Yzabel / September 24, 2005

Plugin Update: Spam Karma

Yes, yes, I know WordPress has solid built-in spam-catching functions; I must simply admit that receiving an e-mail everytime a spammer posts a comment, so that I can decide whether to approve or reject it, is getting tiresome. I could also tighten the features and make it so that these messages are deleted without even asking for approbation first, but given that some of the genuine comments I receive here sometimes get caught in it too—much to my dismay, since I see no reason why (they don’t even contain any links), I don’t want to take the risk.This is the reason why I’ve installed Spam Karma 2. I had been testing it on another blog that had become a spammers’ target, and so far it’s been working pretty well. This is the second version, too, and there shouldn’t be any “false positives” (genuine posts caught as spam), but if any of you were to experience their comments being blocked and not appearing on the site even after one day or so, please send me an e-mail about it (the address is in the Author section on the right). The plugin sends me a daily digest of blocked spam comments, and I can restore them if I want to, yet it can happen that I miss one.spam+karma, plugin, wordpress

Yzabel / September 10, 2005

What About Signatures in Blog Comments?

Here’s an interesting post—wielding quite an amount of questions— that I picked on Darren’s blog: signatures in blog comments.Because I was too tired to develop in my own comment there yesterday, here’s my own opinion on the matter:

  • I’m technically okay with signatures in comments on this blog, provided they’re not cumbersome: a name and a link is enough. However, so that you know, posts containing any link are screened and must be approved by yours truly before being published. This is an anti-spam measure.
  • “Signature” does not equal “free pass for spamming”. Spammy comments will be immediately deleted, or never let in in first place (WordPress’ filter is a powerful one). Of course, what is considered spam or not is left to my own appreciation, but if the previous point is followed, you’ll be okay.
  • Obnoxious signatures are a no-no, especially when they contain banners and other images, whatever their size. I’ve been editing images-signatures for a good five years on a variety of forums I’ve administrated, and trust me, they’re a serious bother.
  • For me, it’s a matter of etiquette. I’ll courteously allow signatures in comments for people who’re courteous enough to keep it under sensible control.

Now, one may ask, what’s the point of adding a sig to a comment, given that most blog systems will let you enter a link to your website along with your name? Personnally, I know enough about blogs to know where to click if I want to visit someone’s webpage. One the other hand, not everyone knows that, and a commenter may want to leave a link to a different site of his, if it’s more related to the blog he’s commented on.This said, don’t hesitate to go have a read at the comments on Darren’s posts. Many valuable opinions are represented there.blogging, etiquette, signature

Yzabel / September 7, 2005

Who’s There: Seth Godin’s New Ebook

I’ve just finished reading Who’s There, the new ebook Seth Godin has put up on his blog, and I must say that it’s been a really interesting read, albeit too short to my liking, in a way. However, he goes to the essential, and in an understandable fashion: what more could one ask? The price? No worries, it’s even free, at least for the moment.If, like me, you’re interested about reading here and there on the subject of blogging, don’t hesitate any longer, and download it here. The book isn’t about “how to blog”, but about why to blog, as a business owner as well as an indivdual who’d like to make his or her niche in the always expanding world of blogs. It also distinguishes the three “main types” of blogs, in a way that isn’t without reminding of the classifications theorized by John and Duncan.On top of it, it’s nicely written and presented.blogging, ebook, seth+godin

Yzabel / August 29, 2005

BlogDay 2005: Almost There

I realize I should have mentioned this earlier on, but there are so many things that cross my mind that I… forgot. However, it’s not too late, and BlogDay 2005 deserves a mention.To answer the evident first question about this, here’s what the BlogDay website has to say about it:

What is BlogDay?

BlogDay was initiated with the belief that bloggers should have one day which will be dedicated to know other bloggers, from other countries or areas of interests. In that day Bloggers will recommend about them to their Blog visitors.(Read Nir Ofir’s original post about BlogDay)

What will happen on BlogDay?

In one long moment In August 31st, bloggers from all over the world will post a recommendation of 5 new Blogs, Preferably, Blogs different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog surfers will find themselves leaping and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.

In a nutshell, BlogDay’s instructions are indeed easy to follow:1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting (possibly out of your usual sphere of reading, from another country…).2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2005.3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs.4. Post the BlogDay Post on August 31st.5. Add the BlogDay tag: and a link to the BlogDay web site at BlogDay website.I still need to decide, and I hope that I’ll make my mind in time… Regardless, this can be a nice way to recommend blogs and help people discover new ones.Y Tags: |

Yzabel / August 25, 2005

Trackbacks Unveiled

Since I changed the graphic theme on this blog, I realized that I’ve added a little something to it that could maybe look confusing at first.See this little link under posts, where it says “trackback”? That’s it. So what’s a trackback, one might ask?Most people who use blogs already know what a permanent link (commonly called “permalink”) is: the direct link to a post. For instance, for this very entry I’m writing now, the permalink will be “https://ylogs.com/index.php/archives/trackbacks-unveiled” (easily available by simply clicking on the title of the post). Thanks to permalinks, it becomes easy to refer to entries from other blogs, and not direct your visitors to some front page with instructions of “scroll down to August 12th, the third article, made at 9:15” (which is, evidently, not convenient, especially knowing that blogs are very dynamic pages).Trackbacks act in the exact same way, with a notable difference: it allows a blogger to notify you that they’ve published an entry about a particular post of yours.Read More

