It's a Wonderful Life: Blog-Tipping

Word Press Tipping

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:22:53 GMT

OK... I've spent a few months here at my starter-blog and I'm feeling a bit confined. What??? You say? But you have 2 columns and pictures and RSS feeds and a sandbox and youtube. I know, I know... but I'm starting to get that itch. You know the one, "If we tear down that wall, put a few spolights there, redecorate this corner... maybe I'd be so much happier with my place. Wait, you mean if I tear down the wall, might find that the room isn't square to begin with and the floors slope and I'll never get it to look just right?"

Now, besides the fact that I know just a little too well the misery and woes of redecorating/remodeling an old home, I kind of know that somtimes it's just easiest to go somwhere and build your own. Trouble is, it takes while to get up to speed. Anyway, here are some reasons I'm looking at WordPress.com .

1) These guys do what they can because they like doing it. And it's a "community built" kind of service. If you can "code" (I cannot), you can submit anything and you just might see it there! There are 2 different but related entities here... one hosts your blog as well as gives you tools but you can't use the things that might cause security issues; the other you host, or find a different host and use all of the tools word press offers at your discretion which means a lot more customization possible... which also leads to a lot more user created customizations. Something they call the "tag surfer" helps you find other blogs in the wordpress community that are talking about the same things you are... that's easier surfing I can get into!

2) I don't know if this is available on any of the blogs you use or frequent, but a lot of the WP blogs I've looked at for ideas have a calendar in the sidebar that you can use to get through the blog... point and click at the last date you visited and you get directed to those posts. There are also the blogrolls we're so used to as well as recent comments made on the blog posts (no need to sign in and such). You can also inlcude buttons and such without a sandbox. Now, I know some of these things might be doable in live spaces, but I'm a little tired from looking for the work-arounds. And folks that come to a word press blog don't have to have any word press id or try to figure out the alphabet soup "type the word you see" into the box for security's sake.

3) One of the coolest things about word press is the ability to have pages, sometimes they're tagged on the top nav, sometimes just in the sidebar. That looks like the place I'm going to put most of my pictures... and maybe a page for each of the heirs... what else?

The biggest problem with using word press is that there is soooo much to go through. Sure, you could pick a theme and start blogging. But the reason I want to move is because I want my blog to look uniquely me. So I guess I have a bit of reading to do!

Tip-toeing Though Familiar Tulips

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 16:38:37 GMT

Decided that I had neglected tipping in Live Spaces for too long now. What's it been... 2, 3 tips ago? So, here it is, my tip of a wonderful tulip in the spaces field: Amy's Blah, blah, blogging.

1) Amy's title was what hooked me from another blog roll... to be so up front about this blogging thing. I mean, I know a lot of what I have to say is just so much fodder for a lot of people, and that's OK for a lot of us bloggers. Amy put it in her title though! Blah, blah blah, blah blah! It's little stuff sometimes, it's day to day stuff sometimes, it's normal stuff in a normal life. It's nice to have friends in this blog-world that you can relate to in the minutia. So, I love the title.

2) Amy participates in Thursday Thirteen and Friday Feast. Both are fun little glimpses into what makes Amy, Amy. I've seen the Thursday Thirteen things all over the place but the Friday thing is different and a little quirky and appeals to my love of food and finding out little tid-bits too. I just can't quite commit myself to one more blog regular feature that I won't be able to keep up with. So I'll live vicariously through Amy's!

3) I love all the extras! The pics of Lilla are always adorable. The quotes are interesting. All of the web links are great. The favorie music clips are fun. The book list, the movie list, the weather in Indy, where she's been, where she wants to go... all of it perfectly helps round out our picture of Amy.

Darn it, the only thing that makes me jerk a bit is the same thing that bugs me about my own blog... when we change the color scheme, I have to pull out all the stops to read some of the entries... it's kind of hard to read white words on pale blue background (me) and dark green on pale green. How do we fix that without going into each and every past entry and tweaking it? Or maybe I'm just too much of a perfectionist for my own good. Maybe I should just chill with a good movie (Princess Bride) and a good bag of lime tostitoes...

Check out Amy at http://dramy75.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?_c02_owner=1. She's cool people!

blog tipping in blogger land

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:23:34 GMT

So, I'm more than a day late and a dollar short again, but here's my tip for the week. And no, I don't pay any amount of dollars for this kind of stuff, so don't ask... but if you have any kind of remuneration for the author, my hat is out and up. Think the chimney sweep guy in Mary Poppins... one day a sidewalk chalk artist, one day a one-man-band, one day a kite seller, the next a chimney sweep... it's whatever pays! :)

First, I just gotta know, and perhaps someone reading is in the loop enough to supply the knowledge. Why do people have a blog on spaces and a very similar, if not the same, blog on blogger? Is it an audience thing? More democrats that read blogger and Republicans that read spaces? More family type stuff on spaces and the intelligencia on blogger? This is an honest question... I'm so curious about this. I mean, I have my business blog on blogger, but it is entirely seperate and different from this one. So, maybe it is purpose?

