Category: Blogging

Largely older posts, mini blog entries and memes from the past… a vault of dusty nonsense.

bookmark_borderAuditioning

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Sidenote: I still use blogrolling (can’t find an alternative with the same options – anyone?). If there is no list of sites here it’s because blogrolling is down and as it’s been yo-yo-ing for the past couple of days then it’s probably more likely than not.

On Monday I asked for some suggestions of sites that may, or may not, be added to my blogroll in the future. I like to keep a separate list of such sites, monitor them for a while and then switch them over to the main list (the one that appears on this site).

You gave me some great suggestions, thank you everyone, and having spent a few days with them I thought I’d share the list with you. This is not ALL the sites suggested, but the ones that I think MAY be worth reading for a while.

I’ve added a few I found myself as well so have a gander. You never know, your NEXT favourite blog might be listed below!

Now I should point out that this isn’t a competition, and I hope this isn’t all a little too pretentious, it’s not meant to be, it’s just the way my mind works. I like to plan and list and evaluate most things (probably too much), and my “blogroll” is no different. To those guys and gals that are listed above, don’t worry about it, you’ll doubtless even notice the effects bar the odd extra click here or there.

bookmark_borderNonentity Bloggers

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Apparently this idea is all my fault.. or at least the fault of the fine readership of this very site (ok, I can’t really lay claim to this at all but that won’t stop me trying!!).

I like the idea though but have to admit that, and I’m not sure why it’s only struck me now, but as when Vaughan mentions “those self-important bloggers who like nothing more than discussing their own self-importance are utterly tiresome and painfully dull” I suddenly “got it” (it may be catching, beware).

Creating a “blogosphe…” (ick) to help them feel more accepted and less of an outcast is why the A-list exists – the stereotype of a pizza munching, Gatorade slurping geek is true!!

Except it isn’t really but hey, it’s a nice thought.

Anyway, I see that www.nonentitybloggers.co.uk isn’t taken… yet… and I guess a button would be nice too, right? Or is that kind of against the spirit of the thing? (I was going to call it a “movement” but don’t want to attach any labels).

bookmark_borderLinkeroo

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So I’ve been trimming that big ole’ blogroll (on the left), trimming the chaff/dead and adding in a few that have been on my “Auditioning” pile for a while.

Which means I need to find some new sites to “audition”. But who? Over to you, dear reader, anyone I SHOULD be reading but don’t have linked? Anyone you think I’d enjoy, anyone you think would be a good addition to the list? Quality rules (with the exception of some of the layabouts whom I link to purely for historic reasons and not because they bribe me).

One site per commenter please, but not your own site!

bookmark_borderUpgraded

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What I did (for Lyle and anyone else).

Usual caveats apply, if you’ve done a lot of hacking then YOU need to know what YOU’VE changed. This is all taken from the WordPress Upgrade documentation. Worked for me.

The Preparation
1. Backup your database and the files on your site.
2. Download the WordPress ZIP file for 1.5.2.
3. De-activate all plugins on your site (will make your site look funny until the files are upgraded). I’d suggest taking a note of them as well, just in case you need to upgrade them too (I didn’t have to).

Note: It is NOT necessary to run install.php or upgrade.php as no changes are made to the database. As with all WordPress upgrades, the contents of your /wp-content/ folder should remain intact and unchanged.

The Upgrade
1. Delete /wp-admin/ folder.
2. Delete /wp-includes/ folder
3. Delete all the wordpress files in the root directory where the root index.php file is found. DO NOT DELETE wp-config.php. Note: My WordPress install is in a separate folder, I deleted all the files in my “WordPress” folder, leaving the remaining folders intact.
4. Download and extract the new version.
5. Upload the appropriate folders – /wp-admin/ and /wp-includes/ – and the files they contain.
6. Upload all the files in the WordPress root directory to your WordPress folder.
7. Re-activate your plugins.

Done. Hopefully. Was a breeze this time round, the docs could still do with a little “dis-ambiguating” and I guess it’s about time I used my membership of the doc team to good effect!

bookmark_borderTop 100

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There seems to be a bit of a brew-haha gathering on blogland. Well sort of, but unless you read certain sites you’d never know so let me summarise for you.

