Please read Let your voice be heard, before continuing. Some material will be repeated and there will be a test at the end.

All right, you've read all the posts, you've done all the searching, you've decided to post your Placemark. Good for you and good for us.

One more small item; Where are you going to post this gem? For now, let's post the placemark in the "Earth Browsing" forum. If you are posting a Reply to an already existing post, Press the "Reply" button while viewing the post and then you can skip to item 6 below.
  1. Start by finding the Forum of your choice.
  2. Click on "Forum List" at the top of any page in the BBS.
  3. Click on the "Earth" Category. (Be sure you don't click 'Earth Moderated')
  4. Click on "Earth Browsing" Forum.
  5. Now we want to start a new topic, so click on "New Topic".

    This window or something very similar should pop up.
  6. From the top down, fill in the blanks. Start with your subject... Make it meaningful. Remember to make the name descriptive, as it will be seen by millions of users around the world. It will be appearing in the "Google Earth Community Layers". These layers are updated about twice per month for any post or reply with a Placemark. "My Place Mark" is a bad name; "RMS Queen Mary", is a good name.
  7. Next are the post icons... for now just leave the default.


    Lrae steps up on

    This is where you display your creative talents. Here is where you make or break your reputation as a Google Earth Explorer. No matter how good the subject of your post, if you can not "Communicate" with the other users on the BBS, your posts will be ignored. Take some time when placing your thoughts upon the electronic parchment that millions of people around the globe will be reading. Before striking the first key, ask yourself, "Why am I posting this information?". As you type, continue that thought process. Take your time as well, you are not in a speed typing contest. If you know you have a spelling problem, get a spell checker and use it. MS Word is a great tool. Compose your post within MS Word, check spelling and grammar, then copy the text and paste it into the BBS. And don't forget the "Google Toolbar", which contains a Spell Checker. If you think something is worth posting, isn't it worth a little extra effort. We have thousands of posters on this BBS who use English as a second language, and their posts have better spelling and grammar than many of our posters who claim English as their primary language. If they can take enough pride in their posts to get it right, why can't we?

    Lrae steps down from his soap box.
  8. We are almost done, just a couple more steps... Now, if you have checked your spelling, checked your grammar, and thought about the possibility of hurting someone's feelings, then you are ready to press the 'Preview Post' button. This is where I discover half of my errors.
  9. Read your post one more time before sending it out to the rest of us. Please! If it has any errors, just scroll up and edit it. When you are sure it's really ready, it is now time to add your Placemark. Click on 'File Manager'.
  10. Remember where you put that Placemark? We did it back in the lesson on Saving Placemarks. We need to find it again, use the "Browse..." button. Once you find the file, click on it and the link appears in the little window, then press 'Add File'.
    And finally, 'Done adding files'. I would preview it one more time.
  11. Ok, now click "Submit"

After a small wait (a longer wait if you are using a modem) you will be returned to the Forum and will be looking at your new post in all its glory. Let's proof it one last time and test the Attachment. Does it take you where you wanted within the Viewer? You can still fix any problems you find, even after you post, even tomorrow, or next week, with the "Edit" button, at the bottom right of your post. But, don't wait too long, remember First Impressions do count. Editing a post is just like creating one, except you start in the middle of the operation.

The Community BBS layers "i" are only updated about twice per month. Which means, your placemark will not appear for up to 2 weeks or more in the Community Layers.

This concludes the basics for posting a Placemark to the BBS. Your score on the final test: "A+" grin
In the next lesson, we will look at creating Overlays.