Make PtR better: Write a fanpost

As you surely know, one of the things that makes PtR a especial place is our community. Sure, the guys who write for the front page are all eloquent, knowledgeable and distractingly handsome (especially that J. Gomez guy) but what kept this place going during regime changes and tough spots was you guys, the people reading, commenting and occasionally writing fanposts.

Right now the site is doing great in terms of readership and we have a dedicated staff, a lot of great volunteers and fantastic user-generated content. So why am I bothering you guys again with the whole fanposts thing? Because I would hate for you to miss out on making your experience here better not only for yourselves but for others.

Before going any further I should probably explain to newer Pounders what exactly is a fanpost. The fanposts section is simply the place to share your more elaborate thoughts. I've seen great comments get overlooked because they might be a little to long for the comments section or because they not necessarily relate that much with the content of a post. Similarly, if you see a topic being ignored or you disagree with something others hold to be true, it might be better to expand on those thoughts in one place where they will get noticed rather than posting the same comment every time the subject appears.

When writing and especially reading a fanpost, it's important to understand that this is not meant to be a place only used to write the most complex, comprehensive opinions; that's what the staff is supposed to do. A fanpost might or might not include stats and it could still be valuable and fun to read. If you want to do an analysis of the Spurs' P&R defense, including screen caps and Synergy Sports stats, then great. But if you simply want to make more general comments about the game or write something that is only perpendicularly related to the Spurs, you can simply do that. There is a minimum length allowed for fanposts simply to ensure that the tool is used to share more elaborate thoughts and not just a link to the Trade Machine, but what you write doesn't necessarily have to be long, either.

In reality, you can write pretty much whatever you want as long as you are not plagiarizing or being a jerk. We've had everything on the fanposts section, ranging from an episodic short story about Manu fighting Dracula to stats heavy analysis and even book lists. We also have Loser Threads®, where people hang around and comment on games the Spurs are not even involved in. The idea of the fanpost is to provide the community with a featured place to express itself. And if you write a really good fanpost people can rec it up so it stays visible for longer or we can place it in the front page where your thoughts will get even more exposure.

Thanks to the SBNation dashboard tools, writing fanposts is easy. If you have any doubts about the technical part you can check this delightfully outdated but very helpful FAQ page. If you are wondering how to format them, just take a look at the ones that have already been posted. If nothing else works, ask for advice on a game thread or e-mail me [Editor's note: Feel free to email anyone on the masthead with questions. - jrw] and I'll see if I can help.

The reason PtR has become what it is now is because we have funny, smart, insightful readers that are willing to participate in the discussion instead of sitting on the sidelines. If you prefer to simply lurk, that's certainly OK, but you should probably give commenting a shot. If you like to just comment, that's perfectly fine, too. But if you feel like there is something you can add to the site, the fanposts section is there for you. And I assure you there is people here ready to read and comment on your thoughts.