MyBlogLog Builds Community with Blog Visitor Activity Tracking

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.mybloglog.com/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">MyBlogLog</a> is a tracking and community tool that allows<a class="" href="http://m.dummies.com/DummiesArticle/MyBlogLog-Builds-Community-with-Blog-Visitor-Activity-Tracking.id-124093.html#glossary-blogger" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">bloggers</a> to bookmark and share favorite <a class="" href="http://m.dummies.com/DummiesArticle/MyBlogLog-Builds-Community-with-Blog-Visitor-Activity-Tracking.id-124093.html#glossary-blog" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">blogs</a>, display cool widgets, and keep track of what blog visitors find interesting.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">MyBlogLog says it's in the business of helping you identify what your readers like about the content of your blog. The side result has been to create a community-building service, which the folks at MyBlogLog are pretty happy about, too!</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Using a combination of RSS,tagging, and other tools, MyBlogLog tracks what links your visitors click when they visit your blog (and not the ones to your own site), letting you know where you're sending people. If you keep a blog where you refer people to other Web sites, MyBlogLog can help you know whether you're doing a good job of choosing resources to share.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The key feature of this service is the MyBlogLog community badge that you can display on your blog. As a MyBlogLog member, when you visit a site with this badge, you're added to a badge displaying your profile information. It's an instant community!</p>

MyBlogLog Builds Community with Blog Visitor Activity Tracking

MyBlogLog  is a tracking and community tool that allows bloggers  to bookmark and share favorite  blogs , display cool widgets, and keep t...

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MyBlogLog Builds Community with Blog Visitor Activity Tracking

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.mybloglog.com/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">MyBlogLog</a> is a tracking and community tool that allows<a class="" href="http://m.dummies.com/DummiesArticle/MyBlogLog-Builds-Community-with-Blog-Visitor-Activity-Tracking.id-124093.html#glossary-blogger" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">bloggers</a> to bookmark and share favorite <a class="" href="http://m.dummies.com/DummiesArticle/MyBlogLog-Builds-Community-with-Blog-Visitor-Activity-Tracking.id-124093.html#glossary-blog" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">blogs</a>, display cool widgets, and keep track of what blog visitors find interesting.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">MyBlogLog says it's in the business of helping you identify what your readers like about the content of your blog. The side result has been to create a community-building service, which the folks at MyBlogLog are pretty happy about, too!</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Using a combination of RSS,tagging, and other tools, MyBlogLog tracks what links your visitors click when they visit your blog (and not the ones to your own site), letting you know where you're sending people. If you keep a blog where you refer people to other Web sites, MyBlogLog can help you know whether you're doing a good job of choosing resources to share.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The key feature of this service is the MyBlogLog community badge that you can display on your blog. As a MyBlogLog member, when you visit a site with this badge, you're added to a badge displaying your profile information. It's an instant community!</p>

MyBlogLog Builds Community with Blog Visitor Activity Tracking

MyBlogLog  is a tracking and community tool that allows bloggers  to bookmark and share favorite  blogs , display cool widgets, and keep t...

Read more »

Blog beyond Your Own Site and Invite Guest Bloggers In

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If you want to build a community around your blog, participate in others' blogs — and be on the lookout for bloggers who you'd like to invite to make an appearance in your own blogosphere as a guest.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Start out by finding blogs that are related to the topic areas of your blog. Jump into the conversation by offering a different perspective or feedback to the blogger or to the folks who leave comments.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Mentioning your site on other blogs is fine, as long as you make sure that your comments relate to the subject at hand and add to the conversation.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Also, don't just write and leave. Keep active in the communities in which you are a member and use that time to connect with others. Take what you can from the community, but also give back what you think will benefit everyone as a whole. Remember that participating in these communities might even give you ideas for your own blog, so you're likely to benefit in several ways from the time you spend on these blogs.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">You can also share links between your blog community and related blogs that you want to support. Offer to set up a type of network where you can share content between sites. Anything is possible; all you need to do is ask.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If your blog is attracting a significant number of daily readers, you can request members of your community to help you out by guest-blogging on your site. Depending on the software you're using, you can either set up private sub-blogs or allow them to post to the main page of your site. Being able to provide other insight and information from your community "experts" is incredibly cool, and you might be able to build a series of posts from other bloggers into your site.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">This kind of blogging trade off is a great way to have multiple voices filling out the content on your site and providing a richer experience overall for your readers.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">These relationships are great to have when you get sick or want to take a vacation — tap your guest-blogging community for help covering your blog while you aren't around to do it.</p>

