I submitted something, but I didn't show up right away. Where is it?
We take a quick look at all story, event, and link submissions before they go up. Most items will be viewable within 24 hours. If it is unsigned, not local, unoriginal, or otherwise violates the spirit of this site we may not publish it. Please contact us if your story submission isn't up within 24 hours.

Can I submit a story about a yard sale?
No. Yard sales are generally not news. You can list them in the calendar, though, or buy an ad.

How do I add an event to the main calendar?
Click on the above link that says "Calendar" and you will find a button on the calendar page that says "Add Event." Click on that button to go to a form that will add your event.

Are there editors?
Brattleboro web developers, MuseArts, Inc., own the site and acts as moderators, as well as contributors. Authors should assume there are no editors, so check your spelling and facts, or someone may comment and correct you! We do not edit comments.

Why isn't my story on the home page?
Some stories get posted directly to sections and are not featured on the home page. Why? It could be that the submission was too short, or it wasn't about Brattleboro. If we felt that if there wasn't much effort put into the writing we may not feature it. Is it unoriginal? Unsigned? Not local?

It might be that you are submitting something you copied and pasted from another site, without any explanation of why you think the readers of this site would care. If it isn't original, it might go directly to a section, or not go up at all. Be original!

It could be that we are having a busy news day, and more important news needs to stay featured. Sometimes when we have more than 15 submissions in a short period, stories that are (see above) too short or unoriginal will go directly into a section.

If you write something that is local news, is original, has enough details to make up at least three paragraphs, and conforms to the site policies you will almost always be on the homepage.

Increasingly, unsigned stories will not be on the homepage, and may be held until we hear from you and know who wrote the piece. Register and sign in!

Where can I buy a copy?
You can't. We don't have a print version. It's part of our way to save trees, and we're really only good at webstuff. iBrattleboro is online only.

Who is responsible for what I read?
Ultimately, you are responsible for what you read. The submissions and comments are the property and responsibility of the person who wrote it.

I'm having trouble with iBrattleboro...
We don't want that to happen, so please let us know what we can do to make it better. Send an e-mail to info@ibrattleboro.com We can help you with lost passwords and other problems you may be having.

Do you edit things we send in?
We look stories over, and sometimes correct spelling and spacing so it displays nicely. We do reserve the right to NOT publish something, or to delete things that have already been posted. We may add an editors note. We don't edit comments.

Please review the site Policies for more information.

Can I be interviewed?
Sure, if you live around Brattleboro. Send us an e-mail and tell us three or four things you'd like us to ask you about. You can send it to: info@ibrattleboro.com

Will you add my event for me?
Probably not. The site is made for YOU to add Brattleboro news, information, events, opinions, and stories. There is so much going on that we couldn't keep up with all the requests.

You seem to add stuff for some people, though...
Chris does some PR for the Estey Organ Museum, so you'll see the museum represented here pretty well. Otherwise, we submit news as community members, just like you. The best guarantee that your news will be seen in Brattleboro by Brattleboro on iBrattleboro is to join the fun and submit a story or event.

Are you a big out of town company collecting local e-mail addresses?
Hardly. MuseArts is two people who live in Brattleboro, and we promise we aren't collecting or selling e-mail addresses. We make web sites. You probably know us. If you don't, we'd be happy to meet you someday.

I want to submit a photo with my article...
You can use Flickr to add photos to any story or comment. Take a look at the discussion of Images for tips and tricks on using our built-in autotagging

If you have a Flickr account, it's easy. Type "[" and "flickr:number" and "]", with the number being the photo ID number of the photo you want to use. (We cannot attach photos to comments, so use the Flickr method above to put them there.)

Or...

Flickr has added a new feature to embed photos. Next to each of your photos on Flickr, there is a tab called "Share This" in the upper right of the page. Click on it and you'll see an option to "Embed It" - click on it to get a bit of HTML code to insert into your story or comment. Be sure to select "post as HTML" at iBrattleboro to preview your results before submitting. Or...

