Using This Site

The page About Dance Advantage offers details about how I hope this site will be utilized by dance students, teachers, and parents.

This is a tutorial on making the most of this site.

In the Sidebar (right):

Subscriptions:

There are two ways that you can receive updates to this blog automatically. This saves the time of having to check the blog for updates.

Subscribe using a reader. If you aren’t sure what a reader is there are some links on the Home page to help you out. If you read a lot of blogs (or want to) this a great way to keep track of them all. Google Reader is a great free service. I use it!
Sign up to receive newsletter e-mails that send updates to your inbox. By clicking here you can sign up to receive updates, not only at your e-mail address but in other online services. Fill out a little about yourself, and you’re on your way. You’ll never miss another article, tip, or resource! Plus, you’ll get advance notice of news, giveaways, and special events.

Recent Posts – Pretty much what it sounds like. Recent posts are a quick way to look at titles of the most recently posted articles.
10 Questions – Just a quick survey that lets me know more about my readers, and allows you to suggest improvements!
Dance Advantage Interactive – This is Dance Advantage’s own social network – a community for dancers, dance teachers, parents, and enthusiasts to interact. Think facebook for dancers. Join Now!
Quick Topics – All posts are listed under category labels. These labels float around the box. The font size is relative to the number of posts in that category (i.e. bigger = more). Select a category and you will be taken to a new page with access to all the posts within that category (Click -Next Page- at the bottom to view older posts).
Lijit Search – Unlike the search box at the top of the page, Lijit allows users to search all of my “networks” for the desired keyword. In other words, if I’ve posted something on Twitter or via my Shared items on Google Reader, these will come up in your search results as well!
Twitter and other Social Media – Here are my latest posts on Twitter (I share additional links there that I don’t necessarily place on the blog and I interact directly with friends and readers). You can click on the Twitter bird to find my page and follow me. The counter shows how many people are currently “following” my posts there. Also, under Social Media are additional places you can find Dance Advantage. For even more, check out the Contact page.
Guides and Collections – These are posts in a series or on a similar subject that is perhaps not large enough for its own category. This is just another way to navigate the blog and find relevant information.
Readers Discuss shows the most recent comments on the blog. I encourage you to comment on posts and share your own knowledge or questions with me and other readers.
What I’m Reading – I read a lot of blogs! This is where I share other articles and posts that I think may interest my readers. This is a fast way to find some other great content online. If you don’t want to go to the site all the time, follow me on Twitter! Everything I share is posted as a “tweet.”
News & Reviews – I also write about and review dance, primarily in Houston, TX where I am based. Even if you are not in Houston, you can read about some of the exciting works being performed and created here and elsewhere in the dance world.
Quote of the Day, Top 10, and other Extras – Just for fun!

Home Page

Navigation Bar:

About and Author – Lots of stuff about the site and about me (Nichelle).
Archives – Here you can look up posts by month and by category, and see all pages and 50 most recent posts.
Links – A whole lot of links to some great blogs and sites! They are split into categories for easier reference. Hover over a link for a bit about what that site offers. Click on the list category to collapse that group of links.
Pages – These are links to pages that exist outside of the constantly fluctuating blog entries and include this page as well as some helpful guides and resources.
Contact – Write a message, question, or comment for my eyes only in the box and it will be sent to yours truly. I respond to all messages as soon as possible. I can be found at various locations all over the web. Click on any of the linked pictures to find me at that location. Many of these are social media sites like Facebook or Twitter!
Blogview – One of the great things about a weblog, or blog, is that it features information that is constantly updated, unlike “static” web pages. On Dance Advantage new articles, tips, and musings are added frequently in chronological order with the newest posts first. If you’d like to view the blog in this order, see the Blogview.
Search – The Search box is located at the top of the page in the navigation bar and can be used to search for keywords on the site.

Subnavigation Bar:

This bar lists the blog categories. This is an excellent way to find what you are looking for or browse posts. Most are self-explanatory but hovering your mouse over the title will display a more in-depth description of what the category contains as well as reveal any subcategories.

Featured Categories:

Dance Advantage is written for dance students, teachers, and parents. Therefore, I have placed YOUR categories directly on the home page. Each box displays the most recent posts in that category. To discover more, simply click on ‘Read more posts…’ at the bottom of the box. Click on the post title to read the entire article

Commenting

Unlike regular websites, blogs are interactive! Commenting on a post is a wonderful way to build a community of readers because visitors or subscribers to the site can share ideas, ask questions, and even disagree with what I’ve written. I invite your thoughts and suggestions! So, please take a moment and comment on what you’ve read.

Don’t want to miss a comment? You can subscribe to the feed by clicking Comments at the very top of the site. This will add the feed to your reader (see subscribing details above).

How to comment — If you are reading an article, the comment field will be at the very bottom, look for “Speak Your Mind.” If there are already comments on the post, they will appear above the field. If your comments are not related to a post, you can always Contact me directly.

**PLEASE NOTE** I will delete any comment that does not relate to the article, or contains inappropriate, unnecessarily degrading, or inflammatory language. As some of my readers are young people, I ask all those commenting to conduct themselves in a suitable manner. I will not cater to those who cannot play nice!

Show Some Love

If you like the blog, I encourage you use the Share This Post button below each article. You may share with those in you email address book, input email addresses directly, or a share on a wide-range of social networking/bookmarking sites. These help spread the word, growing a community of readers.

A Note on Copyright

All articles on this blog are protected under copyright laws. Please Do Not re-publish articles on your website or elsewhere without my permission! If you would like to share a post or the site with others on your website, the best way to do so is with a link. This gives me credit for the work I’ve put into the posts and allows people to discover for themselves the value of what is offered here. If you have questions about how to appropriately link to the blog, please feel free to contact me.

I hope this tour was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a reply below or contact me… psst! check the navigation bar