FAQ - About LiveJournal

LiveJournal is an online journal service with features that allow interaction between users. Registering for an account is free and will give you access to most site features. Additional features are available to paid accounts, which can be purchased at any time during or after account creation.

With a LiveJournal account, you can write entries in your personal journal. You have several options for security levels, ranging from Public entries which any site visitor can read to Private entries which are only visible to you. You can also use the bio and interests sections of your User Info page to express your thoughts. Additional expression of your unique qualities can be accomplished by uploading user pictures to display with your entries, and by customizing the appearance of your journal.

There are several options available for interacting with other users. You can use your Friends page to view recent entries by multiple users at once, which makes it easier to keep up with your favorite journals. Many users allow comments to be made on their entries, which is a great way to start conversations and find new friends. Another way to meet people is by participating in communities, which are group journals in which multiple users can post entries.

Information on these and many other LiveJournal features is available in the rest of the FAQ section at http://www.livejournal.com/support/faq.bml.

All inquiries from the press should be directed to press@livejournal.com.


FURTHER READING

How do I create an account? How do I get started?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=104

What are the different account types?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=38

LiveJournal News
http://www.livejournal.com/news.bml

LiveJournal.com, a website and online community built around personal journals, was created by young computer science major Brad Fitzpatrick in March 1999. He transformed a database-driven method he'd been using to update his own journal since 1998 into a Web-based application that his friends could also use. It was an immediate success, and soon became a bigger website than a single person could easily handle.

As a result, a small paid staff and a team of volunteers working with LiveJournal's creator have transformed LiveJournal into a Webby Award-winning site used by people worldwide. Today, LiveJournal still relies heavily on volunteer efforts but also has a growing number of staff members.

The site is an open source software development project. This means that anyone can use the same software that powers the site and that anyone can suggest improvements. It has been expanded to allow easy creation of journals, weblogs, and even interest-based online communities.

LiveJournal's parent company, Danga Interactive, was acquired by Six Apart, manufacturers of blogging software, in January 2005. It is run out of Six Apart's San Francisco offices as a unique division within the Six Apart product family.


FURTHER READING

Six Apart
http://www.sixapart.com

LiveJournal Senior Staff
http://www.livejournal.com/press/staff.bml

Site Contributors
http://www.livejournal.com/site/contributors.bml

How can I help?
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=57

LiveJournal would not exist without its users. The following information explains many ways in which you can help LiveJournal, should you wish to.

* Purchase a Paid Account, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else. For more information, see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=21.

* Make suggestions. For more information, see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=164.

* From time to time you may find polls on the LiveJournal News Journal (http://www.livejournal.com/news.bml). If they interest you, please reply. Without your input we have no idea what you would like to see happen here.


There are also a number of areas in which volunteers can participate:

* You can help other users in our technical support area (http://www.livejournal.com/support/help.bml). No matter what you think your skill level is, there will always be someone who can benefit from knowledge you are willing to share. Support policies are announced in the lj_support community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_support), which every volunteer should follow. Additionally, the Support Guide (http://www.livejournal.com/doc/guide/support.bml) gives an overview of LiveJournal Support and its policies.

* If you speak both English and another language fluently, you can help translate LiveJournal into other languages. See http://www.livejournal.com/translate/ to find out how far the different translations have progressed. Note that because parts of the site, particularly the FAQs, are updated frequently, even translations that are far along need regular updates. See http://www.livejournal.com/translate/teams.bml for a list of the currently established teams and their respective communities. Translators should also watch the main LiveJournal translation community, lj_translate (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_translate). If you are interested in translating LiveJournal into a language in which it hasn't previously been available, please post there.

* You can help out with the maintenance of the Frequently Asked Questions and other LiveJournal user documentation in the lj_userdoc community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_userdoc).

* You can discuss the LiveJournal server code by participating in the lj_dev community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_dev).

* You can help beta-test new features or functions before they are implemented on the main site. For this purpose, LiveJournal maintains an external server (http://test.livejournal.org/) that is separate from LiveJournal. If you wish to help testing, watch the lj_test community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_test).

* Ongoing business projects and issues are discussed in the lj_biz community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_biz).

LiveJournal is an ongoing project, and its developers are always working to introduce new features or improve on existing features to make them more efficient and reliable. The ideas for these new features and improvements often come directly from users.

If you have an idea that you don't think has been thought of before, the proper forum for your suggestion is Suggestions (http://www.livejournal.com/suggestions/). Before you post your idea, you should be sure that your idea hasn't been previously suggested. You can do this by checking the memories (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=suggestions), and by reading over the most recent posts to Suggestions at http://www.livejournal.com/community/suggestions/. If you would like to skim the recent entries before reading through each one of them, you can read the summary view for the community at http://www.livejournal.com/customview.cgi?username=suggestions&styleid=193636. This may help you identify recent suggestions that are similar to your idea.

After making sure your idea hasn't been previously thought of and suggested, you should read the posting guidelines at http://www.livejournal.com/suggestions/, and submit your idea using the Suggestion Proposal Generator. Be sure to fill out each field of the template, carefully following the formatting instructions given. Please proofread your suggestion carefully before you submit it, because many people may read it. The Suggestions community is moderated, so your suggestion will not appear immediately.

After you submit your suggestion, people who watch the community will discuss your idea and possibly make further suggestions or improvements. If, after a discussion period, your idea seems feasible, the maintainers of the Suggestions community will migrate your suggestion to the LiveJournal bug- and project-tracking database, and will comment on the suggestion making note of this. If the idea seems unfeasible, maintainers will comment with a note of that, and it will not be migrated at that time, but might be re-evaluated in the future.

