Happy Monday and welcome to New Users Click Here.  The main purpose of this blog is to answer questions that users have about the website and how to use certain functions.  It's also a place for all users to c'mon in, shake the dust off their boots and say hi.  You don't need to confine your posts to site questions.  This is an Open Thread.

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Frequently Asked Questions

As always, here are the Top 5 FAQs:

Top 5 Questions:

How do I add a link to text?

Sometimes you'll see people say "Check out our cool pictures here: http://people.bakersfield.c...

Other times, people will say "Check out our cool pictures here." So how do you do that?  Just type the text in the text box and then highlight or select the text you want to use for your link.  Next, click on the image above the text box that looks like a globe with two chain links in front of it.  That will launch a pop-up window where you can add a URL or web site address.  once you've typed in the link (or pasted it in), press OK and you're all set.

How do I post a picture in a comment?

There are a couple of steps to this.  First, you need to make sure your picture is stored online somewhere.  You can upload it to the Bakersfield.com website or to another online storage service like Photobucket or Flickr.
All online hosting services will assign a URL or web address (http://www. etc.) to your picture.  All you need to do is copy the URL and then click the picture-postcard icon above the comment field (it's yellow and looks like mountains with a sun above them).  A pop-up window will come up and ask for the URL of the photo.  Paste the URL in the box and click OK.  You'll also see a browse button next to this field.  This button is currently non-operational.

What are my other photo options?

When you click the picture-postcard icon above the comment field (it's yellow and looks like mountains with a sun above them), a pop-up window will come up. Besides just posting a picture, you have a whole lot of other cool options.
You can resize the photo by clicking on it and dragging a corner in or out. You can also align your photo and make other style changes in the Image Properties box. To access the Image Properties box, right-click or control-click the image and choose "Image Properties."

How do I post a YouTube video?

You can only post YouTube and other streaming media in blog posts, not in attached comments.  When you are posting a blog entry, you will see a number of options under the text box.  With YouTube, all you need is the URL or web address of the video.  Don't use the "embed" code here, just the regular URL.

Why aren't my comments showing up?

There are two really common reasons for this.  One has to do with the CAPTCHA codes, those little 5 letters you have to enter before a comment posts.  If you've mis-entered the CAPTCHA code and then quickly navigate away from the page, you may not know if your code was incorrectly entered.  Also, the software only allows 50 comments per page.  If there are more than 50 comments, a second and then a third page etc. are created.  At the beginning of the comments section, the site will tell you how many comments there are in the thread.  If there are more than 50, you can navigate to subsequent pages using the icons with the small yellow arrows at the top and bottom of the comments section on each blog.  If neither of these is an issue for you, please contact a site administrator.

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 Register as a New User

One of the things that strikes me is that many people read this blog (well, not THIS blog, but the blogs here) and may want to sign up for an account but can't ask how here because they can't sign up so they can't post a comment.  Let's fix that.

At the upper left hand corner of this page you'll see a box that says "Register for Your Free Account and Blog!" and below that you'll see "Sign In" and "Register".  Click register and then on the next page, click on the link above the "User Name" box that says "Get Your Free Account".  Click on that and you'll be at the sign up page.  Fill out your info, sign up for some newsletters and click OK.  Than come back here and let me know I didn't screw up these instructions too badly.

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Mobile Alerts

Check out the mobile alerts.  It's like having a paper in your pocket.  :)

http://www.bakersfield.com/...

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Be a MoPho

Last but not least, I've decided to keep plugging MoPho forever rather than the short amount of time I thought I would.  If you're out and about and get a photo with your camera phone, email it to mobile@bakersfield.com and it will get added to the Your Words section of the website and may be featured in the Californian!

So, what's on your mind this morning?