clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Attention Lurkers: Members Get All The Benefits... Why Don't You?

By Mr Pappagiorgio

Lurker_medium

Well first of all, you definitely aren't that guy, because if you've been a regular reader/member/lurker of the site for awhile, you might recognize who's shadow that is. But that's beside the point, this post is about all of you who are just reading the site without signing up as a member. I'm bringing this up because you are missing out on a lot of great features that we have to offer. A lot of these features are great for even those of you who just like to read the site (lurkers just like you!), and aren't interested in posting comments, making fanposts, or posting fanshots (although we love all of you who do these things, and encourage any new members/current lurkers to get involved as it only enhances your experience). So I'm inviting you to do a bit more lurking today, through this entire post specifically, and see just what kind of features you are missing out on. I assure you, even if you're intention is just to read the site without ever getting involved, some of these will definitely appeal to you.

Have I at least got your attention? Still not yet? Okay fine, I'll even include pictures inside the full post (would you really expect any less from me?) to explain more fully about the features we are talking about. What do you have lose? 5 minutes? Well, if you are lurking the site on a regular basis (which a lot of you are, its okay, we're not mad at you) you were already going to waste five minutes trolling around the site anyway right? So today, just take your five minutes to read through this post, follow the simple and easy sign up solutions we provide, and become an official member of the best damn Oklahoma City Thunder site on the planet. (And we're not knocking anyone else, because we understand they all think they are the best Thunder sites on the net as well, and if they didn't, they probably shouldn't be running a fansite, right?) So take the jump, then take the plunge...into WTLC Membership!

I'm not going to beat around the bush anymore than those two paragraphs, everything to follow is quite simply all the great enhancements and features you'll enjoy by taking a few minutes out of your busy day to sign up and become a member of Welcome To Loud City and the SBNation.

New* Comment Notations: Do you ever visit the site, and peruse the front page looking at articles you have read and wondered if there were any new comments posted since your last visit? Well, as a member, its listed right on the page, and stays there listing the number of new comments since you last read the article until you read it again and see the new comments. Its a super quick way to peruse the frontpage articles, fanposts (even on the sidebar), and fanshots to see if anyone has posted anything knew to a topic that you are interested in. You can see an example below.

Comments_medium

Highlighted New Comments: When viewing a post that contains new comments, all new comments will be highlighted with a slightly yellow background. Even better than that is that you can simply press "z" on your keyboard and you'll be taken to the first new comment. Hit it again to go to the next new comment, etc, etc, etc. Scrolling to find new comments is now a thing of the past, and with our auto-refreshing comments system, there's never a need to refresh the page to see new comments since they pop up on your screen in real time without ever having to reload the page. This is especially fun during our live game threads during the season when the comments are flying as fast as you can write your own. You can see an example of what new comments below.

Commentexample_medium

Drop Down Blog Menu: If you read our site on a regular basis, there is a good chance that you read another SBNation blog on a semi-regular basis. Well once you become a member of our site, you can join any other SBNation blog with just a simple click or two of the mouse, seriously, once you're an SBNation member, becoming a member of other SBNation blogs doesn't require a full signup process since you've already done that here. Anyway, once you've done that, up on the SBN toolbar at the top of the page, there is a drop down menu that shows your favorite SBN blogs and it even lists the number of front page stories, fanposts, and fanshots that have been posted on the site since your last visit. It's a really great tool to keep tabs on all your favorite SBNation Blogs. See an example below. (You can see below how bad of a Broncos/Mets fan I've been lately because of this blog and my continued dedication to bringing you new content as often as possible.)

Pulldown_medium

You're Own Profile Page: Comes complete with your activity history of the last 50 or so comments, stories, fanposts, or fanshots that you've made around the network. It also gives you the oppertunity to share you're favorite teams, as well as show off your activity amongst each and every SBNation blog that you are apart of. You can also choose your favorite SBNation blogs with a simple click of the mouse on this page, and then your favorite blogs will show up first on your dropdown bar like we listed above. You can check out my profile or anyone else's for that matter by clicking on their picture which is posted on each and every comment, story, fanpost, and fanshot on the site. I've included a snippet of mine below for quick viewing.

Also Note in the Image Below: Next to the word "Activity" if you click on "Blog" you can see all the stories, fanposts, and fanshots that the user has posted across ALL the SBNation blogs. This is especially helpfull if you are a fan of a certain writers work and want to just see their content. You can even subscribe to an RSS feed for any member on the SBNation network. That's not only insane, but quite awesome, and you don't even have to be a member to do that, but with all the great stuff we've listed, we hope you will be.

