Community Guide
How to contribute to your community on My Local Press.
Getting Started
Whether you want to share events, post classifieds, or highlight someone doing great work, you can start in minutes.
For a step-by-step setup walkthrough, see the Community Quick Start.
- Create an account and verify your identity
- Get vouched for — request vouching here
- Complete your profile with name, bio, photo, and location
- Start creating content
Understanding Location
What you post shows up in the feed for the community where you post it, so neighbors can find it. Set your community hub — not your home address — in your profile settings, and post to it from anywhere.
Your readers see everything you publish regardless of location — location only shapes how new readers discover you. Your exact coordinates are never shared. The full breakdown of how location works lives in the Journalist Guide.
Content Types
As a community contributor, you can create six types of content:
Classifieds
Buy, sell, trade. Post items for sale, services offered, or things you're looking for in your community.
Events
Share local happenings — festivals, meetings, markets, fundraisers, or anything your community should know about.
Resources
Useful local information — emergency contacts, community services, guides, or reference material.
Coupons
Deals and discounts from local businesses. Great for shop owners who want to attract nearby customers.
Initiatives
Community projects and causes — cleanups, drives, petitions, or collaborative efforts.
Spotlights
Ask a journalist to cover something — a request for local coverage on a meeting, an issue, or a story that needs attention.
Engaging with Content
- Follow contributors — Follow contributors whose content you enjoy
- Comment thoughtfully — Add context, share your perspective, and engage with your community
- Share content — Help spread the word about content that serves your community
Alerts
Alerts let contributors share what's happening right now — short, location-based notices that keep the community aware of things going on near you.
Going Further
You don't have to be a business to back local journalism. Anyone can offer profile support — your name listed as a backer on a journalist or publication you believe in — or run a full ad if you've got something to share. The Advertiser Guide covers both.
Want to earn revenue? The Journalist Quick Start covers setting up payouts, creating a publication, and selling ads.
Journalist Quick StartWe ship updates all the time, so a page here and there can fall behind. See something off? Have a question? Let us know and we'll address it.