User IDs. If you are a member of The Crimson Quarry, you can use your ID to join any other SB Nation blog. If you are a member of any other SB Nation blog, you can use your ID to join this blog. While I know that some SBN sites require a waiting period, this one does not. So, of course, join today. But if you don't, and you read a post that has you dying to comment, join up then, and you will be up and running and able to comment within a minute or so. It's easy, and again, that single ID allows you to join any SB Nation site.
FanPosts. You will notice this category at the top of the right sidebar. If you have anything to say about anything relating to IU that hasn't been covered in a post on the main blog, this is your opportunity. You have access to many of the same formatting tools that those of us who write for SBN have, and I can bump worthwhile posts to the front page. As I write this post for the first time, there is a nice dialogue about Big Ten expansion hypotheticals, an always-fun offseason time-waster. The more, the better.
FanShots. While fan posts lend themselves to longer posts of substance, fan shots are for quicker, shorter items. If you have a link, a video, a quote, or something like that, a FanShot is the way to go. As with FanPosts, I have the option of bumping these items to the front page.
Team pages. If you click on "Hoosiers" in the bar above the posts, you will go to IU's football team page. The basketball team page is here. Of course, I hope that Hoosier fans will stop here first, and I certainly will make an effort to link to worthwhile content on SBN and beyond. Still, the nice thing about these team pages is that the provide stories from all SBN writers that concern IU. For instance, when I write a preview for the Ohio State game, for instance, I will tag both Indiana and Ohio State, and a fan going to OSU's team page will see a link to my story. The same is true for IU. If an Ohio State or Michigan or Purdue writer posts something about IU, you will see it on the IU team page.
Player pages. Player pages are much the same. Here's a link to Ben Chappell's page. As you can see, it's a place to take a quick look at a player's stats and also provides links to any story that tags Chappell. Most of them are from this blog, but SBN blogs that cover Purdue, Ohio State, and the Big Ten are prominently linked here. The current platform used by SBN writers makes it absurdly easy to link to player pages, so you should see a wide variety of content on the page of any key player.
Mobile commenting. I mentioned this before, but SB Nation now allows mobile commenting. I will post a game thread for every football and basketball game, and if you are sitting in the stadium or in a bar and have to chime in, you can do so from your phone or PDA.
If you have any questions, please let me know here or by e-mail. Otherwise, hopefully the dawn of football and basketball season will encourage everyone to participate here.