I used to put together posts like these fairly regularly to make sure everyone in our community was on the same page as far as knowing all of the wonderful things that are available to you guys but haven't done it in a while. With traffic and membership at all-time highs, I think it's time once again to educate those newer members who have just joined us.

Make the jump to learn more about all the inner workings of CSC and the rules and regulations we adhere to. It's a cut and paste job. Also, feel free to ask me any questions you may have. 

With a steady stream of readers finding us from all over the net and new members signing up at a steady clip, I think it's time to make sure everyone knows how to use all the great toys that SB Nation lets us play with. You can always find this technical information in our Tour of CSC section found on the left sidebar but for the more lazy readers I have re-posted it for you after the jump. CSC's community guidelines can also be found there. 

I also thought I would get a little deeper with the whole commenting thing since it's not included in the aforementioned tutorial. At the bottom of every comment is a little toolbar of sorts. It contains the name of the member who made the comment as well as the time and date that it was made. Then you'll notice the reply button. If you would like to reply to a specific comment, go ahead and click that. A new text box will appear and allow you to reply to that comment. Next to that is a button that reads "actions". If you click on that it will expand and give you what you see below. 

 
Am I blowing your mind? If you think a comment is inappropriate you can flag it and I will be alerted. If you really like a comment, rec it. Any comment that receives two rec's will get highlighted. I almost forgot...just above all of that is your signature. You can add or change your signature in your "edit profile" page. 

Now that you know a little bit more about how to comment let's take a quick glance at how to format your comments and make them look good. Below is what you see when typing one of those comments. 

I have circled the comment toolbar that is found on every comment text box. These effects can be applied to any text in the "message" part of your comment. To use any of the first five functions, simply highlight the text you desire and click the effect you'd like to use. You can make your text bold, italicized or strikethrough by clicking one of the first three functions. To quote another member or article, use the "blockquote" function. To have your text link to another webpage, click the picture of the chain link. A new pop-up will appear asking for the web address. Click submit and you are done. That last button (picture of tree) is used for posting a picture. Simply click that button and enter the web address of the photo you'd like to post in the pop-up. Click submit and you're done. Remember, if you are unsure about what your comment is going to look like you can preview your post before you actually submit it. For those members who are really into computers and prefer to format your comments using code, you can click  the "show formatting guide" link next to the "POST" button and type your comment using that method. 

You also want to make sure you don't miss this little educational part of the comment section as well. It teaches you how to navigate through the comments; especially handy for open threads. 

I always like to end these posts by opening it up for questions and comments. I can answer any sort of technical question you might have and I welcome any feedback you would like to offer. 

Rules and Community Guidelines

Be nice or leave. That should cover everything. Act as if you were in your mothers house. If you still live with your mother, just continue doing what you're doing. This is sports and more specifically this is the Saints, so we're not all going to agree. That's the fun in this whole thing. You don't have to agree with everything that everyone says but you have to disagree with them in a respectful way. Never attack another member personally. That doesn't have to do with anything. 

• Dirty mouth? Watch the language. I think a good general rule is that if you can't say it on primetime television than you can't say it here. Feel free to go nuts with the &$^#%$ keys or make up your own curses, like "Monkeyvijambajuicscicles!" The rules of tastefulness also apply to your avatars. 
• We don't need "interracial love" spam. Spamming and trolling is strictly forbidden. Nobody here is interested in what you're selling. Don't create multiple accounts for the purpose of avoidance. If you've got your own Saints website and you want feedback or to share, that is totally cool. Share it with us in a FanShot or FanPost. That is why they are there. 
• There's a new sherrif in town. I spend a lot of time on here and I will take whatever disciplinary action is required. 
• Posting Rules. When quoting a source in a FanPost or FanShot, do not copy and paste the entire article. Just pick one or two parts you find signficant and quote those. Than link to the article. Whenever referencing a source, always provide the link. When posting a FanShot, do a quick check first to make sure that same link hasn't already been posted. In the case of duplicates, the earliest time stamped FanShot will be kept. The rest will be deleted. 
• Knowing is half the battle. You are expected to know all of these rules. You will be warned for first offenses and could be banned for repeated offenses. 

The Technical Stuff

Here is a little tech post I wrote not too long ago that explain some of the nitty gritty stuff like how to make FanPosts and FanShots look friggin' sweet. Because I know you're too lazy to click that link I just gave you, I am reposting it in its entirety right now. In addition to my tutorial, anything I might have left out is covered in detail over at Mile High Report. I definitely recommend heading over there after reading this. 

FanPosts

This is the off-season and I'm sure you guys have a lot more stuff you want to talk about other than what I write for the day. The FanPost section is exactly where you can do that. Or maybe there is some breaking news and nobody has mentioned it yet. Throw up a link and quote a quick blurb so CSC is always up to date though Bayou Rebel will probably have already beaten you to the punch. Bring up any Saints or football or even New Orleans related topic right here. It can be long or it can be short. It can be well written, well researched and well thought out, or it can be quickly typed up and riddled with spelling errors. It doesn't matter. There is a 75 word minimum but thats really not too hard to reach. If I really like what you've written here, I have the option to put it up on the front page for all to see. In reality, the FanPost section is just a fancy looking message board. Check out what it looks like when you click "All FanPosts." Click on the picture to enlarge.

