FAQ - About LiveJournal

LiveJournal is not just an online journal; it's an interactive community! You can meet new friends, read and comment in other journals, and interact with people from around the world who share your interests.

In order to meet people on LiveJournal, however, you have to let them know you are here! One way of helping others to find your journal is to put some things that interest you into the interests section of your User Info page. You may edit your interests at http://www.livejournal.com/editinfo.bml.

Use the "Search" features on the blue bar at the top to discover some of the journals that other users maintain. Don't be afraid to respond to entries that interest you! If you like a journal, you can add it to your Friends list so that you can see its updates on your Friends page. For information on managing your Friends list, see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=61.

LiveJournal is constantly growing and changing; everything that you need to know about the changes can be found in the LiveJournal News Journal (http://www.livejournal.com/news.bml).

You can take a tour of LiveJournal by going to http://www.livejournal.com/doc/tour/.

Ready to join us? All of the information that you need to get started can be found at http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=104.


All press-related inquiries should be directed to press@livejournal.com.

All LiveJournal accounts, whether free or paid, can update journals, make comments, and perform basic customization of a journal's appearance, among other features. However, not all aspects of LiveJournal are free.

There are some features that are only available to Paid Accounts. This is necessary, because LiveJournal must pay for bandwidth and server costs. If a feature uses too much bandwidth, uses too much server processing power, or places too much of a strain upon the databases, it is reserved for Paid Accounts only. Additionally, some features are reserved for Paid Accounts to show our appreciation for users who are supporting us. A complete list of these features can be found in http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=131.

While we would like nothing more than to be able to provide a more extended range of features to all LiveJournal users, simple economics prevent us from being able to. If you would like access to one of the Paid Account features, you will need to purchase a Paid Account. No exceptions can be made to this policy.

See http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=104 for more details on creating an account.

LiveJournal.com, a website and online community built around personal journals, was created by young computer science major Brad Fitzpatrick in March 1999. A database-driven method he'd been using to update his own journal since 1998 became a Web-based application that his friends could use, too. 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 has transformed LiveJournal into a Webby Award-winning site with over 2,000,000 accounts, used by people worldwide (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=4). The site is now an open source software development project funded entirely by its members, assisted by numerous volunteers and developers, and overseen by a small paid staff. It's been expanded to allow easy creation of journals, weblogs, and even interest-based online communities.

If you are interested in volunteering with LiveJournal, http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=57 lists several ways you can help out.

LiveJournal is an open source development project, meaning that anyone can use the same software that powers the site and that anyone can suggest improvements. At any time, several people might be working on modifications and new features.

At this time, the business aspect of LiveJournal is run primarily by volunteers, with only a few official paid staff members (http://www.livejournal.com/press/staff.bml). Most of the work is done by the users listed on the Contributors page (http://www.livejournal.com/site/contributors.bml).

If you want to get involved, see http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=57 for some of the ways you can help.

LiveJournal would not exist without its users; you make us what we are. So, if you are wondering what you can do, there are several things.

* Purchase a Paid Account (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=21). The benefits alone are worth the contribution.

* Make suggestions! Want to see something new or different? For information on how to make a suggestion, 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 volunteer projects that users can join:

* 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, and you feel confident with your skills, 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 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). Whenever new features are implemented on the test server, an entry will be posted in lj_test; then you can test this new feature, and if you find problems, comment on the entry in lj_test.

* Check out ongoing business projects in the lj_biz community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_biz).

* LiveJournal developers can discuss their latest projects in the lj_dev community (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_dev).

* Help out with LiveJournal artwork at the LiveJournal Art Gallery (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lj_art). If you see anything there that you would be willing to help us out with, let us know by commenting right in that entry!

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/news.bml) 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.

* comm_news: Used to describe the current events going on in the LiveJournal world -- http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=comm_news

* community_promo: Used to advertise new communities and help users find communities that they may be interested in based on their interests. -- 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 userinfo. -- 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 userinfo. -- 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. 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

* 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 the site's 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

* 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 undocumented and underdocumented features and/or occurrences 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 journal (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=howto). -- 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