About This Site: [Sticky] Member? Houseblogger? Community Manager?

The purpose of this thread is to explain the 'Role' designations within the houseblogs.net community. The purpose of classifying users with roles is to:

• Clarify the type of individuals participating in the houseblogs.net community.


• Allow readers to quickly filter blogs, blog entries and profiles by role type.


• Control what content is (and isn't) displayed in the Blogs tab.


• Enable private conversations in the Discussions tab that are only visible to certain roles.

Every registered user is assigned one of the following Roles:

Member - This is the default role for all registered users. Members have full, regular access to the site and all features. Members can add a blog to their profiles page but new blog entries are not displayed in the Blogs tab unless they are granted a special role designation (see below).

Houseblogger - This is a designation for anyone writing a houseblog. A houseblog is any website in which over 70% of the content is about the construction, restoration or repair of the writer's own home, and which links back to Houseblogs.net.

Housebloggers have the same access and privileges as Members, but their blog entries are included in the Blogs tab and they also have access to private 'housebloggers-only' category in the Discussions tab.   Housebloggers are also eligible for participation in the Houseblogs Ad Network--for information about the program and instructions to apply click here (Note: this link only works for individuals registered as Housebloggers with this site.)

Editor - This designation is for members who have editorial responsibilities at houseblogs.net. Editors have the same access and privledges as regular Members, but can also edit the blog and blog entry tags of other users. The blog entries of Editors are included in the Blogs tab and editors also have access to a private 'editors-only' category within the Discussions tab.

Administrator - That's me, and I keep the lights on around here. Roles are assigned by the administrator. New members are typically reviewed and categorized on a weekly basis. You can ask to have your role reviewed by sending a whisper comment to me in reply to this thread (i.e., put 'Aaron' in the 'whisper your comments to' field).

Occasionally, we review the content of houseblogs members and we may change the role of a houseblogger who consistently deviates from our "70% of content about your house" requirement. This is to remain fair to other housebloggers and readers of the site who are expecting home improvement and house-related content in the blog feed. Otherwise, we couldn't call ourselves HOUSEblogs.net. If your site has been parked pending review or your role status has been changed, you can also whisper comment to me in reply to this thread (i.e., put 'Aaron' in the 'whisper your comments to' field) to ask questions. We don't want to be mean blog dictators. We just need to keep the feed on topic.

If you use your blog for more than discussing your house, you also have the alternative to use "categories" (if your blogging software supports them) and just having posts from your house-related categories directed to houseblogs.net.

Thanks everyone!

@mc125r - Hey James, I went ahead and added your blog.  Welcome!