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[ksbioteacher]

Terry

Welcome to the blogging world. I've done a lot of writing over the last 10 years, earned a fair amount of compensation for that writing however, I don't consider myself a writer--I'm still working on it. I say that because I want to put into perspective the greater sense of freedom I feel when writing a blog post--there are no deadlines, no editors, no focus groups, (no audience to please ;) )

I find writing a blog post very liberating compared to fulfilling a contractual assignment. I think it is just plain fun. You may feel that way too. For me, personally, writing to a forum like this one is a bit more difficult because I know that someone will look over what I've written in a short time. With a blog you just never know--unless you start getting a lot of comments. (Perhaps I should be more discerning; I often find awful stuff in my old blog posts--especially the ones that I thought were good :oops: .)

As for your blog. here's a couple of suggestions. Switch over to Wordpress.com as jmcg suggested. You'll be able to generate a much cleaner blog. They have many more sample themes to draw from and have a number of very special media tools like a slide show tool that I think you'll like since it appears that your posts are photo inspired. Pay close attention to your photos---make sure they work with your theme and stay away from border line photos as much as possible (I know that is hard). Think about linking your photos into a story---it's still all about a story if you want folks to read your blog. (You might not care, your blog may be your own form of a journal. Finally, be sure to use the tag and categories features of a blog. It may not seem like it but as your blog grows you are going to find that your viewers will be relying more on the searching capabilities of your blog and by tagging posts you'll bring search engines into "old material". Don't let your blog get busy with all the sidebar stuff. Keep that stuff to a minimum--it only detracts. Stick with the photos and the storyline and pretty soon you'll have a repository of treasured memories that you, your family, and your fans will cherish.

BW

[adam]

Sage advice.

[jmcg]

I agree.

Sage advice.

[troutrageous1]

I'm not looking to debate ksbioteacher, only give another viewpoint on the Blogger vs. Wordpress format. It's a Coke/Pepsi, Ford/Chevy type of thing.

In tinkering with both, I've decided to stick with Blogger. Why?

I started my Blogger blog in 2007. Unsatisfied with the lack of templates and general options available, I moved over to Wordpress for a while. Wordpress is definitely a more robust tool that provides a lot more flexibility (if you choose to use it all). If you're going to be serious about blogging, there's a gigantic tool box available to you. There's also a lot more templates available to you right out of the box (or at least there were, more on that in a bit).

However, there were two things that I found that I valued in the Blogger format that I could not easily find in Wordpress.

1) "Google Friend Connect" feature - i.e. the little face icons that promotes folks to follow your blog. I'm sure you could still integrate this into a Wordpress blog via some java/html code, but I couldn't make it interact with my site in as seamless a fashion. My "Google Friends" have actually become a little community to itself - promoting comments (& dialogue) in almost every post I make. Some other Blogger folks I know made the same migration to Wordpress, and ended up moving back as well because they could not replicate the community feeling they had with Blogger.

2) Google search results. Blogger is a Google product. Thus, as soon as you enter a post, it is instantly searchable on Google. It's amazing how many people end up on my blog by searching words like "Tenkara Rod" almost minutes after my latest post. Showing up high in Google searches may not be your goal, and to be honest, it isn't my priority either, just a nice side-effect. Quality of the visitors is more important that quantity (see point #1).

To seal the deal, earlier this year Blogger introduced a ton of new, flexible, and quite attractive templates under it's "Blogger in Draft" product. Most people don't know about Blogger in Draft, it's a beta product that is somewhat hidden but available to all. If they did, I think they'd be shocked to find how much more is available to them in terms of templates. The template gap between Blogger & Wordpress isn't as wide as it has once been.
[youtube:3fasx7vk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6haqZoivBQ[/youtube:3fasx7vk]

Again, I think both platforms have their merits. You just need to get in and play around with each to find what best suits your needs. I chose Blogger, it may not be the right choice for you.

[rayfound]

Great points on the platforms. I'll also add that if you're willing to pay for hosting/design software, Squarespace is a remarkable option. I won't do any selling, other than to say its extremely easy, and it feels less "cookie cutter" than wordpress or blogger, and you have the option of a custom domain. (you may be able to do this with wordpress also)

But (and its a big But), you're going to pay $8-$14/Month. For me, part of that was the motivation - use it or quit it - but don't just sit on it.

