Kids & Family

How to Make Reston Patch Work For You

Have news or information to share with the community? Here are easy ways to use Reston Patch.

Reston Patch is happy to bring news and information to the community in easy and engaging ways, but area residents can help add to the information and discussion, too.

Here are some ways for our readers to contribute to the site.

1. Sign Up for Newsletters
The daily Reston Patch newsletter brings you articles and announcements that have been posted on the site in the last 24 hours. It is delivered to your email every morning. You can also sign up for the weekly newsletter, which shows a subset of the content created and featured on our site over the last few days. It is delivered Thursdays.  You can also sign up for breaking news alerts so when something is extra important, you will know about it right away.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To sign up for newsletters and alerts, click here.

2. Start a Blog
Do you have knowledge or news to share with the community? You can do it through a blog and join our team of Local Voices. Patch bloggers engage readers in conversations about things happening around town. Do you have something to write about?  Is so, sign into Reston Patch and click BLOGS at the top of the page to get started.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3. Comment on an Article
We subscribe to the idea that "news is a conversation." Much of our reporting starts from what readers tell us in emails, comments on our sites, and in conversations around town. Share your thoughts and reactions to our articles by posting a comment directly below each article. 

4. Send a News Tip
At the bottom of the homepage, there's a link that says, "Send Us News Tips." Tell us about articles you think we should cover. Your tip will be sent straight to karen Goff, Reston Patch's editor.  

5. Contribute to our neighborhood photo gallery
We have a special photo gallery just to show off photos of Oakton. Anyone can add their own photos to the Reston Pics & Clips gallery. Just sign up for a Patch account, or sign in, click Pics & Clips at the top of the page to upload your photos.

6. Post an Event
Having a garage sale? Is your organization hosting an event? Is your church organizing a food drive? If it's not on our Patch calendar, it should be. Feel free to add events to our site at http://reston.patch.com/events.

7. Post an Announcement
Do you have some news to announce? If you're looking for volunteers or searching for your lost dog, we welcome you to call on your community for help. http://reston.patch.com/search/announcements

8. Add Your Photos and Video to Articles
Upload videos of high school football games or wildlife you see around Reston. We invite you to share with the rest of the community the memories you've caught on camera. You can easily add photos and videos to most articles, events or announcements.

9. Social Media Engagement
You can "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Keep up with out content all day long and  contribute and engage via social media. This allows a way for the community to see quick news, hear what we might be working on or what events we might be covering and post additional photos and videos.

10. Claim Your Directory Listing
Every business in Reston has a free directory listing. Our team of researchers actually hit the streets and visited businesses, schools, parks, libraries and more so we can provide photos as well as detailed information such as products sold and hours of operation. To contact us about the listing for your business or organization — or to let us know if we overlooked you — email directorysupport@patch.com.  

We hope this gives you a good idea on how to get and stay involved at Reston  Patch. We want to provide the community with information that matters, but we can't do it without your help. Please keep in mind our Terms of Use. They mainly boil down to keep it clean, don't try to trick people and treat others as you'd like to be treated. As always, if you have a question, concern or news tip, just write to kareng@patch.com.


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