What is MomsOutLoud.com? (Part Three)

You’ve been hearing about this cool new website that’s launching for local Moms….and soon it will be here.  What will it look like?  What will you be able to do with it?  Ask no more – here is your step by step guide to getting the most out of the site.

When you go to www.MomsOutLoud.com, you will see the following page.  It’s a generic description of MomsOutLoud.com, geared to those who are new to the site.

From here, you can either go directly to a few of our features, or you can create your account with MomsOutLoud.com so you can see all the features of the site.  The ones that require you to register with the site are “MomsReview” (where you can read and write reviews on local businesses, as well as access our directory of over 1000 businesses) and “MomsShare” (where you can join or start discussion groups on various topics relating to parenting).  We think these are the best features of our site, so we’re sure you’ll want to register!

To create an account with MomsOutLoud.com (which we suggest you do), click the “sign up” link at the very top right of the page.  This will take you to a form where you choose a “MOL-ly” name and password, and enter your email address, city, state and zip code.  This zip code will be the basis for geographic searches on the site.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be taken to our home page, which looks like this:

From this page, you can see the highlights of what’s new for the week in each of the six main areas of MomsOutLoud.com, and click the navigation bar at the top of the screen to access any of the sections.  Several of them will be familiar to you:

• MomsReview is where you will be able to access our directory of businesses (over 1000, all local!) and read and write reviews of the businesses you use.
• MomsPlan is our searchable calendar of events, where you can find activities for your family.  We also have highlights listed for you, just like our newsletter.
• MomsKnow is where you’ll find our content like our Tips of the Week.  The articles you’ve come to know as MomsKnow in our newsletter are called Moms Essentials.  And we’re adding a new feature of expert-written articles on women and parenting topics.
• MomsSupport is our directory of local Moms’ and women’s groups and also where we highlight these wonderful resources that help women of all stages of life.
• MomsShare is where you can create and join discussion groups.  There are only a few out there right now, but we encourage you to start your own on topics interesting to you personally.  For instance, Rebekah has already started one called “Pregnant Moms” because, you guessed it!, she’s 11 weeks pregnant and wants a place to be able to celebrate (commiserate?!?) this journey with other Moms who are going through it.  She also has set up groups for “Babysitter/nannies wanted” and “Babysitter/nanny for hire” to help Moms and babysitters find each other.
• MomsInspire is the other content area on the site, where you’ll find our weekly MOMumental Moms, information about Moms Out Loud events coming up, and articles written and submitted by our member Moms.

And what is this “My MOL-ly” link at the top right of the page?  That’s where you can go in and personalize your own profile. Here’s a quick snapshot of mine (please note the bottom part was cut off because it didn’t fit on one screen).

You can upload photos, enter information about your interests, put information about your children, and find friends on MomsOutLoud.com by name / email address.  The discussion groups you’ve joined are shown at the right hand side of the page so you can quickly access them.  Your MOL-ly profile is hidden (except for MOL-ly name and city/state) to all other members until you are linked as friends.  In a future release, we will provide more enhancements to this area so you can do even more to personalize your experience on MomsOutLoud.com.

We hope you enjoy your time on the site and love it as much as we do.  We can’t wait to hear your feedback about it!