Suggestions that are migrated and eventually implemented will be announced in the Feature Announcement community when they are available (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=featureannounce). There is no set timeline for eventual implementation. Suggestions that are migrated but ultimately not implemented because of development issues will receive another comment to the suggestion entry noting that.

To learn about other ways you can help out with LiveJournal, see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=57.

There are many journals and communities used for official purposes by staff and volunteers to track important projects and events on the site.

Some of these communities are open, meaning that anyone can join and post in them, while others are closed so only staff or senior volunteers can post to them. Though a journal or community may be closed, this does not mean that you cannot or should not watch it.

For example, the News journal (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=news) is a closed shared journal to which only staff may belong, but anyone can and should watch it, because its entries announce events and issues that are relevant to the entire LiveJournal community.

If you wish to join any of the following communities (provided the community is open), please see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=101 for instructions.


The following journals are used mainly to discuss ways to improve the site and help its users.

* community_promo: Used to advertise new communities and help users find communities that they may be interested in. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=community_promo

* community_quest: Closely related to community_promo; used to request the names of communities that already exist if they cannot be found in community_promo. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=community_quest

* goathack: Support area for and updates to the status of the Goathack project (http://goathack.livejournal.org/). -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=goathack

* helpscreening: For anyone interested in volunteering in the Support area (http://www.livejournal.com/support/). Intended as a place where people without Support privileges can post and ask questions to get advice and feedback. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=helpscreening

* howto: Contains tutorials on customizing the journals of both paid and free users using overrides and styles using the S1 style system. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=howto

* lj_abuse: Closed community restricted to the members of the Abuse Team at LiveJournal. Information on joining the Abuse Team can be found in the User Info for the community. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_abuse

* lj_art: For those interested in creating artwork specifically related to LiveJournal.com, as indicated in the User Info for the community. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_art

* lj_biz: Focused on business matters relating to LiveJournal. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_biz

* lj_clients: Solely for discussions about LiveJournal client software. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_clients

* lj_dev: Specifically used for the discussion of LiveJournal-specific development. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_dev

* lj_everywhere: For those interested in starting their own LiveJournal instance or making LiveJournal more attractive to developers, or developers who wish to make LiveJournal more useful to the outside world. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_everywhere

* lj_style: Concerns the LiveJournal style system and its discussion as well as the presentation of new styles, potentially for system use. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_style

* lj_support: Used by Support volunteers to discuss problems users are facing around the site. Reading this community is required for those who volunteer in Support, as policy changes and other important information is posted here. Posting access is limited to those with Support privileges. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_support

* lj_syndication: For discussing the development of LiveJournal's syndication features. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_syndication

* lj_textmessage: Devoted to the development and enhancement of the text-messaging system on LiveJournal. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_textmessage

* lj_translate: General discussion of the LiveJournal translation system and issues with the system. More specific translation communities can be found at http://www.livejournal.com/translate/teams.bml. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_translate

* s2howto: Contains tutorials on customizing the journals of both paid and free users using the S2 style system. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=s2howto

* suggestions: Community for users to post their ideas on how to improve the site in any way. See http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=164 for more information about how to best make a suggestion. To learn more about the suggestions process, see http://www.livejournal.com/suggestions/. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=suggestions

* syn_promo: Promotes the subscription of syndicated RSS feeds on LiveJournal. Similar to community_promo. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=syn_promo

* syn_quest: Closely related to syn_promo; used to request the names of syndicated feeds that already exist if they cannot be found in syn_promo. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=syn_quest

* userpics: For volunteers who help other users create and edit user picture icons to discuss issues and post newly requested icons. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=userpics


These journals are used to inform users of important events, features, and changes to the site:

* changelog: All changes to the LiveJournal code are recorded in this journal. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=changelog

* featureannounce: Announcements and summaries of changes to LiveJournal, including new features, bug fixes, and various other modifications. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=featureannounce

* lj_backend: This is used for announcements and explanations regarding LiveJournal's backend, particularly with regards to how it affects end users. The explanations given are technical, and posting access is limited to staff members only. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_backend

* lj_maintenance: Important information regarding both scheduled maintenance and unscheduled downtime is posted here. Posting access is limited to staff members only. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_maintenance

* lj_nifty: Nifty tools, features, occurrences or undocumented and underdocumented features on LiveJournal can be posted about here. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_nifty

* news: Important announcements of site information and changes. Posting is closed to staff members only. Anyone can watch it by adding it to their Friends page (http://www.livejournal.com/friends/add.bml?user=news). -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=news

* paidmembers: Membership is limited to those who have or had a paid account. Information about new paid-only features and other issues relevant to paid members is posted here. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=paidmembers

* press: Chronicles all mentions of LiveJournal.com or the LiveJournal source code in various press sources. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=press


Other journals used to improve the site's documentation are listed here:

* lj_userdoc: Suggestions for improving the site's FAQs and other user documentation belong in this community. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_userdoc

* howto_userdoc: Used to suggest additions and changes to the content in the HowTo and S2-HowTo journals. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=howto_userdoc

* lj_sysdoc: Discussion of technical aspects of documenting LiveJournal as well as creating documentation for developers and administrators. -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_sysdoc


A formatted list of these and more (outdated) communities can be found in the following guides:

* http://www.livejournal.com/doc/find?guide=forums
* http://www.livejournal.com/doc/find?guide=moreinfo