[Imc-alternatives] Alternatives IMC text

[Jay]

Hi!

I spent a few hours today poking through the 
Alternatives test site (domain23.info) and 
figuring out what goes where and how.  I put 
together a whole bunch of text to serve as the 
basic building blocks of help information and 
other guidance for users of the site.  i know 
it's a lot, but page through when you have a 
chance.  These are all suggestions of course, and should be improved.

I considered, but then decided against actually 
posting this to the site myself, partially 
because I wasn't sure where to put most of this 
text, partially out of fear of messing something up.

Let's get moving again!!  I know John is swamped 
with planning for big conference he's 
co-organizing that's coming up in a couple weeks 
so he's out of the game until the end of 
March.  How can we proceed until we can rope him back in?
Jay

***
Text to add to the alternatives site:

-- Mission Statement
-- About the Alternatives IMC
-- For the Help Page
-- Text under the Publish/Contribute/Act button
-- Editorial Policy
-- Topic Help information
-- Tag help information
-- Summary help information
-- Plain text editor help information
-- On the Knowledge-base main page
-- On the Network main page
-- About the Editorial Collective
-- Profile page

***

-- MISSION STATEMENT
The Alternatives Independent Media Center is a 
global news and networking site through which 
users both share information about current 
efforts toward creating fundamental change and 
work collaboratively on projects to make change happen in their communities.

-- ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVES IMC
(text for the “about” page)

The Indymedia Alternatives project is a 
globally-organized topic-based independent media 
center that puts a focus on positive steps people 
are taking around the world to create viable 
alternatives to the current social, political and 
economic structures.  It intends to not only be a 
hub for information about these alternatives, but 
a networking hub for the community of those who are actively building them.

The Alternatives site will eventually have three sections:

-- News: an open-publishing SolutionsWire and 
news features about Alternatives projects worldwide
-- Knowledge: a place for sharing practical 
how-to information about how to build these alternatives
-- Network: an area for individuals, 
organizations and networks working toward 
building these alternatives to have home pages, 
to have access to practical tools that will help 
them in their work (wiki project pages so they 
can work together online, a database of wants and 
needs, etc.), and to communicate with one another 
and to develop a community that functions both online and in the real world.

Alternatives IMC organizers come from several 
continents, speak many languages and are involved 
in an inspiring diversity of projects that aim to 
create a better world.  We will post profiles on 
the Networking section of the site as soon as it's working.

Please contact us at 
"imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org" with any questions or comments.

More background information about the 
Alternatives project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
A wikipage with basic information about the 
project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
The Alternatives IMC team communicates via the 
"imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org" list which 
you can join through 
"<http://lists.indymedia.org/>http://lists.indymedia.org".

We are especially looking for people to provide 
and coordinate content and help us develop our 
website code (we currently use Drupal).  Join the 
imc-alternatives list and contribute!

--FOR THE HELP PAGE
(text for the Help page)

Alternatives IMC editorial and technical 
volunteers would love to help you!  As you can 
imagine, Alternatives IMC volunteers are 
over-busy, so before you contact us try to dig 
through the site again to find answers to your questions.

Click here for the Alternatives IMC Editorial 
policy [link to editorial policy].  If you’ve 
done what you can have editorial questions, 
please contact the editorial team at 
<mailto:???????@lists.indymedia.org>???????@lists.indymedia.org.

If you have technical questions, please contact 
the tech team at 
<mailto:???????@lists.indymedia.org>???????@lists.indymedia.org.

As the site develops we will build a Frequently 
Asked Questions file that will provide 
answers.  If you would like to help create that 
file, please contact us at 
<mailto:imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org>imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org. 


More background information about the 
Alternatives project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
A wikipage with basic information about the 
project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
The Alternatives IMC team communicates via the 
"imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org" list which 
you can join through 
"<http://lists.indymedia.org/>http://lists.indymedia.org".

We are especially looking for people to provide 
and coordinate content and help us develop our 
website code (we currently use Drupal).  Join the 
imc-alternatives list and contribute!

