Community Corner

How to Comment, Post and Write on Patch

Comment, write, blog and get involved.

Rohnert Park Patch is about nine months old now, which means some of you have been participating here for about nine months. But, a great many more Rohnert Park and Cotati residents are showing up every day wondering what exactly is Patch, and how can I use it to get more engaged in the community.

Patch is, first and foremost, a place for you.

It's most successful when you comment, you write, you blog and you post events. So, how do you do all those things?

Find out what's happening in Rohnert Park-Cotatiwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Comment on Articles

If you've been following our "" series that we launched last week, or have been informed about our recent or even found out at Patch first that , then you know we're here for you. We want to be the place to have a community dialogue, to give you all the information about Rohnert Park and even to get our elected officials to pay attention to us so things get done quicker.

Find out what's happening in Rohnert Park-Cotatiwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Want to get involved in that debate? Make a comment, ask a question or post a photo.

First, in order to comment, you have to create an account. Why? Because we want to know who you are and you want to know our terms of service — namely, to keep anonymous, hurtful things off the site.

To create an account you can follow the directions in the video at right. Click on the button at the top that says "Sign Up," enter your email, name and choose a password. You can also add a photo and profile information, so other people know who they're talking to. You'll get a confirmation email (so don't enter a bogus email) to confirm your account.

Now that you have an account, secondly, just click in that big empty box at the bottom of the article you want to comment on.

Step three: comment.

Write a Letter to the Editor

Got more to say that just a comment? We welcome all kinds of letters to the editor. 

We ask that letters be around 300 words and include your full name. Letters can be on a range of topics: parking problems, thoughts about area vacancies, or , a place to gather to remember someone who recently passed — really, whatever you want. 

Just email your letter to Kelly Dunleavy at angela.hart@patch.com.

Got a whole lot more to say? Write an op-ed. Op-ed's are typically longer than letters, more researched and focused on a specific issue. 

Again, just email Angela Hart at angela.hart@patch.com to write about an issue important to you, especially as we move into the election and continue our community discussion about the city's proposed , schools and . 

Write a Blog

You've probably noticed our Local Voices featured on the homepage. Do you own a local business, are you a person who has a lot to say about local issues, are you a politician or a community activist? We'd love to hear from you.

Blogging for the site is easy — you can do it as little or often as you'd like. Got a passion? Know how to write a sentence? Email Angela at angela.hart@patch.com to get set-up blogging.

Post Events

OK, so you don't really want to write at all, but you still want to be involved. Don't forget you can submit events right on Patch and they'll show up immediately in the calendar.

Just click on Add New Event and tell us where to be when.

Post Announcements

Your son won an Eagle Scout award or your school is hosting a fundraiser or your organization wants to get the word out about a new volunteer opportunity. It's not quite an article, it's not a letter to the editor; what is it? It's an announcement.

Our announcement section is for all those things happening all the time around time. You can submit them yourself, right on the site, and then announcements can be featured on the homepage or in our newsletters.

Just click on announce it to everyone and fill out all the important information.

Submit Your Own Ideas

But, this isn't everything. You're a creative person, you don't have to be limited to these things.

We're also always looking for nominations for outstanding  story ideas, cute baby videos or photos of weird things seen around town. If you see something you're curious about or that is rare, let us know too. We'd love to hear from you.

We feature photos readers send in of fire hydrants hit by cars, car washes on Snyder or community events. If it's happening in town, then people in Rohnert Park probably want to know about it. Just email angela.hart@patch.com with your photos and ideas.

Got an even better idea? We're probably open to it.


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