Do you write a blog on a subject that may be of interest to NGO Post readers? If yes, we have now made it easy for you to have your blog posts shared on NGO Post. All you need to do is to add a small piece of code in your blog as described below.

Advantages

• A small button appears on your every blog post that tells whether that article has been shared on NGO Post and how many votes it has received.
• Readers of your article can directly submit to NGO Post by clicking on that button from your blog.
• If your article is already submitted to NGO Post, readers can vote it directly, so that your article is promoted on NGO Post.
• By virtue of being shared at NGO Post, your article is now read by a large number of readers there, making it much more useful. You can also get useful feedback from the NGO Post users.
• Your article on NGO Post links back to your blog, so you can expect an increase in the number of visitors to your blog!

The image below shows how the button may look in your blog post:

Step-by-Step guide to adding NGO Post button in Blogger (Blogspot)

1. Login to your Blogger Dashboard. Under Settings-> Archiving, set the “Enable Post Pages?” to “Yes” and save the settings.

2. Under “Layout”, click the “Edit HTML” tab. Block copy the entire HTML code for your site and save it in a text file as a backup. If anything goes wrong during the process, you can copy it back to go back to your existing configuration.

3. Click the box next to “Expand Widget Templates”. Scroll about two-thirds down the template (or use the Find functionality in your web-browser) to look for the code that reads: <data:post.body/>

4. Replace <data:post.body/> by

<div style='float:right; margin-left:6px;'> <script type='text/javascript'>
submit_url="<data:post.url/>"; </script> <script src='http://ngopost.org/evb/button.php' type='text/javascript'/> </div> <data:post.body/>

5. Click on “Save Template”. That’s all. After this, each of your blog posts should show an NGO Post button.

NGOpost decided to recategorize the posts on the site and hence came up with a better and broader list of categories. 

It all started with the “neglected child” problem. There were some categories in our old list which wasn’t being used for posts and there were other categories which had many stories. So we got to thinking…either there are not enough NGOs working on the “neglected” categories or we were doing something wrong with categorization. Well, as our research showed, it was the latter. Hence, we decided to revamp all the categories, take a deep look at each one of them and keep the once often used and change and broaden the other categories to encompass more stories and yet keep the usability and partition elegant!! Hope we have done it well and that you will thoroughly enjoy posting on each of the categories, stories that have touched you in some way…stories that have changed you in some way! 

The main changes have been the introduction of the categories Alternate Energy, Conflict and Disaster, Food & Water, Human Rights. The previous categories of Arts and crafts is expanded into Arts and Culture, Education into Education and Training, governance into governance and infrastructure. There is an extensive description of what each category is meant to encompass at this page

We hope this set of categories would be good for all the present users and also the many more future users and the great stories and interactions waiting to happen on NGO post! 

Recent Updates

We keep announcing updates on this blog. Recent updates include:

• New feature enhancements and bug corrections
• Redesign of the front page to enable a better overview of NGO Post for new visitors
• NGO Post search toolbar for your web-browser
• Add NGO Post button to your blog to make it easy for your readers to promote your blog at NGO Post

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for entries in this blog, as well as the comments. You can also get an email alert for new posts by subscribing using the box in the left side panel.

Give Feedback

We have created a small survey to learn from your experiences, and to get your feedback for further improving NGO Post. It is really really small (5 questions only), so pleeeeez take a moment to answer it! Take the survey.

Promote NGO Post

NGO Post will become more useful for everyone when user participation increases. You can take some small steps to help us in a big way:

• Tell your friends about NGO Post.
• Display the beautiful NGO Post widget on your blog or website, or add the RSS feed directly.
• Join our Orkut community or Facebook community to promote NGO Post on these networks. If you happen to be a different network as well, you can yourself start an NGO Post community there.
• Like poems? We have one for NGO Post! Feel free to share it!

And don’t forget to make the full use of your user-profiles!

• Provide your contact details in your user-profile, so that someone who has an idea or suggestion for you can contact you.
• Add an avatar image in your profile - make yourself more visible on NGO Post!
• Look at the other users’ profiles to connect with them, and to see what have been sharing, liking and discussing.

You can now search for stories on NGO post right from your browser, without having to go to ngopost.org. The NGO Post search toolbar for your browser will sit next to the address field, along with other search engines (like Google, Wikipedia) if you have any installed.

