Blog Tweaks and Tips
May 16th 2006 02:20
The Orble crew has been cranking out the upgrades to the interface, and it's about time that we got down and funky on it.
There have been a lot of changes, and taking advantage of them makes your life smooth and silky, like I imagine using Pantene Pro-V would be, if I used it.
1) Comments
This is a big one. You've probably already noticed, but it's much easier to leave comments. Just click once, and you're there!
There's a field for your name and your website - By entering your blog address, people can be directed to your site without you adding a little signature at the bottom of every comment. Easy!
And, even better, non-registered visitors can leave comments, too. So, tell all your bored friends to show up and join the bloggy party.
Which brings me to: stay active. Some of the bloggers are becoming blog fiends, reading and commenting on nearly every post. The end result is that some of the Orble blogs are pretty damn fun to read, and they're starting to get a sense of character. Examples: Sisi on Fashion, and Amy on SecretSydney.
2) Categories
Jon and the Sunshine Band have implemented a category system for your posts, meaning that regular visitors can find your posts with ease.
While it is tempting to make up hilarious, non-sequitorish names for the categories, like 'Uncle Pete and his fake leg' or 'Graphite Pole Monkeys', you'd be better off with regular, boring names.
The reason? It'll help your search engine hits, and give you better targetted ads, I believe. You like traffic, yes?
That goes for titles, too. Try and make your titles fit your categories, like Bunbury did with Health and Beauty. Her categories are matter-of-fact, and her post titles are no joke. She saves her wit and style for the meat of the post, where it has less effect on the ads and Google rank.
Same goes for Glen and his Reggae page, well organized and easy-to-read.
3) Colours
Yes, we've got colour options for everything. That doesn't mean you should just pick the brightest, most invasive colours possible. No, have some respect for the eyes of your viewers.
This goes for font colours, too. Bad news, grey on white is hard to read. Light grey on white is even worse... pick font colours that are easy to read against your background.
You can read this lengthy, yet informative, yet ironically plain-coloured post on picking colours for a website.
3) Copyright
Just to remind everyone... publishing pictures that you DIDN'T take is very, very bad.
A best case scenario is the owner of the picture asks to have it removed. The worst case? They sue Jon for all he's worth, win, and then Jon has to live on the street, sleeping in a cardboard box, letting his beard grow long.
And while, sure, that might be fun for a while, throwing eggs at him as we drive past him peeing in a corner on Oxford St., I suspect that he's got more ambitious plans.
So, no copyright infringing, please. Link to any sources you use, unless it's copyright-free.
(yes, I know there are two '3's... it makes the list look shorter...)
4) Looking Good
Why, thank you! Yes, I have been working out... that's sweet of you to notice!
Some of the bloggers on the network are still publishing crudely unformatted posts. If you're reading other blogs around the network, you've probably seen some of the bloggers are doing it right.
I hate to repeat myself, but Sisi does a great post bbq and Jessica on Hunt Famous puts up great pictures. Quote your sources, girls, please!
5) Don't Blow your Mind
Take it easy on the network. Post everyday, but every post doesn't have to be an 'investigatory' masterpiece... try to vary the length and the seriousness of your posts, making your site have a little bit of something for everyone. You know, a little salad, some chicken, a nice whole fish, a bowl of macadamia nuts, some cheesecake, fresh bread and pate, a rack of lamb.
You know, a little something. For everyone!
To conclude: It's one o'clock and I've just finished lunch, yet I am not full. Cruel, cruel world, you mock me with your instant noodles.
There have been a lot of changes, and taking advantage of them makes your life smooth and silky, like I imagine using Pantene Pro-V would be, if I used it.
Zhang ZiYi (from Wikipedia)
This is a big one. You've probably already noticed, but it's much easier to leave comments. Just click once, and you're there!
There's a field for your name and your website - By entering your blog address, people can be directed to your site without you adding a little signature at the bottom of every comment. Easy!
And, even better, non-registered visitors can leave comments, too. So, tell all your bored friends to show up and join the bloggy party.
Which brings me to: stay active. Some of the bloggers are becoming blog fiends, reading and commenting on nearly every post. The end result is that some of the Orble blogs are pretty damn fun to read, and they're starting to get a sense of character. Examples: Sisi on Fashion, and Amy on SecretSydney.
2) Categories
Jon and the Sunshine Band have implemented a category system for your posts, meaning that regular visitors can find your posts with ease.
While it is tempting to make up hilarious, non-sequitorish names for the categories, like 'Uncle Pete and his fake leg' or 'Graphite Pole Monkeys', you'd be better off with regular, boring names.
The reason? It'll help your search engine hits, and give you better targetted ads, I believe. You like traffic, yes?
That goes for titles, too. Try and make your titles fit your categories, like Bunbury did with Health and Beauty. Her categories are matter-of-fact, and her post titles are no joke. She saves her wit and style for the meat of the post, where it has less effect on the ads and Google rank.
Same goes for Glen and his Reggae page, well organized and easy-to-read.
Dictionary!
3) Colours
Yes, we've got colour options for everything. That doesn't mean you should just pick the brightest, most invasive colours possible. No, have some respect for the eyes of your viewers.
This goes for font colours, too. Bad news, grey on white is hard to read. Light grey on white is even worse... pick font colours that are easy to read against your background.
You can read this lengthy, yet informative, yet ironically plain-coloured post on picking colours for a website.
3) Copyright
Just to remind everyone... publishing pictures that you DIDN'T take is very, very bad.
A best case scenario is the owner of the picture asks to have it removed. The worst case? They sue Jon for all he's worth, win, and then Jon has to live on the street, sleeping in a cardboard box, letting his beard grow long.
And while, sure, that might be fun for a while, throwing eggs at him as we drive past him peeing in a corner on Oxford St., I suspect that he's got more ambitious plans.
So, no copyright infringing, please. Link to any sources you use, unless it's copyright-free.
(yes, I know there are two '3's... it makes the list look shorter...)
4) Looking Good
Why, thank you! Yes, I have been working out... that's sweet of you to notice!
Some of the bloggers on the network are still publishing crudely unformatted posts. If you're reading other blogs around the network, you've probably seen some of the bloggers are doing it right.
I hate to repeat myself, but Sisi does a great post bbq and Jessica on Hunt Famous puts up great pictures. Quote your sources, girls, please!
5) Don't Blow your Mind
Take it easy on the network. Post everyday, but every post doesn't have to be an 'investigatory' masterpiece... try to vary the length and the seriousness of your posts, making your site have a little bit of something for everyone. You know, a little salad, some chicken, a nice whole fish, a bowl of macadamia nuts, some cheesecake, fresh bread and pate, a rack of lamb.
You know, a little something. For everyone!
To conclude: It's one o'clock and I've just finished lunch, yet I am not full. Cruel, cruel world, you mock me with your instant noodles.
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Comment by Matt
The third and final way of getting more hits, is to leave a comment ribbing the creator of the post and hope that all the readers’ show up at your blog... the alternative is a boycott...
err...
On another note, thanks for your efforts cibby, I have (at least to me) improved my blog quite considerably because of your advice and assistance.
Cheers,
Matt
SydneyDiary
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Matt, now that you've got the link to diarystar, you don't have to force the 'SydneyDiary' link at the bottom of your comment!
Comment by Matt