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There are two ways to post a message to a group on Soapbox: publicly, which the world can see, and privately, which only members of the group can see.

You can import your blog posts to Soapbox into Facebook by taking advantage of the news feed your blog automatically generates.

Step 1: Get Your Blog Feed

• Login to Soapbox.
• Click the "My Blog" link in the lefthand column.
• Your blog entries appear in a list. Scroll to the bottom of the list and look for a small orange icon that says "XML". This is the feed for your blog.
• Right-click on the icon and choose the "Copy Link" option (it's "Copy Shortcut" in Internet Explorer, "Copy Link Location" in Firefox and "Copy Link" in Safari).

Step 2: Import into Facebook

• Log in to Facebook.
• Click on the "My Notes" link.
• In the lefthand column, you'll see a "Settings:" area. Click the link that says "Edit import settings".

Podcasts are Internet-based radio shows that can be downloaded and listened to on computers or mp3 players. Although the "pod" in podcast implies a connection to Apple's iPod, that music player is not needed to listen to the shows. There's no single way to get a podcast, though some techniques are easier than others.

Podcast = iPod + Broadcast
Podcasting is a way of publishing audio to the web.

What makes podcasts unique:

• Audio recording and editing is inexpensive and easy to do.
• Content is downloadable, and time-shifted meaning listeners can download
  and listen at any time. This differs from streaming where users must be present
  either in time, at the computer or both.
• Playback is easy and can make use of portable players, desktop or laptop
  computer, and even cd or dvd.

How are podcasts being used in Education:

Soapbox should be an interactive space to post content and solicit feedback. When you create a new post (blog entry, photo or otherwise), the default is to allow read and write access for user comments. If you do not want to allow comments, you may disable this function.

If comments are enabled for a post, you will see "add new comment" or "# comments" just below the post. If you click on this you can read previous comments, reply to a comment or add a new comment to the original message.

1. Click Groups in the top navigation bar to view a list of groups.
2. From the list, click on the name of the group you wish to view or subscribe.
3. The name and description will appear in the right column. Click "request subscription" to join. Depending on the subscription settings you will either have immediate access or will see 'Your subscription request awaits approval' until the group leader approves your request.

1. Select "group" from the Get creative menu.
2. Groups require a Title and Description.
3. Select a topic to categorize the group.
4. Select the appropriate subscription request.

A group provides a home page for like-minded users. There they can post content about their shared interest. Group access is limited to members, but you may subscribe to groups with open subscriptions. Depending on the subscription settings you will either have immediate access or will see 'Your subscription request awaits approval' until the group leader approves your request.

• Create a group
• Join a group
• Posting messages to a group

To post photos to Soapbox, select "acidfree media" from the Get creative menu.

Notice the three tabs:

• Acidfree album: A collection of photographs or digital images.
• Acidfree photo: An individual photograph or image.
• Mass Import: A tool for importing a zipped collection of photos, automatically creating an album in the process.

As a member of the Soapbox community, you may create a new album or add a photo to an existing album. While it is possible, please refrain from posting photos to the <Root> album. However, albums can and will most likely be most appropriately added to the root.

Note: any user may post photos into any public album. If you need photos to be private, first create a group and then create the album and select the appropriate audience.

Any user is able to read public postings. To view group content, make comments or post new content, you must have a valid account and login to Soapbox. Enter your Lafayette network ID and password in the User login box and click the login button.