Aaaanyway...

Today we're actually tipping a lady with her toes in two different stacks. The Caffeinated Librarian can be found at both blogging addresses. So, you're getting a two-for-one deal today! I don't know if I like one better than the other... but there are differences.

http://caffeinatedlibrarian.spaces.live.com/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c02_owner=1

http://caffeinatedlibrarian.blogspot.com/

1: My first like relates to both... being a librarian, I guess she can't help it, but I love the lists... her music lists, her book lists, quotes list, blogs and links she likes... gosh, I'm in information overload and I LOVE it! I like her "Who I Am" list on spaces... maybe that's one of the big differences for me in the two... spaces seems a bit more personal... like you get to know somebody better.

2: Another kind-of list that I really love on her blogger spot is not exactly a list in the spaces meaning of the term, but is in the body of her posts... she does a weekly blog tour... sharing other blogs and news she's found of interest online with links to each. I am probably going to start going here pretty early on when I'm reviewing to get a feel for waz'up. She keeps me up to date on the Three Hour Tour before I get there. NICE!

3: I love her writing voice... she's sassy and sweet and doesn't mind to speak her mind! I feel like I know her when she talks about her family... maybe she's the little voice in my head that I keep hearing...

And since it's 2 different sites, maybe I can get away with an extra like or two?

4: I like the flicker badge on blogger... if you took the pics, WOW what an eye! If you did not, at least you have an eye for nice images! As an aside... flicker is nice and I have a bunch of pics there, but I just can't put the money into the account that will let me upload as many images as I want... bummer! And I could never seem to get my flicker badge on KapitalMusik to work right... hmmm...

5: I like that the style of the spaces blog gives me more info right up front, but the blogger site has a really clean, fresh look. *finger tapping temple*

So, now the "dirty" part... what would I improve? Scratching head here... I don't know, except maybe just more at spaces, but that must be a preference thing and I am NOT one to get in the middle of love... or like... or even preference.

So get yourself a cup of coffee and check out one of the Librarian's blogs... you won't regret it!

Tipping in Other Pastures

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:01:31 GMT

True to my word, I have tried to venture out and find good blogs elsewhere. My business blog is with blogspot, so I thought I'd look there. A few other blogs I check out every once in a while mention this guy too, so a good place to start.

Yes, Chris's Three Hour Tour was the perfect start. Shall I share why? Yes, I shall!!

1. Chris is one funny guy. He's got an easy, conversational style of funny that is engaging and keeps ya' reading. Lots of his posts give the reader the complete picture... which means there's a lot of sub-plots... he doesn't leave anything out it seems. I love the post about Elvis, Cheech and Chong and his mom. Yes, they go together for Chris. There are a few short, pithy "a-la-Seinfeld" posts, but most you could use to keep you comapny for a good long time... like in the bathroom or the line at the DMV. This is NOT a comment on quality, but length. :)

2. Contrary to most of what you see with a Spaces blog, Chris's blogspot has a very sparse kind of feel. Which is refreshing. Very black and white, newspapery, "only the facts mam" kind of look. Nice.

3. Which brings me to my third and final "like"... I love the pics he includes in the body of his posts. Not too many, not too few... juuuust right. You've gotta check out the pic of his mom in the posts I mentioned above... I swear I've seen that afghan in a thousand different homes. In fact, my Mother-in-law gave Tom one over Christmas! Huh!?!

The only thing I think would make a good change would be "more!" The white spaces on a fresh live writer screen induce, seemingly, some stage fright for our "Gilligan"... but I say you have nothing to be a'feared of! Go forth young man and blog confidently! We, your frinds in blogland, await with baited breath (did you catch the pun there? Gilligan... baited breath??? Oh well... it's still early morning for me.).

Tip of the week

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:27:24 GMT

Yes, it's back! I know you've been waiting for it, so here it is! Drum roll.....

I am leaving a nice generous tip for Brenda's World. Hers was the second blog I found and I got hooked! Want to know why?

1. Brenda's entries are all so interesting... even the ones about her recent sore tooth. I love that she includes pics in the body of a lot of her posts, as well as tracking how she's doing on the treadmill AND including a Nostalgic Moment for all of us to share. Like having a ready made girlfriend!