***

-- EDITORIAL POLICY
(To be linked through the “what to post and where 
to post it” information files)

The Alternatives Independent Media Center is a 
global news and networking site through which 
users both share information about current 
efforts toward creating fundamental change and 
work collaboratively on projects to make change happen in their communities.

The Alternatives IMC editorial team ensures that 
the Alternatives IMC site is a welcoming, vibrant 
and empowering space for news about alternatives 
to current social, political and economic 
structures and networking among people who create those alternatives.

The SolutionsWire (our open publishing newswire) 
and our features column focus on reports about 
individuals, organizations and thier projects 
worldwide, large and small, that are working 
toward a better world.  It is a place for news 
and ideas from the forefront of communities that 
strive to make positive change.

The editorial team will strive to keep this focus 
and will therefore move articles that don't fit 
within our scope of content into our "hidden 
articles" area.  [Put link to "hidden articles" 
there.]  The articles will not disappear, but 
they will not be available on the front pages of the site.

We are working on a system to enable the hiding 
of articles to be transparent and give those who 
post a chance to challenge the hiding of any 
articles.  Please check back here for more 
details as this process develops.  Currently the 
Alternatives IMC editorial team communicates 
through the imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org 
mailing list.  Please e-mail us at 
"imc-alternatives at indymedia.org" with any 
content-related questions.  (Put "[content]" in the subject of your message.)

The Alternatives IMC is not a place for hate 
speech and discrimination and will hide such 
postings and comments. The editorial team can 
hide comments that appear to be posted just to 
provoke and insult other users.  Please do not 
post copywritten content without 
permission.  (You may post a blurb, excerpt or 
summary from a copywritten article with a link to the full article.)

The Alternatives IMC will not make changes to any post, with three exceptions:
    * broken links can be fixed if the mistake is 
something obvious like a typo in the URL
    * sensitive personal data, like addresses can be replaced by "xxx"
    * spelling mistakes in our own features and translations.

Currently the editorial team of the Alternatives 
IMC creates features for the center column of the 
main news page and promotes articles from the 
SolutionsWire to the features column.  We are 
working on ways to enable all site users to participate in this process.

If you would like to be part of the Alternatives 
IMC editorial team please volunteer by joining 
the "imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org" e-mail 
list through "<http://lists.indymedia.org/>http://lists.indymedia.org".

-- TEXT UNDER THE PUBLISH/CONTRIBUTE/ACT BUTTON
(Put this text under the button)

The Alternatives IMC is an interactive project 
that will only thrive if you participate.  Click 
the "ACT" button to post your news about viable 
alternatives to current political, social and 
economic systems.  [Link to ‘What to post and where to post it’]

Text for “What to post and where to post it”:

The Alternatives IMC has several places to post 
information about inspiring work that is 
happening around the world to build a better world.

-- the SoutionsWire:
This is the Alternatives IMC’s open-publishing 
newswire.  Post news articles and analysis here.

The Alternatives IMC loves to see articles about 
work being done to create fundamental social, 
economic and political change!  We are also 
interested in relevant ideas or analysis that 
will inspire site visitors to rethink their world 
and act to change it.  There are many places 
online to post articles about marches, protests, 
campaigns and other types of activism that react 
to failures of current systems but aren’t 
directly related to creating alternatives to 
them.  Take look here [link to cities list] for 
ideas about where to post those articles within the global Indymedia network.

Please do not fully repost articles that you did 
not write without permission.  You may post a 
summary of an article or a blurb from an article 
with a link to the original article online.

For more information, read our Editorial Policy [link].

-- the Knowledge base:
Post information to the Knowledge base that 
provide practical instruction about how to build viable alternatives.

-- Network:
Go to the network section of the Alternatives 
site to post an individual profile or a profile of your organization.

-- TOPIC HELP INFORMATION
(Put this link next to “topics” in the content posting form.
“What are topics and why use them?”)

