12 Ways to Use Patch in 2012

It's a new year, and we're ready to serve the Parkville-Overlea community in a bigger and better way—but we need your help.

Parkville-Overlea Patch is as much your site as it is ours. Here's how you can use Patch to make an impact.

Take photos. Patch has launched a new community gallery, where you can post any of your own photography. Have a cool photo of something you spotted around town? Share it with us.

Add to the calendar. Have an event you want to make the community aware of? Don't be shy. Post it in our events calendar for all to see. It's free!

Announce. Share your good news as an announcement on Parkville-Overlea Patch, whether it be births, sports awards, religious occasions, thank you's and more. Post your announcement and even add photos and video to accompany it, and after posting, you can share the link with your friends and family.

Share the news. When we know about community news, we're on the case. From important city announcements to power outages and crime, Patch is covering news 24-7. See something you think others should read? All you have to do is click the Facebook "recommend" button above an article or blog to share it with your neighbors and friends.

Comment. If you have relevant information to add to an article, jump in and make a comment. We'll follow up and possibly add it to related articles in the future. Most community stories continue to evolve after they are reported—you can be a real-time source by commenting.

Connect with the local editor. Email Parkville-Overlea site editor Nick Gestido at nick.gestido@patch.com, or call him at 443-846-8678 if you have any tips or information to share. 

Follow us on Twitter. When we write an article, we tweet the news out to our followers. Want the info the fastest way possible? Follow @ParkvillePatch.

Get the iPhone or Droid app. Your smartphone is an awesome tool for getting the info on what's going on in your community. Click here to get the Patch app for free on iTunes. Not only can you read news on it, but post photos and videos and check traffic and gas prices as well. For information about the Droid app, click .

Shoot videos. The community gallery is not just for photos—send clips of anything around town you think is newsworthy. If you also give us a heads up via email that you're uploading a video, we can feature it prominently on the homepage.

Volunteer. The same goes for our announcements section on Patch. Are you looking for volunteers for a service project? Share it.

Blog. Everybody in any community has a story to tell. Don't keep them to yourself. Sign up to be a blogger on Patch.

Sign up. Want Parkville-Overlea Patch's news delivered to you each morning? Sign up for a daily newsletter to be delivered to your email by clicking on "Patch Newsletter" on the top right of this page or by scrolling to the bottom of this page and clicking on "Newsletters" under "Goodies." Simply enter the e-mail address you want your community news deliver to and you're done!

Be sure to follow Lower Southampton Patch on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.