A couple of people have asked how to make friends ...

Well, I could recommend a good book, but on The Batavian, there are two easy ways.

First, go to the People link up top and scan all of the people who have registered and look for people you would like to be friends with, click on their names, go to their profile pages and you'll find a link that says "Add to Friends." Click that link and then click "Yes" on the next page.  You can go through that same process for as many people as you like.

The second method is to click on the "My Friends" link in the left-side navigation.  When you go to that page, you'll see a series of links across the top of your friends list that allows you to manage your friends (haven't we all been tempted to do that sometimes!).  There is one link called "Invite Friends."  You go use the form on that page to invite people you know, people you have an e-mail address for, to sign up for The Batavian and become your friend.

Also, a word about guestbooks: We've added the guestbook function so you have a more direct way to communicate with other members of the site. Guestbooks are not private messages, but they do allow for more direct communication (rather than, say, through a comment on a post).  I've already noticed one member has left a couple of messages like, "Hey, didn't I go to high school with you?"

I'm already having fun with the new "Friends" feature. I see other people are, too.  If you haven't tried it yet, please check it out.