Welcome to the new LocalMotive Project website.

If there's one thing I dislike intensely, it's long hours at the desk, and if you have the web-skills that I have (pretty much zippo!) then creating a website erases days from your life. Snow shoveling never looked so appealing.

But thanks to the help of Ryan (the master) Wiseman, we now have a network/workspace that I think is as good as it comes; at least in terms of what I can work with. No more weight loss ads, fake virus warnings, and incompatibilities with obsolete browsers. Just pure, sweet, collaborative goodness. I hope I haven't spoken too soon.

So, here are a few quick tips to help you navigate and get the most out of this tool. After all, the tool should serve the purpose of getting REAL work done, not prevent it by eating up all of our time.

1. Groups. Groups are the core of this site. There are groups for community transition efforts as well as different project areas. You can join or add a new group anytime. By joining a group, you can receive notification of, and participate in discussions pertaining to the subject matter therein, which brings me to;

2. Discussions. The discussion forums are contained within each group. These are collaborative forums that allow anyone in the group to see and participate in the discussion at will. You will see links around the site called "Follow" and "Stop following". Don't worry, it has nothing to do with stalking. By clicking these links you control what notifications you receive via email from the site. Which brings me to;

3. Your Profile and Page. You can customize your page and your profile settings to receive exactly what you want from the site. You can control who sees what, and message other members directly. Which bring me to;

4. Communication. There are four ways to communicate through the site. Direct messaging, which works like email; discussion forums, which should be used for collaborative group discussions; chat, which can be used for live conversations or for planned online live meetings; and blogging, which is available to every member and can be used if have something particularly inspired to say to the whole network.

5. Resources. These pages are by no means comprehensive so feel free to add to them if you are so inclined, or send suggestions to myself or another member who can handle the tech side. And finally;

5. For the technically inclined, you can use the site from a mobile device by adding /m after the site URL. This lets you communicate with the site from anywhere...if you're so inclined to be fiddling with a Blackberry while you should be having a life. According to Ryan, the mobile version may also be useful for people with a 1985 connection speed, but I haven't tried it yet.

So this is your space, use it as you see fit. Ryan can likely add more tips, but feel free to ask if you're having trouble navigating.