Handbook
Welcome to the BuzzTownCenter.org Handbook!
This handbook will teach you everything you need to know about BTC (BuzzTownCenter) like:
- How to post in the Forum
- How to edit your Profile
- How to import your Tweets and Blog posts
- How to add your location your the Buzztownie Map
- How to add an event to the Event Calendar
- How to send a Private Message
- How to navigate around the site
- And a whole lot more...
Now just choose a page below to get started!
Getting Started
If you haven't done so already, you need to create an account.
Once you have created your account, you will be sent an email to verify your account. You must verify your account before you are premitted to log in.
Or you can sign in with an OpenID and it will create an account for you automatically, no email verification is required.
I created an account so now what?
Thanks for joining Buzz Town Center!
All the features have not yet been finished for this site, however it is still more than ready for you to enjoy.
Editing your account & Profile
On the left sidebar there is a link entitled "My Account" (you will only see this if your logged in) click on that and it will take you to your profile page. If you click on the edit page you can edit your account information as well as your profile information.
Add your blog feed & other feeds
Below the "My Account" link there is the "My Feeds" link which lets you manage what feeds you have imported into BTC. You can also add feeds from here.
Each member is only permitted to have ONE Personal blog feed! So make sure you only put it there and not under general feeds.
Signing Up with an Open ID
You can skip the whole verification process by simply logging in with your OpenID (or any OpenID provider).
When you log in for the first time with your OpenID an account is created for you. There may be one or two additional steps depending on your OpenID provider, but don't worry it's easy!
That's it, now you don't have to create another password or remember another username!
You can learn more about using OpenID's with the OpenID Crash Course portion of this handbook.
Chances are, you already have an OpenID!
HowTo use the Buzzbot
How to use the buzzbot!
Follow buzzbot at twitter.com (http://www.twitter.com/buzzbot)
Afterdoing so Reply to buzzbot with a link, or a news item. Example:
@buzzbot Great Buzz Out Loud website http://www.buzztowncenter.org
Importing your blog feed
One of the major components of BTC is the aggregation of Buzz Town's blog feeds here. These feeds are purposefully treated differently than say a Google Reader Shared Items feed.
The main differences are:
- The imported posts will be kept on the site longer, a year as of right now.
- There isn't the ability to comment on the blog posts here.
The reason imported blog posts do not allow you to post comments on them on BTC is the simple fact that it undermines the writer of the blog. The content of the post belongs to the writer, and so should the comments.
Use Feedburner to bring your comments to BTC
To better integrate your blog feed into BTC and anywhere really. It is best to use Feedburner to add the ability for users to go directly to your comment page and it will show the current number of comments. In addition you can add options to show at the bottom of each post to share/bookmark the post, or even submit it to Digg or Reddit or wherever.
These features are called "Feed Flare" you can find more information about this on the Feedburner website here: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/publishers/feedflare
Already imported your feed? How to change your old feed to your new Feedburner feed.
It's easy to change your feed, however on thing you need to do before you import your new feed is to delete all your old imported blog feeds! If you don't do this it may cause issues, such as duplicating your posts and such!
First you need to go to your feed an delete all the feed items.
Then you delete the feed.
lastly, you just plug-in your new feed burner feed.
That's it!
OpenID Crash Course
OpenID is basically a way for you to create any number of accounts on any website using only one login/password.
And the beauty part of it is, that the site you signup for doesn't even know what your password information is! This adds another layer of security on there for ya.
OpenID is slowly gaining popularity, and there are many web services that already support the use of OpenIDs (like this one!).
In addition, many popular web services such as Yahoo and Wordpress allow you to use your logins to their websites as your OpenID! See below for more info.
Add an OpenID to your account if you've already signed up.
Even if you've already signed up, you can associate and login with you OpenID if you want. (You would still be able to use the login/password you setup at this site)
- You must first be logged in (obviously)
- Under the menu that is titled with your username, click on "My Account"
- Click the tab that says OpenID Identities
- Put in the URL for your OpenID and click add
- You will then login to your OpenID account and it will be added to your BuzzTownCenter account.
How to get an OpenID
If you don't already have an OpenID from one of the services listed here.
Then you can get an OpenID from providers such as:
Here is a pretty big list of providers: http://wiki.openid.net/OpenIDServers
Here is a guide showing different features of these, and other providers: http://willnorris.com/openid-support/
OpenID Providers: You probably already have One
You already have an OpenID if you belong to any of the following web services.
AOL
- openid.aol.com/screenname
Blogger
- username.blogger.com
Flickr
- www.flickr.com/photos/username
LiveDoor
- profile.livedoor.com/username
LiveJournal
- username.livejournal.com
SmugMug
- username.smugmug.com
Technorati
- technorati.com/people/technorati/username
Vox
- member.vox.com
Yahoo
- http://openid.yahoo.com (you have to go to that URL first, and setup your OpenID, then you would use yahoo.com as your OpenID)
Wordpress
- username.wordpress.com
Other websites that use OpenID
Well there's a whole lot out there. Here are two websites listed on the OpenID.net website:
How To: Edit this Handbook
To be able to add/edit content in this handbook you must be logged in and have the permission to do so. Contact the admin using the contact form to request the proper privlages.
Or If you just want something added or changed, leave a comment on the page and/or make post in the forums.
How to add a page
At the bottom of each page of the book, there is a link that says "Add Child Page."
Simply click on that and you can add a page. You can also move pages around by changing what the parent page is.
Glossary of Terms
Is our lingo complicating things? Are you just looking for what something is/means?
Then you've come to the right place. Click on a term or subject for it's definition.
Buzz Bit
A note worthy tidbit of information.
Buzz Bits are typically time-sensitive, meaning the information may only be important for a short period of time.
Buzztownie Map
A Map of all the registered memebers of buzztowncenter.org
Event Calendar
Any events that are related to or of intrest to Buzz Town.
Shared Items
Shared Items are RSS feed items that are aggregated here. Member blog feeds are treated slightly different, most notably there is no commenting on the imported feeds so that the reader is encouraged to view the writer's personal blog.