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Hello, friends, thank you so much for stopping by. I really hope that you will enjoy your visit to Oregon Gifts. Due to spam, I am not accepting comments from anonymous people. Please email me at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com if you are unable to leave a comment on here. I write back through email when I can.

My words and photographs are copyrighted, and may not be used without permission, even on Pinterest.

~ Kathy M.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Blogging Tips:



Hi Everybody,


It has been a while since I have just written you a note.  This one isn't even going to be long or rambling, and it is mainly for those of you who have your own blog.  Or are thinking of beginning your own blog. 

I have been participating in the April A-Z Challenge, and have been visiting many, many other blogs.  It is so interesting to see what others are writing about and taking pictures of!  Great stuff out there, you guys.  I want to just write down a few of my observations and things tips that I have learned in my little bit of experience.


1.  I do my blog work on Firefox.  I just like it better and the toolbar is easier for me to figure out.  Plus, a couple of years ago, my Internet Explorer browser was corrupted and I couldn't even work on my blog at all.  It freaked me out, an the lady at the cable company told me that I should try Firefox, so I did and it works for me. 

2.  A couple of months ago, some of the photos on "My Blog List" were not showing up on my sidebar. I use those pictures to gauge if my friends have posted anything new lately.  And, sometimes, photos were not showing up when I went to visit a friend's blog, inside their post.  What the heck?  Somehow, I figured out that if I opened up my blog in I.E., I could view their blogs just fine.  So, I end up toggling back and forth on some days between using I.E. and Firefox. 

3.  My friend Patti told me that it was like pulling teeth to be able to leave a comment on my blog the other day.  Arlee Bird, the creator of the A-Z Challenge mentioned on his first day of reading the postings of his participants, that the word verifications were really slowing him down, especially with pop-up windows.  He said that if you were not receiving many comments, then that may be the reason why.

My blog had word verification, but not a pop-up window.  I feel that word verification really helps to reduce spam.  Still, after Patti told me of her troubles, I changed things around.  I made it so that you don't have to do word verification any longer, but now your comment goes directly to my comment page, and I have to approve it before it appears under the post.  This is good, because I get to make sure it isn't spam, especially on older posts where I might not notice advertisements for escort services or Viagra and male enhancement products.

Guess what?  I am getting lots more comments now!  Yay! 


4.  A few months back, I began to have trouble loading pictures on Blogger under the "Compose" page.  That was a real NIGHTMARE for me, as you can imagine.  So, I had to plan things out a little better and load them under the "Edit HTML" option.  It works, but I have to toggle back and forth between screens.  Oh, well, where there is a will there is a way.

5.  I learned that inserting a video or slide show inside a blog post is super easy, and that is why you are now seeing them on here right and left!  All you do is click on "Post Options" as you are making your blog post, and look for "Edit HTML Line Breaks".  Click on "Use < tags" and then put your Embed code right into the body of your post.  After you are done with that, save and hit your space bar a couple of times and then return to the option you began with.  If you don't, all your other pictures will run together with no spaces in-between. 

6.  On my favorite photos that I take, I am always scared that somebody will steal them.  They are copyrighted by even being on my blog, but still, they are my babies and I worry.  I have tried watermarking them, but then it takes away from the pretty picture.  Maybe I am not making my watermark transparent enough or something.  So, this weekend, I decided to just use the "caption" feature on my photos, signing my name and sometimes the date and location of my photo.  It tells others that it is my own work, and it kind of frames the photo and makes it look a bit more professional.  At least I think so. 


7.  I have put my "Followers" widget back on, and it is located underneath my last post on the page.  I have received 14 new followers since I did that.  Thanks everybody!  Still, some of my newest blog friends became so when I didn't even have my Follower box on here.  I am more interested in friendships, building relationships and your comments than the number of followers, truth be told.  Still, I know that following is a part of blog culture and I welcome new followers.  I have still been following folks all along.

