New to Patch? 10 Ways to Get More Than News From Patch

Patch has more to offer than just news.

Here are 10 ways to get the most out of Westford Patch:

1. Own a business? Claim your listing. If you own a business in town, chance are you're in our business directory. Under the photos of each business, there's a "claim" box for owners. You can take control of it by editing your profiles, adding photos/video, etc.
2. Review a business. Had a great experience at an Westford business? Tell everyone about it by finding it in our directory and leaving a review.
3. Sign up for our newsletter. Get Westford Patch delivered to your inbox. Click here to get our daily newsletter in your inbox. You can also sign up there for breaking news alerts.
4. Comment on stories. You first have to sign up for an Westford Patch account, which is free and painless. Just give us your name, email and create a password and then you can share your opinion on stories. You can also sign up by connecting through Facebook.
5. Write a blog. We have a wonderful group of bloggers on Westford Patch, writing about politics, local observations, social media and more. Anyone can write a blog. Sign up here to blog and get started right away!
6. Write a letter to the editor. If a blog isn't for you, you can always write a one-and-done letter to the editor that we will consider for publication. To share a letter to the editor, make sure you're signed in to your account, click on "Announcements" under the "News" button above and click on "Add an Announcement and follow the directions. Once you click post, email the URL on the page it brings you to to andrew.sylvia@patch.com and he'll feature it on the front page of the site.
7. Post announcements. For free. The old days of paying a publication to publish a wedding announcement are history! Now you can tell the town when you get married, have a baby, graduate or make the honor roll in our Announcements section. Just make sure you're a registered user and follow the instructions in No. 6.
8. Share your photos. Use our Neighborhood Gallery to share a great picture from a local athletic event, a social event you attended in town or anything that catches your eye. You can share it with everyone else in town in an easy spot for your friends and family to find it. Our Neighborhood Gallery can be found by clicking on "Pics and Clips" above. You can also upload video.
9. Put your event on our calendar. If you have a fundraiser coming up, a group playdate scheduled or a meeting you want to make sure people know about, sign in and click on our events tab and then click "Add an event." Fill out the form, add a photo if you'd like and click post. It's really that easy. If it's a repeating event, you can even set it to repeat!
10. Find out if your commute is going to be smooth sailing. Our traffic page gives you a real-time look at traffic and the most recently reported gas prices around the region. Next time you're headed out on the road, check the map for any trouble spots and see where you can fill up cheapest near you.