Journals are where Buzznet members publish the thoughts, observations and experiences that they want to share with the world, or simply preserve for themselves.

Your journal can be a diary, a description of a place or show you’ve been to or your reaction to items in the news.

To start from your home page, click on ‘Post a Journal.’  Or, as long as you are signed in, you can select ‘New Journal’ from the bar going down the far right of each page.  Either option will take you to the journal entry form.

Place your cursor in the ‘Title’ box and type in the name or a brief description for your journal.  You can change the title at any time.

Once you have the title, place your cursor into the 'Journal Entry' box.  Now go ahead and type your journal entry in that space.

 

The toolbar positioned between the Title box and the Journal Entry box offers several formatting options.

Highlight a word or phrase, then select bold, italic, underlined or strikethrough to place emphasis on those particular words.

The toolbar also provides alignment options -- such as indent, outdent, aligned left, aligned right, centered  or justified -- which are applied in the same manner as the type options.  Even bullet points and lists are easy.  Simply highlight the blocks of copy you want to be formatted, then click on the appropriate icon in the toolbar.

If you are unsure what a particular icon does, scroll over it.  A text box will appear explaining the icon's function.

Horizontal rule:  lets you set a line separating different parts of the same journal.

 

To really liven up a post, choose the option to change the text color.

Adding a 'hyperlink' will connect a word or a phrase in your post to sources elsewhere on the Internet. First, copy the URL of the web page that you want linked in your post.  Next, highlight the word or phrase that you want to open to that outside web address.  Now click the hyper link button .  A box will appear.  Paste the target URL into the slot provided.  Click OK.  The word or phrase you highlighted in your journal post will now become blue and underlined.  Once you save your journal, that underlined word or phrase will function as a link to your target page.

 

If words are not enough, add pictures to your posts to illustrate your message.

To start, place your cursor within your post exactly where you want a photo to appear.  Then go to the toolbar and click on the Add Image button .   An upload window (pictured below) will open.  (The image upload process is similar to posting pictures to your galleries.)

The upload window allows you to either browse your computer for the image you want, or you can enter the URL of the image's location.  If you want to place more than one photo at a time into your post, click [Add File] at the top of the upload window.  Every time you click [Add File], a new Browse... slot will open.  Each Browse... slot will hold one image.

When you have filled all your Browse... slots, hit the UPLOAD PHOTO button.  The images you have selected will appear in your Journal Entry box. 

Once the images appear, you can alter the image size and position.  To change an image's size, click on the image.  A dotted line and a series of small boxes will appear along the border of the image.  Click on any of the small boxes and drag the border so that the image either expands or shrinks.  When you release the drag, the image will remain at those dimensions.

To change the position of a photo in your post, simply highlight the image and drag it to where you want it to stay.  Changing image sizes and position takes a bit of practice; so play around and have fun with the process.

 

Have you changed your mind about the special treatments you've given your text? 

The  button to the right on the toolbar that looks like a blackboard eraser will remove all formatting from any text.  If you don’t like the look of what you’ve done, highlight the text and hit the eraser.  The words will revert to their original condition.

If you're a fan of using HTML coding to write a journal, hit the final button:

This switches your journal from the standard "Design Mode" to "HTML Mode." Now you can code to your heart's content!

Want to see your work and check that your coding works? Click the Design Mode button:

You can switch back and forth between the two modes as much as you want.

 

Once your journal entry is complete, place your cursor within the Add Tags box.  Type in key words that define the subject matter of your journal post, with a comma separating each word.  For instance: Cats, musicals, Pete Wentz.

Your journal will be automatically posted on the Tag Pages for cats, musicals and Pete Wentz.  Make sure you "tag" your journal entries accurately.

Once your journal is complete and tags have been added, there is still More>> to do.

Located next to Advanced Options, below the Add Tags: box, More>> clicks open a form that allows you to add a brief summary of your journal entry, change the time and date you want the journal to display, and determines if the journal is visible to the public or kept for your private viewing only.

 

 

One last special feature offered by Advanced Options is the ability to Associate Photos.

Associated Photos is a search option that allows you to locate images from your archives or the archives of another Buzznet member, and then directly post those photos into your journal entry.

Clicking on Associated Photos will open an upload window.  Fill in the keyword and the name of the user whose archives you want to search.  Adjust the dateline for the time frame to be searched. Hit search.

When the search is complete, pertinent photos will appear in the Associated Photos upload window.  Simply click on the photos that you want associated in your journal.  These images, as you click them, will collect at the bottom of your journal as thumbnails.  Each thumbnail will automatically link back to the source URL.

By now, you should be pretty happy with your new journal post.  Press save, and your work will be uploaded to your journal page.

A notification of your new post will go out to all your Buzznet friends.  The notification appears in the bottom half of the column at the right hand side of the page when you are signed in.

Do any of your friends have new posts there now?  Check them out.  You may find some ideas for your next journal.