As we enter the free agent period, with rumors, alleged signings, and all kinds of other shenanigans afoot, Blazers Edge explodes with users, each with ideas, thoughts, and points for discussion. To avoid a giant cacophony that leaves us all a bit deafened and confused, let's try to keep a few things in mind:

1) There is a main page--use it!

Dave and Ben work really hard to keep us up-to-date with the latest happenings in the NBA world. If Hedo so much as blows his nose, Ben usually is there to link to it. The main page posts that the two of them make are a great place to talk about what's happening. Got a suggestion? A proposal? A thought? Those main page posts are a great place to do it in the form of comments.

2) Links--Lots of great ways to use them!

When you find something on the 'Net that you think would be beneficial for other Blazers Edgers to check out, you can put a link in your comment. Simply highlight the text you want linked, then click the button, and then you can paste in the URL of the website or blog you wish to link to. There's no need to make a fanpost just to share quick links with people--Ben's posts on the main page are a great place to do that.

If it's something that you think REALLY deserves its own post, go ahead and post it as a fanshot. That is, if it is a link or picture or video that would start good discussion but wouldn't quite fit under Ben's daily link post.

A good example would be this fanshot by HurraKane212 about Greg Oden working out with Brian Grant. It isn't really free agent stuff that would go under Ben's main page posting, so he went ahead and made a fanshot linking to the Portland Tribune article. You can also post pictures or even articles from Spanish websites, especially if you're the type who can translate (muchas gracias Amlmart!).

No matter what you decide, avoid plagiarizing--it's wrong AND makes for confusion. Try to identify where you got your info.

3) Fanposts--use sparingly!

Fanposts are a great way to get discussion started on Blazers Edge. Notice the bolded word. The goal of fanposts is to promote good discussion about various topics here on Blazers Edge. Fanposts are a way to START discussion. If the discussion's already going, the best way to get your thoughts and ideas out there is to add on to the existing thread(s).

The Junk Drawer is the off-topic fanpost of the day--so if you have something not directly Blazer-related, please try to avoid posting it via fanposts or fanshots and instead just post it in the Junk Drawer.

If it IS Blazer related and you think it would promote great discussion, by all means--post it! It should be thoughtfully set forth, and should be something that gets people talking. Whether it's 76 words or 2,776, it should promote new discussion. Just use your head--in the case of Hedo Turkoglu and many of the other free agents, there are probably already fanposts to talk in.

When we get 92,092 fanposts on one topic, it makes the sidebar very difficult to navigate. In yesterday's case, you had to navigate around 32 Hedo posts to find something non-Hedo related (ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it was pretty crazy).

There was some great material in those fanposts, but it's better for everyone if we keep things as consolidated as possible.

So, a quick recap

Commets--your friend, especially in the main page posts by Ben and Dave. Links, discussion, analysis, debates--you name it, it probably best fits in the comments section of a main page post. Dave and Ben do a great job keeping current with what's going on in the Blazersphere.

Fanshots--great for links, pictures, and videos that don't quite fit under Ben's posts. Quick-hitting stuff.

Fanposts--great for starting discussion. Again, starting! If you're thinking about making a fanpost, that's great--it'd be swell if you just run a quick check to make sure

1) Isn't already being discussed on the mainpage

2) Isn't already being discussed elsewhere in the sidebar.

In this crazy free agency period, you may want to go to your profile and hit "edit settings" and change your sidebar & mainpage settings to allow more than the standard 10 posts. I have mine set at 50. That way you can see what discussion is already ongoing. I'd also suggest reccing the good stuff and flagging anything that seems like "spam" (i.e. is already posted elsewhere).

As always, Dave and Ben, along with the six discussion moderators, can be reached via email at any time--scroll down to the bottom of any page and you should be able to find our email addresses. If you're new to Blazers Edge or have questions about making fanposts or anything like that, we'd be happy to help you. Just let us know.

Love & thanks,

--Prez