Rants tag

Rants, ruminations, and rambling remarks from my mad, muddled, meandering mind.
Showing posts with label NBI2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBI2012. Show all posts

Monday, August 3, 2015

Blaugust the Third: Allowing Comments on Your Blog

Jessica "Liore" Cook has some pretty solid advice regarding the comment section on your blog:
  1. Make sure your comment sections are functioning. Leave a test comment both as yourself and as a guest to kick the tires.
  2. Visit your comment sections on a phone to ensure that they’re legible.
  3. Requiring that I sign in with an account before leaving a comment is a significant barrier. If I can only leave a comment with a Disqus or social media account, I simply won’t bother. Sorry, but it’s just not worth trying to remember what name my social media account will use or sharing my personal information with yet another service.
There are two sides to Rule 3. I started out trying to keep my comments as open as possible; I even gave similar (Blogspot specific) advice during the first NBI. But shortly thereafter, my spam went through through the roof, and no anonymous commenter ever posted anything worthwhile. Silver lining: it's never been trolls, only commercial spam.

I have opened it up on occasion since, including about a month ago while doing my SWTOR speeder contest. However, even with the spam filter on Blogger, I have spent a significant amount of time dealing with spam, both cleaning out the filter (hairball!) and catching what the filter misses (which honestly isn’t much). But Blogger allows for all sorts of login sources that most people I know are already logged into, assuming they are allowing cookies on their computers: Google, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM, OpenID.

Also, while I didn't exactly have to sign in to Liore's blog, I did have to fill out the little form asking my name, email, and an optional website. Upon doing so and posting my comment, WP/Gravatar recognized me as "rowan" and put my "Locke" gravatar next to my name. So while perhaps easier to remember, the information I had to provide amounted to a login, anyway.

Having said all that, I understand if people don’t want to jump through hoops to comment. I resisted commenting through Disqus for the longest time, and still refuse to log into FB for the purpose of commenting elsewhere online. Just to test (once again) my spam filters, I am going to re-open IHTtS to anonymous commenting. Let's see how this goes.
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If you're interested in joining the madness (Vloggers are welcome, too!), Belghast has a set of rules for qualifying for any prizes at the end. Your second stop should be the Blaugust Nook, where Bel is keeping track of everything and community members are sharing encouragement and ideas.
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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.
From the mind of at 11 comments:
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Friday, May 10, 2013

NBI: Retrospective

Ravanel posted today about the Newbie Blogger Initiative run last year by Syp of Bio Break fame. Given the woeful failure rate of blogs in general, Ocho's assessment of 25% NBI blogs still active a year later is a resounding success for the Initiative. I was honored to be invited by Syp to be one of the "steely-eyed veterans" giving advice, even though I am somewhat noobish about it myself. And I am happy to have served even a small role in the Initiative.
"We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Congratulations to those from the NBI Class of 2012 still going strong—or even limping along. Don't forget that you can "respec" your blog, even you originally started dedicated to a single game or theme. It might revitalize your enthusiasm for the hobby. This space started out as a WoW and STO blog, but has evolved as my interests have. To those who have shuttered your blogs, I am sorry you're no longer with us, and I hope you have found or returned to another hobby that you enjoy immensely. :) I still keep a running list of recent posts by NBI bloggers to the right.

Anyway, here are what others (both Veterans and Newbies) are saying about the NBI a year later, shamelessly stolen, like the Badge, from Ravanel:
From the mind of at 6 comments:
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Thursday, May 31, 2012

NBI Wrapup: Why I Blog

When I started blogging a little over two years ago, I thought I would share some in-universe stories—basically fan fiction—and maybe some stories and observations of my actual gaming experiences. It started out as a WoW blog and a STO blog that I quickly merged. I read a few blogs of other people, like MMOGC, Blue Kae, and Scarybooster, plus some other RP/story-related blogs that now seem abandoned for one reason or another. I joined in the conversations on Twitter, and discovered a much larger community of folks interested in the same things I was. And that's really what blogging is about, interacting with others who share your interests, even if they don't share your opinions.

That's the beauty (and danger) of the Internet at large, and the MMO community in particular. Our circle of friends is no longer limited by geography, but can be "customized" to our interests. Ofttimes, the community can seem particularly negative; but that is because people are passionate about their games, and they forget that there are other real people on the receiving end of their rants on the forums, whether other players, or the very human game developers. Other times, the community comes together for a positive reason, like Developer Appreciation Week and this Newbie Blogger Initiative, welcoming new voices. I consider myself very lucky to have been included in such a positive experience this time.

The Newbie Blogger Initiative is by all accounts a rousing success, far beyond the expectations of its organizer, Justin Olivetti, a.k.a. Syp. Below you will find all the new blogs, plus advice from the veterans. I will make sure my own NBI list to the far right is up to date, so you can continue to find these new faces from this page. Congratulations to Syp and all the new and old bloggers. I am glad to be part of this community. May you continue to find friendship amongst your fellow travelers, for many years to come.

