Including Video In Your Post

Most of the new digital cameras include the capability to take videos as well as photos. Now there are many sites on the Internet that will allow you to upload your video to their site for others to view. YouTube is one of those sites.

If you haven’t tried to insert a video in your blog because you thought it would be difficult, then let’s try to demystify the process.

WordPress Posts Vs. Pages

WordPress has a nice feature of allowing you to create Pages. Normally when you write something for a blog it is called a post. These change at whatever frequency the author has decided to post with.

Each time you post, the previous post is pushed down and it isn’t easily found unless you have recorded the permilink of do a search using WordPress’s search function.

Pages eliminate that problem. Pages are used for many functions, but many bloggers use them to write an “About” page describing the blog or author. I have added a Page called “How To Use This Blog“. Its purpose is to tell a new comer how to get the best use from the information on blogging.

Blogs, Comments And Trolling

If you write a blog, and you allow comments, you are going to run into trolling. My definition of trolling is when a person comments to one of your entries, but not to the issues of the entry. It may be remotely related, but is not directly related to the theme of you post. It may be that your post triggered something in them that made them want to voice an opinion on their subject.

What I am telling you is that you may write an entry that has a single sentence in it, that is not directly related to the topic of your entry, and you may receive a comment on that sentence that is longer than your entire post. You have to recognize that trolling exists and you will recieve comments because of it.

If you post a very opinionated entry, realize that you are going to have comments that agree and disagree with your position. You should expect this. That is part of the fun of blogging. If you like to debate, you are going to be in hog heaven. Like I said in another post, comments are your report card. The fact that you write an opinionated piece and received comments gives you a high mark.

Responding to comments that are a result of trolling is up to you. What ever floats your boat. For me, I would rather not get into a debate on a subject that I didn’t start.

And Another Thing

I have been surfing the Internet looking at blogs this morning. I have realized that a good way to learn what not to do while blogging is read other blogs.

I set up a blog on Blogger to see how the features compared with WordPress. Blogger is owned by Google now and obviously has a lot of money behind it. It is easy to use and reasonably flexible. If you are considering blogging, then Blogger is another option.

Currently, I still don’t think it contains the features of WordPress, but I will test it further. My Main Blog will remain Chiriquí Chatter and will stay under WordPress.

I think what is important, for new users, is to find a platform that is easy to use and then focus on content. Browsing the other user’s blogs will show you striking examples of good and bad content.

Here is the my Blogger Blog.

Consistency and Content

Consistency in the frequency of posting is important. If you post every day for a period of time and then change to posting once a week or once a month, it will confuse and frustrate your readers and they won’t know when they should expect your next entry. When they get too frustrated they will just stop returning. A blog doesn’t need to have a post every day, but the frequency of posts should be reasonably consistent.

While consistence is important, the content is much more important. Don’t post something just to get an entry posted. If you only post twice a week, but the posts have content, the readers will come. If you post every day and half the posts say” I am not sure what to write today”, then your reader will think, “I don’t know why I wasted my time today.”

If you are going to take a hiatus from posting for a while for a vacation or some other reason, then let your readers know that you won’t be posting. If you give them a date when you are going to post again, then keep your word.

Readers become a part of your extended family. Treat them with respect and you won’t become the black sheep of the family.

Comments Are Your Report Card

I think comments are important. They indicate that someone was motivated by what you wrote to the point that they were willing to leave a comment. That is a good thing. Whether the comment agrees with what you wrote or not makes no difference.

Now you owe the person that left the comment a response. At a minimum you should thank the commenter. Depending on the blog other readers may get as much or more from the comment interaction as they do from the original entry.

How you respond either encourages others to comment in the future or it may tell the readers to just keep their typing fingers to themselves. I think a good blog has a positive dialog with the readers of the blog in the comment area.

A well written comment can be as interesting as the original post. The fact that the comment may be the reader’s as opposed to the author is not important. A better blog will attract better readers and therefore better comments.

What Is Required In A Good Blog

For me, a blog is good if it satisfies the needs of the author. Everyone’s need is different.

For some, a blog is a business. The author will derive some income from having a blog. Maybe it is from Google Ads. Maybe it is because it has paid subscribers. Maybe it receives PayPal donations.

For some, it is a real way to keep an online log of what is happening. I have seen blogs that were an employee’s work history for the day. Others use it as a diary. Some use it to allow friends and family to stay in contact and feel a part of the author’s life.

More Is Less

You may have noticed on some of the previous posts that there is a small portion of the post and at the end you can decide to “Read More”. This is accomplished by putting in a “More Tag” where you want to put the temporary end of the post. This is a nice feature that allows you to let the reader know what the post is about and if they are interested, they can read the entire post.

It is most useful when you include a lot of photos in a post. Photos take time to load, and if the person isn’t interested in the post, there is no reason to take up time downloading to the reader’s PC. Many times if I have a post that is laden with photos, I will describe the contents of the post, include one photo so the reader has an idea of what is to come, and then put in the “More Tag”.

Hot Linking In Your Blog

One of the things you are going to want to do is to direct your readers to other locations on the Internet. You do this by placing Hot Links in your post. You can recognize a Hot Link in a post because the word that contains the Hot Link will have a different colored font. When the reader runs his mouse over that word, a hand will appear. If he clicks on the word, he will be taken to the new location.

To have a word or image contain a Hot Link, you are going to have to enter the HTML portion of the WordPress editing area. This will show you all the hidden HTML codes that make magic happen.

Go to the word or image that you want to contain the Hot Link. Highlight the word with your mouse. Now click on the “Link”icon above the data entry area. A window will open up requesting the URL of the location on the Internet you want the word to point to. When you click “Ok”, the magic HTML cose will be inserted and you now have a Hot LInk. Here is a Hotlink to the WordPress FAQs.

Widgetizing Your Sidebar

Your blog is made up of at least two information areas. The primary area is where you will write each post. The secondary area is called the “sidebar”. Depending on the theme, you may have one or two sidebars.

The theme usually comes with a standard sidebar. If you are happy with it, you don’t need to read any further. However, if you want to modify your sidebar, continue reading.