2. I've commented before on the blue background a lot of folks choose... Brenda has chosen well, though. Her background is pink with fireworks and stars and I think it must match her personality to a tee. Fun!

3. And this one is for my Moira... she loves the current video in your YouTube cube. Every time she has seen your blog open on my desktop she HAS to sit up in my lap and she WAITS for the butterflies! The ASL for butterfly is crossing your right hand in front of your left, linking your thumbs and flapping your finger wings... Moira's comes out looking like she's hugging herself and patting her elbows. She loves it anyway and it looks great exactly where it is on your page. I love these things because the viewer can choose whether to turn it on or not. COOL!

The one thing I would change? Probably just move the picture box down. I love your pics (how brave are you to have a white room AND a child... that was a beautiful picture of your Christmas Decor). I like to see posts first... but I've solved this problem for myself by including Brenda's blog as a feed on my own site so I can see if she's updated without actually navigating there... you know how easy it is for me to get sucked in! And then I'm online for hours doing nothing! Well, not hours... but too long!

Great sight Brenda!

"Tip" toeing through a Great Blog!

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 16:15:22 GMT

Yes, I think I will make this a weekly thing. Since we last met, I have played around a bit with the set-up for my blog and have figured out how to embed the links! YEAH for me! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. So what's the difference between embedding links and doing a trackback? hmmm and some blogs have an option to "blog this"... and what the heck's a permalink and why would I want to perma anything? Hmmm Next to-do on my list? To explore more blogs that use different sites... Spaces is great (can't beat the community, I think), but I want to see and share what all is out there. Until then... drum roll please...

recipes, pictures, lots of lists and great insigts to share... I have really enjoyed sharing in Robin's Amazing, Crazy, Tragic and Wonderful Life .

1: Robin's blog is multi-faceted... I haven't quite figured out how to do it and make it me yet! But when you go to her blog, you get to know her not only in blog posts and pictures, which are cool. But take a look at the other areas... Scooter sure dumps a lot of stuff, I get to find out if what's in at her house resembles mine, commisserate with the challenges of raising children (her's just happens to be a larger, and no doubt busier brood), Check out how she's been blessed AND what she wants to do in 2007. All contained outside of her blog posts. Cool! and endlessly fascinating.

2: Robin's "My Little Corner" is a great list of her favorite online sites! I have investigated some and added them to my own Favorites list.

3: Robin uses the "crayon box" for her writing to great effect! Plenty of black letters, but different shades of red and green too. Maybe that is easier on the eye than using different font styles. I will think on this...

Now the hard part... One suggestion? I always have trouble with this part... hmmm... I think others would agree with me... we beeeeggggg, pleeeaaaase more posts on your wonderful and crazy life! We enjoy your view on the world.

Stay tuned...More on blogging coming up...

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:31:48 GMT

So, my Heart has a new job... data analyst, I think. He asked me if I could explain yet what it was he was doing now. Of course, I try, but I just never do it justice... not in any of the other positions he's had either. I think he doesn't hold it against me. At least, I hope he doesn't.

For the past year and 1/2, though, his passion has been business blogs, and he's really good at it. Now, I am a blog-newbie, so I don't quite yet have the whole link thing figured out, but here is an example of some of his passion: http://businessbloghive.com/2006/09/08/getting-started-as-a-successful-outstanding- wish I could inbed it as a blue text link, so the abruptness of it didn't cause you to turn the volume down (I always hate the "beeeeep... this is a test... this is only a test" thing they invariably do during my favorite shows). But, alas, that will wait for another long nap time. :)

So, I want to better my blog a bit. And I mentioned the whole blog-tipping thing the other day... but I have yet to receive one, that I know of. In the spirit of the season, maybe it is better to give than receive. Of course, I will be nice. So here it is... my first blog tip (drum roll please)...

Kudos goes to my friend Meg at http://megsgarden63.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F47977C761FA7A82!1620.trak

I love the calm blue background of her blog... puts me in a mood to read.

I love that her pictures (which are nicely done) are not at the top of her blog. This means her actual blog entries load up quickly and I can see if she's added anything new without having to wait for the pictures to load.

I love her posting style... she's got haikus in her blogs! How cool is that?!? She writes in a personal, carefully carefree tone, so I could "chat" with her non-stop. And the fact that she appreciates how she embarasses her children shows me she doesn't mind the wildflowers in her garden.

One thing I would improve? Gee, it's really hard to say, and is really more of a personal preference thing... I don't care much for thumbnail images in a books list. Don't know why... maybe I just see them as too tiny to matter... I pick books a lot for their titles anyway. Like I said, it's a personal preference and not a biggie.

Love your blog Meg! Who's next? :)