Mrpprofile_medium

Now that you've seen the enhancements that are to be had from becoming a member, check out below how easy it is to use our Free and Easy Sign Up! (Including Yahoo! & OpenID)

Sbnationbar_medium

Its really easy to sign up and those of you currently with Yahoo! ID's and OpenID's you can use you're already existing accounts to sign up to be a member of Welcome to Loud City. I've posted a simple, and shortened version of the SBNation Toolbar at the top of your page, just look up above the banner and you'll see it for yourself in its full size on your browser. At the far right, all you have to do is click the "Sign Up" button on the far right. Once you click the sign up button you will be taken to a screen that looks like the image below.

Sbnsignup_medium

For Yahoo users, simply click "Sign in with your Yahoo! ID, and you'll be taken to a Yahoo sign in page, which you should be very familiar with. Simply sign into your Yahoo! account with your current yahoo username and password and you will be taken to a page that looks like this...

Yahoologin_medium

On this screen all you have to do is click that you have read and agree to the Yahoo Additional Terms of Service, and click "Share and Continue" or "Don't Share and Continue." We respect your right and decision to either share your Yahoo information or not with us, and just like Yahoo, SBNation has its own PRIVACY POLICY, which can be read by clicking that link. Once you make your decision and click the link, you'll be taken to a page that looks like...

Pickaname_medium

Now all that's left for you to do is create the username you want to be your alias at WTLC (and across the SBNation), see if it's available, and once you are set with a name you like that is available, click the green bar to continue. Once that's done, you will be taken to one more screen that looks like...

Alittleinfo_medium

All that's left here is to fill out your first and last name along with an email address (& zipcode if you so choose), click both boxes at the bottom, and finish up by clicking the green Complete Box as seen above. That's it! You're all done! All you gotta do now is confirm your account through your signup email as the following page will instruct you to do, which can be seen below. It's that easy, and seriously doesn't take but a minute or two at the most.

Emailconfirm_medium

This was just an example of how quick and easy it is to sign up using your Yahoo! ID, and we promise its just as quick and easy whether you want to use your OpenID, or even just use the standard SBNation signup process. Once that's done, you'll have access to all the enhancements and options available to all of our valued members. Thanks for reading, and thanks for becoming a member. WTLC <3's everyone who visits the site on a regular basis.

Still not convinced? Here is what we wrote about our features on Day 1 here at WTLC

Once you get signed up, and sign into your account on any SBNation blog, you're SBNation toolbar will be customized for you, and your favorate blogs, making it easier than ever to jump from your favorate NBA Blog (We hope thats WTLC), to your favorate NFL, NHL, College, or any other blog in the SBNation. When you click on "My Blogs" it will list all the blogs you have joined, and you can join any blog in the network by clicking the "Join Welcome To Loud City" link underneath the site logo, in the upper left hand corner of the page. Of course the "Join Welcome to Loud City" will say "Join Whatever blog your on." Also when you click on my blogs, as it lists out all the blogs you are a member of, you can see how many new stories, fanshots, and fanposts have been added to the site since your last visit. A truly great way to quickly find out which of your favorite blogs has new content since you last visited. Its all right there at the top of the screen, with just a click of the mouse.

Make a Fanpost

Ever wanted to voice your own opinion, but don't have the resources or time to run a fulltime blog of your own? Fanposts are essentially blog posts that are written by you, the fans! You have opinions of your own, and on occasion, maybe even enough time to write one. Its great for a lot of fans who are too busy to keep up with the demands of running their own blog, but on occasion, have something to say. Its a great way to get all Thunder fans involved in the site, and interact with one another. If your fanpost is good, you may even see it on the front page of the site.

To create a Fanpost, check out the Welcome guide at the top on the left sidebar on the Homepage, and the top of the right sidebar on all other pages.

Post a Fanshot

Were you perusing Youtube earlier and found a ridiculous compilation of Russell Westbrook Dunks? Want an easy way to share it with other Thunderfans? Posting a fanshot is a great way to do just that. You can also quickly share other things such as Links, Quotes, Images, Videos, Lists, and Chats. Its a cool thing to post something of interest to other members of the site, without creating an entire blog post, which you would do in Fanposts.

To create a Fanshot, check out the Welcome guide at the top on the left sidebar on the Homepage, and the top of the right sidebar on all other pages.

Commenting

Of course, like any other blog, once you get signed up you can post comments on every article I post. Whats a little different here is that you can also post comments on other peoples fanshots and fanposts. It really gives everyone a chance to be heard and discuss the team we all love, with top notch functionality.

Seamless Experience

Once you become part of the SBNation, and start jumping from all your favorate blogs in each league, you'll never want to visit anywhere else, because of the ease and familiarity that the SBNation brings. Each site in the SBNation features and standardized template, so that you, the reader, can jump from one of your favorate blogs to another, and get all the same great functionality that you've grown to know and love from the first. SBNation gives you a chance to be a part of all your favorate sports teams with one seemless experience, even though each blog is its own site, with different writers and fans. Give SBNation a shot, once you learn all the great functionality, you'll never want to go anywhere else!

More From Welcome to Loud City