Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Welcome Mat: Q&A Edition

It has come to our attentions that we have had a few new members to the Herd come strollin’ in over the past couple of days. We love seeing the fresh new faces joining us for the fresh new year. We are proud of the inclusive nature of the Moose and adding new voices to the conversation is a large part of what fosters it.

First and foremost: a hearty Welcome! to you all…please make yourselves right at home…you are amongst friends. We are happy to have you join our motley family and we hope that you find the accommodations to your liking. /grin

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I am sure that y’all have questions about the purple shores you have landed on…hopefully this diary will answer some of them. Please ask those that are unanswered in the comments.

Please join me below…

Ok, now that I have y’all reading this far…please take the time (if you have not already done so) to read our About Us and Posting Guidelines. Our Posting Guidelines are fairly cut and dry…we wanted it that way to avoid any confusion. Easy to read and easy to remember…no excuses.

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Another source of Moosey info is our Insider’s Guide to Motley Moose, where you can find some of the unwritten ‘rules’ and traditions of Motley Moose (but, realize, new traditions are always being made!).

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Here are a few other helpful tips that will ease your way:

  • Our comment threads tend to become ‘unmanageable’ at about the 200 comment mark. Things get boggy and can really frustrate those with slower machines. So, when a comment thread is hopping and has reached that point…just start a ‘Part Deux’ diary to continue the conversation.

  • It cannot be said too many times…write about whatever you are passionate about. Be it politics, photography, poetry, weather, books, movies, or your new puppy…really, whatever interests you is bound to interest other Moose.

  • Think of our comment threads as dinner table conversations. We start with the assumption that all come to the conversation with good intentions and go from there. If you get upset or angry, get up from the table and step outside for a bit. Things can still get heated here at times (/raises hand in guilt), but, we do tend to make peace quickly and continue working towards finding common ground.

  • You may find that Preview while writing a diary is a frustrating experience. The font, spacing, and general ‘look’ do not accurately depict the way the diary will look once published. In order to see it properly, select Draft, then Preview, then SAVE (as draft). Viewing the saved Draft allows you to see the diary as it will be posted. It adds a couple steps but, in the long run, it can save time in editing.

  • To post YouTube clips, please select “use old embed” code when embedding. Soapblox does not accept iframes as valid tags. Also, when posting video OR images, please avoid ones exceeding 500px in width because it distorts the formatting of the site (and be aware of how far to the right margin you are in a comment thread…if it is a long thread the images should be even smaller).

That is all that is coming to my mind in these wee hours, I am sure I am missing a lot…but, that is what the comments are for!

Ask away…I’m sure that someone will be able to answer whatever is puzzling you.

If you would rather ask something in not so public a manner…just Email Us.

Consider this an Open Thread…have at it!

/grin

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Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 215 Comments

215 comments

  1. Kysen

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    I’m gonna try to catch a few winks…but, I’m sure someone will be able to answer whatever you lob our way.

    G’night, y’all.

    /grin

  2. JanF

    (I won’t post the one I have in my photobucket for trolls. Ha!)

    Thanks for this info. That is good to know about the 200 comment limit. I find that 200 comments is about all I can digest anyway.

    A couple more things about comments.

    – People need to know about comments is that they don’t auto-refresh and you get no indication that you are not alone (no “comments by” flickering in the lower right-hand corner). Don’t assume you are along!! There are two ways to refresh: refresh/reload the tab or click on the diary title (at the top or the bottom again).

    – When you click Preview, your screen does not jump to show you the preview. You need to scroll up to see it.

    I am sure there will be more things to learn

    Thank you for telling me about Diary Preview!! I kept tweaking the spacing because I hated the way it looked and then when I saved it for publication, the spacing was all different (and is disturbing my OCD … I will go fix it).

    This is really important, Kysen:

    We start with the assumption that all come to the conversation with good intentions and go from there. If you get upset or angry, get up from the table and step outside for a bit.

    Everyone starts with a clean slate. For some it is a second chance. I intend to use mine as if it is a last chance.

     

  3. Khloe

    buttons mixed up(being the creature of habit that I am). I am taking extra time double checking my ratings because of this. If by chance I fail on you, please know that I am trying to re-train myself. True fails are unusual from me.

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  5. DeniseVelez

    The Moose has been a sanctuary of sanity (or silliness) for me for a number of years. The Moosketeers adopted me from MyDD in 2008, and I’ve been here ever since – sometimes posting, sometimes just lurking.  

    What I like the most about Moose is that we can disagree without being disagreeable, which creates nuanced discussion. Spiced with humor too.

    Hug a Moose today!

    Squishable Moose

  6. Lightbulb

    I used to write, a lot. Is there anything special I should know with regard to reposting my own work? Or putting up new work?

    Is it against the rules to delete our own posts? I seemed to get that impression when I went over the rules. What about editing old posts?

