We are proud to say that LivMusic News has over 1300 subscribers from over 40 countries! However, a recent glance at statistics for LivMusic Interactive tells us that there have only been 15 comments made on the blog. You don’t have to be a mathematician to see that only a very small percentage of our subscribers are posting comments; in fact, you don’t even have to be five years old to see it. What could be the reason for this? Are our subscribers simply shy? Let’s see… 1300 trumpet players… shy? I’m thinking not. We believe there are two main reasons that there have been so few comments: the posting process is too involved/complicated, and you have questions or comments that don’t pertain to anything you are seeing on LivMusic. We have made changes to address these issues, and we hope this will make all of you want to throw in your “two cents” from time to time.

To simplify the posting process, we have removed the requirement of having to be registered in order to post a comment. Now all you have to do is click on the title of a post that interests you, read the full post, generate a thought, enter your name and email address in the corresponding boxes, write your thoughts in the comments box, and click “submit comments”. You may be wondering what your email address will be used for. Rest assured, your email address is used only by a site administrator to contact you regarding a post. It will not be published or shared in any way. Of course, if you find that you are posting often and are getting tired of entering your email address each time, then you can register and log in to LMI. That will save you the hassle of entering your information for each comment you make.

To register, simply select the “Register” link under the “Your Account” heading in the sidebar. When you get to the register screen, enter your email address and the username you would like to use on LMI. A password will be sent to the email address you specified, so make sure it is correct. Copy the password you receive via email and paste it into the login screen along with your username. After logging in, you will be taken to our newly revamped control panel, where you should change your password to something that you can remember when you return. To do this, click on the “Users” tab at the top of the page; this will display your profile. At the very bottom of your profile will be two fields where you can enter your new password. Simply enter your new password in each field, and then click “Update Profile” at the bottom of the page. Your password has now been changed.

Another benefit of registering is that you can submit posts for inclusion in the blog. For example, if you have a question about something that I have not discussed, you would register, go into your control panel, click the “Write” tab at the top of the page, and compose your post (including title and category). The HTML tags above the “post” field enable you to insert links and basic formatting in your post. When you are done, simply click “Save as Draft”. The post will then be reviewed, and if it is approved, it will be posted on the blog and open to comments from others. This is a great way to address topics that may be on your mind, but that haven’t been addressed in any of my posts or articles. If you are already registered at LMI, but don’t have a “Write” tab at the top of your control panel page, please email us at lmi@livmusic.com.

We are excited by both the number and quality of the musicians who subscribe to LivMusic. I know that there is an immense amount of knowledge and experience in this group, and I sincerely hope to see comments and posts from all of you in the near future.

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If you have comments on this article, send them to : comments@livmusic.com