Supported browsers: Firefox & Internet Explorer

Get NGOPost Search for your browser’s search box here

It just keeps getting better and better! NGOpost has a new look now. The front page has a very snazzy new look for guest visitors! Just to keep them coming. Once you login in and become a part of the movement to help, as a logged in user, you will see the same user interface that you loved so much.

Many more changes have been made to make the site more user-friendly. ( …as though, you guys don’t love it already!!) There are no more broken links from URLs in the editorials and posts on the site. Any website url within a post will become a hyperlink to the webpage.

User icons and user names listed in their posts will directly link to their user profiles unlike earlier with options on a side menu to go to their profile. Also the edit story links directly to the story editor page rather than like earlier, with options on a side menu. Parul already commented about this in the previous blog, but just to say it again, the subscriber comments will be emailed to the author of the post by default as the box for this option is ticked by default in the “post a story” page.

Story summaries have only plain text now, unlike earlier where hyperlinks were allowed. This helps to avoid broken links and also less clutter on the main page.

On the publicity front, we have been contacting individuals and bloggers as well as many NGOs to contribute to the posts. The user count on NGO post has been steadily increasing. It would be great if you could ask your friends to contribute to the posts too. Atleast if they visit the posts, they would think of something that would help somebody, some NGO working with challenges in another country, another town!

Cheers everyone! It has been great to see you all visiting and all the great activity on the site. Keep those great posts coming to help this platform help you help others!

The NGO-post team has been working to make the users feel more at home when they visit the site. We are trying to get NGO post delivered to your virtual doorstep (mail inbox!!). Some new features on the site helps users keep track of stories and follow-ups right from their mail ids.

Updates have been made to the site to make it more interactive and user-friendly. An option to receive an email about any comments on posted stories to the member’s email address has been added. Any user posting a story on the site can check on a box which allows the website to mail the member whenever someone comments on the story posted by the member. Members who have posted stories already can also update their stories to receive a mail about the comments posted on those stories! The member has to visit the link to edit the story and at the end of the page, there is a check box that needs to be clicked on to activate this feature!! Hope all of you will love this!!

We are working on making this an option for any member of the site, to receive mails about comments on any story. This would reduce the effort of the member to follow up any story and also keep the member up-to-date with any addendum to stories/articles they are interested in.

Well, keep those eyes and ears open, folks…For NGO-Post is coming with more and more features to make you help yourself and every one in the community better and faster!!

We have paid internship opportunities available for computer geeks, and for social-work enthusiasts for the summer of 2008. Please send an email to nitin -at- ngopost.org if you are interested. Details follow:

Opportunity 1: Calling all Net-nerds! Be a part of a young social enterprise this summer.

About Us:

NGOPost.org is a website for sharing information and ideas about social welfare initiatives, and facilitating change through collective effort. NGO Post is run by a a team of IIT alumni with a long standing interest in technology and social enterprise, based in US and India. It is a non-profit effort and our motivation is to use our experience and skills to help positive developments in the society.

We are applying Web2.0 ideas for bridging the information gap that exists in the area of social work. The website is based on an open-source platform and there are a number of additional features that we would like to develop on top of it. While the current team members are working on several directions such as international outreach, funding, marketing & media, youth engagement etc, we also need a dedicated team member who can focus on advanced feature development. This is where you come in! You will work closely with Nitin Gupta, Co-founder and Director, Technology at NGO Post.

Requirements

We need someone with good programming skills and hacking aptitude. You must have some experience with web-programming. Experience with PHP is desirable, although not essential as you can pick it up quickly if you satisfy the first criterion! Also some understanding of databases (MySQL) is expected. We have a number of cool ideas that we would like to work with you on, and expect that you will commit time for at least 3 full months (equivalently, 400 hours). You are free to work from wherever you like, as long as you have a computer and internet connection. You will receive a stipend depending on the results delivered (Rs 4,000 to 6,000 per month).

Why work with us:

4. Earn some pocket money every month (we can also provide a certificate on succesful completion of the project).
3. Learn web-programming skills along the way and see how they are used in the real-world applications.
2. Be an early team member of NGO Post and experience what it means to be part of a young social enterprise.
1. Make an impact! Together, we will help solve some of the biggest social issues faced by people around the world.

