INTRODUCTION
It's important to monitor the progress of project implementation through scheduled reporting. It also helps to learn what's happening at other sites, as well as sharing your own experience as communications facilitator. But, more importantly, it's not always easy trying to facilitate a community process; sometimes it helps just to know that somebody else cares.
The best networking, of course, is face-to-face meetings. Communiocation for Survival and Sharing Our Future, for example, have supported group sessions for training and networking purposes.
But in rural Atlantic Canada it's not always possible to meet because of the climate, distance and expense. Fortunately we live in a time when computer communications provide an alternative. Ryakuga Tutorials are designed to make sure it works for you. If you have problems, email support@ryakuga.org
You don't have to pay a fee to have e-mail. If you have access to the internet, fire up the browser (Netscape or Explorer) and go to the site - http//www.hotmail.com - and follow the directions to get your own free e-mail account.
It's a good idea to check your mail each day and send a quick message to other facilitators and the district coordinator. Make sure that you reply to every message. Also use e-mail to send your regular reports (as well as posting to the board).
Once you fire up your browser, type in the address -
www.glinx.com/~ryakuga/sharing/sharing.html
When you arrive at the page, simply follow directions to post your message.
A discussion board is set up in threads. That is, you can either post a new message on a new topic - or you can post a follow up and follow the thread of a previous message.
If the line goes dead while you are writing your message, simply finish writing and then go online again to post your message.
You can also paste and copy larger messages in the window. This is the best way to post your monthly reports.
When you post a message and go back to the main page, you may not see your message there. Don't re-post the message. Instead press the RELOAD button in your browser's menu bar.
The discussion board will work best if everybody picks a time each week to post a message. Don't worry about being too serious; it's your forum. Use it socially and then when problems do arise, it will be more likely to be of use.
Bookmark the page in your browser so it's less work to access. You can also drag the bookmark to your desktop so all you have to do is double click an icon.
Each facilitator is requested to post to the board at least once a week.
You're invited to check it out whenever you like. But it's not that difficult to set up your own page and each facilitator is required to maintain (and post monthly reports to) a local page. Your page will be linked to the community media site.
If you fire up your browser (again) you can go to - http://geocities.yahoo.com/home- and follow directions to register for your own site. It's free although you will have to display advertising banners on your page.
Geocities has its own dedicated software so all you have to do is follow directions. And, if you have any problems, the coordinator will be glad to help.
The following instructions for updating your website assume that you have already set up a web page account with geocities/yahoo and already pasted in the web page file that you received from the coordinator.
1. After you write your report in word processing software select edit in the menu bar and click select all.
2. Select edit and click copy.
3. Open up the windows text program, Notepad.
4. Select edit and click on paste.
5. Insert the code <BR><BR> at the end of each paragraph.
6. Select edit and click select all.
7. Select edit and click copy.
8. In your browser go to http://ca.geocities.yahoo.com/filemanager (save this url to favorites).
9. Select the index.html box.
10. Click on edit
11. Insert the mouse cursor to top of the text. "What did I do?"
12. Press the return key twice.
13. Select edit and click paste.
14. Click on save at bottom of page.
15. Check your web page url.