How can I post a comment at Bleeding Heartland?
To participate in discussions at Bleeding Heartland, you will need to create a user account. Click “Make a New Account” on the upper right side of the screen. After you create an account, an e-mail will be sent to you with an automatically-generated password. Once you confirm your account by logging in, you may change your password to something that is easier for you to remember, if you choose.
Do I have to put my real name on my account?
No. Bleeding Heartland users can register under any screen name not already registered at this site. Bleeding Heartland asks users not to misrepresent their identity, for instance by impersonating others. Concealing a professional or financial connection to the subject of their posts is also not permitted. For instance, Bleeding Heartland would ban an elected official, candidate, campaign staffer, or consultant who poses as a “regular Iowan” in order to blog about the election or issue they are working on.
Do I have to be from Iowa to post at Bleeding Heartland?
No. Anyone with an interest in Iowa topics can post at this site, whether or not you have ever lived in or visited Iowa.
How can I post a diary at Bleeding Heartland?
Registered users can post diaries by logging in and clicking “new diary” on the upper right side of your screen. Enter a title and post your text in the “main text” window. If your blog is more than a few paragraphs long, put the first part in “main text” and the rest in the “extended text” window below.
How long should my diary be?
Bleeding Heartland does not restrict diary length but asks users to post short thoughts (a sentence or two) as comments on front-page threads rather than as stand-alone diaries. If your “short thought” does not relate to any of the front-page threads, try to develop it into a longer piece and post it as a diary. Aim for making your diary at least a few paragraphs in length. Longer diaries are fine, provided that you are not copying and pasting long excerpts from previously published material without permission.
What can I write about at Bleeding Heartland?
All topics related to Iowa life or politics, including national issues and policies that affect Iowans, are suitable for Bleeding Heartland diaries.
Note: Bleeding Heartland is a community blog and does not endorse all of the views expressed in user blogs or comments. Bleeding Heartland is not responsible for content submitted by users and may remove inappropriate content for any reason.
What do you mean by inappropriate content?
Blogs or comments that plagiarize, infringe on, or violate copyrights and intellectual property rights will not be tolerated. “Fair use” of copyrighted material requires a link to the source material, and your excerpt should usually not exceed a few paragraphs. If you post a photo or graphic in your blog, please be sure that you are not violating copyright laws. Bleeding Heartland reserves the right to edit blogs and comments to remove copyrighted material posted without permission.
Other kinds of inappropriate content include the following bannable offenses:
posting defamatory, libelous, predatory, intimidating, obscene, or sexually explicit content
violating a person’s right to privacy (such as by revealing the real name of a Bleeding Heartland user who posts under a screen name)
advocating illegal or violent actions
advertising by means of spam links and diaries
Users who post inappropriate content may be banned from posting at Bleeding Heartland.
How do I embed a link in my blog or comment?
HTML code for links looks like this:
<a href=”url”>link text</a>
So, if you write
<a href=”http://www.legis.iowa.gov/index.aspx”>the Iowa Legislature’s official website</a>
your embedded link will look like this:
the Iowa Legislature’s official website
How do I create a blockquote in my blog?
If your blog or comment includes an excerpt from previously published material that is a few sentences to a few paragraphs long, it is best to put that text in a blockquote. Embed the link to the original and enter the text you want to quote. Here’s an example using lyrics from Joni Mitchell’s song “Big Yellow Taxi”:
<blockquote>Hey farmer, farmer,
Put away the DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot</blockquote>
Using HTML code, you’ll get this:
Hey farmer, farmer,
Put away the DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
How do I send a news tip to Bleeding Heartland?
Send an e-mail to desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com.