1. Craigslist.org, originally a San Francisco
community electronic newsletter, is now one of
the most visited English language Web sites, with
local classifieds for more than 450 cities
worldwide. The site's main function is to host
classified ads that cover practically every category
you can think of, including housing, job postings,
items for sale, services and personals. There's
also a forums section that allows users to discuss
topics on everything from gardening to the Linux
operating system.

2. • Craigslist's founder Craig Newmark and CEO
Jim Buckmaster aim to provide users with a
helpful, noncommercial way to connect with
other people in their communities [source:
New York Times]. Posting for most classifieds
categories on craigslist is free, and it's also
free to browse and respond to ads. The Web
site doesn't have any flashy animation or
graphics -- its value comes from its utilitarian
design and the contributions of its users.

3. • If all you want to do is browse the site, you
can just visit craigslist.org and click away.
The site has a range of broad categories,
and each category has several
subcategories, making it easy to navigate
to the appropriate section quickly. For
example, the "for sale" category features
subcategories like computer, books,
electronics, sporting, motorcycles and
collectibles, among others.

4. • Most ads include the member's e-mail
address. Craigslist offers a function that
masks e-mail so that members don't have
to worry about their address being openly
available. All transactions are between the
person who posted the ad and the person
responding to it. Craigslist's employees
don't get involved in any transactions or
discussions unless someone reports a
problem.

5. • If you want to participate in forum discussions or
post your own classifieds, you need to create a
craigslist account. The only thing you need to
become a member is a valid e-mail address. The
signup process is short and painless -- after
entering your e-mail and filling in a verification
word (which helps prevent programs called bots
from creating accounts to post ads automatically),
you'll receive an e-mail that includes a link you'll
need to click on to verify your account and log in.
Once you've done that, you've officially joined the
craigslist community.

6. • Craigslist users act like the site's watchdogs
by monitoring the content that gets posted.
Users flag posts to draw attention to those
that are particularly interesting and those that
detract from the site. The tags that can be
applied to posts are best of craigslist (a
funny or effective post), miscategorized (a
post placed in the wrong section of the site),
spam/overpost (a generic post or one that
has been posted multiple times) and
prohibited (a post that directly violates the
site's terms of use).