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Location: alexandria, VA
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Name: ChrisR
Email: chris.regal@townhall.com Biography
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Bio Editor and Blog Roll

Posted by ChrisR on Thursday, September 25, 2008 11:57:00 AM
We have finally cracked this problem...
 
If you are having issues with the blog roll editor or the bio editor using Firefox, please do the following:
 
In your navigation bar in the browser, click on Tools, then follow the link for Options.
 
Under Options, click on the image that says Content.
 
Under Content, make sure that the boxes are checked for Enable Javascript and Enable Java.
 
The blog roll and biography editor both use Javascript, so if these two items are unchecked in your content settings, you will see issues. 
 
This should work.  If not, please let me know at chris.regal@townhall.com.
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Townhall Magazine

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, September 22, 2008 12:15:26 PM
We try to read as many blogs as possible each and every day.  We like to not only keep up with the community, but also tap this resource for news and perspectives which may not have leaked to us just yet.  To all of our bloggers - thank you.
 
One of the unique opportunities for Townhall.com bloggers is publication in our magazine, Townhall.  We select the best of the best in blogging and publish two articles in each issue of the magazine.  The issues covered thus far in the Blog On section have ranged from Obama criticisms to abortion, the health care situation to education.  This month's issue features a discussion of Faith and Politics from Some Thoughts On Faith and a look at the energy issue from A Beacon On The Hill.
 
Rather than have our users submit articles to us for submission, we scour the blogs to find the articles which will best fit in the magazine.  Here are some brief guidelines to be considered for submission:

Keep in mind, it takes a considerable amount of time for the magazine to go to print, thus, articles for consideration should not be time sensitive.  For example, we will not be publishing campaign coverage in the December issue of the magazine.

Try to keep your posts around 400-450 words.  We will certainly work to edit down a piece if it is outstanding, but these are the guidelines for publication.

Offer a unique perspective.  Tell us something that subscribers will want to read - an opinion that can't be found anywhere else.  This is your opportunity - take advantage of your voice.

Your blog posts cannot rely on video or audio.  Obviously, we cannot print these in the magazine. 

Please use good writing skills, including good sentence structure, proper grammar, and a diverse vocabulary.  This is a professional publication and we want you, the bloggers, to be professional as well.

Address issues that are important to Conservatives. 

Have fun with this.  As stated above, the unique perspective is what will get you noticed.  Smart, intelligent writing will also make you stand out.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at chris.regal@townhall.com.  Good luck and happy blogging!

 
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Townhall Moderation Policy

Posted by ChrisR on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 11:09:48 AM
This is just a reminder of the Townhall Moderation Policy.  We encourage healthy debate of all issues within the boundaries of respect and courtesy. 
 
1.) No personal attacks, no name calling.  Just stick to the issues.
 
2.) No use of foul of sexual language, no attempts to circumvent the language filters, no inappropriate references to bodily functions.  (For example, the word sh*t or b*tch would be a violation of the rules.)
 
3.) No overt commercial advertising of products, services or websites.
 
4.) No abusive, repetitive, off-topic or overtly disruptive posts.  Just stick to the conservation, don't disrupt it.
 
5.) No advocating of illegal activities, violence or racism.
 
6.) No full reprinting of articles or content in its entirety by other authors or content under copyright without prior written approval from the original author or copyright holder.  This is a legal issue.  If you have permission to reprint an article of post by another author, just make sure to note it somewhere in the post (and perhaps link back to the original site).  You are certainly free to quote someone, though proper attribution is always recommended for your own credibility and integrity.
 
These are enforced according to the discretion of the moderator and no notice will be served.  We welcome all points of view - liberal included.  I realize that in the heat of debate on issues of great importance, it is easy to lose one's temper, but we are managing a large community with thousands of comments and blog posts each day. 
 
Please help us out - be courteous and self-controlled.
 
We are working hard to maintain a respectful and decorous tone, where all perspectives and opinions can engage in constructive conversation.
 
Feel free to post any questions on this blog.
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Announcements

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, August 25, 2008 1:33:40 PM
Please keep an eye on this blog, as it will be updated more often. 
 
First order of business: the biography editor should be fully functioning now.  The Blog Roll editor is still malfunctioning, but it is being worked on.  If there is another issue that we have not addressed in this blog, please let us know.
 
Second, if you experience the Page You Reqested Cannot Be Found, please be aware that this is an internal problem on our end.  The page appears at complete random and we are working to fix this.  Sometimes it happens when loading a page for the first time, or it sometimes happens when a page is refreshing.  If you are posting a comment or blog post and run into this page, it is possible that you post did go through and posted anyways; the error message appears trying to return you to the original page.  Please check to see if your post was submitted before sending adding the message again.
 
We are still working on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.  If you have any items that you feel should be on the list, please submit them.
 
And finally, Matt Lewis found a good website which addresses the question, What Makes for a Good Blog? 
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Calling All Bloggers!

