My Town Hall Help

My Town Hall's Community Forums and Best Practices Blog are available for registered users only. Please see User Registration & Logins Help page for more help on how to register and log in.

The Community Forums and Best Practices Blog links on My Town Hall page are locked and unavailable to users who are not logged in. Once you have logged in, both links will become active on the page and also on the left navigation menu.

Community Forums

Forums Index

The community forums default page shows the forum index with each forum sorted by category. The forum index lists forums within each category, along with how many topics and posts are in each forum. The Last Post column also indicates the username of the individual who most recently posted in each forum, including the date and time of the post.

Editing Profile Information

Once registered, users may also edit their My Town Hall profile information. Please use the Forum/Blog Profile page located under the My Town Hall Account Settings page.

Posting a New Topic

To post a new topic, users must first select a forum. Click on "New Topic" at the top of the Topic list. On the Editor page, enter a subject and content for your topic entry. Click "Submit" to add your topic to the forum.

Posting a Reply

To post a reply, select a topic. Click on "Post Reply" to add your response. The Quick Reply box, located at the bottom of the most recent response, can also be used to reply to a topic provided you do not require the ability to modify your font or text.

Editing a Post

To edit a post, click on "Edit" at the bottom right-hand side of the post. On the Editor page, specify a Reason for Edit, make the change, then click "Submit".

Best Practices Blog

Blog Index

The main page of the Best Practices Blog lists entries by categories. The number of articles in each category is listed at the top in parentheses next to the category names. Blog entries in each category are listed by title, last updated date, author, and number of hits (the number of times the blog entry has been viewed).

Submitting a Blog Entry

To submit a blog entry, click "Submit Blog Entry" on the left navigation menu. On the Editor page, enter a title and content for your blog entry. You should select a category for your entry or it will be filed as uncategorized by default. You have the option to enter an author alias (how your name appears on the published entry) and the date range in which you wish your entry to be published.

The metadata section allows you to include keywords or phrases that describe your entry. Entering this metadata will allow an easier search for your blog entry by other registered users.

To submit your blog entry, scroll to the top of the page and click “Save.” An OEA moderator will review your submission, and it will be posted once it is approved.

Editing a Blog Entry

To edit an entry once it has been posted, click on the link to your entry in the blog list, and then click on the paper and pencil icon in the top right-hand corner of the entry. You may only edit articles that you have authored.