Blog beyond Your Own Site and Invite Guest Bloggers In

If you want to build a community around your blog, participate in others' blogs — and be on the lookout for bloggers who you'd lik...

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Blog beyond Your Own Site and Invite Guest Bloggers In

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If you want to build a community around your blog, participate in others' blogs — and be on the lookout for bloggers who you'd like to invite to make an appearance in your own blogosphere as a guest.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Start out by finding blogs that are related to the topic areas of your blog. Jump into the conversation by offering a different perspective or feedback to the blogger or to the folks who leave comments.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Mentioning your site on other blogs is fine, as long as you make sure that your comments relate to the subject at hand and add to the conversation.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Also, don't just write and leave. Keep active in the communities in which you are a member and use that time to connect with others. Take what you can from the community, but also give back what you think will benefit everyone as a whole. Remember that participating in these communities might even give you ideas for your own blog, so you're likely to benefit in several ways from the time you spend on these blogs.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">You can also share links between your blog community and related blogs that you want to support. Offer to set up a type of network where you can share content between sites. Anything is possible; all you need to do is ask.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If your blog is attracting a significant number of daily readers, you can request members of your community to help you out by guest-blogging on your site. Depending on the software you're using, you can either set up private sub-blogs or allow them to post to the main page of your site. Being able to provide other insight and information from your community "experts" is incredibly cool, and you might be able to build a series of posts from other bloggers into your site.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">This kind of blogging trade off is a great way to have multiple voices filling out the content on your site and providing a richer experience overall for your readers.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">These relationships are great to have when you get sick or want to take a vacation — tap your guest-blogging community for help covering your blog while you aren't around to do it.</p>

Blog beyond Your Own Site and Invite Guest Bloggers In

If you want to build a community around your blog, participate in others' blogs — and be on the lookout for bloggers who you'd lik...

Read more »

Stay in Touch with Your Blog Community with E-Mail Options

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Offering e-mail delivery of some or all of your blog content to your readership can attract users who aren't comfortable with some of the fancier technologies, such as RSS. Try these three tactics with e-mail options for your blogs:</p> <ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"> Allow your readers send a blogpost to a friend that might also be interested.</p></li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px">Let your users sign up for e-mail notifications when you post something new to your blog.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px">Invite your readers sign up for an e-mail newsletter that supplements your blog or recaps recent blog posts of interest.</p> </li></ul><p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Many blog software programs have a built in "Tell a Friend" or "Email a Friend" functionality. If you turn on this feature, every blog post is accompanied by a small icon or linkthat, when clicked, lets your reader fill out the name and e-mail address of a friend and send an e-mail notification about your blog post to them. It's like free marketing.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Setting up your blog to enable users to sign up for e-mail notifications when a new blog entry is posted is an easy way to reach users who aren't up on newsreaders and RSS. Allowing them to sign up and also to remove themselves from your e-mail system puts them in control of the situation, too, which means you won't be contributing to the spamproblem. The <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">FeedBurner</a> site gives you the tools to set up an e-mail notification/subscription tool.</p>

Stay in Touch with Your Blog Community with E-Mail Options

Offering e-mail delivery of some or all of your blog content to your readership can attract users who aren't comfortable with some of ...

