Please use this guide to familiarize yourself with the Bruins Nation web site.
First things first, here is a general layout of the front page:
SB Nation Navigation Bar
These are links to various sports pages from the main SB Nation site. They are not at all related to Bruins Nation. Why are they at the top? Because that’s what SB Nation wants, that’s why. Remember, they are the gracious hosts of our blog, so they can pretty much do whatever they want.
Bruins Nation Navigation Bar
These are the links to the various sections of Bruins Nation. They are mostly self-explanatory and should be your first destination when searching. Here is the breakdown:
TEAM
Stories: these are posts that are not fanposts or fanshots mostly published by frontpagers, that appear on the front page of BN
Schedule / Roster / Stats: self-explanatory, but note that these only cover the sport that is in season, and apply only to football and basketball
Tickets: Bruins Nation has teamed up with TiqIQ.com to bring you the best information on UCLA Bruins ticket prices and trends. Use this link if you are looking to go to a game.
COMMUNITY
Here you will find links to the Fanshot section and the Fanpost section
Note: you can also find links to the list of Fanposts and Fanshots at the bottom of every post below the comments.
SECTIONS
These are links to the main topics that BN covers. Some sections are permanent, others get updated based on a relevant topic such as upcoming games, etc.
LIBRARY
Bruinsphere: this will show you links to other sites that cover UCLA.
About Us: this will show you links to various posts that explain how BruinsNation was created and tells you a bit about the people who put this great site together. There are also other very useful posts that show you how to post, comment, etc., as well as a lexicon to explain some commonly used terms on the site…like SPTRs.
Disclaimer: self-explanatory (but read it before something offends you!)
Blogroll: links to other sports blogs that we like
ABOUT
Masthead: shows you the awesome people who bring you the best Bruins news, analysis and information anywhere on the web.
Community Guidelines: if you read nothing else on the site, you have to read this. BN is not like other sites and there are expectations that must be met by all community members.
SEARCH
The magnifying glass is your friend. Hover your mouse over it and a box will drop down where you can input your search terms. Before you start bothering anyone for information, or somehow end up speaking about a topic that has been widely discussed on the site, the search function will show you all the relevant posts about that topic. The more specific you get, the better your results. And we have covered a lot of ground on this site, so use it and abuse it!
STORYSTREAMS
This is a new feature that allows us to group news on the same topic in the same place. This comes in handy when there are several updates to a main story or a breaking story, and it will make it easier for you to follow it from the beginning. You will see its usefulness especially during Signing Day, for practice reports and major news.
The most recent stories will be displayed first. For older stories, click on FULL STREAM. You can comment on each story individually.
Here are some other how-to’s that will serve you well.
WRITING A COMMENT
Below every post, at the bottom of the comments, you will find a box that says "POST A NEW COMMENT". It is always best if you put something in the subject line, then the body in the main box. You can then format your comment with bolding, italics and strikethroughs. When you are done, you can even preview what your comment would look like, before posting. Once your comment is posted, however, you can no longer edit it.
In addition, you can:
Insert a blockquote: whenever you want to quote something from an article or from another comment, highlight the quote in your text and click on the quotation mark. If the quote is from an article, please provide a link to it.
Insert a hyperlink: if you want to provide a link, you can always copy and paste it in the body. But it is much cleaner if you use a hyperlink. Highlight the word or words that you would like to serve as the link, and click on the chainlink. Then, paste the link in the dialog box and click Submit.
Insert a picture: this can be tricky sometimes, and the trick is only that you need the link to the actual picture. You cannot use this to upload a photo from your own computer, it is only for pictures that are already online. If you want to insert your own picture, you must first upload it to a site like Picasa. Find and copy the URL for the image that you want to insert. Then click on the picture button, paste the URL in the dialog box and hit OK.
Insert a Poll: Use the "Attach Poll" dialog to attach an existing poll or create a new one. Pose a question and then offer as many answers as you like—you can drag the answer options around to change their order. The poll will stay open for two weeks unless you specify otherwise. Once published, you can edit the post and close the poll early.
At present you can attach only one poll per post, and each user can select only one answer. The added poll will appear at the end of your published entry.
Replying to a Comment
The best way to make a thread interesting and easy to read is to reply to the specific comment that is prompting you to post. Click on the Reply link at the bottom of that comment, then follow the instructions above for writing a comment.
Recommending a Comment
Think someone said clever, enlightening, funny? Wanna let them know? Click on the "actions" link below a comment and then on "rec" to recommend a comment. After 3 rec’s a comment becomes green and the commenter gets to feel all good about himself/herself.
Recommending a Post
Likewise, if you really like a fanpost or fanshot, you can let it be known so that others get encouraged to read it. Click on the green Recommend button at the bottom of the post.
Note: this is not available for front page stories.
Finding new Comments in a Post
There are two ways to know if there are new comments in a thread that you have already read.
For front page stories:
For fanposts and fanshots:
Once you are on the actual post page, new comments will be highlighted in yellow. You can find the next new comment by hitting the Z key.
WRITING A FANPOST
Find the link that says "POST YOUR OWN" at the bottom of the FANPOSTS column on the left of the blog.
Alternatively, you can go to the Community dropdown, select Fanposts, and click on +NEW FANPOST on the right.
For guidelines on writing a fanpost, see this post.
For formatting, you can essentially write these as you would a Word document, using the formatting tools that come up and which we will assume you are already familiar with. In fact, you can even write your post in a Word document and paste it directly into the editor, using the Paste from Word function.
For inserting objects (pictures, etc.), see the section about writing comments above.
For inserting a video, click the little tv icon under Media & Assets on the right, then click on the Import tab. Since most of you will be inserting YouTube videos, here is how to do it:
- Find the video that you would like to insert, then click on the Share button below it.
- Then, click on the Embed button and copy the html text that appears highlighted belo
- Paste the text into the Embed dialog box that came up in your fanpost and click on "Import".
Once you are done, you can always preview your Fanpost before publishing it. A new window will pop up (unless the pop up blocker in your browser is activated).
WRITING A FANSHOT
1) Find the dialog box at the top of the FANSHOTS column on the right of the blog. In it, paste the link or quote that you would like to fanshot, then click on +FANSHOT; or
2) Go to the Community tab on the BN banner and click on Fanshots. Then, do the above in the location indicated.
Fanshotting a link: this is usually to share an article. Provide a title, the link to the article and a brief description.
Fanshotting a quote: copy the quote you would like to fanshot in the top box, and make sure you provide a link to the location of the quote in the bottom box.
Fanshotting a video: following the instructions above for inserting a video, paste the text in the top box and write a description in the bottom box.
Fanshotting a picture: find the URL for your picture (as explained above) and paste it in the top box, then write a description in the bottom box.
Fanshotting a list: you can do a David Letterman-style Top 10 list for whatever you want…except this only goes to 5.