Our inaugural event will be on Tuesday, September 10th (at 10 AM PT, 1 PM ET, 6 PM BST, 19:00 CET), here's a little background to help us as genealogists help each other with Substack.
Hi would love to participate in some of these events but the last couple of meetings I was interested in were during the workday. Would you consider scheduling something on the weekend?
1) Focus: As someone with a well-established stack at this point, I'm guessing you'd want a session that dives into the finer points of managing a stack, is that right?
2) Time Zones: As I recall from your posts, you're based in Scotland, is that right? Would a session in the early evening work for you? (I'm in California where noon is 8 PM your time.)
I am in Connecticut. I think yes, it would be great to figure out how to use Substack more effectively for longer pieces of research. I think my posts are too long for most people to read!
Oh, that's an interesting question. Maybe we could create a section with separate posts by questions around best practices... topics might include:
- Optimal length (and I'd add, for different kinds of pieces. See AnnetteLaing.Substack.com for excellent pieces that sometimes run upwards of 30 minutes reading time...)
- Time of day to post (and why)
- Audio/Recordings/Video and best practices (I do a lot of video and have some thoughts.)
- Structuring a site for different purposes (sections, tags, and advanced layouts have been a game changer for me, for example.)
- Pinning & Exclude from top (also super useful)
- Power of a "Start here" post.
- External links, when and how...
- Best use of Chat (I certainly haven't mastered this!)
- How notes work and how to use them most effectively (still experimenting!)
I have opinions on almost anything, but who knows if they're any good. In preparing for next week myself, I'm thinking of topics for the more advanced folks without scaring folks that are new to Substack.
I tend to think that advanced folks can ask questions here. We can also host questions in the Chat threads... Maybe that's a good place?
What a great post with so much information. Thanks! Unfortunately I'll be in the air when this happens next week, but I look forward to the next office hours.
Well, have a great trip! YOU are also a pro at all of this, but thank you for chiming in. If you think of things you'd like to know more about during the month, just drop the idea in here, I'll see if I can't work it in.
Hi would love to participate in some of these events but the last couple of meetings I was interested in were during the workday. Would you consider scheduling something on the weekend?
Yep, I can do that! Two questions need to ask:
1) Focus: As someone with a well-established stack at this point, I'm guessing you'd want a session that dives into the finer points of managing a stack, is that right?
2) Time Zones: As I recall from your posts, you're based in Scotland, is that right? Would a session in the early evening work for you? (I'm in California where noon is 8 PM your time.)
I am in Connecticut. I think yes, it would be great to figure out how to use Substack more effectively for longer pieces of research. I think my posts are too long for most people to read!
Oh, that's an interesting question. Maybe we could create a section with separate posts by questions around best practices... topics might include:
- Optimal length (and I'd add, for different kinds of pieces. See AnnetteLaing.Substack.com for excellent pieces that sometimes run upwards of 30 minutes reading time...)
- Time of day to post (and why)
- Audio/Recordings/Video and best practices (I do a lot of video and have some thoughts.)
- Structuring a site for different purposes (sections, tags, and advanced layouts have been a game changer for me, for example.)
- Pinning & Exclude from top (also super useful)
- Power of a "Start here" post.
- External links, when and how...
- Best use of Chat (I certainly haven't mastered this!)
- How notes work and how to use them most effectively (still experimenting!)
I have opinions on almost anything, but who knows if they're any good. In preparing for next week myself, I'm thinking of topics for the more advanced folks without scaring folks that are new to Substack.
I tend to think that advanced folks can ask questions here. We can also host questions in the Chat threads... Maybe that's a good place?
What a great post with so much information. Thanks! Unfortunately I'll be in the air when this happens next week, but I look forward to the next office hours.
Well, have a great trip! YOU are also a pro at all of this, but thank you for chiming in. If you think of things you'd like to know more about during the month, just drop the idea in here, I'll see if I can't work it in.
Our next session is scheduled for October 8: https://tockify.com/eventscalendar/detail/36/1728406800000?startms=1727766000000