Want to be a Taleswapper?

Becoming a contributor to The Taleswappers’ Porch is fairly simple. From the home page of the Porch, there is a link in the sidebar to register. Enter the username you’d like to use and your e-mail address and submit the form. You’ll receive a password via e-mail which you can use to log in. (Don’t forget to change your password from the initial default you were given.) Then, send an e-mail to admin@taleswappers.com, and one of our administrators will upgrade your account so you can post your own stories to The Taleswappers’ Porch.

Okay, so now I’m a contributor. How do I share a story?

The first step is to go to the home page and click the login link in the sidebar. Enter your name and password, and you’re in. There is a link at the top for writing your story. Just click it and go! Rather like other blogging tools, there is a visual editor and an HTML editor, and you can flip between the two to add any fancy formatting you want. If you’re not ready to publish your story, then use the “Save and Continue Editing” or “Save” (to work on later) button. And when you’re all finished, click the “Publish” button, and your story will be posted at the top of the blog.

One other quick note: the assumption is that any stories shared are non-fiction.  If you post a piece of fiction, please be sure to use the FICTION category to label it.

Do I have to write actual stories? What if I want to write about story?

We’ve started a convention for this. WordPress gives us both “posts” and “pages.” Posts are regular ordinary blog posts, arranged in reverse chronological order. They eventually scroll off of the home page when enough posts accumulate, but each one can be accessed through its own web address. Pages live forever. They appear on the home page as links in the sidebar, and do not expire or scroll away. Each has its own web address, and each still allows for conversation to take place in comments.

On The Taleswappers’ Porch, we share our stories in “posts.” When we want to write about story, about the importance of narrative, we publish these as “pages.” If you forget, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big hairy deal, just a convention.

Why is my name not in the Contributors list in the sidebar?

Right now, the administrators have set up links for any contributors who have posted stories. When we tried to set up a link for registered contributors who haven’t yet shared a story, we ended up with ugly error messages - yuck! The administrators are keeping a sharp eye out for new stories, and after you post a story, we will get you all linked up in the Contributors list.

I have a question that isn’t answered here.

Our friendly administrators would be happy to answer any other questions you have about contributing here. Send your question to admin@taleswappers.com and they’ll send back an answer within a day or two (usually much sooner than that).