Technorati are trying to establish themselves as THE auditors of the web, amongst other things they maintain a “Top 100 blogs” list which lists all the top linked sites. It’s currently questionable that this “A list” is reliable and accurate, with others spring up in competition – Feedster’s Top 500 for example (500 does seem a little OTT mind you).

BlogHer, the conference (movement?) aimed at increasing the standing of women in blogging, and featured the following debate topic: “The BlogHer Debate question for 2005 is this: Women bloggers, how do you want the world to learn about what you’re creating — if at all? Do you want to play by today’s rules or change the game? … Does the current link-based power structure matter to you?”

The link will take you to a more detailed discussion of how we got to this point.

The general idea, and something I’ve discussed here before, is that the current way of ranking the A-list gives the older blogs more prominence than may be accurate and discounts the inputs from new blogs – the female angle at BlogHer stems from the early adoptance of the internet by male dominated establishments I.M.O. – and is gathering momentum.

People have started de-linking A-list sites (I have some in my blogroll on the right) and while it’s easy to think of all this as yet another storm in a teacup and nothing that is of real importance, and while it gives more credence to the “navel-gazing” charge given to a lot of blogs by the mainstream media, I think we may be at a fundamental point in blogging’s evolution. I’m not unique in this thought, far from it, but I’m not sure the ground swell of reaction is focussed in the right direction.

Instead of discounting the A-list shouldn’t we be challenging them? Saying to them “come on, you are in a position of influence, use it wisely”? The people who are linked to the most wield a lot of “link-power” and yet few (any?) use that to promote new or upcoming blogs. Part of the problem may be a question of recognising which blogs to link to, but as has been demonstrated elsewhere, if someone has a mind to it, and with a bit of self-promotion, you can place yourself on their radar quite easily.

There is a lot of talk surrounding this and other similar issues at the moment – top 100/500 lists, ranking stats, and so on. I think they are being given undue focus though, it’s almost as though some people forget what blogging is about. Distilled to it’s core, blogging is about content. Those with good content will prosper, those without will not. It really shouldn’t be any more difficult than that.

Should it?

bookmark_borderThinking

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“What shall I write about today?” I pondered to no-one in particular. “It’s a thought ain’t it” I replied to myself.

Sometimes inspiration hits, sometimes it’s just a bag slung over a shoulder on the train, either way the jolt is the same and the kick start is enough to get your brain moving.

Except mine appears to be stuck. Don’t get me wrong, I can find plenty of topics to waffle on about, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but that key ingredient, that essential release is missing.

I don’t post about work, I don’t really do much during the week, and weekends are typically spent on the mundane aspects of life, gardening, shopping, and so on. There is only so much I can say about my family without scaring everyone away (although with my Mum becoming a more frequent commenter I fear my blog days are numbered as it is, she’s getting a new kitchen don’t ya know), and only so much I can say about my life because I’m all too aware of who reads this nonsense (see previous brackets).

Maybe I should start up an anonymous blog?

Yes, I’m suffering blog depre… no I’m not using THAT word. Let’s call it blog malaise.

But then I look at other blogs and see that they don’t really talk about much either. “I need to develop some characters” I say to myself, my mum would be a prime candidate for this, and this would be the perfect place to catalogue all her little “foibles” (or should I say “turning into her mother”-isms?). She’s not quite on a league with my Gran yet mind you – who once referred to some pears as “runky” (spelling unconfirmed) – and has a way to go to catch up with the, now infamous, comment from another Granny (not mine) who, sometime in the mid-80s, pondered what the fascination was with these “pubic cubes”…

Mind you, maybe I don’t need to go to the lengths of embarassing my mother (if that’s even possible, she’ll pop along soon and deny it is, just you watch) as I’m fairly well practised at waffling myself out of these slumps, next thing you know I’ll be posting three or four times a day. Maybe that’s the “blogger secret”, the key, the solution. Just keep blogging.

God, that sounds trite.