New blogs to check out:
Sponsor advice posts:
From the mind of at No comments:
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Monday, May 28, 2012

100 New Blogs

So after Syp's latest update, there 100 new blogs in my NBI blogroll (far right column).

Plus, I added Hipstalotro to my regular blogroll because it's just that awesome. Here's hoping they don't all burn out like those fireworks.

From the mind of at 3 comments:
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

I Got 89 Problems . . .

But a Newbie Blog ain't one.

So far, thanks to Syp's NBI posts,  I have 89 blogs listed for the NBI blogroll in the far right column.
From the mind of at 2 comments:
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Thursday, May 17, 2012

NBI QOTD: But I Put In So Much Effort! :\

From Bio Break's NBI Tip of the Day:
It’s a weird maxim that the posts you spend tons of time writing will sometimes get few views while the ones you shoot off in a couple minutes end up being your big hits.
I spent four hours on that post!
I have found this to frequently be the case. Certainly one of my longest posts, one I spent a ton of time on, got relatively few views and no comments. Granted, it was not gaming related. On the other hand, many of my most popular posts, based on hits, are simply from people mining the blog for pictures. I'm OK with that.

If you are writing to have an audience, you are going to be disappointed. Obviously you are writing a blog so people can read it, otherwise it could be an offline diary. But people will not always share your passions, even if they share your interests. Be happy when something you have written strikes a chord, even when for you it was a toss-away post.

Kinda like this one.
From the mind of at 4 comments:
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

To the Cloud!

I'm very excited to display my tag cloud as envisioned by Lilpeanut, author of the Heal Over Time blog.

I Have Touched the Cloud Tag Cloud by LilPeanut
From the mind of at 3 comments:
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Come Into My Parlor: Blog Lists and RSS (NBI)

I have with a link over to Scarybooster's advice post on the myths of blogging advice. He's right, I say don't worry about hits, but I regularly check my stats on the Blogger Dashboard, on top of which I have a Statcounter.com widget tracking things in more detail.

A lot of other advice from NBI (not Scary's) centers around gaining readers, like it's a good idea to join Twitter or G+ and "advertise" yourself and your posts. While I believe this is of value, you can't simply simply declare you have posts and otherwise ignore whichever social site you post to. You'll get ignored. (Full disclosure: I am guilty of this with G+, which is blocked from my office network.) The point of Twitter, G+, and Facebook is to engage others in a conversation. You'll only gain audience from those venues if you are actively using them to reach out in "normal" conversations. Then when you do advertise a blog post, people will click on your link to see what you have to say. As Tish Tosh Tesh said, "Blogging is a social activity" (Yes, I linked his post twice. It's that important.) Your blog is your own little corner of the Internet, but you want to invite people to your corner.

RSS


RSS Symbol
The thing about hits—and what is behind at least my own advice not to worry about them—is that not all of your readers will do so by visiting your blog directly. Many do so through RSS readers, including Google Reader, Bloglines, and various smartphone apps. If you've ever subscribed to a news feed online, you're using RSS. Really Simple Syndication is a way to let others know you have a new blog post. RSS readers pick up these feeds. Blogger provides for RSS feeds on the Dashboard, under Settings>Other
I know Wordpress has a similar setting where you can enable RSS feeds. Whether you allow the full post to be read without hitting your site is up to you, but realize that many people might not be able to get to your blog because of access issues beyond both your and their control. For instance, I can't get to many gaming related blogs from my work computer because the net nanny used by the IT Nazis blocks "Games" sites. (But any professional sports are OK o.O)

In any event, you may have a wider readership than your hit stats indicate. Plus, you may get hits by people searching for pictures and such, but having no real interest in your blog. My greatest hits list in the far right column has a couple examples of this, in addition to being a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. More people click on "popular" links, thereby reinforcing their popularity.

This started out as a simple post about bloglists, and look what happened!

Blog Lists (a.k.a. Blogrolls)

You may want to try to get on the blog lists of others in the blogging community. There are a few ways to do this, but only one legitimate one: Write blog posts worth reading. If you write quality posts (this covers a wide variety of styles) that inform and/or entertain, people will follow you, subscribe, and maybe even put you on their lists. I currently have two lists in the right columns. One is the blogs I regularly follow (no, I don't read every single post) and the other consists of the new blogs posted by Syp in his NBI updates on Biobreak.
One thing I like about Blogger's list gadget (which can be added from the layout screen) is the option to show Latest First (the other option is Alphabetical), then limit the number showing (5, 10, 25 or All). The blogs that don't post fall off after a while, saving me the trouble of pruning my list of inactive blogs. I currently have all the NBI Blogs showing with the latest post from each. But later, I will probably limit it to the 10 (or 25) most recent posts. Notice that, as of this post, The Poison Mushroom does not actually have a feed, showing as broken in my configuration window, and sitting at the bottom of the actual list. Maybe they don't want an RSS feed, but maybe it's just not set up. When I limit my bloglist to the most recent ten, that blog will never show up. I have a few on my Blogging Friends list that I guess I should call out, too: I Am Writezalot, Mattplanet, and The Self-Aware Colony. I love you guys, but your blog never shows up on my list of latest-greatest, because you don't have RSS set up.