Read more »

Stay in Touch with Your Blog Community with E-Mail Options

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p class="Byline" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Offering e-mail delivery of some or all of your blog content to your readership can attract users who aren't comfortable with some of the fancier technologies, such as RSS. Try these three tactics with e-mail options for your blogs:</p> <ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"> Allow your readers send a blogpost to a friend that might also be interested.</p></li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px">Let your users sign up for e-mail notifications when you post something new to your blog.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px">Invite your readers sign up for an e-mail newsletter that supplements your blog or recaps recent blog posts of interest.</p> </li></ul><p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Many blog software programs have a built in "Tell a Friend" or "Email a Friend" functionality. If you turn on this feature, every blog post is accompanied by a small icon or linkthat, when clicked, lets your reader fill out the name and e-mail address of a friend and send an e-mail notification about your blog post to them. It's like free marketing.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Setting up your blog to enable users to sign up for e-mail notifications when a new blog entry is posted is an easy way to reach users who aren't up on newsreaders and RSS. Allowing them to sign up and also to remove themselves from your e-mail system puts them in control of the situation, too, which means you won't be contributing to the spamproblem. The <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">FeedBurner</a> site gives you the tools to set up an e-mail notification/subscription tool.</p>

Stay in Touch with Your Blog Community with E-Mail Options

Offering e-mail delivery of some or all of your blog content to your readership can attract users who aren't comfortable with some of ...

Read more »

How to Find and Use Templates in Your Blog

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Blog design comes down to one thing: the templates you use to run your blog. In these blog templates, you find all the code — and snazzy bells and whistles — that make a blog look great. A good template makes you look more professional, framing and setting off your blog content to its best advantage.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">With any design, consider your content and readership: What do your visuals say about you, and what you have to say? The theme should answer some subtle questions about you as the bloggerand who it is you're trying to attract.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">A lot of the free template designs have been around for some time, and the code definitely has a track record. Some blogging sites review common blog designs, let you know what kinds of problems you might run into, and give you advice about how to avoid those problems.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Here are some online sources for quality free blog templates:</p><ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.oswd.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>Open Source Web Design</b></a><b>: </b>This Web site is great and has a lot of different designers contributing to the site. The designs are fairly basic, but they cover a decent number of themes. You might find a few duds here and there that don't really look bloggy, but most are great.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.opendesigns.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>The Open Design Community</b></a><b>:</b>On this site, the goal of the design community is to "make the Internet a prettier place." It has a decent number of blog templates, and all of them are of a high quality.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.openwebdesign.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>Open Web Design</b></a><b>:</b> Open Web Design has much the same goal as the Open Design Community (almost the same name, too), but this design group has a much larger collection. It can take a while to look through all the options, but you can find a series of good designs that any blogger can use.</p> </li></ul><p class="Warning" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If you aren't that comfortable with either HTML or the blog softwaredesign elements that each blog package has, using free templates might be a big problem for you. Just because the templates are available on the Internet doesn't mean they'll work for your blog. All blog software has special code that needs to be inserted into any template you choose.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Aside from needing to do a lot of the code work yourself if you choose a free template, watch out for a few common problems as you browse free templates:</p> <ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"> <b>Duplication: </b>Because the templates are freely available, other blogs might use the same design you have. Using a design also found on other blogs puts the pressure on your content to be fresh and meaningful to your blogging public.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>Incompatibility: </b>Some blog software is unforgiving when it comes to the design of your blog. One of the better indicators of the quality of your blog software is in how the design elements are able to work with the rest of the package.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>Bad code: </b>Another reality about templates is that even if the design looks great, it might not be using code that works well in your blog. With blogs, having your content accessible is always the first priority, and some poorly written code might prevent your blog from being the best it can be.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>(In)Flexibility: </b>Free templates are designed for everyone and for no one. The template designer does his or her best to create an attractive and appealing design, but in the end, that template wasn't designed with you specifically in mind. The template needs to be flexible enough to handle all kinds of Web sites and blogs — and ultimately, that means it might not suit any of them perfectly.</p> </li></ul><p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Even with all of the potential pitfalls, don't immediately dismiss using pre-made templates. Check the layout and review the code behind the layout before you choose a free template to make sure you have your bases covered.</p>

How to Find and Use Templates in Your Blog

Blog design comes down to one thing: the templates you use to run your blog. In these blog templates, you find all the code — and snazzy b...

