After I’d been blogging for a couple of months I posted an article about the things I’d learned about blogging up to that point. I’m reposting an edited version which I’ve edited to reflect the things I’ve learned my first year of blogging.
1. I now know why people can’t stand blogger
* Pictures say that they’re loaded and aren’t
* Pictures suddenly disappearing from posts
* Posts disappearing and then reappearing
* No trackbacks
* No categories (until beta but since I can’t seem to be able to switch, it doesn’t do me any good0.
* Templates stink
* The editor doesn’t have an undo button and it really, really needs one (really)
* And switching my blogs over to Beta has been a major problem. They keep inviting me to do it and then when I do they are unable to do it.
2. This is hard work.
* Not just the writing part but finding clip art and interesting links
* Tweaking the template.
* Figuring out how to locate and use all the utilities available (javascripts to display headlines, trackbacks, word clouds, etc.) and then installing them in your template.
* Responding to comments
* It’s not easy to maintain two blogs and a blogroll.
3. People tell you they read your blog but they don’t.
4. Never ask your readers to nominate you for an award unless you are sure that you won’t get your hindquarters kicked.
5. This is not really a good environment for an insecure, control freak.
6. I have a new respect for those blog and have a life as well :-).
7. I really am a workaholic.
8. Firefox is the best browser to view blogs. And it has all kinds of fun plugins.
9. There are some really incredibly nice people on the Internet who have been very generous with their support and encouragement (not to mention linking to us :-).
10. I’ve learned that I have to be incredibly careful about what I write because you don’t know who is reading our blog. I’ve seen the type of things people are searching for and it can be scary. The Internet is a scary place filled with perverts.
11. I have to be incredibly careful about what I write because my words could adversely affect how people view Christ and His people. You may only get one shot at someone, they might not read your apology, revised opinion or your further explanation. Being careful with the original post is the most important step in the process.
12. Never change your template after 12:30 am. You may delete something you might need 🙂
13. Always, and this is very important, always preview your template before you save it. Also, back up your template before you make any changes, even minor ones.
14. It might be a good idea (for grammar’s sake) not to post after 12:30 am.
15. Do not let negative comments impact your blogging. Don’t think about negative commenters when you post, it’s your blog and you are entitled to your opinion.
16. You don’t need to respond to negative comments. You can ignore them if you want.
17. Don’t worry about people slandering you on the Internet, don’t worry about defending yourself. Don’t bother getting into a flame war over it, it’s not worth it.
18. Don’t ever write about someone unless you are prepared for them to read it.
19. Be prepared for your position to be misunderstand or misquoted, people aren’t always fair on the Internet. I’ve been called a Nazi because I tell people they can’t be on the Blogging Chicks blogroll unless they carry the blogroll (I’ve also been called a dictator).
20. Try to give people the benefit of the doubt, don’t always assume they are deliberately being deceptive.
21. Technorati can be a great source of traffic if you tag your posts correctly.
22. Digg, del.icio.us, Tail Rank, Wikio, and Megite are all great resources to see what everyone is blogging about.
23. Always check the sidebar of a blog for new ideas and utilities to use on your blog.