The reason for this is that WordPress will include a comment in the previous post pointing to the current post. That way if you are updating information the reader will be sure to find it. For instance if I wanted you to see a previous post on adding photos, I could tell you to go here. This will get you to the previous post and the previous post now has a comment pointing to this post.

I will leave this site active in case it might be of benefit to someone else.

If you have come here expecting to see an active blog, than I will refer you to Chiriquí Chatter, which is my primary blog and depicts my life and daily musings in David, Chiriquí Panama.

If you have stayed with me to this point, then maybe we should add a little variety to your posts. This can be done by aligning your photos to the left or right and putting the words next to the photo. In the current example i told the image to be aligned to the left. To do that you have to enter the code side of the editor and insert <img src=”.img” style=”padding: 7px” align=”left” />, where .img is the location of your image.

If I use align=”right”,  you will get something like this, with all of your description on the left of the inserted photo.

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.

First you have to have a video you want to display on your blog. It can be one you have taken, or it can be one that someone else has taken that you think would be appropriate for your readers.

First let’s talk about a video that you have taken. I am sure that your camera included a CD that had software to move the photos and videos from your camera to your PC. Using that software, save your new video in your PC.

Now below the text entry window for your current post, you will see the upload location for photos. I am sure you have been using that because we discussed that function in the past. To the right of “Upload” for your photos, you will see “Video”.

If you click on “Video” it will give you some sites that will host your video and hot links to tutorials for including the HTML pointing to the video that you want into your blog. You will have to have previously uploaded your video from your PC to one of those services.

For this explanation, let’s assume you put your videos on YouTube. To put videos on Youtube you have to have created an account and uploaded a video to your account. Go to your account and find the video you want to insert in your blog.

If you are using a hosted system and have your own domain name, then the following explanation should work. This is not for the blogs ending in wordpress.com.
For a hull hosted version of WordPress, click where it says,”Edit Video Info”. When the next screen comes up, scroll to the bottom of the screen. You will see “Embed HTML: Put this video on your Web site! Copy and paste the code below to embed the video.”

Immediately below this will be a window with the HTML code you need to insert in your blog. Using the mouse, highlight and copy this HTML code.

Now go back to your post and enter the HTML where you want the YouTube window to be.

“Save and Continue Editing” and look at the preview screen and see if the embedded video is where you want it. If it is and you are happy with your post, you can click on “Publish”. If it isn’t then re-enter the HTML side of the editor and cut and past the HTML code where you want it.

Now for the free version of WordPress. Since you are embedding HTML into your post, WordPress could not afford for you to put evil code in your post. If you did you could knock down their website. Therefore they force you to link to the video on the hosting system (YouTube or one of the others).

In your data entry screen paste the example provided by WordPress under the “Video” tab, replacing their URL with the URL that points to your video on YouTube.

Here are three Videos of the Panama Bonlac Dancers doing some traditional dances in traditional atire that I will show you using the technique I described above. If you are running Windows XP you have a program called Movie Maker which will allow you to add titles and some special effects.

If you liked the videos and want to read the post on my main website, the post is located HERE.

For videos that others created, the process is the same except you missed out on taking the video and uploading it.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

For some it is a real means of publishing a literary work. For others it is a way of expressing feelings that are inside of them. For some it is a way of voicing political opinion. Blogging is flexible enough that it can fit any personality or any need. But, it must satisfy the author’s need.

You can’t write a blog, because some said, “You should write a blog.” To be a successful blogger, there must not only be the need, but also there needs to be, within the author, a passion to blog. It must be satisfying to the author, or it will be a passing fad and be dropped.

Ok, so you decide that you have the need and the passion to stick with it, what is next? If you are one that only needs an online log to reference in the future, then the answer is “Not anything.” Find the platform that will support your need and do it.

For almost all of the rest of the people who blog, then it will be growing a readership. A growing readership means that people will find your blog and return over and over again to read it. What I just defined is a person that is not just blogging to be a part of a social community. There are growing number of social communities, such as My Space, that have a lot of younger members that just want an online home and all their friends will visit them, just because that is what they are all doing.

I am not saying that there are no serious people using My Space. There are. However, My Space is a platform that invites a cluttered environment. When I look at some of my grandkid’s Spaces, I almost get dizzy with all the STUFF lying around their area. It is sort of like looking at a messy room.

Assuming that you are not the typical young social My Space user and you want to write a blog and have others read it. What are some of the things that help?

First I would say it is how clean and easy the presentation is on the blog. The colors must make it easy to read the text. The design should not have too much visual distractions. And the organization of the layout should be easy to navigate. One of the nice things about the free WordPress themes is that they provide a structured environment that fills most of these requirements. All you have to do is pick a theme that satisfies your personality or the personality of your blog and you are covered.

Next is going to be the content of your blog. How well is it written? Does it have a lot of misspelled words? You will become a better writer by writing. A good spell checker will assist you in keeping all words spelled correctly. However, spell checkers are not perfect. If you write “rite” when you meant, “write”, it will not be caught. That means you need to read what you write to see if it says what you intended it to say.

I find things in material I wrote years ago that I don’t like and I re-write it. Writing is difficult for me. It always has been. I am among the world’s poorest spellers. I am also a poor typist. My mind runs ahead of my fingers and sometimes what I think doesn’t get on the page. However, I know what I intended to write and when I read it, I sometimes read it as I had thought it.

You may have seen the research done by Cambridge University related to spelling. Your mind will compensate for misspelled words and you may miss your own errors. I read, and reread what I post and I still make mistakes.

The last part of content is not the technical aspect, but is it interesting. It doesn’t have to be interesting to all people, but it should be interesting to your target audience. If at all possible, include a little humor once in a while. Many times if you are trying to make a point, people will remember it more if it has humor attached to it.

Probably the most important thing is a blog must be FUN for you. If you are not having fun, you are not going to care about quality and it will be apparent to your readers.

That is it for this entry. Now go have some fun! Remember, a blog a day keeps the doctor away.