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    <title>Daniel Castro</title>
    <link>https://dlcastro.com/en/</link>
    <description>Essays on what the data says — and what it does not — about education in Brazil. By Daniel Castro, pedagogue, education researcher and data scientist.</description>
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    <copyright>© 2026 Daniel Lopes de Castro</copyright>
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        <title>An invitation: learn how to use this site</title>
        <link>https://dlcastro.com/en/blog/an-invitation-learn-how-to-use-this-site/</link>
        <pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0300</pubDate>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://dlcastro.com/en/blog/an-invitation-learn-how-to-use-this-site/</guid>
        <description>Newsletter, a PDF you can read anywhere, one-click sharing, a contact form, a citation already formatted for you, a light or dark theme, and my profiles. A short guide to what this site does for you, with a video at every step.</description>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This site has a few features built with you in mind — and they go unnoticed
unless somebody points them out.</p>
<p>None of them asks for a sign-up, a payment or any patience. There are seven,
each takes less than a minute, and under every explanation there is a video
showing exactly where to click.</p>
<h2 id="1-follow-new-writing">
  1. Follow new writing
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#1-follow-new-writing"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>The simplest way not to miss anything is to get the essays by email. It is
quick and there is no catch.</p>
<p>On a computer, the <strong>Newsletter</strong> button sits at the top right of any page. On
a phone, tap <strong>Menu</strong> and then <strong>Newsletter</strong>.</p>
<p>A dialog opens. Enter your email and confirm. You will then get a message
asking you to confirm the subscription — one click on the link, and new pieces
start arriving in your inbox.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/newsletter-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/newsletter-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/newsletter-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="The Newsletter button sits at the top of every page. On a phone it lives inside Menu."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>The Newsletter button sits at the top of every page. On a phone it lives inside Menu.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>Delivery runs through Substack, which handles sending and unsubscribing.
Simple, quick and no spam — and you can leave whenever you like, with one click
at the foot of any email.</p>
<h2 id="2-a-text-you-can-take-anywhere">
  2. A text you can take anywhere
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#2-a-text-you-can-take-anywhere"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>Instead of fighting with printing a web page — which always comes out with the
menu, the footer and the wrong margins — every text already comes with a file
made for reading.</p>
<p>It is a properly designed PDF: considered typography, figures in place, notes
where they belong. It is good for:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Reading offline</strong> — on a flight, on the underground, on a trip, phone in
airplane mode.</li>
<li><strong>Reading without distraction</strong> — on your computer, your phone or a Kindle,
with no open tabs competing for your attention.</li>
<li><strong>Keeping and forwarding</strong> — the file is yours, it fits in a message, and it
does not depend on the site staying up.</li>
</ul>
<p>You will find the <strong>Download as PDF</strong> button right at the start of the text, on
the line with the date and the reading time, and again in the middle and at the
end of the article — near where the urge to keep it usually shows up.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/levar-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/levar-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/levar-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="The Download as PDF button appears at the start of the text and again through the article."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>The Download as PDF button appears at the start of the text and again through the article.</figcaption>
</figure>

<h2 id="3-share-it-with-your-network">
  3. Share it with your network
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#3-share-it-with-your-network"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>Every text has a quick way to share. Click <strong>Share</strong>, pick the network or the
app, and the link goes with you.</p>
<p>On WhatsApp, for instance: click Share, choose <em>Send on WhatsApp</em>, pick the
conversation or the group, and send. The link arrives with the text&rsquo;s card —
title and visual identity — rather than as a bare address nobody opens.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/compartilhar-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/compartilhar-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/compartilhar-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="From Share to a WhatsApp group: the link arrives with the text&#39;s card, not as a raw address."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>From Share to a WhatsApp group: the link arrives with the text&rsquo;s card, not as a raw address.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>LinkedIn, X, email and copy link are there too. If you want to follow the
discussion around the writing,
<a
  href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellcastro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>
 is where I comment on
what I publish.</p>
<h2 id="4-need-to-reach-me-it-is-simple">
  4. Need to reach me? It is simple
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#4-need-to-reach-me-it-is-simple"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>Got a question, a disagreement, an invitation or a problem you want to talk
through? Use the <a
  href="/en/contact/">Contact</a>
 page.</p>
<p>Five fields: name, email, organisation (optional), subject and message. The
more context you give — who you are, what the problem is, and the timeline you
are working with — the better I can answer. Click <strong>Send message</strong> and I will
get back to you personally, usually within two working days.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/contato-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/contato-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/contato-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="Five fields and one click. I reply personally, usually within two working days."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>Five fields and one click. I reply personally, usually within two working days.</figcaption>
</figure>

