How to write in iMechanica

Now that you know why you should post in iMechanica, you want to know how.

Register for a free account. To post in iMechanica, you must become an Authenticated User by registering for a free account. To register, you will need a user name and an email account. Your user name will appear every time you post. Consequently, you may want to use your full name, case sensitive and with spacing. For example, you may prefer a user name like Jane W. Smith to a strange looking user name like janewsmith. iMechanica will never abuse your email address, so by all means use your regular email address. After you register, you will receive a password in your email.

Manage your account. You can then log in to iMechanica with the combination of the user name and the password. iMechanica identifies each account by a number. Everything else of an account can be changed. For example, you can change user name, password, email address, personal photo. To do so, click "my account" at the top left corner, then click "edit". You can also add some information about you by clicking "My profile" and "My resume".

In addition to writing in "my account", you can write in several other ways.

Post a blog entry. Your blog is where you post anything you like, a job ad, a conference ad, a research paper, musing of the day. After you log in, click "my blog" at the top left corner, then click "Post new blog entry". Post a blog entry is like sending an email: all you need is a title and a body of text, and then click "Submit" at the bottom of the page.  The rest is optional.  For example, you have options of adding tags, making hyperlinks, and adding images.  You have several ways to cite articles in journals.  You can also attach a file with you blog entry by clicking "File attachments" beneath the posting window. Learn more about what happens after you post a blog entry.

Post a forum entry. If you have a question about iMechanica or mechanics, You may post your question in a forum. Another iMechanician will be delighted to answer you. Of course, you are most welcome to answer questions raised by others. To post your question, click "forum" at the top of iMechanica, and then click "Post a new forum topic". The rest is the same as posting a blog entry.

Post an image. You can upload images to iMechanica by clicking "add images" beneath any posting window. Learn more about how to add images.

Post a comment. Below each entry of blog, forum, or image , there is a window for you to post a comment. If an entry already has some comments, you can choose to post a comment either on the original entry, or on an existing comment. To comment on the original entry, use the window at the bottom of all existing comments. To comment on an existing comment, click "reply" at the bottom of the exiting comment. More about posting a comment.

Additional tips for writing.

• You can always first write your post as a Word file, and then paste into iMechanica. To archive good formatting, click a button with the "W" icon in the tool bar of the posting window, and paste your entry to a pop-up window, then click "Update".
• For people who like to write online in the posting window, Firefox 2.0 offers inline spelling check.
• For people who know HTML, there is a HTML button in the tool bar of the posting window. You can also use the button with the "T" icon to write unformatted text.