Text for “what are topics and why use them” page:
The Alternatives IMC has chosen to use a list of 
topics developed by the Synergy Center 
(<http://www.evolve.org/pub/doc/synergy_sectors.html>http://www.evolve.org/pub/doc/synergy_sectors.html) 
as the basic way to organize information on the site.
The Synergy Center’s framework [post image: 
<http://www.evolve.org/images/evolve/sc_landing_wheel.jpg>http://www.evolve.org/images/evolve/sc_landing_wheel.jpg] 
illustrates the interconnectedness of the many 
different ways people work to build a better 
world.  For more information about what fits into 
each of the topics look below.

You may choose up to ??? topics for your 
article.  To choose each topic, put your mouse 
over one of them and press the CTRL key.  Release 
the CTRL key when the topic highlights.  Move 
your mouse to the next topic you’d like to choose and repeat.

Topics on the Alternatives site are different 
than “tags.”  Tags are words site visitors use to 
describe their own articles.  “Topics” are a set 
of general subjects the Alternatives IMC site 
editorial collective have chosen to provide a 
framework for organizing information on the 
site.  The Alternatives site will use both tags 
and topics to help you find relevant articles as 
well as people who are organizing around particular issues.

For more information about Tags, click HERE.

The Twelve Alternatives IMC site Topics:

Art & Culture
“Creative expression, sports, ethnicity and the 
diversity of human societies.” Examples: Developing multicultural societies.

Environment & Infrastructure
“Natural ecosystems, human habitats, and the 
innate interplay of these core aspects of human-earth existence.”

Examples: Alternative urban planning, public 
transportation/car-shares, bike-shares, car-free cities.

Healing & Wellness
“From the leading edge of Western medicine to the 
ancient wisdom of indigenous healing practices, 
contributing to the fulfillment of a healthy, 
balanced mind-body-spirit relationship.”

Relationships & Empowerment
“Families, couples, children and youth, 
counseling and coaching for healthy communication 
and clear direction and opportunities in one's 
life.” Examples: non-traditional families, intentional communities.

Energy, Food, & Water
Attending to the basic life-support needs of 
humanity and the resources of the 
Earth.  Examples: renewable energy, sustainable 
agriculture, permaculture, sustainable land management.

Economics & Business
Trade, commerce, and the exchange of goods and 
services within and among cultures and as a 
global community.  Examples: local currencies, 
participatory economics, co-operative and collective organizing.

Science & Technology
Understanding the workings of nature and applying 
this knowledge in developing innovations that 
improve the life-conditions of humanity.

Communications & Media
The Internet, television, radio, books, 
magazines, satellites, PDAs, etc: how (and what) 
we communicate across town and around the 
world.  Examples: community-organized media institutions.

Governance & Law
Policies and legal structures that guide the 
pursuit of humanity's quest towards equitable 
social evolution. Examples: direct democracy, 
communal governing and tribal structures.

Social Justice & Security
Human rights, peacekeeping, appropriate defense, 
emergency relief: bringing balance and safety to 
society.Examples: non-violent peaceforce, restorative justice.

Learning & Education
 From pre-school to graduate school, and beyond 
to life-long learning.  Examples: democratic 
schools, unschooling and homeschooling.

Spirituality & Religion
The many facets of our metaphysical and divine 
experience as humans in a living cosmos.

In the Synergy Center we are using the 
12-around-1 framework both functionally and with 
the understanding that such a constellation of 
entities (in this case, sectors of society) 
offers an innate natural foundation upon which to 
build a "whole system (of society) whose sum is 
greater than and unpredictable from the sum of 
the parts when taken separately," the definition of synergy.
-- TAG HELP INFORMATION
(Put this link next to “tags” in the content 
posting form: “What are tags and why use them?”)

Tag help text:
Tags are words you can use to indicate the main 
subject or subject of the information you’re 
posting.  Tagging your article will allow the 
Alternatives site to know what kind of 
information is in your post and enable other site visitors to find it.

You may list many tags -- just separate each word 
or phrase with a comma.  For example, if you’re 
posting an article about how to build a drip 
irrigation system for an urban garden, you can 
list tags like “irrigation, urban gardening, food, sustainability.”