<h2 id="5-want-to-cite-a-text-i-have-formatted-it-for-you">
  5. Want to cite a text? I have formatted it for you
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#5-want-to-cite-a-text-i-have-formatted-it-for-you"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>If you are going to use something from here in an academic paper, a technical
report or a presentation, you do not have to build the reference by hand.</p>
<p>At the end of every article there is a <strong>How to cite</strong> block, with the
reference ready — author, title, publication, date and address, all in the
right place. Select it, copy it, and paste it into your material.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/citar-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/citar-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/citar-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="The reference comes ready at the end of every text. Select, copy, use."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>The reference comes ready at the end of every text. Select, copy, use.</figcaption>
</figure>

<h2 id="6-read-by-day-or-by-night-change-the-sites-colours">
  6. Read by day or by night: change the site&rsquo;s colours
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#6-read-by-day-or-by-night-change-the-sites-colours"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>Reading a long text on a bright screen in a dark room is tiring — and so is the
opposite, a dark screen in full sunlight. So the site has three colour modes,
and the choice is yours.</p>
<p>At the top of any page, on the right, between the language switcher and the
Newsletter button, there is a small icon. Click it and the three options
appear:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Automatic</strong> — the site follows your device. If your phone or computer is
set to go dark at night, the site goes dark with it, on its own. This is how
it comes.</li>
<li><strong>Light</strong> — light paper and dark text, always, whatever the device says.</li>
<li><strong>Dark</strong> — dark background and light text, always.</li>
</ul>
<p>The option in force is marked with a check, so you can tell which state you are
in without having to test it. The choice applies to every page and still holds
when you come back later — it is kept in your browser, and only there.</p>
<figure class="demo"><video
    src="/demo/tema-en.mp4"
    poster="/demo/tema-en.jpg"
    data-poster="/demo/tema-en.jpg"
    width="1200"
    height="750"
    autoplay
    muted
    loop
    playsinline
    preload="metadata"
    aria-label="The theme selector sits at the top of the page. Three options in plain sight, and the change is immediate."
  ></video>
    <figcaption>The theme selector sits at the top of the page. Three options in plain sight, and the change is immediate.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>If you pick <em>Automatic</em>, your system setting decides. If you pick <em>Light</em> or
<em>Dark</em>, your decision beats the device — in both directions, and until you
change your mind.</p>
<h2 id="7-follow-me-on-social-and-academic-networks">
  7. Follow me on social (and academic) networks
  <a
    class="heading-anchor"
    href="#7-follow-me-on-social-and-academic-networks"
    aria-label="Link to this section"
  >#</a>
</h2>
<p>The writing lives here, but the conversation around it happens elsewhere — and
the academic record in a third set of addresses. All of them are in the footer
of any page, under <strong>Profiles</strong>:</p>
<ul>
<li><a
  href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellcastro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>
 — where I comment on
what I publish and where most of the discussion happens.</li>
<li><a
  href="https://x.com/DLCastroo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">X, formerly Twitter</a>
 — shorter remarks, in the heat
of the moment.</li>
<li><a
  href="https://github.com/dlcastro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub</a>
 — where I host my open codes and packages.</li>
<li><a
  href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8512-5520" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ORCID</a>
 — the identifier that ties my
academic output together unambiguously, useful for citing or cataloguing.</li>
<li><a
  href="http://lattes.cnpq.br/1893509400555503" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lattes CV</a>
 — the full record in
Brazil&rsquo;s CNPq standard: education, supervision, publications and projects.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you arrived through one text and want to follow the rest, LinkedIn and the
newsletter — the first feature on this list — are the two most direct routes. To check credentials or cite a piece
of work, use Lattes and ORCID.</p>
<hr>
<p>That is it. Seven features, none of them hidden behind a sign-up or a payment —
all of them built so the text is actually useful after you finish reading.</p>
<p>If any of them does not work as expected, or if something is missing,
<a
  href="/en/contact/">tell me</a>
. The site gets better through the people who use it.</p>
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