For those fortunate enough not to know what I’m talking about, I’ll explain. Recently, clicking ‘Like’ on a blogger’s post has often had no effect. It took some experimentation to work out why. Continue reading
Category: Blogging
Spam Comment Likes
If you are one of the people who received a spam like on a comment you left on my site yesterday, I’m sorry. I’ve noticed this happening elsewhere on WordPress but this is the first time I’ve seen it on one of my posts.
After seeing a small flurry of spam likes, you may have noticed that I responded swiftly by inactivating the ability to leave likes against comments on my blog for the time being. Continue reading
Creating a Community Through Blogging: A Q&A with Cee Neuner of Cee’s Photography
My first ever reblog, but I wanted to share a feature on Discover that I really enjoyed – Cheri Lucas Rowlands’ interview with Cee Neuer. Cee’s challenges add so much to the fun of blogging. If you haven’t visited her site yet, you’re missing out.
By nature, blogging is communal — we write publicly and interact with readers. Some people, like Cee Neuner at Cee’s Photography, have built communities around their sites. Cee hosts weekly photo challenges that not only encourage people to practice their shooting skills — they provide a welcoming space for bloggers around the world to connect. Here, Cee talks about her love for photography and what motivated her to launch challenges on her site.
What is your philosophy around photography?
Cee with her camera
I am a visual person, so being behind a camera and looking for beauty and color is in my DNA. I take photos because I enjoy it. The world comes alive. I love looking through my viewfinder: I see life so much clearer than I do without the lens. I am fortunate as I have a natural ability for composition, and that makes taking photos so…
View original post 741 more words
Embracing Change: The New WordPress Reader
I’m a big fan of WordPress. It never stays still. Any half-experienced WordPress blogger knows that every so often they’re going to be briefly blindsided by one of those changes that suddenly happens. Of course it can be disconcerting – a bit like waking to find out that Santa Claus rearranged the furniture overnight as a kind of thank you for leaving him such tasty mince pies with his glass of milk, and now the picture of Aunt Mamie seems to have disappeared. Continue reading
On learning to code: all being equal
Reading and writing English with reasonable competency means you expect to be able to understand anything written in English. Not at the first reading, but with patience and persistence. I’m starting to realize coding may be an exception.
As someone coming to terms with = not meaning ‘equal to’, and == not meaning it either (we need === to be completely sure), I felt a warm flash of feeling for maths today when I realized there’s a sign for ‘almost equal to’.
It’s like an equal sign but with wiggly lines to symbolize the cognitive dissonance. I’ve used several of them for the header in an attempt to make it more decorative, but unlike real equals signs, you only need one of these to be certain (or rather, make that uncertain). So far as I understand. Continue reading
Making Less Say More: Microcopy for Bloggers
Microcopy
nounUsed by professional writers to refer to short but crucial snippets of writing, set aside from the copy (the main body of text). Used on menus, buttons, forms and widgets etc.
plural: microcopy
etymology:
micro- + copy (from the Latin root copia meaning plenty)
If you’re short of time, you’ll get my drift by scrolling down to see screen shot examples of microcopy. Click on the graphics to visit the original sites. For those able to linger, this longread post celebrates thoughtfully composed microcopy, mostly found here on WordPress.
Why use microcopy?
Microcopy is a modern day telegram: we use it to pass on useful messages to our readers in the least words. Partly we’re forced to be concise by space constraints, but we also know the more words we write, the less likely people are to read them. And we usually want microcopy to stand out enough to be read, for example:
- Follow this blog
- Leave a comment
- Read my previous post
- Buy this book
- Follow me on social media
- Contact me
- Read more
Two of my passions come together in my admiration for great microcopy – language and marketing. It’s an overlooked art form: a fun way to finesse your blog – but there’s a serious side too. Continue reading
The Art of Commenting: what holds us back and how we can fix it
When people leave comments on your site, is replying a pleasure or a chore? And away from your blog, do you reach out to other bloggers through their comment sections and become an active part of their communities, or do you remain a page view shadow: a small, silent jolt up their stats, identifiable only by your place on earth?
In this post, I’m coming from the angle that while we certainly don’t need to leave a comment on a blog post we’ve enjoyed, it’s not good to feel inhibited or uneasy about commenting.
I’d love it if we all felt free to comment, if we wished, and understood the etiquette when we do. Continue reading
WordPress tips: how to block a site in the Reader
Browsing my Reader reminded me of a nifty WordPress feature you’ll love if the subjects you enjoy are often ‘hijacked’ by less scrupulous bloggers – or if you want to block anyone who is going too far. It’s hidden in plain sight so you may not have noticed it.
I’m not talking about bloggers you are following, but some of the ones who appear when you explore topics. Tag-hoggers who clutter up your Reader with multiple posts you don’t want to see again. Ever. Continue reading
Your opinion, please!
(Poll now closed)
I’m sure many of you have a piggybank of ideas for future blog posts, either in your head or jotted down somewhere. Me too!
The trouble is my piggybank is a bit too full after my travels, so I thought I would appeal for your help to decide which posts I should share first. Continue reading
Blogging tips: tags and categories
Think of tags and categories (and their associated widgets) as free adverts for your post – on your blog and in the wider WordPress community – and make them work for you and your visitors.
Use tags and categories to:
- Help bloggers discover your post in The Reader
- Place sign posts on your blog so visitors can find other content that interests them while they’re there
- Organise your blog and link posts by subject matter
- Review what you’ve achieved so far and plan where you’re going
Polls and surveys – are they irritating or enlightening?
On WordPress.com we all have the option to add polls and surveys. Done well, they can give us valuable feedback. Done badly, they can be irritating, provide meaningless or misleading information, and can even change our visitors’ opinions for the worse. Don’t believe me? Here’s an example many of us will have seen on WordPress. Ever clicked on ‘Visit the old stats page’? The first thing you’ll see is a poll. A poorly worded one:
Why do you prefer this Stats page?
- It’s faster
- It shows more information
- It’s less confusing
- I’m used to it
Vote
I don’t prefer the old stats page. I click the old stats button once in a while because it’s temptingly placed at the bottom of my stats. I remember vaguely that there’s something extra on the old stats, but don’t recall what it might be. Continue reading
Celebrating change: rolling out a new theme
“A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and bear more seed towards the hope of greening the landscape of idea.”
John Ciardi
Thinking of taking a Blogging101 course? Here’s my review.
Over the last four weeks, I’ve been through the Blogging101 experience. I’ve had the odd high and low, but overall it’s been brilliant. I’m sending my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to my classmates and the WordPress team. This review is for bloggers who feel tempted to register for the course and those who’ve been taking part themselves.
First, here’s a link to the official BloggingU information – read on for my inside, but unofficial view! Continue reading
Poetry and design: how constraints can help us
Online friends may have noticed I’m taking part in Blogging 101. One task has been perplexing me, as I seemed to have so many constraints to overcome. Today I’ve been thinking of William Shakespeare and his sonnets – my benchmark comparison when creative constraints appear particularly challenging. It can’t be as hard as a sonnet, right?
Perhaps, in some peculiar way, constraints can help us to get something more right creatively, provided we actively embrace them. Continue reading
