Blog Nanny

BLOG-L List Rules

1. No flaming.

2. This list is for everyone. This means that people of differing levels of expertise in blogging are equally welcome. So respect for all posters is a given.

3. If you think list rules are being violated or that action needs to be taken regarding another subscriber, email the offending subscriber or the list manager Pat Gundry at suitcase@mich.com privately rather than posting to the whole list.

4. Keep your messages within reasonable length.

5. If you have something to sell, use your signature space to let people know.

6. Please keep your signature to 7 lines or less, preferably no more than five.

7. Add a subject heading to your messages that is short and concise.

8. When responding to a previous message, briefly quote a relevant portion of the previous message, set off by " < " or in some other manner.

9. Send messages meant for individuals to them only, not to the whole list.

10. Refrain from responding to the whole list with messages such as, "I agree. Me too. Send me one also," etc. Send such messages privately.

11. If you receive information from a number of private messages about a subject of interest to the group, please summarize the results and post for all.

12. Use as much forethought before posting as you would in a group of people you had to be with every day--no obscenities, profanity or sexually suggestive material.

13. If you will be gone for a time and unable to read your mail, or change service providers, unsubscribe and resubscribe later in order to prevent a backup of your unread or undeliverable mail, or set your subscription to "no mail."

14. The list manager has sole charge of who may subscribe. She will remove subscribers from the list for recurring bounced mail, flaming, rule violations, or for any other reason that, in her opinion, is deemed sufficient cause.

15. Do not post to the list private messages that were sent to you unless you have permission from the original sender.

16. Don't dominate the list. Post only a reasonable amount, especially when the volume of messages is high.

17. If you want to share something best sent by attachment, post the offer to do so to the list, asking those who want it to email you privately.

18. Never send a petition of any kind through the list. Avoid sending material asking readers to send a message to support a worthy cause or aid a person in need. Many such messages circulate through the internet, are often hoaxes, and even if valid, can cause huge problems for recipient locations. Most computer virus messages are also hoaxes. If you receive information about a suspected computer virus, send the information to the list manager at suitcase@mich.com rather than to the whole list.

19.This email discussion list is provided as an open forum. All posters are solely responsible for their own messages, and are the sole owners of their content.

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Welcome to BLOG-L!

BLOG-L FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Are there archives of previously posted messages to the list?
A: BLOG-L has recently moved from its previous hosting service. The archives from that host may be available soon, but aren't yet. Current archives will be available here.

Q: Who owns BLOG-L?
A: Pat Gundry, a blogging enthusiast.

Q: How do I find out who is subscribed to BLOG-L?
A: The subscriber list is available only to the list owner in order to protect subscribers from having their email addresses harvested for spamming purposes.

Q: What is "spamming?"
A: Spamming is the practice of sending SPAM, the term used to refer to unrequested email messages, usually trying to sell something. The term SPAM derives from a Monty Python episode in which an eatery offers nothing on the menu except Spam, repeated over and over.

Q: The list rules forbid flaming. What's that?
A: Flaming is making derogatory or insulting comments about another subscriber or their messages.

Q: Who do I email if I need help with the list?
A: Pat Gundry at suitcase@mich.com

Q: What is a "Newbie"?
A: Someone who is new to blogging, or new online.

Q: What is "Netiquette"?
A: Netiquette is good manners online. To read about netiquette visit these web pages:
http://www.albion.com/netiquette
http://www.fau.edu/netiquette

Q: What is "Topic of The Week"? And how do I suggest one?
A: Topic of the Week, sometimes indicated by the letters TW is a subject introduced by the list manager/owner for discussion as a special focus on a particular area. It is meant to add to the discussion options, not substitute for discussing any other subject. You may send suggestions for topics to the list manager, Pat Gundry at suitcase@mich.com at any time. Topic of The Week is not necessarily a weekly occurrence, but a device to add an additional dimension to BLOG-L from time to time.

Q: What is Promo Day?
A: On the first of each month, and those days only, subscribers may post brief to middlesized promotional messages about their services and or products. Each subscriber can post once in each four month period, not once every month. Usually a reminder message will be posted to the list a day or two before Promo Day each month.

Q: What does "DRIB" mean?
A: Don't Read If Busy. The term, in common use on email discussion lists now, originated with PUBLISH-L subscriber Lorilyn Bailey, who first used it to indicate, in the subject line of a message, something that is not really pertinent to the business aspects of the list, sort of an aside, or item of general interest that is off the main purpose and topic of the list.

Q: Is BLOG-L a moderated list?
A: No. On a moderated list all messages are read and approved by a moderator before being posted to other subscribers. BLOG-L is a managed list. In the case of BLOG-L that means someone oversees the list, answers questions, and enforces the rules.

Q: When should one introduce one's self on BLOG-L?
A: On many lists it's customary to introduce yourself every year on your birthday. But introductions are OK any time.

Q: Were should I send messages I want to post to the BLOG-L list?
A: Address an email to blog-l@googlegroups.com.