Posted by ChrisR on Thursday, June 19, 2008 11:40:19 AM
We have been alerted to a GOP Rally in East Texas and wish to open the event up to our bloggers.  The event is the Victory 08 Republican Rally, held in Athens, Texas.  Athens is located about 100 miles east of Dallas and 60 miles west of Tyler. 
 
We would love for our bloggers to go to cover the event and post thoughts, reflections, or recaps on the Townhall.com blogs. 
 
This is a great way to get involved with the local GOP community, and could serve as a great networking event. 
 
The rally takes place on Saturday July 12 at 11:00am, with free admission.  Prominent Republican politicians will be speaking at the rally, including members of the Texas State Senate, Texas House of Representatives, and from the private sector.  Full details of the rally can be found here.
 
If you do choose to attend and cover the event on your blog, please let us know!  We look forward to hearing about it! 
 
 
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AP Establishing Limitations for Blogging

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, June 16, 2008 2:14:49 PM
Matt Lewis passed this note along to me - The Associated Press is attempting to establish limits on what AP material can and cannot be reposted on a blog. 
 
Also, we are currently working on a Frequently Asked Questions section for the Blogs.  If you have any suggestions, please send them to chris.regal@townhall.com.   Thanks!
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More Blogging Tips

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, May 05, 2008 2:35:37 PM
Katie Favazza has passed along this article, which discusses what days and times are ideal for blog traffic. 
 
 
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Some tips for blogging

Posted by ChrisR on Thursday, May 01, 2008 11:13:58 AM
These links could be helpful for you with regards to blogging: 
 
Jennifer Slegg has written a "checklist" for bloggers before they Submit an article. 
 
The New York Times has a piece about the relationship between blogging and business that is worth checking out. 
 
If you have any articles which you think are relevant, please pass them on to me at chris.regal@townhall.com.  Thanks and enjoy!
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Bio Editor and Blog Roll

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, April 21, 2008 9:55:32 AM
Some users have reported errors to the biography editor and the blog roll editor.  We are aware of the problem and are addressing it.  Thank you for your patience.
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Bio Editor

Posted by ChrisR on Monday, April 07, 2008 10:09:46 AM
The Biography Editor is now available in the Manage: Settings section of the Dashboard. 
If you have any problems or questions, feel free to contact me at chris.regal@townhall.com.
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Save Draft

Posted by ChrisR on Friday, March 28, 2008 11:24:34 AM
The Save Draft function has been fixed.  Now, when you save a draft of your blog, it will appear under the "Drafts" tab while managing posts.  Once you Publish the material, it will not appear under this tab any more, and will instead show up under your published material.  Enjoy!
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Save Draft Update

Posted by ChrisR on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:01:02 AM
The Save Draft function is working again, although a bit differently.
 
Now, when the Save Draft function is used, the item will be saved.  It will then appear at the very end of the list of your posts.  If your posts are listed by date (where your newest posts appear first), your Saved Draft will appear in the list as if it were the oldest post in your blog.
 
If you have any questions about this issue, feel free to contact me at chris.regal@townhall.com.
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Save Draft Function

Posted by ChrisR on Thursday, March 06, 2008 9:36:09 AM
The "Save Draft" option is not currently functional.  Publish posts and then edit them, if necessary.  Saving a draft will not allow users to access this material again.  Please be patient - it will be fixed soon.
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Welcome

Posted by ChrisR on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:48:40 AM
Welcome to the new Townhall User Blog interface.  We appreciate your support of the website through last several years and we hope you enjoy this upgrade.
 
Many new features have been added, including:
  • The Blog Dashboard is the "home page" for personal blog information.
  • Townhall Talk is a new feature which will allow the Townhall team to better communicate with users.  Here we will post any relevant news, tips, or changes that may affect the user blogs.  Here we will also address community issues in order to keep the users up to date with Townhall information.
  • Individual bloggers can now have more than one blog.
  • Users can post on multiple blogs (when invited by the blog manager).
  • There is an entirely new posting interface with expanded features, including the ability to easily insert media into blog posts (such as YouTube videos).
  • There is a new, more stable WYSIWYG editor.
  • Users now have the ability to write HTML code into a blog.
  • There is now a categorized blog roll.
  • The stability of the system is vastly increased.
  • The engineers have taken huge steps to make sure that the blogs function more consistently.
  • Users can now export a report into Excel.
  • Blogs are now hosted at a new URL - blogtownhall.com - which old URLs will redirect to.
  • The Blogatorium has been modified so that a post can only show up once - updating a post will not make it appear again.
Some features will be coming soon:
  • A standard Code of Conduct for blog posts and comments will be hosted on Townhall Talk
  • Bloggers will be able to moderate comments.
 
Please let us know of any feedback regarding the new interface and enjoy!
 
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Welcome to the new Townhall Blogs!

Posted by Townhall Techie on Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:53:02 AM
We have just rolled out the biggest change of blogging upgrades to Townhall.com since the launch of the new site a year and a half ago. We will post a complete list of updated features here soon, stay tuned!
Tags: blogs  
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