Read more »

How to Find and Use Templates in Your Blog

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Blog design comes down to one thing: the templates you use to run your blog. In these blog templates, you find all the code — and snazzy bells and whistles — that make a blog look great. A good template makes you look more professional, framing and setting off your blog content to its best advantage.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">With any design, consider your content and readership: What do your visuals say about you, and what you have to say? The theme should answer some subtle questions about you as the bloggerand who it is you're trying to attract.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">A lot of the free template designs have been around for some time, and the code definitely has a track record. Some blogging sites review common blog designs, let you know what kinds of problems you might run into, and give you advice about how to avoid those problems.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Here are some online sources for quality free blog templates:</p><ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.oswd.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>Open Source Web Design</b></a><b>: </b>This Web site is great and has a lot of different designers contributing to the site. The designs are fairly basic, but they cover a decent number of themes. You might find a few duds here and there that don't really look bloggy, but most are great.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.opendesigns.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>The Open Design Community</b></a><b>:</b>On this site, the goal of the design community is to "make the Internet a prettier place." It has a decent number of blog templates, and all of them are of a high quality.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><a disabled href="http://www.openwebdesign.org/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)"><b>Open Web Design</b></a><b>:</b> Open Web Design has much the same goal as the Open Design Community (almost the same name, too), but this design group has a much larger collection. It can take a while to look through all the options, but you can find a series of good designs that any blogger can use.</p> </li></ul><p class="Warning" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">If you aren't that comfortable with either HTML or the blog softwaredesign elements that each blog package has, using free templates might be a big problem for you. Just because the templates are available on the Internet doesn't mean they'll work for your blog. All blog software has special code that needs to be inserted into any template you choose.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Aside from needing to do a lot of the code work yourself if you choose a free template, watch out for a few common problems as you browse free templates:</p> <ul class="level-one" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"> <b>Duplication: </b>Because the templates are freely available, other blogs might use the same design you have. Using a design also found on other blogs puts the pressure on your content to be fresh and meaningful to your blogging public.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>Incompatibility: </b>Some blog software is unforgiving when it comes to the design of your blog. One of the better indicators of the quality of your blog software is in how the design elements are able to work with the rest of the package.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>Bad code: </b>Another reality about templates is that even if the design looks great, it might not be using code that works well in your blog. With blogs, having your content accessible is always the first priority, and some poorly written code might prevent your blog from being the best it can be.</p> </li><li><p class="first-para" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:24px"><b>(In)Flexibility: </b>Free templates are designed for everyone and for no one. The template designer does his or her best to create an attractive and appealing design, but in the end, that template wasn't designed with you specifically in mind. The template needs to be flexible enough to handle all kinds of Web sites and blogs — and ultimately, that means it might not suit any of them perfectly.</p> </li></ul><p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Even with all of the potential pitfalls, don't immediately dismiss using pre-made templates. Check the layout and review the code behind the layout before you choose a free template to make sure you have your bases covered.</p>

How to Find and Use Templates in Your Blog

Blog design comes down to one thing: the templates you use to run your blog. In these blog templates, you find all the code — and snazzy b...