8.  I post a lot, and I know that if you stop by for a linky party, you are missing something else that I posted that day.  If you want to see more, please click on Home or on the pink box that says "Celebrate the Positive" at the end of each post.  With the April A-Z Challenge, I am mainly posting links and photos of older posts that new people may not have seen yet.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog.  I appreciate each and everyone of you very much!  This is my work and my passion, even though I'm not making any money from it yet.  My blog is always on my mind; what to post next and how to improve it.  I am grateful for your encouragement and for your feedback.

I hope that some of this helps! Have a wonderful week ...



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12 comments:

liberal sprinkles said...

Interesting post, Kathy. I know some people use Windows Live Editor to write their blog posts and say it's really easy and there're no problems with photos etc. Unfortunately I haven't managed to get it to work on my laptop!

As for word verification, I read about it being a deterrent to some people as well but I was reluctant to turn mine off. I'm going to try it for a while now and see if I get more comments, maybe I should have done it last week when I went on a posting spree!

Glad for you that you're getting more comments and followers :)

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Thanks, Grace. At first, I had it so that I was notified through email too, but that became too much. Now, I just check the comments page every time I go onto my blog, and it also show up on my dashboard if I have an unmoderated posting.

I haven't tried Windows Live Editor or even knew about it. I might check that out, but I get frustrated when I try to learn too many new things at once. I'm really not much of a techie!

I do sometimes write in Word and then bring it over, especially on Book Blurb Friday when I need to do a word count.

Have a great day!

Kathy

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Some of my friends and I like to joke about the "Word Verification Oracle"--and I keep mine on not to deter spammers but to keep those friends amused.

But it does seem really unpopular, and I'm going to try disabling it, too, just to see what happens.

PS--I also have comment moderation turned on, but only for posts older than seven days. That's to make sure I read every comment when the posts are no longer on my home page, but also let my readers discuss things amongst themselves when I can't show up immediately. They do that sometimes, and it's fun! =)

Maude Lynn said...

I prefer Firefox, too. Once or twice, I've had trouble leaving comments on blogs with pop-up windows right after Firefox updates.

Hart Johnson said...

Ha! It had totally not occurred to me that my browser could be why some blogs cause me trouble. At work I use IE and at home Firefox, and I've KNOWN there were some blogs I can't comment on at work... I will have to see if Firefox lets me get to them...

Ellie Garratt said...

Awesome tips. Personally, I don't use Firefox because it kept causing problems with my email. I guess you can't win them all!

Ellie Garratt

M Pax said...

Blogger now prevents spam from showing up on the blog. It's one of their newer features then you get to decide whether to publish it or delete it. That's when I took off word verification, but do what makes you happy.

I still can't figure out why my page takes so long to load. It bugs me.

Donnie said...

I know you put a lot into your blog and it's always lovely. Thanks for the tips. They are always appreciated.

Sally Wessely said...

Hey Cathy, I am really happy to meet you. I just checked out your post when I saw you on Arkansas Patti's blog.

I found myself taking notes to help me with my blog from your blog tips. Thanks!

I don't post as often as I'd like because I am working right now and don't have time. I read blogs everyday though. I look forward to reading more on your wonderful blog.

Arkansas Patti said...

I really appreciate the changes you made. It makes comments so much easier. Thank you so much.
I use comment approval also and recently I sadly had to eliminate the Anonymous option for that was where the spammers learned to congregate and to annoy. Those rascles keep us on our toes.

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Nice post, She-of-Many-Blogs. :) I took the word verification off of mine and haven't seen a bit of spam get through yet. Blogger catches the bulk of it, I think, without the verification. Worst case, something will creep through and I'll delete it when I see it. I guess it is a "personal preference" thing. :)

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hey, everybody, thanks so much for the feedback! And thanks for you new followers too. I'm going to come and visit you gals, if I haven't already.

Take care,

Kathy

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