  7. iriti

    So one of my dragonfly, butterfly and bee photo diaries is OK in the spring? Some people rejoice when the flowers come out, I celebrate the bugs.

    Takes all kinds to make a world, I guess.

  9. onomastic

    Ok, that’s about all the perky I can do before coffee.

    Thank you so much, Kysen, for the warm welcome.

    How is everyone this fine….ahem….Sunday morning?

    It’s cold, grey with light snow falling here. We’re heading out to see the Hobbit later this morning.

    Not looking forward to the 48 fpm experience, but our geek sons want to check it out so IMAX here we come.

     

  11. Lorinda Pike

    Hi. It’s me.

    When I figure out that fierce is a good thing, that will be a good thing.

    Morning, all. 🙂

  13. FrugalGranny

    Thank you for the info. The 200 comment count issue makes sense. I tend to avoid anything with more than that anyway.

    I probably won’t do much more than comment as I’m not really much of a writer. I would rather read. 🙂

    It’s very nice to see a bunch of familiar faces.

  17. bumblebums

    Signed up a couple years ago, but have been on a twitter jag. Was lollygagging through the wreckage elsewhere today, and was reminded of this sweet spot.

    Just wanted to wave hello and say happy new year.

  19. Kysen

    For the next 48 hours (or so) the 1 day hold on commenting will be lifted for new members.

    So, if you have just registered, or are planning to, you will be able to skip the normal 24-hr waiting period and comment immediately.

    In a couple days the waiting period will go back into effect (it drastically cuts down on the spam…and saves the time and energy of playing whack-a-mole with the spammers).

    Carry on….  

  20. auron renouille

    Moose?  Mooses?  Meese? 🙂

    I was in Alaska over the summer visiting a friend and, I swear, there ought to be a big sign in the Anchorage airport telling you what the plural of “moose” is.

    More seriously, thank you for posting this and for those of you who invited us over :).

  21. Via Chicago

    Taking advantage of the lifting of the one day rule and posting a comment mere minutes after signing up!

    Thanks for the welcome. Found the link in Mets’ diary today. It feels better here.

  23. dear occupant

    kysen, i hope you don’t mind, i left a little ‘orange’ on your welcome mat, sorry. 🙂

    i spent some time this morning looking through some articles and decided i really liked the vibe.

    so many familiar names, so little angst.

    thank you for lifting the 24 hour rule, it helped me make the leap.

  24. ChurchofBruce

    since I seem to be on the tail end of the influx. 🙂

    So, hi, everybody. So many great names here that I’ve missed over The Other Place. I like the vibe here already.

  25. American in Bangkok

    I saw the 24 hour commenting hold had been lifted and couldn’t wait to say hello!   We put a houseguest on a plane at some ungodly hour last night and I’m going to crawl back in bed now that demanding feeeeeeed me meows have been accommodated, but I’m looking forward to being part of this community. 🙂

    formerly American in Kathmandu over in that other place.  

  26. misslotus

    After sighing over the latest catastrophe elsewhere, I saw a link to this friendly place and decided maybe it was better to stop lurking where unhappiness lives and go back to engaging where there are more smiling faces.

    You have a great crew here! I’m just sorry I didn’t find it sooner…

    Thanks for the warm welcome. 🙂

  27. plf515

    even though it’s less than 24 hours (I saw the waiting periods was lifted for a while).

    But my ratings of comments don’t seem to be working…. and how long until I can write a diary?

    And what about re-posting stuff from GOS? Is that cool?  

  34. edwardssl

    I swear all the fucking time, but I don’t wanna get banned (‘specially since I just got here – that’d be embarrassing).

    Also, because I’m too tired after working my goddamned ass off all day to look it up, what’s “fierce”.

    Thanks ahellovalot.

  35. remembrance

    I have 2 questions about rating: I am reading that in addition to fierce, there is also fail and meh, however, I only see the fierce option. Are the other 2 options available to me? Second, I tried to rec all comments but they didn’t stick. How will I know if my recs stick or what do I need to do so they stick? I would hate for my friends not to see my recs.

    Thank you!

  37. Regina in a sears kit house

    I posted in the into thread so I won’t repeat here. But whew, I came in just a bit too soon for the 24 hour wait. So I waited anyways.

    Hai everybody, good to see you.

    My question on cross posting from DK: what’s the convention? If you post first at DK then here do you mention the cross post? WHat are folks doing?

    Thanks for this lovely place. Lots of friendly faces I know, some I haven’t seen in a long while.

    ::waves::

  39. pittiepat

    of a Far Side cartoon.  Two critters sitting on a sofa with their newly delivered pizza.  “Stink bugs?  We didn’t order no stinkin’ stink bugs.”  How does his mind work to think up  the stuff he does?

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