Yzabel / August 25, 2005

The Y Logs In The”100 Blogs in 100 Days”Project

I can proudly mention it: as a part of his 100 blogs in 100 days project, Duncan at The Blog Herald decided that my little corner of the web was worth a shot, and posted a nice little entry about it. To anyone reading these words and coming from there, thanks for paying a vist. I do hope that you’ll find here a few things that will get your interest.Once again, I’d really encourage anyone remotely interested in discovering new blogs to head there and pay a visit to the blogs who are and will be featured. Duncan sure isn’t here to pick the first random blogs passing his way, and so far the ones he’s linked to have all proved to be interesting.100blogs, blogging

Yzabel / August 23, 2005

WordPress.com

It was almost a given that I’d write about this soon, given how much I like using WordPress and am convinced that it’s really one of the best free blogging platforms available out there at the moment. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test it myself as of yet (it’s not live yet, and on invite only at the moment). Not a problem, though, I already know enough to realize that whether I can test it or not, it’s going to be great.So what’s the fuss about WordPress.com? All that simply, it’s a system very similar to TypePad, in that it will host a blog for you in exchange for a payment (how much will this be, I don’t know yet; Typepad is 4.95$/month for the basic membership, if this can be a tool for comparison). The difference, evidently, is that said blog will be powered by WordPress and not Movable Type. The user doesn’t have to worry about renting webspace, tinkering with databases, going through the whole installation, and the likes. Sign up, create a blog, pick a theme, start blogging: that’s all there is to it. It’s not really a complicated process, is it?For more information, you can head at Lorelle’s blog at WordPress.com, where she posts about what you can and can’t do with this “new” installation. Sure, it won’t be free like, say, Blog*Spot. However, it’s also way better, and depending on the pricing and what one’s ready to invest, it can be a very valuable choice. Time will tell (soon, I hope) how this venture is going to turn out.Y Tags:

Yzabel / August 22, 2005

New Theme

As you, faithful readers, can tell from the new layout here, I didn’t have too much time today to peruse more in depth the woes of the writer or the Secret Art of Blogging. My apologies for this. It’s past 10 pm, and I very much doubt that I’ll still have the energy to write a long, meaningful post before bedtime.With this said… Did I grow tired already of my former layout? Not exactly. I simply had this urge to tinker more deeply with a completely different kind of theme, this time in three columns (and not purple!), as it had been a while I was considering one. I did test it on a… test blog, yes, and with three browsers (namely FireFox 1.06, IE 6 and Netscape 7.0). However, if you were to notice any problems with it, please let me know. I’ll feel obliged to learn more by breaking the theme into pieces again and trying to fix the problem.Y Tags: |

Yzabel / August 19, 2005

Why Keeping Several Blogs Can Be A Good Idea

A comment left by Silmy on the French version of my blog led me to think a little more about this question: why do we keep several blogs, and is this a good thing to do? Why not keep everything in the same place?To someone who’s not into blogging, or doesn’t have a lot of interest in it, it may seem a weird thing, not to mention a waste of time, to write in different blogs. This just creates more work for us, in a life that is already busy enough as it is. I used to think the same way, to be honest; I don’t mind taking one or two hours every day to write, because I really like doing it, but whether it’s a pleasure or not, there are days when time is short, period. So why?Here are a few reasons why I consider that it can be a good idea, after a while if not from the start, to keep several blogs instead of one.

  • People in general tend to “expect something”. If they do a search for business-related matters and find your blog through a keywords search, they want to read about business-related matters, not about family stories. They’ll visit a dogs-related blog to read about dogs, not crochet nor gardening. Although reading about “all and everything” is an interesting way to get to know a person, there are times when we just want to grab the info we’re looking for, without having to sift through ten pages and five categories first.
  • Remaining clear and focused is always a good thing for blogs. This applies to professional blogs mostly, although I suppose one could want this for a more personal blog as well. Avoiding to clutter it with too varied topics is an appropriate choice.
  • For AdSense (or other targeted ads) users, better have a blog to revolve around one theme, or at least very similar themes, for purposes of ads relevancy.
  • Different topics call for different settings. This may seem a little restrictive and sectarian, yet the fact is that in the world of websites, one doesn’t usually design a personal page the same way as a professional one. There often are “codes” to use, and it’s evidently easier to choose one of these codes if you don’t have to pick among thirty very different areas of topics.
  • You may want to heavily advertise one blog, while keeping another one in a more restricted sphere. You can’t do that with one blog only, in which case it’s an all-or-nothing matter.

There probably are other reasons than these, perhaps more personal ones as well, and this list is by all means no holy word. For someone who wants to take on a more professional way of blogging, or at least not spread oneself too thin, I however feel that it is an important point.Y Tags: