Blog Resources

My first blog Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com was hosted on the free Blogger platform (as I mentioned previously here at Blog Resources, it is now on WordPress). I was dismayed that selection of blog templates included at Blogger were so plain and unimaginative. Not knowing any html I muddled through the customization process and came up with something that would pass.

Today, to my delight, I came across a site called Splat Designs that offers custom Blogger templates. The designs are fun, fresh, and lively. Most are custom and will cost you (I don’t know how much) but Splat offers a few free templates as well.

Anyhow, if you have a blog on Blogger and are looking for something to dress it up, you may want to stop by and check it out.

Splat Designs also offers custom headers, business cards, buttons, and logos.

I know that I am a bit behind the times, but I just upgraded to WordPress 2.5 with Fantastico. It seems like Fantastico always lags behind with the WordPress upgrades. I just noticed the upgrade to 2.5 option today, and after installation I see that WordPress 2.5.1 is already out but not available yet on Fantastico. Regardless, I find Fantastico to be one of my useful blog resources.

Overall the upgrade went smoothly. Whenever I upgrade WordPress, I always revert my theme back to the default Kubrick and deactivate all plugins prior to upgrade. Once the upgrade is complete, I choose my original theme and reactivate all plugins.

So far, I heart WordPress 2.5 for one feature only. Oh, I know there are lots of improvements but the ability to automatically upgrade plugins to the latest version is huge! What a timesaver! This one feature is amazing.

Anyhow, I had a bunch of sites to upgrade and it really didn’t take that long. If you haven’t upgraded yet and you use Fantastico - you may want to check it out. The upgrade was available to me through BlueHost. If you are looking for cheap web hosting for only $6.95/mo you should check them out.

I love Cyberduck for FTP. It’s one of the best free blog resources for Apple Mac users around.

But I just upgraded to version 3.0 and was getting errors when I uploaded content to my site - specifically wordpress themes. I noticed a few threads here and there on the internet with others who are having similar issues. So rather than work through it, I downgraded my Cyberduck back to version 2.8.5 which worked well for me. One thing in version 3.0 that I missed was the bookmarks panel or drawer. This is one feature of the “old” Cyberduck that I really like.

Is Cyberduck 3.0 working for you?

I have seen a lot of discussion lately about blog comments. Some say it is a waste of time. Others find commenting to be a good tool to increase blog traffic.

Being a middle of the road person - I see both sides of this debate and have not abandoned commenting all together.

Why Commenting is Worthwhile

• It increases your site’s exposure.
• Frequent, constructive comments can grab the attention of another blogger.
• Commenting can somewhat increase your traffic - if another reader likes what you have to say they may click through to your site.
• If the site you are commenting on is “do follow” then you gain a backlink.

My Commenting Strategy

• If I take the time to read a post all the way through - it takes very little effort to leave a comment. So I usually do.
• If I am the among the first to comment then I always do. Being the first to comment is more likely to catch the attention of the blogger. Also, other readers are more likely to read the first few comments and may click through to your site. This is especially true on an “A-List” site. These sites get insane amounts of traffic and there are always sure to be a few click throughs to your site.
• If the site is “do follow” and I take the time to read the post - I always comment. A backlink is golden - so why not?

The key to my commenting strategy are the words “If I take the time to read the post all the way through.” I don’t search for sites with the sole purpose of commenting. I don’t think the rewards from commenting are worth the effort. But if I am hooked enough to read the whole post then I have already taken the time and the incremental time to comment is not that great of a time investment.

Do you have a commenting strategy? I’d love to hear about it.

Today Google’s free Blogger service announced a much awaited feature - future posting.

Now you can write a post and schedule it to be published to your blog at some date in the future. You must have signed up for Blogger in Draft to use this future posting.

Blogger just keeps getting better and better.