LDSjournal?

[Aesa]

LDSJournal.com - The FREE, Private, Online Journal

Anyone use it?
I'm loving it! :)

[Wingnut]

Never heard of it. Can you tell us a little bit about it? What kind of features does it have? What's so special about it that makes it so much better than typing out journal entries in a word processing program?

[TheyCallMeMom]

I thought about it.. I liked the idea

I have a blog and two website I maintain

3 forums I frequent

not to mention the other internet related stuff on my plate

I am not sure I could keep up with it

[pam]

I use it and I love it.

[Guest DeborahC]

I'm a little paranoid, I guess.

They're not affiliated with the Church.

You're writing all sorts of personal stuff.

Who is reading it?

[pam]

Everytime you log onto a computer to the internet that information is being retained by your internet provider. No matter what it is. I can't worry about who might be reading something because every single thing you do on a computer via the internet is available to someone.

LDS journal allows me to have it all on a network. Should I not have saved as a backup I still have access to all my information.

[Misshalfway]

I think I prefer opting for the old fashioned kind of journals. Maybe even the ones with the tiny keys and cool locks and a nice "NO BOYS ALLOWED" warning on the cover. :)

[pam]

I do print mine out and keep it in a 3 ring binder. Along with any articles from newspapers and anything else that might be pertinent.

[rameumptom]

Another easy way is to use Google docs. You have to log in, and just use their word processor to create your doc. Then, it is also accessible from anywhere.

[Hemidakota]

I think I prefer opting for the old fashioned kind of journals. Maybe even the ones with the tiny keys and cool locks and a nice "NO BOYS ALLOWED" warning on the cover. :)

I do mine in a word doc - electronically....

[Aesa]

Oh, I'm so sorry - it was late when I posted this and forgot to post what the site is "about".

"A personal journal is a record of your life, your experiences and lessons learned. The legacy that is left behind can have a profound impact that can be felt from generation to generation. As a convert to the LDS Church and only member of my family to be baptized, I spent many hours thinking of the legacy that I would leave behind and the stories I would share with my children one day. I also thought about my parents and my grandparents that I barely knew. I deeply wished that I knew them better and had an opportunity to learn of their life and grow from their wisdom and experiences. I couldn't help but think about what I was doing to leave a record for my posterity and how my baptism and membership in the LDS Church might inspire them one day.

As time went on, I thought about members of the LDS Church and wondered how many of them felt just like me. As I listened to individuals talk during home teaching or even in church, it seemed like I was often hearing the same thing over and over. I would hear how difficult, or inconvenient keeping a journal could be. I felt inspired to create a way to make journaling easier and something members would look forward to doing. I thought about all of the individuals that never truly embraced journal writing for what it could really be, a way to communicate and share their life experiences with those that wanted to learn more, but never had a chance. And while journal writing can more immediately impact our own lives as we look back on our own trials and reflect on the lessons we've learned, your journal can be so much more. LDSJournal was created out of necessity. It was created to help us all do the best we can to keep a record of our lives for our posterity. It's as simple as that.

Fortunately, I was blessed to have wonderful people that believed in this project and helped me build this service to give to you. After countless hours of programming, graphic design, and meetings, we were finally able to deliver on our promise to make journaling easier, more enjoyable, and more accessible than ever before.

We hope you enjoy LDSJournal for all that it is and all that it will be for years to come.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Jones, Founder

LDSJournal.com"

Their beliefs on journalling:

"Journaling is the first step in keeping your Family History.

The work you put forth today will only preserve your legacy and make recording family history easier for your posterity. While finding out more about your ancestry is very important, making sure you do the work for yourself is of equal importance.

Journaling brings families closer together.

Writing in your journal about family members and loved ones helps you gain a greater appreciation for them and the blessings they bring to you.

Journaling helps you learn from past experiences.

Overcome personal trials by reading about past experiences recorded in your journal. Use the lessons learned in the past to help you cope with trials you are facing today.

Journaling is good for you.

Studies have shown that journal writing can have a profound effect on physical and mental health. Journal writing relieves stress, reduces anxiety, and increases self-esteem. "

Their mission:

"Like our values, our mission defines what we do—day to day, week to week, year to year. We are committed to delivering the best online journaling service designed specifically to meet the needs of Latter-day Saints.

To accomplish this, we are dedicated to asking our users what they want in a journal service and from LDSJournal. We are dedicated to listening to the feedback we receive, which will then be incorporated into our services to better serve our members' needs."

----

I see many advantages to it - no one can read your entries unless you log them into your account, or they somehow get your login details, and you can get your journal printed as a book.

I consider it pretty secure too - because when you login it runs off what is called a "secure server" -- you should see a padlock or something similar appear somewhere on your browser that will tell you it's secure. So it's basically as secure as shopping with paypal or other such things.

I spent about ... two hours writing up a reflection of this year last night. :)

[ldsjournal]

One thing I do enjoy about open forums is that it creates dialogue and questions arise that need to be addressed.

LDSJournal uses the same level of encryption as most top-tier banks. That said, your account is only as secure as you keep it. If you post your password somewhere or if you have a virus on your computer that is tracking your keystrokes, you're in much deeper trouble than your journal being read. In all fairness, as a techie, I would rather take your CC information than know what you did for dinner last week. We would say that you're more likely to have your personal thoughts read by someone you love and if that's a problem, we can't really help you there.

In terms of Google Docs or any Word processing program, you're limited in getting your book printed. LDSJournal has a book publishing program that automatically converts your online journal to a hard-bound book. And we're confident that if you compare our options to other printers, you will find us extremely competitive.

Why would we build this service? Well, I suppose it must be difficult for anyone to believe that we actually built this service to help people struggling with journal keeping or simply looking for a new, better way to journal. Can you post to your Google Docs journal from a TXT message? Can you add scripture references on the fly? Will it support multimedia docs inline and convert to DVD archive? Our goal is to keep adding features that make journaling better and more fun. That said, we know we cannot please everyone, but we'll try.

As far as keeping a journal the old fashioned way, that's awesome. We genuinely applaud anyone that keeps a journal, even if it is without using our service. The point is to help people keep a journal. If you're already doing a great job on your own, that's awesome. For the other 98% of the world that need a kick in the pants, that's what LDSJournal.com is for.

For those of you that have used our service, we thank you for your support and are working very hard to make the service better for you. For those of you that are a little paranoid, we get it. But technology isn't going away and either are we. And to those that have their own method of journal keeping and it is working, good luck and God Bless. Your posterity will be so grateful that you felt your life is worth recording.

If you have any comments or questions, we'll be happy to answer them.

Sincerely,

Nick Jones

Founder, LDSJournal.com

[Aesa]

One question on mind is - with the book printing, is it limited to 100 pages? Or are those examples ... just examples?

I tend to write fairly long entries, for example last night I wrote one that is about 3,000 words ... and as the months and years go by I'm sure you can see that stacking up.

So what happens if I wanted to print a 500 page book?

Would I have to do it in volumes (which I guess wouldn't matter)?

[ldsjournal]

The 100 page examples are simply just that. Most members will view a 100 page book as a hefty journal, so we thought is was a good starting point.

If you want to print a 500 page book, you can, but the cost will increase. You can currently print up to an 800 page book and we will be expanding our options to 1000 pages later in 2009.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Regards,

Nick Jones

LDSJournal.com

[Hemidakota]

Nick, is the print format, same as book format? Currently I do use Microsoft Word and noticed when trying to pull it in MS Publisher, trying to get the 2008 700-page journal will not come out in a book format.