Blog woes
Does anyone else get frustrated with all the blogs around? I just can't keep up with them all - Any suggestions for an easy way... I have subscribed to some posts - but then they all seem to subscribe through different portals and I end up with so many emails with links all over the place. It would be good to have them all neatly in one place... I like neat!!
Another blog woe of mine is that here at VOX you can't have more than the 5 links - and i take up 3 of them with my own links to my other sites..........
Over at blogspot - yes, I try to keep two blogs running (don't know why i double post and miss things from one to the other) crazy, crazy, crazy......... so I'm trying to ascertain WHICH is the best blog to keep.
I like vox - I like the way you can post easily, I like the format, I love having 'friends' here - and links to the friends and neighbours. That's important to me, sharing and visiting people.
Over at blogspot (blogger?) you can't have friends :( How sad is that - you can however have a large list of links/blogroll call it what you want......... but no friends :(
I would like them to include a 'neighbourhood' or 'friends' section... yet here at vox I would like to have more links to share my fave blogs with others.
Sometimes I have found the most amazing people and made such nice friends just by wandering around other peoples links and visiting several different pages.
My blogs lack visitors - and I like visitors - I lack link-backs too...... so help me out if you can.
At blogger there is this cool little widget (FEEDJIT) thingamajig that lets me know where my visitors have come from.
i like that :)
I also like the look of blogger....... but not as much as VOX.
The other main thing I don't like about VOX is that you can't have VISITORS comment unless they have joined VOX themselves......... this really sucks I think. I also think it's so limiting to VOX itself... if they let visitors comment on postings, who knows they might actually get more customers themselves from that.
I know people have visited my vox, then emailed me privately saying "I cant comment or anything" and yup, thats true... who is going to go to the hassle of joining somewhere else just to say "i like this".??? I wouldn't either.
Yet at Blogspot, you can post a comment as a 'visitor' or guest........
So my dilemma is this - which blog do you think I should keep???
Please check me out here and there - and feel free to tell me which you prefer.
I am going to post this over at blogspot and ask the same question.
Any of you that find you can't 'comment' to my vox (those from blogger) please email me privately:
reiki3@iinet.net.au
I would really really appreciate your help and constructive criticism and advice on blogging..........
Hugs!
Lorri
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Hi Lorri, I'm Sherry. I live in California. I only post on Vox but I've been tempted to look around at other blogs. I'm not sure why I think about looking at other blog when I really couldn't keep up with more than one. Vox is nice and I agree with you that it's fun exploring different blogs and having friends.
Thanks for the share.
Sherry
Sherry, thanks for your input - I think I only want ONE blog - but would like to know which is better. I'm still thinking VOX :)
Thanks for sharing :)
Do you mind me asking - how did you find / get my "blog woe" post in the first place... ? You replied rather quickly lol. Is it because I sent it to my neighbours?
Thanks,
Lorri xo
It's really hard to know, Lori. I have had friends who have left Vox and I don't seem to follow them as well to their new blogs. Vox has kind of grown on me, even with all of it's faults and flaws.
I know that my free counter always shows many more hits for first-timers on my Vox blog, so I'm sure that it has been well noted web-wide that this is where you can find 'RecycleMicol' blogging about her arts and crafts. I keep my lesser-known Blogspot for more random life type stuff and don't update it as often as I do my Vox. I find that I get more comments on Flickr than either of my blogs, which is great with me! I like the ease of commenting and other tools on Flickr, so I will happily keep up with all three. Vox, Flickr & Blogspot. I upload the photos to Flickr first so that I don't have to manually resize them and then easily blog my photos to both Vox & Blogspot.
One day something better will come along that blows everyone else out of the water, or Vox will wise up and fund the much-needed changes like visitor commenting on blogs & photos and vast amounts of linkage space in the sidebars, etc.
Until then, Happy Blogging!
RM
Lori,
I had a request through Vox email to reply to your post, so yes...it must have been sent to your neighbors. It's nice, though. I don't mind throwing my two cents in.
RM
Okay you need to use a feed reader. I use Google Reader (reader.google.com) because I can check it from home and from the shop, or from wherever I happen to be.
I use gmail as well, so it's linked to my email account and has much the same interface so it's pretty easy to get to know.
You can categorise feeds (if you're more organised than i am...) and there's different options to show the whole post, or just the headings so that you can choose what to read and what to skim over.
The main problem with feed readers is that some people only post partial feeds - so if you want to read the whole post you have to click into their actual blog page to read it (this is usually only done by people who make money from ads on their pages).