If you’d like examples of tags and how they help 
make information on the site easier to find, look 
on the right side of the front page of this 
site.  You will see something called a “tag 
cloud” with different tags represented in larger 
or smaller text depending on how frequently site 
visitors have used them in their posts.  Click on 
one of the tags and you will find a list of 
articles that are tagged with the same words.

Tags on the Alternatives site are different than 
“topics.”  Tags are words site visitors use to 
describe their own articles.  “Topics” are a set 
of general subjects the Alternatives IMC site 
editorial collective have chosen to provide a 
framework for organizing information on the 
site.  The Alternatives site will use both tags 
and topics to help you find relevant articles as 
well as people who are organizing around particular issues.

For more information about Topics, click HERE.

-- SUMMARY HELP INFORMATION
(Put this link next to “summary” in the content 
posting form: “Why should I summarize my article?”)

Summary help text:
Provide a summary of the article here that is not 
more than ?? characters.  This summary will 
appear on the SolutionsWire as the description of 
your article.  Site visitors will read the 
description and decide whether they want to view 
your article.  Keep your summary brief but snappy!

-- PLAIN TEXT EDITOR HELP INFORMATION:
(Put this link next to “plain text editor” in the 
content posting form: “What is the plain text editor and how will it help me?”)

Plain text editor help text:
Use plain text editor if you want to add your own 
HTML (hypertext markup language) to format your 
post or view the source of your post.

-- ON THE KNOWLEDGE-BASE MAIN PAGE

The Alternatives IMC site is building something 
we're calling the "KnowledgeBase," which will be 
a place for site users to share practical, 
step-by-step advice for how to build a better 
world starting with their own communities.  The 
knowledge base will grow and improve as more 
users become part of the Alternatives community 
and become an  resource for those want to 
generate change.  If you would like to be part of 
the Alternatives IMC Knowledge Base, please 
contact Jay at "jay at fundamentalchange.net".

-- ON THE NETWORK MAIN PAGE

The Alternatives IMC is working toward becoming a 
place for "social justice networking" for both 
individuals and social justice orgainzations so 
they may connect with each other as they make 
change in their communities.  The site will soon 
feature individual and organizational profiles 
and communication tools that will enable 
activists to collaborate with each other both 
locally and globally.  If you would like us to 
contact you when the networking function is 
working so you can post a profile, please e-mail 
imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org

-- ABOUT THE EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE

The Alternatives Indymedia editorial collective 
is composed of volunteers from around the world 
who are interested in helping make the 
Alternatives IMC an empowering and useful 
resource for those who want to make fundamental 
social, economic and political change.
Anyone may post to the site, make comments on 
articles and participate in any discussions or 
forums, but only editorial collective members 
will have the ability to move or hide misplaced 
posts, pick articles to feature and make other 
administrative changes to the site.

The editorial collective communicates through the 
“????????? @lists.indymedia.org” list.  If you 
would like to join the editorial collective 
please send an introduction to the list including 
information about yourself and why you’d love to 
join us on this adventure.  The editorial 
collective will discuss and choose to accept new 
applicants on a regular basis.

Anyone may view the list archives at ?????????

More background information about the 
Alternatives project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
A wikipage with basic information about the 
project can be found at 
"<http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives>http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives". 
The Alternatives IMC general collective 
communicates via the 
"imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org" list which 
you can join through 
"<http://lists.indymedia.org/>http://lists.indymedia.org".

PROFILE PAGE:
(Here are suggestions for information to a user’s profile page)

-- Name
-- Age
-- Photo
-- Geographic Location
-- Fascinating (or not so fascinating) things about me
-- My current projects (describe in text box, and choose topics that fit)
-- My future projects and ideas (describe in text 
box, and choose topics that fit)
-- My homepage, and/or my myspace/facebook page)
-- My blog
-- My Crabgrass username
-- Links to websites that inspire me
-- My favorite feeds
-- My needs
what would make me a more effective organizer?
-- What I can offer
how can I help make others more effective organizers?
-- Friends (cohorts? collaborators? Co-conspirators?)



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