'It's Houstonist, and I helped!'

Hey, Houstonist readers: Today, thanks to the GothamistLLC tech team, you get a little more control of things around here with two new features, Contribute and Favorites. Here's the skinny:

Contribute lets you share info with your fellow readers — and us — in three ways: links, photos and tips. To play, tag your favorite links "for:houstonist" in del.icio.us, tag your favorite photos "houstonist" in flickr or visit the Houstonist Contribute page and drop an anonymous tip. So how do you use Conribute? Tag a link to a news story, a new restaurant, a local band, a photo page. Send photos of your neighborhood, that concert you saw last night, your favorite building, the weather. Leave a tip about freeway closures, breaking news, the best barbecue ever, Marvin Zindler sightings. It's totally up to you — let's see what's on your mind. Check out the Contribute page now and see what's up.

Favorites lets you see what Houstonist posts struck a chord with your fellow Houstonians in the last few days. To make it happen, click "Recommend this!" at the bottom of any post that you think is worth mention and/or leave us comments telling us what you think. Then look at the Houstonist Favorites page to see what you (and everybody else) is talking about.

You can also get a quick look at the latest tips and most-recommended posts in the Contribute and Favorites windows in the left sidebar of the main Houstonist pages. Look, explore, enjoy — but remember to participate. Contribute and Favorites are there for you, but they won't work unless you make them work. We're looking forward to hearing from y'all!