Q: Why can't I post messages to the list? I'm receiving messages, but when I try to send one to the list I get a message telling me I'm not subscribed.
A: Usually it's because you are receiving messages from one email address (the one BLOG-L software recognizes) and attempting to post a message from another email address (which BLOG-L software doesn't recognize). This can happen for the following reasons:

1. Your ISP has changed your email address without you realizing it, and is forwarding your email from the previous one to the new one.
2. Someone in your household or business has changed your email address and you didn't know, or forgot about it, and your email is being forwarded from the previous one to the new one.
3. You subscribed from your website email address, which is automatically forwarded to another email address.

The solution is to either be sure to use the one you are subscribed under, or unsubscribe to the one you don't want to use and resubscribe to the one you do want to use.

Q: I have moved my email account and can't unsubscribe from the old email address because the list software won't let me.
A: This is a job for the list manager to do for you. Email Pat Gundry at suitcase@mich.com and ask her to switch subscriptions for you. Include the old address, if you know it, and the new one in your message.

Q: I suddenly stopped getting messages from BLOG-L but I didn't unsubscribe. What happened?
A: Your server was probably down for a significant time, or your mailbox was full and your messages were bouncing back to BLOG-L's managing software long enough for it to automatically unsubscribe you. You will need to re-subscribe to BLOG-L to get messages again. But you can go to the list's archives to read any you missed.

BLOG-L: What it is

There are lots of blogs about blogging, but I didn't find much in the way of email discussion lists on the subject. Since email discussion lists have certain advantages over blogs for quickly accessing the collective wisdom of a large number of people, it seemed like a good idea to create one for blogging, so I did.

BLOG-L is an email discussion list about blogs and blogging.  Email messages addressed to the list are received by all subscribers to the list. Subscription is free. BLOG-L's mission is to provide a quick and easy way to share information about blogs and blogging.

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My Blogging Projects

Since examples are usually more useful than descriptions I thought I'd share several of my blogging projects, just as they are at this point, to illustrate how blogs might be used by writers, publishers, coaches, and service providers.

I'm a writer, with many interests and writing related projects in progress at any one time, and so blogging can provide a home for projects, ongoing contact with readers and possible future readers, and  provide low key, non-invasive publicity and marketing exposure. Better than a newsletter in many ways, a blog can be permission marketing at its best, I think.

I'm also a small publisher, so I have books to sell, information to share, and opinions and thoughts on that subject that I now have a place for on a publishing related blog http://www.publishnuisance.com

My blogs were all built at http://www.typepad.com using the template pages, with a little html tweaking (very little) that I learned from Andy Wibbels' http://www.easybakeweblogs.com ecourse. I used Fireworks software to create the banners and graphics and optimize them for the web. And, for a couple of them I also did a little Photoshop modifying.

I created the blog http://www.cookbook-l.com as a replacement for a website, reproducing the pages on the site with posts on a long blog page, with sidebar links to the posts. I replaced the website with a blog version because it will cost me much less money per month, and because I thought it might even serve me and subscribers better in blog form.

I replaced some other websites with blogs, changing their format and name, forwarding their own original domain URLs to the new blogs, which also have their own (different) domain names.

Several of the blogs are project oriented and have to do with coaching or writing projects of mine, and some are also social action projects:

http://www.makeabortionunnecessary.com
http://www.abuseville.com
http://www.tellingaboutabuse.com

http://www.noodlefactory.typepad.com/noodling is a personal opinion/whatever blog.

http://www.publishnuisance.com is for all the stuff I'd be cluttering up my email discussion list PUBLISH-L with if I wrote there about everything I'd like to :)

http://www.ordermybook.com will eventually be an easy to remember way for radio interview listeners to locate my books online.

I created http://www.blognanny.com so I'd have a place to refer blogging related questions and post material I've written elsewhere about blogs and blogging.

The Ariel Network links in the sidebar of this page contain both my regular website and my blogs.

Learning How

Most, if not all, blog providers/hosts have tutorials. So, you can muddle through with more or less ease without additional training.

However, I lucked out with free training from Andy Wibbels, who was developing a pilot program for an ecourse/telecourse on web logging (blogging) and wanted students for the course-in-development. I signed up, and have built several blogs using his excellent instruction and resources. I'll be adding an affiliate link here soon to Andy's course site, but for now you can simply go to http://easybakeweblogs.com to check out what he offers. It's well worth the cost, I can assure you.

He based his instruction on the http://www.typepad.com hosting company's blogs, because he thinks Typepad has the best looking blogs he's seen, and it's pretty easy to use. TypePad has three levels of membership/subscription. Andy asked us to get the middle level for our class, which provides most of the features one would want, and you get to build three web logs there for the same price, if you want to. The top level, which I shifted to when I decided it was the place I wanted to build my blogs, provides unlimited blogs. That's right, I can build as many as I want, for one price for all. So, blogs can be much, much less expensive than websites. And, there are many blog hosts that provide free blog building and hosting service.

Here's what I use to build my blogs: Hosting and online building templates at http://www.typepad.com and the software Fireworks to create and optimize the banners and graphics, which were mostly from Hemera's Photo Objects http://www.hemera.com  And, I also did do some work in Photoshop software on a couple of the images.

