The Community Page: A How-To Guide

The Community page is where homeschooling families connect: ask questions, swap curriculum ideas, plan local meetups, and pass along used materials in the marketplace. Posts are grouped by location (state or county) so you can find families near you, and everything you share is covered by a short set of community guidelines you agree to before you post.

This guide walks through every function on the page.

Opening the Community page

From the main menu on the left, click Community (the globe icon). On a phone, tap More in the bottom bar, then choose Community (it is not one of the four shortcuts pinned to the bottom bar, so it lives under More).

The page has, from top to bottom:

• A search box and a New post button.
• State and County tabs to choose how wide you want to look.
• A row of filters (State, County, Category, Sub-topic, Sort by).
• The list of posts that match.

Note: The first time you want to post or reply, you will be asked to agree to the community guidelines. See "Agreeing to the community guidelines" below.

Choosing where to look: State and County

Posts are tied to a place, so you pick a scope first. Use the two tabs near the top.

Steps:

1. Click the State or County tab.
2. Under State, open the dropdown and choose a state (for example, Texas).
3. If you picked the County tab, also type the county name in the County box (for example, Travis).

Until you have chosen enough detail, the page shows a gentle prompt instead of posts:

• On the State tab with no state chosen: "Choose a state to see its posts, or search by keyword above."
• On the County tab without both a state and a county: "Choose a state and enter a county to see local posts, or search above."

Tip: With the sample Demo Family account, the seeded posts live in Texas. Choose Texas on the State tab to see the Welcome, marketplace microscope, and Texas history posts, or switch to the County tab and enter Travis to find the Zilker park day meetup.

Narrowing the list: filters and sorting

Below the tabs is a row of filters. They work together with the scope you chose.

The categories you can filter by (and post into) are:

When Category is set to Marketplace, a Sub-topic dropdown appears with these choices:

• Curriculum & textbooks
• Books & readers
• Manipulatives & games
• Technology & devices
• Supplies & materials
• Services & tutoring
• Other

Note: If you switch the category away from Marketplace, the sub-topic clears itself so it does not keep hiding results in the background.

Searching by keyword

The search box at the top finds posts by words in the title or message, and it looks across all states and categories at once.

1. Type a word or phrase into Search posts by keyword... (for example, microscope).
2. The list updates as you type.
3. While a search is active, the State and County tabs and the location filters are hidden, because the search already spans every location.
4. Clear the box to return to the tabbed, location-based view.

If nothing matches, the page shows: No posts match "your words".

Agreeing to the community guidelines

Before your first post or reply, Chalk and Chart asks you to agree to a short set of guidelines. This happens automatically the first time you click New post or try to send a reply.

The guidelines ask you to:

• Be respectful and kind. No harassment, hate, or spam.
• Protect children's privacy: do not share students' full names or locations.
• Remember that marketplace posts are between families; Chalk and Chart is not a party to sales.
• Avoid presenting medical, legal, or financial advice as professional guidance.

Steps:

1. Read the guidelines.
2. Click I agree to accept (the button briefly reads "Saving..."), or Cancel to back out.
3. After you agree, the new-post form opens automatically, and you will not be asked again.

Creating a post

1. Click New post (top-right of the page). If you have not yet agreed to the guidelines, the guidelines box appears first (see above); agree, and the form opens.

2. Fill in the form:

   

   Field	What to enter
   Scope	State to share with a whole state, or County to keep it local.
   State	The state your post belongs to (required).
   County	The county name (shown and required only when Scope is County).
   Category	Discussion, Marketplace, Curriculum Ideas, or Events & Field Trips.
   Sub-topic	Appears and is required only when Category is Marketplace. Choose the kind of item.
   Title	A short, clear title (required).
   Message	Your question or offer (required).
   Photos (optional, up to 4)	Attach up to four images (see "Attaching photos" below).

3. Click Post. The button reads "Posting..." while it saves.

4. The view jumps to where your new post lives (the scope, state, and county you chose, with the category filter cleared) so you can see it right away.

Note: The Post button stays disabled until the required fields are filled: a title, a message, a state (and a county for county posts), and a sub-topic for marketplace posts.

Attaching photos

Inside the New post form, under Photos (optional, up to 4):

1. Click the file picker and choose one or more image files.
2. You can attach up to 4 photos; if you pick more, only the first four are kept.
3. A small note shows how many are selected (for example, "2 selected").
4. The photos upload when you click Post, and they appear as thumbnails on your published post. Clicking a thumbnail opens the full image in a new tab.

Viewing posts

Each post appears as a card in the list.

A post card shows, from top to bottom:

• A category badge (for example, Marketplace), and for marketplace posts a second badge with the sub-topic (for example, Technology & devices).
• The location the post is shared with (a state name, or "County, State").
• On other families' posts, a Follow control; on your own posts, a Delete link.
• The title and the message.
• Any photo thumbnails.
• The author name and the date (for example, "Demo Family").
• A replies control at the bottom.

Following a post

On a post that is not yours, click ☆ Follow to keep an eye on it. The control changes to ★ Following. Click it again to stop following. (Your own posts show a Delete link here instead of a follow control.)

Replying to posts

1. At the bottom of a post, click the replies control. It reads Reply when there are none, or shows the count (for example, "3 replies").
2. The replies panel opens and loads any existing replies. Each reply shows its text, the author, and the date. If there are none yet, it reads "No replies yet. Be the first."
3. Type your reply in the Write a reply... box.
4. Click Reply to send it (the button reads "Posting..." while it saves). If you have not yet agreed to the community guidelines, the guidelines box appears first; agree, then send.
5. To close the panel, click the control again (it now reads Hide replies).

Deleting your own reply

On a reply you wrote, click the Delete link next to the author and date. Your browser asks you to confirm because this cannot be undone. Click OK to remove it, or Cancel to keep it.

Deleting your own post

On a post you created, click the Delete link in the top-right of the card. Your browser asks you to confirm. Click OK to remove the post (and its replies and photos), or Cancel to keep it.

Note: You can only delete posts and replies that you wrote. Other families' posts show a Follow control, not a delete link.

Empty states

You may see one of these friendly messages instead of a list:

Quick reference

Screenshots use the sample Demo Family account, whose seeded posts are in Texas (with a Travis County park day meetup).