Sometimes a blog is like a labyrinth…

JCH Bonniwell family Bible, MS inscription “John” and drawing of a Labyrinth, First […] Concordance, sig. A1 verso (detail)

I’m looking forward to blogging more regularly, and I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts. But I’ve been publishing Clark House Historian for almost ten years (!), and I know it can be hard to navigate the blog and find the particular historical information, photos, maps and other images that you might be looking for. Today’s post has a few tips to help you make your way through the twists and turns of the Clark House Historian information labyrinth.

Tip No. 1: Click the links!

If you’d like to view a larger, clearer version of almost any image on the blog: click the image (or, sometimes, the link in the caption), and a new full-size image will open in a new window. Other links (highlighted in the blog’s signature minty-green color) will connect you with related blog posts and online sources for further information.

And by the way, you can read the blog on your phone and open and zoom in on the photos, drawings, maps and other images. But I create the CHH posts on a device with a good-sized screen, and I recommend viewing on the largest screen that you can.

Finally, and most importantly, be sure to click the Continue reading—> link, typically found after the first image and paragraph or two. There is a lot more to be found “below the fold.”

The Search functions

There are several ways to find specific content by using the blog’s Search functions. Depending on your device (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop), the Search area may be at the bottom of your screen (scroll all the way down to find it) or, on larger screens, somewhere to the side. In any case, it should look like this:

SEARCH CHH BY KEYWORD(S)

You can enter any keyword or short phrase in the box next to the green SEARCH button, then click the green button and see what you find. Keep in mind that this is the blog’s own WordPress-based search engine, and it is not as savvy or flexible as, say, Google search. The CHH Search can also be very word- or spelling-sensitive, so try some different combinations of distinctive search words. The results will be displayed in reverse chronological order of publication, and may occupy several pages of search results, so don’t forget to click and view all the results pages.

SEARCH CHH BY CATEGORY

This is an under-used search function that you may find helpful. Click the “Select Category” menu button and you’ll find a whole list of CHH names and topics. Scroll down the list and select the name or topic that interests you. As with the full-blog Search, the results for your chosen topic will be displayed in reverse chronological order of publication, and may occupy several pages of search results.

New Category for CATEGORY SEARCH!

Looking ahead, I see a large number of posts coming (not all at once!) that focus on the JCH Museum’s Bonniwell family Bible. With that in mind, I have created a Category Search item labeled, not surprisingly, “Bonniwell Bible.”

I have already added the category tag for “Bonniwell Bible” to ten existing, relevant posts, including this week’s Bible Study. Select a category and catch up on your favorite CHH topics.

CHH ARCHIVES

And if you’d like to browse through the whole blog archive, there is a CHH Archives search, the last of the three search functions in the image above. Go to CHH Archives and click on Select Month. You’ll get a reverse-chronology, pull-down menu of every month that CHH has posted new content, listed by Month and Year. And after the month and year listing, there is a number in parentheses; this is the number of posts that were published in that particular month. Have fun browsing the CHH archives!

The blog’s INDEX

Some day (fingers crossed!) I will bring up to date the pitifully neglected CHH INDEX. What can I say? I just don’t like indexing, and after a bold start, the Index has languished, with only the rare update. But while the CHH Index may be incomplete (a dramatic understatement), it’s still worth some attention, especially if you’re searching for some of the blogs foundational posts about the Clark family, their house, and their community. The quick link to the Index is found at the bottom of the blog’s masthead (when viewing on larger screens):

Or, if you are reading the blog on your phone, the Index link is hiding among the other masthead links inside the “Menu” icon that looks like 3 short horizontal lines. Just tap the Menu icon and select “Index”:

One last thing…

If you’d like to get the latest Clark House Historian blog news and announcements, I encourage you to subscribe to the CHH mailing list. It’s free, and all you have to do is look around any CHH page and locate this bit:

Then type your email where it says (you guessed it!) “Type your email…” and then click the black “Subscribe” button. That’s all there is to it! As a subscriber you’ll receive a short email announcement each time a new CHH post goes live. Then a single click on that Continue reading—> link will take you to the full post here at Clark House Historian

I hope you find these search tips helpful. Questions? Suggestions? Send me a public comment via the Leave a comment form (below), or a private message through the blog’s CONTACT link below the masthead. I enjoy hearing from you all.

I’ll be back soon with more Clark House history. See you then.