Bottom line (TL;DR): Look through your blog settings and set up the RSS (Site) Feed. You may choose not too, but you will be limiting your potential audience.
From the mind of at 8 comments:
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Monday, May 7, 2012

NBI: Avoid Barriers to Commenting on Blogger

I was going to be inspiring on my first advice post for the New Blogger Initiative, but a more prosaic topic seems in order. You've probably read blogs where there is a lively discussion on many or most of the posts. Tobold's MMORPG Blog comes to mind. This is a good indication of the health of a blog. As Tish Tosh Tesh so eloquently points out, blogging is a long-form social endeavor.  On the other hand, Syp was ranting this morning on Twitter about the barriers to commenting on some Blogspot blogs. One of the great things about having a blog is the opportunity to interact with your readers through the comment system. Anything that inhibits this system interferes with that dialogue that you want to have with your readers. If you have chosen Blogger (the blogging site also known as blogspot.com, run by Google) you may have some barriers to your blog that deter potential comments.

Blogger has several options to be set by the blog author. My settings are visible in the screenshot below.
Sorry if it's small, click on it to see the full size. Notice the setting third from the bottom, "Show word verification." I have it set to "No." This is the CAPTCHA™ option. You've seen CAPTCHAs if you've spent any time on the Internet, a misshapen version of a word or characters that you must type in to verify your status as a human being. This is an annoying hoop that many people will avoid, depriving you of comments. I recommend not requiring them of your readers, which is why mine is set to "No." Blogger has a spam filter, not perfect, but sufficient, in my estimation.
Another way to avoid spam ending up on your blog is to set up comment moderation. I have moderation set up for comments on posts older than 14 days. I saw somewhere once that that is a good range, because spammers sometimes attempt to spam older posts. People rarely leave comments on my really old posts, but it does happen. I get an email notification when something comes in. Of course, I have options set to receive notices on all incoming commentary anyway. This is found on Blogger right under "Posts and Comments" called "Mobile and Email." The options on that page are fairly self explanatory, but there are small help buttons next to each setting, if you have a question.

Syp said that non-Blogger users have to input their basic info every time they want to comment, something that Wordpress blogs remember for you. I can't verify this easily right now because of browser settings at my office. I actually have to input my info on Wordpress from here, whereas on my personal computer running Firefox, I don't have the same issue.

One last thing that is a personal preference: I like to have my comments at the bottom of my blog posts rather than have a separate page like some folks on Blogger. To be honest, I am not sure what the purpose of a separate comments page is. Don't take your commenters to a different page. Let them comment in line with the post and other comments.

Bottom line (TL;DR): You want comments. Don't make it hard for real commenters, even if you have to deal with occasional spam.
From the mind of at 11 comments:
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Opinions Are Like . . . The Newbie Blogger Initiative

You know the saying about opinions?

How everyone has one? And some . . .? I bet you have one, maybe several. Maybe you game. (If you don't, what are you doing here?) Maybe you've read some blogs or gaming news sites and thought to yourself, "That author is a complete moron. He or she doesn't even understand the pure awesome that is my favorite game. I could have done a much better article."

Prove it.

Syp, of Massively and Biobreak fame, has organized the Newbie Blogger Initiative as a way for a few (OK, quite a few) veteran bloggers to help out and encourage any fledgling bloggers out there who may be teetering on the brink, not sure whether they can or should really take the plunge in this exciting aspect of the online community. Whether you focus on only one favorite game, or have a dozen you are interested in discussing—or even only occasionally touch on gaming amongst many other interests in your life—now is the time to jump onto your own soapbox.
The Mouse is mighter than the Dragon. © Moran 2012
When I started blogging a little over two years ago, I had no idea if I would even have any readers, much less thousands. I still don't have thousands of readers, but that is not important. What is important is that I found a community of folks with common interests. We are not all like-minded; in fact, we often disagree vehemently. Hopefully, the discussion stays civil. Some of us write stories, some provide gaming guides, some offer commentary on games and gaming news. Some do a little of everything.

I have never met some of my best friends.

Throughout the month of May, my fellow bloggers and I will be offering advice and encouragement through posts and the forums. Head on over to the NBI forums and introduce yourself. We are here to help. If you are a veteran blogger with advice to give, we need you, too. Come be a sponsor. The forums are a way to organize the effort, but we'll mainly be posting on our own blogs for public consumption.

Sponsors participating as of this post:

Long list, huh? Syp is keeping a running tally of sponsor posts here.

Thanks to Greg "Rackham" Moran, author of The Jedi Gambit, for the most excellent NBI banner. And a special thanks again to Syp, both for organizing this month-long event, and for inviting me to help out. I am truly honored to be included in such company.
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