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Getting through Blogger's Block

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></h1> <div class="author-info" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">By Susannah Gardner</div><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> One nice thing about blogs is that you can post whenever you want, from wherever you want. It's convenient, but it's no guarantee that you have something to post about. There are times in everyblogger's career when ideas run dry, but you still have to produce fresh content.</p> <p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Don't forget that blog entries can be created and stored. On days when you feel incredibly creative, why not write a blog post or two that are evergreen — that is, can stay useful for some time — and stockpile some posts for the days when you are really casting about for content.</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Holding a contest</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Everybody likes a winner, and everyone wants to be one! Put together a quick competition. You can call on your readers to be contestants, and make the community part of the judging as well. Every contest generates excitement and discussion, no matter how small the stakes.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Some topics that work well</p><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li>Name This Product/Service.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Assign a topic, and have people post entries on your blog or on their own blog and link to yours.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Guessing games are always fun. For example, put a super-close-up photo of one of your products on the blog, and get readers to guess which product it is. Or show a tool used in the creation of your products, and ask readers to guess its use.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Have your readers submit creative ideas for using your products or photos of your products in use.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ask readers for predictions on a sales number or news event.</li></ul><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Giving out prizes of value can be tricky — maybe you're on a limited budget, and maybe your legal department would have a fit if you tried to offer "wonderful prizes." But public acknowledgement in an active community can be a nice prize, or you can send a company-branded item to the winners (even if you didn't promise them a material prize).</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Posting reader photos</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Let your readers send in pictures of themselves with your product or service, or your logo, or of your company's local presence. Post pictures in an online gallery, and let the audience rate them. Blog about the best or most interesting ones. (This could also be a contest.)</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Photos have proven to be very popular with blog readers, who also respond well to being included in the creation of blog content, so a photo gallery is almost always a win-win situation.</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Creating a "Best of" collection</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> After you blog long enough, reward yourself. Take a day or a week, and post the best of your blog postings. Update them where appropriate, but in general, you're just giving your best material a chance to see the light again and helping future visitors to find the best of the early days.</p> <p class="Remember" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Your blog isn't your press release section. Bringing attention to an old press release is odd, but it's quite normal to refer back to a particularly valuable piece of writing you did.</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Making yourself heard</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> For a change of pace, how about blogging in audio format instead of in text? Readers (now listeners) are interested in hearing the speaking voice of someone they have read for a while.</p><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Audio posts work best with content that you can read dramatically — let your listeners really hear that sarcasm drip, if that's the way you're going. You can also use an audio post to record sounds in your current environment that your readers might find interesting — the chaos of the trading floor, the sounds of traffic on the street, or the Muzak in the company elevator.</p> <p class="Tip" style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Don't forget to pay attention to the conditions in which the audio is recorded; too much background noise can drown you out and make you hard to hear.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Don't lower your usual standards, but realize that the novelty of speaking your post does take some of the emphasis off the content of it. As well, some people won't or can't listen to audio postings, so don't choose this post as the occasion to make a huge news announcement.</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Questions, please</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Q: Does the Q & A format draw people in? Does it seem to interest people more than a regular, bland post?</p><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> A: Yes; yes, it does. Find someone in the hall, detain them for five minutes, and ask them what they're working on and why. That's all you need for an interesting post. Repeat as needed.</p><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> These mini-interviews give people who aren't normally part of the blog a voice and presence, and make them known to readers as well. Use these to recognize unsung heroes, reveal little-known areas of expertise, or to capture the jokes of the hilarious guy down the hall.</p> <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:19px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Building a widget</h2><p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Not every blog post has to be static. You can quite easily find a nifty, free JavaScript program and adapt it for your own use. Coming up with the idea for a quick little Web widget can be a fun way to increase traffic to your site and interact with the readers.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">As an example, visit the <a href="http://www.cyborgname.com/" style="color:rgb(1,69,138)">Cyborg Name Generator</a>. This application allows readers to enter their name and choose an avatar image, and produces a small graphic displaying the avatar and a reasonably humorous robot acronym based on the user's name.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Your program doesn't have to be a super-well-designed program. In fact, it doesn't have to be programmed at all; it could be something as simple as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style series of linked posts.</p> <p style="margin:0.75em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:24px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">On the other hand, you could start with a simple idea, and it could grow beyond your blog. After all, the best way to get yourself out of a rut is to build a road to somewhere else.</p>

Getting through Blogger's Block

By Susannah Gardner One nice thing about blogs is that you can post whenever you want, from wherever you want. It's convenient, but ...

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