Add Your Blog to Wikiblog Directory

May 10, 2008;

The Wiki Blog Directory is a wiki based blog directory. You add links to your blog by editing the category lists, placing your link underneath those already listed. You are able to list in multiple categories.

The site has been created by BlooksLLC who are also responsible for, among other things:

  • Yearblook - A contest to find the best blog posts of each day
  • Million Blog List - another wiki directory where you can list your blog -An experiment to see how long it will take to get 1,000,000 blogs to list themselves on a wiki

You are also able to create your own page on the Wiki Blog Directory site and link to this, in addition to your blog, from your directory listings.

If you post about the directory you are allowed to use bold text for your directory entries  :smile: You now know my motive for writing this post.

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Get More Comments with KeywordLuv

May 6, 2008;

A new Wordpress plugin has to be unique and useful for me to write about it. The KeywordLuv plugin by Stephen Cronin of More than Scratch the Surface is just that. It is one of those “I know I have too many plugins, but I must have this one” plugin.

What KeywordLuv does is allow for the inclusion of a name and keywords in the title field in the comments form. I see this as being useful to include your blog title alongside your name. Those who are familiar with your blog title but not your nickname can associate the two or vice versa. For those who do not know you at all your blog’s title may be an added incentive for them to visit you. The plugin has the potential to encourage more comments too.

Your keywords do not have to be your blog title and can be blog topic keywords; but care must be taken that you do not come across as being spammy. Where I can see the plugin useful is where there is something for which you want to become known for. An example that springs to mind here is Kim from Laketrees who could publicize her Top 101 Top Artists’ Blogs list, as this list is of benefit to other bloggers. I would not consider this spammy.

What do you think would constitute spam in a KeywordLuv name?

I have installed the plug myself. Please feel free to give it a try (even if you haven’t must to say).

To use:

In the name field of the comment form add your name in this format: name@yourkeywordtext

Example:
Typing in “Stephen@More than Scratch the Surface” (without the inverted commas) will appear as:
Stephen of More than Scratch the Surface

- although I do not see why you would want to use any one else’s name :-)

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RSS Awareness Day

May 2, 2008;

After publicizing RSS Awareness Day, May 1st, I am a day late in taking part, although in some parts of the world it may still be yesterday. Not wanting to miss out on a chance of joining in with bloggers blogging in unity I had to get my own two cents worth in.

If your site provides a feed then you will be familiar with RSS. I know there are still many people who do not understand the concept nor use a feedreader. There are those who believe blogs are merely used as personal online diaries, which they would not read. They probably do not realize that many sites they visit regularly are in fact blogs. If your blog attracts returning readers who are not bloggers themselves, an occasional gentle reminder about subscribing would not go astray.

The term RSS has become a generic term to describe website feeds although RSS is only one of the two main methods of providing feeds. Atom is the other - the default feed for blogspot Blogger blogs is Atom. RSS is an acronym and therefore not pronounced phonetically as ‘ar-ss’. :razz:

Blogging platforms have feed capabilities built in to them and bloggers do not have to concern themselves with their own feeds unless they wish to take advantage of the extra information and statistics provided by services such as Feedburner. Feedburner creates its own feed for your blog and provides code for you to add to your theme or template to replace the default feed. You are provided with the code for an RSS button. A subscribe button in the sidebar highlights your feed as well as compensating for the lack of a subscribe icon in the address bars of some browsers. There are more subscribe options provided by clicking this button than those incorporated into browsers including subscribe by email.

The addition of a subscribe by email option is well worth having, to cater for those who prefer reading feeds that are delivered to their inbox. Your content is more likely to be read this way too, as it reaches those who do not visit their feedreader regularly.

I chose to incorporate a graphic I created into my feed code as you can see from my own feed button at the top of the first sidebar. I had no comments about this so it is probably very silly and I should remove it. :sad: If you want a snazzy feed button I talked about some free resources in my post Feed and Social Networking Buttons.

How you read your RSS feed is a matter of personal preference. I use the FeedDemon desktop reader which copes with my copious feeds and syncs with its corresponding web reader, Newgator Online. This enables me to have updated subscription lists on both my PC and Laptop. Google reader is also popular and allows you to publicly share your favorite posts. I periodically save my FeedDemon list to an opml file and then upload that to Google and other sites that allow my feeds to socially network with other feeds. (In the hope that my blog will also get some publicity.)

Do you have a favorite feedreader?

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