Neighborhood21 is one of the first (if not THE first) "mega-portals" on the world wide web. It is a communication tool with nearly unlimited potential. Even the website developers can't list all of the possiblilities of Neighborhood21 as it was developed expressly for members (you) to build content and expand its scope. No single member could possibly have the time to know and use 100% of the potential of Neighborhood21.

With that said, here is a partial list of how this website can be used to empower you and all those who love America and hope to return our republic to its founding principles...

• Stay current with news and events that truly effect your life.
• Watch, upload and rate videos that either educate or offer solutions.
• Listen to your favorite radio programs including Neighborhood21 Radio with Steve Shenk and   Roger Fredinburg.
• Report YOUR local news on the new Night Watch Radio Program with Roger Fredinburg, Lowell   Ponte and YOU.
• Become part of the People's Media by submitting articles you have written or have found from   other sources. Read and rate articles submitted by other members.
• Create your own blog with links, images and media files and read what others have posted.
• Join an existing forum or create one of your own.
• Teach others the subjects that you know best.
• Become more capable and productive by learning from others.
• Create your own or join special interest groups to share support, knowledge and solutions.
• Take part in or organize your own online classes and seminars.
• Browse upcoming events by subject, date or location.
• Add your opinion to member created polls or create a poll yourself to learn the opinions of   other members.
• Search for and communicate with other members based on mutual interests, location, age,   religion, political ideology and various other criteria.
• Become part of a new economy. Buy, barter and sell through the Neighborhood21 Classifieds.
• Find essential survival and preparedness items in the Neighborhood21 Store.
• Invite your friends and family to join our neighborhood.
• Use and combine the various tools to create something new and useful for other members.

Log in to the Video portal (There is a known bug that sometimes makes it necessary to login to the Video portal more than once. Please be patient as we find a solution.)

From the sub-navigation bar, select "Upload". You will be directed to the Video Upload Page. If your video is to be uploaded from your computer, simply enter the information into the Title, Description and Tags fields, select up to three channels and click "Submit".

If you want to upload a video from YouTube, click "Upload YouTube" from the secondary sub-navigation bar. Enter the URL of the YouTube video and click "Submit". You will see a horizontal barber pole indicating the upload is in progress. When it is complete, you will be automatically directed to a form page (like the one above) with fields for Title, Description and Tags. Most of the information will already be filled in but you can edit the fields if needed. Select up to three channels and click the "Submit" button.

Neighborhood21 News draws on many sources for the most relevant, informative and urgent news articles, including those submitted to the "Voice" section by members. However, the articles that are posted on Neighborhood21 News are selected by the Editor in Cheif, Lowell Ponte.

Articles submitted by members to the "Voice" portal are reviewed daily and the best are included in Neighborhood21 News. By submitting your articles to the "Voice" portal, you can become a reporter for the People's Media. Once Neighborhood21 becomes self-sustaining, there will be financial opportunities for talented and prolific writers.

Posting an article in "Voice" is as simple as one, two, three!

Step One: after you are logged in, go to the "Voice" portal and click "Submit a new story". Enter the URL of the story you are submitting into the "Original news URL:" text box and click "continue".

Step Two: enter the article title, tags, description and summary in the appropriate text boxes and then select a category from the pull-down menu. Finally, you can add or change a "Trackback" URL (this field can be left blank and does not affect the posting). Learn more about Trackback. Click the "Submit Article" button.

Step Three: confirm the details of your submission and click either the "Modify" button to make any changes, or the "Submit story" button to complete the process.

Yes, you are encouraged to write and post your own articles. The more active our members, the quicker we all find solutions to the problems facing us. To submit your own article, simply follow the three steps described in the last question "How do I post an article in the 'Voice' portal?"

The URL that you post will be to a blog page you have created in the "Community" portal of Neighborhood21 or any other existing blog. Your article, photos, media links, etc., will be submitted to Neighborhood21 "Voice" to be viewed and rated by the world.

This is the people's media, there is no centralized control over what gets published which stories go viral. Writing ability, subject matter, and the degree of interest by those viewing and rating your posts are the ONLY factors that will determine readership. Once Neighborhood21 becomes self-sustaining, there will be financial opportunities for talented and prolific writers.

Go to the "Community" portal. In the secondary sub-navigation bar (blue text), you will find a menu entitled "My Apps", mouse over the little triangle to the right and select "Blog" from the menu that appears. You will be directed to a screen entitled "My Blog Entries". Click on the "Compose New Entry" link.

