Blog tips from a self-proclaimed blogod

The Blog Basics. You need to read this post. Period. Read it now. All your questions answered. Tips from the pros. Ten easy steps to make a gazillion dollars while working less that one hour per week... FROM HOME!

Oooh... you've got me attention. READ MORE!

Blog Tips From Miroslav!
(stolen from other people of course... but re-typed by me)

1) "Uh, I don't get this. What the heck is a blog?" - I personally consider it my online, public diary. However, it is used by many different people for many different things. Great intro can be found here: Wikipedia's Definition of BLOG.

2) Scared to post a comment? - Blogs are most fun if you get engaged. Don't be shy to leave some remarks. For the timid, you have the option of remaining completely anonymous, or you can choose a "handle" (you know... like a trucker name... um, like "The Big Cheese" or "SugarPumpkinSkittles"). Once you get in to the swing of things, if you want to get more involved, you can choose to register (which is free) and you can put a photo up and create a profile and stuff. Or, just remain anonymous. Whatever. The first comment is the most intimidating... after that, its a breeze! Just click "comments" at the end of whichever post you want to comment on and you will be off and running. You should keep in mind that once you hit send, the whole world can see it, so be sure to think about what you are going to say before clicking that final "Publish" button.

3) Blog Feeds / Email Notification - Are you sick of going back to one of your favorite blog(s) in anticipation of a new post only to find that there hasn't been any? Click click click. Refresh refresh refresh. Lame and frustrating, ya know? Well, there are two ways to solve this problem. You can A) learn how to use RSS/Atom feeds and customize your homepage (ie. MyYahoo!, Custom Google, etc.) ... OR ... B) sign up for automatic email updates if the blog in question offers it.

A) RSS / Atom feeds: Most blogs choose to "syndicate" their blog via either an "Atom Feed" or "RSS Feed". As far as I understand it, and for the purposes of what I'm trying to explain here, think of it as a continually updating outbound stream of information. In essence, you can harness these feeds and use them to keep tabs on your favorite blogs. It will show you when new posts are made and give a brief snapshot of what was posted. So if, for instance, Miroslav's Musings is rambling on and on about God and Faith and all that sort of stuff, and all you are interested in is the really interesting parts like how I forget to clean my armpits when I bathe... then you can just bypass the former, and visit when the latter is posted. Make sense? Don't be scared off b/c you don't understand all the technology. I don't understand it either. hehe... Blogs/Sites that are "syndicated" (have an RSS or Atom Feed) usually have a symbol like this on the page which will tell you what the address is of the feed. To impliment this feature, go to the right hand of the screen... all the way down... until you see these symbols. Click one of em! Well, heck, here... I'll make it even easier for ya'!

Here is an example of what RSS / Atom feeds look like in action. Click to enlarge. Cool yeah?...



B) Automatic Email Updates: This option is definately more user friendly than pure RSS / Atom feeds. Unfortunately, most blogs DO NOT support this feature at this time (my blog does, in case you are wondering). Receiving email updates is pretty simple. You type in your email address which is added to a mailing list. You then receive an email updating you with every new post that is made. The cool thing about using email updates is that it is quick and easy and EVERYBODY has an email address (whereas not everybody will be able to use an RSS / Atom feed to customize their homepage depending on the service they use). The down side is that it emails you every day of the week. So if you are anything like me and get a TON of emails as it is... you may not want more. The well run email notification services (like the one I'm using) absolutely promise that they do not sell or distribute any emails on the mailing list... for whatever thats worth. So if they are true to their promise, you shouldn't get any spam from signing on. (I'm always very skeptical and cautious about putting my email out on the 'net cause I HATE spam, but it appears that FEEDblitz is pretty legit about this type of thing which is the only reason I've decided to use their services.) Anyhow, if you want to use this... just put in your email in the appropriate box over to the right at the bottom. Just FYI, by default I am sent a list of every email that is on my subscriber list. BUT, if you want to remain anonymous, that is an option. You simply have to choose that option when you are sent a subscription confirmation. More info can be found here.

4) Search Features - Are you curious what I've said about something in particular but don't want to read through my entire blog to find it? Just use the bar at the top of the screen silly! For instance, if you want to know what I've posted about faith... well, just type it the word in the top left box in the black navbar and hit "Search This Blog." Viola! Cool yeah? Keep in mind that the search function only searches my official posts... not comments that are added subsequently.
Another great feature of the navbar is the "Search All Blogs" option. Curious what the bloggers of the universe are saying about toe fungus? Type it in and click the button and off ya' go! Neat-o!

4) Want more? - Sick of the same old blogs? Want to step out of the box for a minute and see what kind of wackos there are in this world? Hit the "Next Blog" button in the top right hand corner in the NavBar. It will shoot you off to a random blog. Although blogspot (this server) does a pretty good job of keeping the really gnarly hardcore porn out... you may run across something offense... you've been warned. But hey, thats the internet for ya'. Just to give you an idea, I've been to roughly one hundred blogs and I can only think of two that were in your face crude.

5) Profile Adventures... - See my profile? If you look at the complete profile you will see some random questions that were posed to me when I registered. I'm kind of lame and didn't take the time to answer them... except for the one that asks, "Favorite Movies". Of course, as everybody knows... The Naked Gun is the best movie ever. So, thats what I put. Well check this out. Are you curious to know what other yahoos chose that as their favorite movie? Click on my answer, "The Naked Gun", and you will be shown a list of people who have that in their profile too. Neat, huh? Speaking of which... I better go add some stuff to my profile.

6) Learn the lingo - Blogger = The person who own/runs the blog. Posts = Entries made by the blogger. Comments = Entries made in response to Posts. Most blogs have a list in the column of the ten most recent posts. My blog ALSO has a list of the most recent comments. A new feature... :D Now you don't have to go scrambling through all the Posts to find out who is saying what!

7) Don't limit yourself - If you want to become a true blogod like yours truly, you cannot limit yourself to normal daylight hours. Is ten o'clock, or lets say midnight, normally a late night for you? We need to change that. I suggest that you take up the fine old discipline of insomnia. Push yourself. Use toothpicks to prop up your eyelids if you must. Make 2am your first target and go for it! I know you can do it!

Ok, thats all for now. This blogod is tired.