Cool huh? So if you're really more into the whole message board thing, this is for you. And the best part about it is the fact that each of these threads is auto-refreshing. That means, just like our open game threads, comments update in real time as they're written with no need to hit the refresh button. It also means that as traffic and participation increases, each thread will become more like live chat rooms!! This is where most of the action should be taking place and lots of participation will always keep CSC fresh and make everyone want to keep coming back. 

FanShots

Also a big part of the community atmosphere here at CSC is FanPost's evil twin, FanShot. The FanShot section is where anyone can quickly put up Saints related info from around the internet. Find a video from YouTube you want to share? Paste it as a FanShot. Found an article about the Saints? Share it with all of us. There is power in numbers and if everyone shares what they find then CSC would be a one-stop shop for Saints links. Check this area frequently. That means multiple times a day...at least. I personally use it all day to post stuff I find. Every single FanShot I post is a different link to an article, video or other website. I may present it as a quote or as a link but either way, this is where all of your Saints news comes from. Members  MtnExile, HansDat, Satchmo26, Hollywoo! and Stujo4 are all shining role models for how this is supposed to work.

To help get you all better acquainted with this feature I've created a miniature tutorial that everyone should find useful. Below is a screenshot of what you see when you go to put up a FanPost. 

Areas 1, 2 and 3 are where you add all of your tags. Please do this whenever you make a FanShot or FanPost. Whoever or whatever the FanShot/FanPost is about should be added as a tag. So if I am posting a YouTube video of Drew Brees lighting up the Packers on MNF, I am going to add tags for "New Orleans Saints" "Green Bay Packers" "Drew Brees" and I am going to type in Monday Night Football in the "TAGS" section. I am also going to click "Attach Event" (area 4) and choose the actual game from the list provided. This helps link all stories, FanPosts and FanShots and allows SB Nation to provide suggestions of related items not just from Canal Street Chronicles but all other SB Nation blogs that you will probably be interested in. Tag it! Some of you may be confused on how I make my FanShot quotes look like I do. Let me help. First, I put the name of the person in area 5. Then in area 6 (between the two quotation marks) is where I put the URL or website address. Then in area 7 (between the ><) is where I put the actual name of the source. Here is what one of my completed FanShots looks like (not a real quote!).

If you want to post a video directly onto CSC, all you have to do is copy the Embed code from YouTube...

...and paste it right here in the FanShot section.

The rest of the FanShot options I think are self-explanatory. You can always email me or comment in this thread and ask me any questions you may have. 

Rec's

To help maintain a heirarchy of quality, we've got a recommending system here on Da Chronic. Anytime you see a story, FanPost or FanShot that speaks to you, Rec it. If it receives four Rec's, it will get moved to the top for a while so others may see it and keep up with it easier. Let me know how you feel about my posts by rec'ing them. This way I know what to give you more of and what to stop writing all together. Even comments within threads can be rec'd. Two rec's will highlight the comment forever. All of this also makes sure the good stuff gets read. It will also help weed out the bad stuff. We should all really start doing this more. 

Yahoo! Buzz, Facebook and Digg

Often times the stories I write will have little icons at the bottom, the most important of which is the Yahoo! buzz button. Click this!! It takes two seconds out of your day and it helps CSC's Yahoo! rankings, allowing for more visitors and more Saints fans to be able to find us.

If you want to share them on Facebook or Digg you can also do that here. 

CSC on the go!

You will be glad to know that when you access CSC from your iPhone, Blackberry or other PDA you will automatically be redirected to the easy-to-view, PDA friendly mobile version of our site. If you'd rather view the full version you can do that too.

Other notes:

• If you don't have an avatar, I highly recommend installing one. It's a cool way to represent yourself. 
• Remember this is an entire network of blogs. We have a great site for every one of the NFL teams. If you are looking for information on another team, why not look for it right here on SB Nation first. Take adavantage of what is right at your fingertips.
• We have a Facebook profile and group. We are on Twitter. 
• If you have a Facebook profile, MySpace page or other website please add our Canal Street Chronicles widget.
  
• Always help us grow and spread the word about our community. 
• You can sign up for any of our feeds over on the left sidebar. 
• I write all my posts in wide format. I recommend reading CSC in wide format.
• Take advantage of the RotoWorld, ESPN and CastTV widgets on the right sidebar. They are all updated regularly and all interactive. 
• This post and others like it can be found whenever in the "Tour of CSC" section on the left sidebar.
  
• If you have any technical problems, email bugreport@sbnation.com and report it. Put the name of the blog and the problem you are experiencing in the subject line.
• Always feel free to email me with any comments, questions, problems or suggestions. This also includes advertising inquiries. We are always looking for people who are interested in advertising. If anyone out there knows someone who might be interested, please contact me.