[ksbioteacher]

Troutrageous1

Good tip on the Blogger Draft. Before I came down so firmly on the side of WordPress, I went back to one of my old Blogger based blogs and fooled around trying to see if I could do more than edit pages to really create changes. I didn't find Blogger Draft. You are right that the connectivity and newly enabled design capabilities bring Blogger more up to speed.

So as to not hijack--Back to advice for Terry. Terry, my advice would be to investigate the Blogger Draft tool and customize your theme so that it efficiently conveys your message--make it unique and don't be afraid to change it once in a while. Figure out something that can brand who you are--a logo or saying. Use subtlety here--a little bit goes a long way. With the more typical monitor resolution I tend to go for wider text bodies than the default Blogger themes. Likewise, you'll want to look over some of the new theme option in the Blogger Draft tool--they appear to be well suited for displaying images. A lot of folks (I'm one) think that images can really be set off when framed in a black or dark background--you might consider doing that in your photo processing software or just make your blog default that way.

As to shared hosting, Terry. I too highly recommend it. I have 3 shared hosting accounts. I really like the freedom of choosing my own tools, playing by my rules, etc. However, that kind of freedom comes with a price. You have to invest some time into familiarity FTP, linux, databases, pHp and such. Well, maybe not--the hosting services are making it more turnkey every day but I think you're still better off if you invest the time. I've been hacked by Russians, I have to interpret code (I don't write code) when I want to make minor changes work, I have to back up my databases, and to be real honest I haven't figured out what to do as a backup for myself. All those issues can be resolved if you use Blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

Finally, Terry. A last word of advice. Keep your posts and forum comments short :o . I know I don't pay attention to my own advice. I finally finished up this semester's classes and I'm experiencing runaway keyboarding. My apologies.

Really one last thing---I notice that you've used your name for you online identity for this community. For most of my web presence I have used my own name--Brad Williamson but I am a biology teacher from Kansas so ksbioteacher is not exactly anonymous. Like a few others, here, I've been working in the online world since the old BitNet days. I once made a foolish prediction back in the early days of the Internet---I thought that the heavy reliance on typed, written responses in places like listservs and later forums would promote a return to the politeness and nuanced word choice evidenced by the letter writers of the 18th and 19th centuries. I predicted that emails and listserv communications would tend towards the Careful, careful writing like the letters of Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Abigale Adams, Blaise Pascal, and others. Boy was I wrong. I mention this because (in my long-winded way) I wanted to make the point that your Blog/Internet presence will reflect on you and on your character. For me, I've worked hard to be the same person, online that I am in person--there are no surprises. However, for others, for whatever reason they have to remain anonymous. For me, personally, I'm grateful that my web presence has opened a lot of doors for me in my profession. (teaching not fishing, unfortunately) Your steps into the blogosphere may do the same for you.

Project the real you and you will protect the real you. When I was growing up, you built your reputation on the strength of your word--it's no different now---it's just that the words are more in electrons, now rather than in face to face interactions.

BW

[ksbioteacher]

Terry,

I just looked at the photos from your May 31st trip on your blog...Are you in the Fingerlake region? The geology of the waterfall looks familiar. I'll be up in that part of the country in about 2 and half weeks to work on some of those GORGEous trout.....

BW

[LMarshall]

ksbioteacher,

I'd just like to say thank you for the blogging advice. I also just began a new blog on blogger a few weeks ago. So far it's been a lot of fun, and I've really enjoyed everything from the new incentive to focus on photography, to composing posts, and the feedback I've gotten so far.

You make a very sound point Re: internet identities. I never thought too hard about my choice to use my true identity, but now that I think about it, I am glad I did.

[jmcg]

My point of view is that establishing the need to be honest is like establishing the need for oxygen.

Unfortunately there are folks who regard this as ambiguous.

Sad indeed.

I've become a bit cynical on such things and that is also sad--though I always find reason for hope.

Its a wonderful, if not rare thing to have a discussion around morals and ethics and how good it is to have the presence of mind to perceive that ethics must 'flow' from moral underpinnings. This makes for a stationary target.

[terry]

Thanks for the advice everyone. There is a good amount of info to go over. I will be referring back to this thread quite a bit.

I am new to the blog scene obviously. I hope that as time goes on, I find my own unique writing style and my blog becomes more personal. For now I am having fun just using it as a type of on-line journal.

ksbioteacher, those pics were taken in the Tughill region. Tughill is about one to two hours north of the fingerlakes.