"How To Improve Your Blog" Session Leader(s) Wanted
Anna Kushnir
Wednesday, 18 June 2008 17:10 UTC
Call for discussion leader:
There is time in the conference program for a session on how to improve one’s blog. We are talking potentially geeky stuff here – personalizing/optimizing templates, using polls, advertising, increasing traffic and visibility… the list of possible topics is endless. Is there any one out there who would like to head up this session?
Please don’t think it limited to the topics I just listed. It would just be nice to have a discussion on how to make blogs better, more readable, and more read.
Updated 18 June 2008 17:13 UTC
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Replies
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This would be wonderful. Please can I beg that whoever it is has pity on the great majority of us who use Internet Explorer, and don’t despise us, please can you take it as read that many of us use IE for a variety of reasons, and hence we are blogging using it? I understand that Firefox extensions are groovy, etc, but I would love the talk to have at least some aspects of “what you can do if you are an IE user” [and not a fearsomely clever person with computer code, necessarily].
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Topic request: good and fair blog design. How to make a blog look good as well as functional (see also discussion on using blogrolls or not)
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Yes, as Massimo says, the agenda could include a brief demo of how to set up a RSS feed/reader page; how to import a RSS feed link into your blog/blogroll; and how to set up/use a wiki (Connotea is free and has the facility ready available, so could be used for demonstration purposes).
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These are all perfect ideas. I think they are the makings of a great session… if only there was someone to lead it! I don’t know too much about the technical aspects of blogging (a short-coming, I realize), so I count myself out. At this rate, Maxine, you are the most knowledgeable one of all! Have you given any thought to leading the session? ;)
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Well, as mentioned in the other thread you started, I am at the dumb end: I use IE, Microsoft and don’t write code, so that puts me in my place times three compared with many clever people who will be at the conference!
But certainly I am happy to show anyone at the meeting how to set up a Google Reader page and RSS subscriptions, and also how to use a Connotea Wiki. All one needs is a terminal and internet access. I taught myself to do these things intuitively and if it would be useful to anyone I am very happy to pass on what I have picked up—bearing in mind that the purists, or even the moderately knowledgeable, might find my methods clumsy or otherwise suboptimal.
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This may be one of those sessions in which speakers could be defined on the same day.
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Clumsy and sub-optimal already beats what I have, sadly. I do think that your knowledge is valuable, Maxine. You know what blogs need to look good and be functional, and that’s important. As Massimo mentioned, we can pick up a techie and rope him/her into leading the session with you on the day of the conference. What do you think? I can let Euan know I am coming for him :)
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“Pick up a tecchie”. I like the sound of that. That’s telling ‘em, Anna.
And as I know them both to look at, I am glad you picked on Euan and not Timo, Anna!Yes, Massimo, if anyone wants me to show them what I know, it can be done ad hoc to fit in with everyone’s schedules. Assuming I get the day off on the day of the conference (which I have put in for), I’ll be around till whenever.
(By the way, I don’t mean day off from work, I mean from domestic duties. Possibly harder to arrange ;-) But I have my methods.)
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i think this could be disguised as a workshop, because some of mud might realize we have some specific info that others want/are asking for, and vice versa as the discussion develops.
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Good news! Euan Adie has been successfully techie-roped into leading the session with Maxine. Think I owe him a couple of drinks. It promises to be a very interesting panel. A brief HTML tutorial is starting to sound good to me.
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