Thinking of all the things one could do with blogs bloggles the mind :)

Where To Blog

A few of the best looking blog providers:
http://www.typepad.com  (My top recommendation, the one I use.)
http://www.livejournal.com
http://www.journalspace.com
http://www.blogdrive.com
http://www.modblog.com
http://www.aiyo.com/app/blogs.jsp?aff_id=10002

This one is a website/blog builder/host:
http://squarespace.com

List of links to recently updated blogs: (Takes awhile to load. First thing you'll see is a guy standing up, sideways, looking like Bill Clinton with a drink in his hand. Just be patient, some bloggers have a quirky sense of humor.)
http://www.weblogs.com/

More sample blogs to visit:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0131035/  (religion in the news)
http://www.thiswomanswork.com/  (writer weblog)
http://boingboing.net/ (very popular info blog)
http://radio.weblogs.com/ (most popular feeds for radio.weblogs)

Blog resources, etc.:

http://www.blogshares.com
http://www.blogphiles.com  (blog webring)
http://www.fairvue.com/?feature=awards2003 (weblog awards)

What You Can Do With Blogs

Everybody needs a website. Well, almost everybody. Certainly every author, coach, service provider, and publisher needs one. But, websites can be very difficult and expensive to plan, design, and get up and running. Mine aren't, but that's because I use an online site builder program my web host http://www.bigstep.com provides, and it works well for me. But, even at that, I need to be able to tweak my graphics, and had to buy and learn software for that (Fireworks).

But, a web log, or blog as they are called by bloggers, is easy, and free or cheap to operate. It's fast to set up, and fast to add to or change. You can have a simple blog or an elaborate and complicated blog. And, blogs will do what a website will do, to some extent, and do some things even better than a regular website.

If you already have a website, a blog can add a personal and immediate functionality to the website. You can link your externally hosted blog to your website, or you can use free standing blogging software you buy and install on your own computer to add the blog feature to your website.

If you do not have a website, you can easily and quickly build a blog that will substitute for a website. For some people, businesses, and organizations a blog will be all you will need.

Specific uses for blogs:

1. Authors: A blog is a great way for authors to keep in touch with their readers and gain an online following for their work. The first link below is an author/book reviewer blog that not only promotes the author's book but is a source of affiliate and ad income as well.
http://book-blog.blogspot.com
http://davidakin.blogware.com/blog

2. Publishers: The immediacy of a blog makes it possible for a publisher to communicate with their community of writers and service providers quickly and easily, share tips, requirements, news, and recommendations, and create an atmosphere that reflects their business' personality.
http://www.globalbookpublisher.com/102002/102002ezine.php
http://pneumabooks.blogspot.com

3. Service Providers: A blog provides the personal touch, gives the customer more of the flavor of the  provider, and a chance to have ongoing interaction with the provider, make suggestions, see examples of work, etc., all at low cost and with low maintainence effort.
http://blogs.msdn.com/Andrew_May
http://www.debbieweil.com
http://www.digitaldeliverance.com

4. Organizations: Blogs are the ideal medium for organizational communication and presence, either in addition to a website or instead of one.
http://www.editorsweblog.org
http://homepage.mac.com/nrdtsjcpl/B1732759005/

Here are some blogging info sites for you to surf:
http://ezine-tips.com/list-tips/list-resources/20001206.shtml
http://www.writtenroad.com/archives/000209.shtml

Web Logs (blogs) What They Are

Web logs, or blogs, are simple add-to websites, either with their own domain name, or a subdomain from a blog service provider.

Simple blogs consist of a single front page, with chronological or reverse chronological entries by the blogger, in sequence, usually with an archive of past postings. Links and photos can be added to the text entries. Sidebars contain categories of links and can often also contain photos and graphics. Readers of the blog can add comments to the postings, which will be linked to the message they refer to, or listed on a sidebar.

Blogs also link to other blogs: favorites of the blogger, linked from the sidebar, and blogs that have been recently updated from fellow bloggers using the same host. There are blog directories that will list updated blogs too. One can begin at one blogsite and surf here and there around the web visiting recommended and favorites of the site owners and random ones that have have just been updated.

Blogs range from the simple and banal to classy and complex. A good blogging trek is very satisfying. It's also quite satisfying to publish a blog. They range from personal to completely business.

What Is Blog Nanny?

Blog Nanny is an information site for new bloggers, particularly bloggers using TypePad's blogging software/hosting. I'll be providing useful links, tips, and info for people who want to blog but may be intimidated or confused by the size of the blogging world and not know where to begin, or how to proceed.

Eventually, I may also offer services to the new blogger--blog building coaching, creation of banners for blogs, and optimizing and creating simple graphics to illustrate posts and pages.

I plan to add continually to the information here. If you have questions about blogging, or my blogs, email me your question and I'll answer it here if I can.  You can also add questions and share pertinent info in the Comments feature at the end of each post.

Pat Gundry
Blog Nanny