You can sometimes get widgets or firefox extensions to cross-post to different blogging platforms. I used scribefire for a while, but since I only use the shop blog now, i just go through the wordpress admin page.
And for everyone with multiple blogs or accounts on Facebook, Plaxo, or Ning, you can set those accounts to auto-repost your blog posts. Plaxo allows for unlimited feeds, Facebook and Ning allow for feeds from one location. You can see a quick example of that on my Plaxo account that does nothing more than serve as a place holder and a feed catcher because I have a few friends that use the service
I replied so quickly because I was reading the "recent posts" under the "Explore Vox" option. Your post was at the top of the list. Vox has so many avenues of exploring.
Hi, Lorri,
I'm sorry that I can't offer any advice. VOX is the only bog I postto and it' hard enough forme to keep up with this one. I'm also a bit technically challenged. I read Beterr Version of Me's comment and I marvelled at her knowledge. Try them out for a wheil longer and see which one suits you best.
Hey Gal,
As you know I'm on Blogger. Great post and so interesting to read the variety of responses. I can relate to your dilemma. I have limited time to blog surf and my email is WAY to busy so I've never been interested in "force feeding" myself with feeds.
Whenever time allows, I simply scan my Blog Roll and surf from there. Then, when I come across new friends, I either add them to favorites or write down their addys so I can add them later. I REALLY like having all my friends and favorite sites in one place because it keeps things SIMPLE!
I spend hours on the internet on flickr, scanning the web & learning TONS of new techniques, I am taking my second online art course in 2 weeks (paulette insall), plus email, shopping for supplies & mixed media books and magazines. Also facebook, several yahoo groups, etsy, myspace AND I manage a music site on myspace for my husband. With work and a busy homelife ~ we all have to find balance.
My question to you - how do people find the time for so many swaps, contests, trades, and all the WEEKLY challenges?? Is everybody retired?? LOL
Well, we all know how rewarding this can be. I am so glad we found each other online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - vicki xo
How funny to read this post of yours right after I copied 3 months of posts from my blogger blog?! I have decided to keep both and just copy one to another, as I seem to have "met" a totally different crowd here. Of course, I have to do it more than every few months.
I'm also in agreement with forgetmenotdesign, I wonder how people can do so manys swaps, groups, etc. I feel like I'm always forgetting something or running to catch-up!
Being so busy, is what prompted me to post about the blogging in the first place.. I like to be organised, and don't like 'doubling up' work if I can help it.
I also have made several 'friends' from both blogger and vox, but am tending to lean toward staying at vox at the moment..... maybe I can convince the bloggers to come here too!! LOL
I was kind of hoping there was another portal for blogging that did everything all in one - and one which everyone already belonged.................. wishful thinking on my part.
Thanks again for your replies - I really appreciate it, and love visitors & comments - keeps me feeling 'alive' here!!
XO Hugs
You can share your posts with your friends, after you post it, go to the top of your post and look to the middle part of the top of your post, and you'll see the*share* word, click it and you can then send the post message to all your neighbors and friends, and then, go to the bottom of the page and click send. I hope you stay around, and keep your vox blog.
Have a great night Lorri ;)
1)VERY active communities.... no other blog site I have seen has communities that equal the ones there. Especially the bigger artsy craftsy communities. You do not have to go to a groups page like here and click on each community to view the activity, it feeds right onto your friends page.
2) It offers a preview when you post, makes it easy to find errors and check the layout before posting.
3) You can set special posting filters, so if some people watch your blog for artsy stuff and some are personal friends, they can ask to be only on your art filter and if you do your filter when you post, they will only see the art related posts.
4) Feeds from other sites can be set up on your friend's page, I watch several personal blogs and things like Neatorama via LJ on my friend's page, I love this feature, it makes keeping up easier, I miss less.
5) You can create galleries there easier, one for art, one for family, one for activties, etc. And you can upload 10 pictures at a time.
You need to know more scripting to post links on LJ, unless you use one of the downloadable clients like Semagic, there are several out there. They do have an add an image option at the top of the create a post page now though. Links require you to use html unless you use one of the clients to post from.
They still offer free blogs, I pay the $20 a year to have the upgraded one because it removes the ads and gives me more picture storage. LJ was just bought by some Russian company and they are making changes, they plan to open it up to allow you to make money with your blog, waiting to see how that goes. Because it is an all ages forum they frown on nude pics and obscenities in journals, this has never been an issue in my case except around election time. :)
Those who object to any form of censorship have been migrating over to insanejournal with looks and works like LJ, it is totally free.
I also like Xanga, lots of artists wind up there, but nothing I have found so far compares to LJ when it comes to posting options and activity within the communities