Now you can create your blog. Enter your title in the appropriate text box and use the large text area below it to compose your masterpiece. You'll find simple, easy to understand, text formatting tools above the text area as well as icon buttons that allow you to insert and remove links, change text and background colors, insert and edit images and Flash media including videos exported from Flash, insert smileys and other special characters.

If you believe your blog will be read and appreciated by others, please post a link to it in the "Voice" portal of Neighborhood21. Once Neighborhood21 becomes self-sustaining, there will be financial opportunities for talented and prolific writers.

Click on the "Community" portal and enter a keyword in the "Search Community" text box then click "Go". The search engine will return a list of all members who have included that keyword in their profiles. It's a great way to find like-minded members and/or those who live nearby.

In our modern world privacy has become a major concern for many people. Everywhere we turn we are being asked to submit private information. Major corporations target their advertising based on profiles we have created through our purchases, governments at all levels build databases loaded with information that was formerly considered private. In this environment, many are wary of making information about themselves publicly available. For this reason, Neighborhood21 requires nothing more than a username and email address in order to become a member.

This information will never be sold or given to third parties or used for any purpose other than an occassional message from the developers of this site to share important or critical information.

However, you might consider this fact. The corporations and government already have more information about you than you can imagine. Why not make some of that information available to your neighbors for the purpose of connecting with each other.

You can submit as much or as little information about yourself as you wish. The information you submit will allow other members to find you by searching locations, interests, groups, age, political ideology, religious affiliations, etc. For example, someone hoping to find like-minded people in their area might enter the name of a state or town and the search results would yield all members in that area who have included their location in their profiles. You too can search for other members based on the various fields found in the profile pages.

Click on either the "Groups" portal tab or the "Groups" link in the sub-navigation bar (red text) in the "Community" portal.

Next, find the group you want to join and click on the name or the icon for that group. You'll be directed to a page that describes the mission of the group, including any restrictions on membership (such as being a military veteran or a person actively homeschooling one or more children). If you fit the group criteria you can click the "Join this Group" link in the left column. A pop-up window will appear asking if you want to join the group. If you click the "Yes" button, you will be added to the group.

After logging in, click on either the "Community" portal tab or the "Group" portal tab. From there, hold your curser over the little triangle next to the "My Apps" menu in the secondary sub-navigation bar (blue text) and select "Groups". You'll be directed to a page entitled "My Groups".

Any groups you have joined earlier will be listed along with a text link that says "Create New Group". Click that link and you'll be directed to a page of the same name. Enter the name and description of the group you want to create in the appropriate text boxes.

Select a Group Category from the pull-down menu and answer the remaining questions about your new group by selecting radio buttons next to the possible answers. At the bottom of the page, click the "Add Group" button and you'll be redirected to a page where you can add an image to represent your new group.

The image you use for your group should be in ".jpg" (or .jpeg) format and measure 200 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall. When exporting an image in this format, you will have a choice as to image quality. By using an image quality setting of 30 - 50% you will produce a clear image with a file size somewhere between 10 and 20 kilobytes. If you don't have an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop on your computer, you can use a free online image editor. You'll find a good one HERE .

Once your image is prepared, continue with setting up your new group. Click the "Choose File" button and navigate to the image you prepared on your hard drive. Select the image and click the "Upload" button. Once the file has finished uploading, click "Save Changes" and your new group is ready to start accepting members.

Neighborhood21 is still in the beta testing phase. If you're reading this, you're one of the pioneers and we hope you'll help us by reporting any bugs you find. There is a known issue with signing up. It's usually solved by clearing your cache and dumping any cookies related to the neighborhood21 site.

Please write to truebluestar@comcast.net if you are unable to sign up with a new account even after taking the steps suggested here. Thank you.

Freedom of speech is one of the rights we are born with. As long as we don't slander or hurt others with our words, we should be free to speak our minds. This right applies to all forms of communication available on Neighborhood21.

The only censorship that will occur on this site will be the result of members flagging inapropriate content. When articles, videos, images or comments are flagged or considered inappropriate by a majority of the members who view the content in question, the management team of Neighborhood21 will review the flagged content and reserves the right to remove it from the site.

The decision to remove an article, video or other type of content from Neighborhood21 will not be based on whether or not we agree with the opinion expressed. Different and opposing opinions are welcome in our neighborhood.  However, if the content is offensive and not related to the mission of Neighborhood21, it will be removed. Examples might include pornographic written or visual material that offends others without having some redeeming value or relationship to the mission of the site.

Material that promotes violence as a solution will also be removed. However we will NEVER alter hit counts or ratings in an attempt at suppressing information simply because it goes against the mainstream view.