Is Anybody Home In FReeperville?

May 28, 2003 | sweetliberty

[sweetliberty]

When I first joined Free Republic, the single most useful tool to me in becoming familiar with the forum and finding stuff that was helpful was the home page feature. It was nice to wander the FR neighborhood and see what others had bookmarked and learn a little about these people called FReepers. Back then, the pages were somewhat limited if you used the bookmark feature, but still, there were many unique and some very elaborate pages. Browsing these pages I learned about the FR lexicon, the html sandbox and bootcamp threads, I learned about moose and cheese, CPAC, and many other relevant things. I found important links, beautiful graphics and great quotes along with inspirational passages and prayers and hilarious cartoons and photoshop creations. I quickly felt quite comfortable in my new cyber home.

Somewhere along the line many of those fabulous pages got nuked by accident and most were never rebuilt. The most recent change in the format allows for bookmarks to be on a separate page. Jim and John have given us these blank html enabled pages limited only by our imaginations, and the vast majority of FReepers have done nothing with them. If I had happened onto the forum now and tried to familiarize myself with the neighborhood in the same way, I would have to say that FReepers must to be the most boring people on the planet, not even coming close to living up to their "bigger than life" reputation. Of course I know that nothing could be furthur from the truth.

Imagine moving into a neighborhood where all the houses look exactly alike, just these dull, drab, crackerbox affairs with the curtains drawn tight, the only thing differentiating them at all being the names on the mailboxes and, in some cases, the flags flying on the front porch. That is very much what our FReeperville neighborhood looks like these days and that is too bad. Oh, there are some "homes" that have added signs to the front door and some who have posted an embellishment or two. Some have done some work on their pages and a few have gone all out and created a real work of art. Those pages are really enjoyable to visit. Each FReeper could do so much to enrich the forum just by doing a little "home improvement" on his or her profile page. Some of you have obviously done some work at one time but your "homes" have fallen into disrepair. Please take a little time and cut the grass, mend the fence, paint the house, and for heaven's sake, haul off the junk in the yard.

In all fairness, some of you may not even realize that this feature exists. Membership in the community doesn't come with a how-to guide and new FReepers are pretty much on their own. Some may be aware of it and have just not gotten around to it. Others are intimidated by html and still others are afraid of their privacy being invaded. Let's address these issues one at a time.

• To create your home page start by clicking on your screen name in the upper right hand corner of the latest posts page. On the page that opens, select "my profile". Scroll to the bottom to where it says "you can edit this page" and click on it. In that big blank space you can do anything you want (within reason of course).

• For those of you who keep meaning to do something with your home page and just haven't gotten around to it, make the effort. Look at it as contributing to the beautification of the neighborhood and making it a pleasant place to be. It really does add another important dimension to the FReeping experience.

• If you're one of those who doesn't know html and feels a bit intimidated by it, you're not alone. True, there are a lot of techno geeks here, but there are more of us that are learning as we go and there are a lot of useful tools here to help. Most of the basics can be found here and here. Keep in mind that it isn't necessary to use html. You can do your page in plain text. There are any number of directions you can go with that. You can tell a little about yourself, your family, your work, your activism, or you might list some favorite quotes or tell a story. Or you could talk about what brought you to Free Republic. If you want to do something extra and don't know how, just ask. Most FReepers tend to be very helpful. FReepers have taught me most of what I know about how to do cool stuff like posting graphics and links and such. We may snarl and growl a lot, but most of us don't bite.

• Finally, there are some folks who may have a need to remain anonymous because they may be well-known or perhaps because of the line of work they are in, or even just as a matter of personal preference. We respect that, but would still appreciate your sharing. If you're concerned about your privacy, it's really very simple. There are many ways in which to express your individuality without giving away personal details. Be creative.

Use this thread to share ideas or to make or ask for suggestions. Look at other FReeper pages. Most of all, have fun with it.

Check out this interesting assortment of FReeper home pages, in no particular order:

.

Lady GOPLindaSOGmikrofon ppaul SkoozTailgunner JoeTexaggie79AKbearOuachitaAgThornflamefrontGrammy BearJustAmyMama_Bearmtngrl@vrwcSabertoothvelvetJulieRNR21truenospinzonesouthernpatriot_usam1-lightningEnemy Of The StateAdmin Moderatorwesterncanoncpforlife.orgPippinRadixmichiganderRegisteredTootersecurbhjdegeJohnny GagesheltonmaclawgirlST.LOUIE1Alberta's Child ApacheTearbentfeatherdeadheadlowbridgeRevelation 911Victoria DelsoulOvertaxedsavd_rn7PeaceBeWithYouBillierdb32JedismomArchie Bunker on steroidsSAMWolf JamesWilsonNix2Mr. Mullinerthatdewdarchycarlo3b

[eskimo]

Perhaps you haven't reviewed many of the profile pages. Some of them are a wealth of information and resources.

Perhaps we should identify those and forget the rest.

[jwalsh07]

And never will. :-}

[Timesink]

Freepers who don't use height and width attributes in their IMG tags on their ultra-graphics-laden home pages should be taken out and shot.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

[Paul Atreides]

It was basically what was said in post #60. Only it had a little joke thrown in.

[lowbridge]

I see you're still spreading that wild tale. Give it a rest.

Me? "Still"? This is the first time I've EVER mentioned it.

[Paul Atreides]

I don't mind that so much as the needless excerpting.

[sweetliberty]

[mamaduck]

okay, you guys, just answer me one question and I'll go to it: Do you have to have a separate site to load pictures to link to? if so do you have a suggestion? I have a very crude site on Netscape, but it is sloooowwww. and I have not been able to get the hang of (spend the time to learn) ftp, so that my local isp site could be my home page. Ta.

[Timesink]

I don't mind that so much as the needless excerpting.

I agree.

[sweetliberty]

"Perhaps we should identify those and forget the rest"

All news and politics and no play makes FReepers dull and abrasive. If you don't want to be here, go someplace else. You were invited as a courtesy.

[Timesink]

[Paul Atreides]

Ol' One-Eye

[Dog Gone]

Do I look like a "sir" to you? ;-)

No sir! ;-)

I did make a stab at expanding my homepage, though. It was fun trying.

[sweetliberty]

LOL! Not bad. That was pretty fast.

[nutmeg]

ping!

PS: This thread may not apply to some of you who already have fabulous home pages (like stanz!).

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.

[nutmeg]

I did make a stab at expanding my homepage, though. It was fun trying.

I just checked your homepage... I am LMAO!!! ;-D

[bd476]

Thanks Sweet Liberty. It feels so welcoming that you reminded some of us newbies about this.

:-)

[sweetliberty]

Yes. Jim is planning to add a graphics server to FR, but we don't know when. I, and several other FReepers that I know of, use Fotki. You have to have the premium account to link to an outside site such as FR, but it is only $30 a year and there is no limit to how much you store. Also, it supports several different graphics formats whereas most servers only support jpg. It is well worth it in my opinion.

[sweetliberty]

Now that's funny.

[sweetliberty]

Play time!