Go ahead and submit your story without the picture, then e-mail us the picture at info@iBrattleboro.com. We'll resize it and attach it for you when we publish your story. Please include a photo credit if possible. We cannot add photos to comments for you.

I want to submit a video...
We like local videos. You can use YouTUbe and similar web video services to add videos to any story or comment. Take a look at the discussion of Videos for tips and tricks.

Look for instructions at the video hosting site for "embedding" and be sure to post your submission as HTML.

Can I cut and paste an entire article from somewhere else?
No. Not without permission of the author. That's not fair use. You can include an excerpt and link to the full story, though, if it seems relevant. We like when credit and attention is given to those that do the work.

An aside, we really want you to be writing the news. We know there are other sites that have interesting things on them. If you really want to link to something, write about why you are suggesting people visit the site. Provide a summary of what they will find when they get there. Tie it in to something local. You should be writing more than you are quoting.

You may consider not linking to major news publications at all, as they feel it is stealing from them.

Please review the site Policies for more information.

Why are their old, out of date things on the site?
Older articles and stories are left on the site as an archive. If you wrote something and would like it deleted, let us know.

You can see what is most recent by looking in the left hand column under "What's New", and by seeing what is at the top of the home page and each section.

You can find old things by looking in the "Directory" or by using the search engine.

Someone is saying something bad about me.
This happens from time to time. Tempers flare and discussions get heated. If you feel that something on this site is damaging to you personally, let us know. You can also click on "report abuse" feature to notify of us of something that violates site policy.

Please review the site Policies for more information.

Can I change the way the comments are displayed?
Yes, in the "Preferences" for your account, which is at the bottom of the left column on every page when you are logged in. You can also temporarily change views in any story you are reading - look in the grey and white box under the original story for the pull down menu, then click "refresh."

Your choices are:

flat (comments are displayed justified left)
nested (comments are indented when replying to other comments)
no comments (turns off viewing comments)
threaded (comments to the story are shown fully; comments to other comments are shown as title only until clicked on.)

Can I help support the site?
Yes. You can make a donation to help cover the ongoing monthly expenses. One option is for a contribution amount of your choosing, the other is for an ongoing $5 monthly subscription.

On the homepage, look for "Feed the Kitty", and thanks in advance! We rely on your support.

What is BrattleBarter?
Create a barter profile and you can list things for trade. People have traded computers, herbs, software, and more. Your Brattlejunk has value - if you can find someone to trade.

What is BrattleRide?
Create a rideshare profile and you can list rides you can, or would like to, share. Set up carpooling, trips to the airport, or special trips to remote locations.

What is The Brattleboro Community Brain Trust?
Email us for a Brain Trust account and you can contribute to Brattleboro's local wiki. It includes images and text in an encyclopedic format - town documents, Brattleboro history, maps, and more. Add anything relating to Brattleboro. Real names required.

What is the b'media?
b'media is the guide to local online media - photos, videos, mp3's, podcasts, and streaming media. You can browse or add to the collection.

What is the Job Market?
The Job Market is a job board for the Brattleboro area, including the Pioneer Valley, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and southern New Hampshire. For job seekers to search, and for employers to create online job listings for the region.

What is the Assignment Desk?
Want to cover a topic, in-dpeth? Want to have a regular column, or coverage of meetings? The Assignment Desk is for serious writers, videomakers, photographers, and others who want to take their personal journalism to new levels.

We run a major news organization and we are fascinated by what is happening in Brattleboro on this site. Can we hire you as consultants? Please?
Yes. We do media consultation for select clients. Send an email to info@ibrattleboro.com and let us know what you would like to discuss. We can help you develop your hyperlocal citizen journalism efforts so they will be effective and useful.

Last Updated Tuesday, November 30 2010 @ 04:34 PM GMT+5