Opportunity 2: Calling all social-work enthusiasts! Be a part of a young social enterprise this summer.

About Us:

NGOPost.org is a website for sharing information and ideas about social welfare initiatives, and facilitating change through collective effort. NGO Post is run by a team of IIT alumni with a long standing interest in technology and social enterprise, based in US and India. It is a non-profit effort and our motivation is to use our experience and skills to help positive developments in the society.

We are applying the latest internet technologies for building a strong community and bridging the information gap that exists in the area of social work. The current team members are working on several directions such as technical development, funding, marketing & media, youth engagement etc - your role will be to help with getting in touch with international NGOs inviting them to participate in NGO Post discusssions, and adding stories about global social activities on the site. You will work closely with Parul Gupta, Co-founder and Executive Director at NGO Post, based in Bangalore.

Requirements

All we need is the passion to make a difference! Good communication skills will come in handy. Though Bangalore is preferred, you are free to work from wherever you like, as long as you have a computer and internet connection. A monthly stipend will be arranged depending on the results delivered. Time commitment is also flexible - from 4 to 8 hours a day for 2-3 months and if things work well for both of us, we’d love to have you in our core team!

Why work with us:

4. Earn some pocket money every month (we can also provide a certificate on successful completion of the project).
3. Spread powerful ideas and network with changemakers around the world.
2. Be an early team member of NGO Post and experience what it means to be part of a young social enterprise.
1. Make an impact! Together, we will help solve some of the biggest social issues faced by people around the world.

We have created an elegant scrolling widget to display the Popular Stories from NGO Post on your blog or website.

To add this widget to your blog/website, just add the following code wherever you want the widget to show up:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertPanel.js?panelId=7cd573e1-b0cf-4256-802c-ff8f6b3fb6eb"> </script><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://runtime.widgetbox.com/syndication/track/7cd573e1-b0cf-4256-802c-ff8f6b3fb6eb.gif"/>

Blogger

Go to Customize -> Layout -> Add Page Element -> HTML/Javascript Add to Blog -> Paste the above widget code in the Content box and save.

The following platforms don’t seem to support Javascript, but you can add the NGO Post RSS feed directly without the widget.

Wordpress

Go to Dashboard -> Design -> Widgets -> RSS Add. A new widget box will appear on the right - click Edit. Put http://ngopost.org/rss.php as the feed address.

Orkut

In the Left-side panel, Click on “edit” just next to “Apps”, then click on “My Feeds”, and enter http://ngopost.org/rss.php as a new URL to add.

Facebook

Add the application “Simply RSS” (http://apps.facebook.com/simplyrss). Select “Enable field on profile”, and “Do not display time” options, and click on Add.

Keep up-to-date with social work
Learn, get inspired, don’t be a jerk!
It’s where news is crispy as toast
NGO Post, NGO Post!

You report stories, you rate them too
The good ones remain, you throw out goo!
It’s where your participation matters the most
NGO Post, NGO Post!

Stories to discuss, ideas to share
Actions to follow on opportunities there!
It’ll act as your collaborations host
NGO Post, NGO Post!

If you are an NGO, share you deeds
Want volunteers? post your needs!
It’ll be the site you love the most
NGO Post, NGO Post!

http://ngopost.org

Who said geeks can’t be poets! But geek is as geek does, even to poetry Please feel free to use this while spreading the word about NGO Post.

Imagine this:

You: Check out NGO Post dude.. it’s an awesome way to keep up with ongoing social welfare initiatives! Nice, feature-packed and easy to use website, very Web 2.0′ish. I love it.

Dude (your friend): NGO Post? lemme see what they’ve got.. hey… they don’t even have a blog! how do you even communicate with them?

And you have no place to hide your face. Well, now you do! NGO Post has a blog, to save your grace

Besides as a grace-saver, we will use this blog to communicate with you any new plans or features for NGO Post, or simply any discussion related to NGO Post. You already have a way to provide feedback on the website; this blog will be the place for us to talk to you about what new things we are planning for NGO Post and get your feedback on them. Your views matter to us, so please don’t be shy in speaking out.
And don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for entries in this blog, as well as the comments.

Happy NGOPosting!

Parul & Nitin