Going to start a blog - any pointers?

[Stan_Lite]

As per thread title, I've decided to start a blog and would appreciate a few pointers.

I have installed the b2evolution software to my webspace but haven't had a chance to fully explore it yet.

I would appreciate it if people could post links to their own blogs or blogs they read regularly which they think are well done so that I can get some ideas as to how other people do theirs.

Mine will be mostly personal stuff interspersed with random ramblings as and when I have a brainfart.

Thanks in advance :)

[Jasper]

I have a blog, but it's a bit crappy - i just write stuff about me in it, which is incredibly boring in itself, but I haven't posted for a while

me - www.sameagain.net
Scott Adams - Dilbert creator - http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/

I don't read a lot of blogs, but I love to read Scott Adams - he can be totally hilarious (imo), and all of his posts are really well thought-out. I think that's the key. I just used to sit and write, but now I try to think about what I'm going to write, and I think it comes out a lot better.

Can I ask why you chose b2e? the general consensus is that wordpress is the best blogging software. I wrote my own, but everyone I know uses WP

good luck, and have fun with it :)

[leowyatt]

mine is www.badasszebedee.com/blog and kitten's is www.chicgeek.co.uk/blog - not been updated for a while as we've been busy/away and are just our random ramblings mostly!

[Jonny69]

I like to read a comedy log of people's twisted opinions of reality. I keep mine the same way but keep meaning to update it.

Edit: sorry my blog is here: http://www.jonny69.co.uk/blog.htm

Looking at it I need to re-arrange that somehow, it's just a bit harder to do it when you're not using blogging software.

[petemc]

Wordpress is the current blogging platform of choice. I use it on my photoblog (http://www.vanilladays.com). Its highly customizable with a great community behind it. But anyway, what kind of blog are you thinking doing? If its random thoughts maybe something like twitter (http://www.twitter.com) or jaiku (http://jaiku.com/) which are new trendy ways of micro blogging. The concept is instead of having a site where you post brain farts, just post them on there. My twitter (http://twitter.com/petemc) and my jaiku (http://petemc.jaiku.com/) which includes various RSS feeds including twitter.

[Davey_Pitch]

Mine is in my sig. It's pretty much all gaming related, but with the occassional random post as well. Not updated anywhere near as much as I should though.

[Stan_Lite]

I installed b2evolution because I Googled for "blog software" and it was the first one which came up, it looked ok so I installed it :embarassed:

I've since done a bit of research and changed it to Wordpress since it seems to be highly regarded. Turns out, I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of installing it manually, my webhost allows installation through Fantastico, which took about 2 minutes, (I could have done the same with b2evolution, as it turns out :rolleyes: ).

Will have a bit of a read of you guys' blogs later and have a bit of a play with the software when my shift finishes.

It will mainly be random events and thoughts with maybe the odd review thrown in for good measure.

Thanks for your help so far :)

[Haly]

Mine is http://www.halycopter.com again mainly gaming stuff with some academicky stuff too. Strangely most of my hits go to the undergrad essays, so I hope they're not plagiarising because they're really not good enough to ;D

I read mainly gaming blogs, Davey's and NokkonWud's (http://www.nokkonwud.com) are the ones I tend to look forward to a new post in. I also read RobMiller's blog (http://robm.me.uk/) for a change. :)

[Stan_Lite]

Ok guys. I had a brief look at your blogs - some interesting stuff in there and thought, "sod it, let's have a bash".

I've got Wordpress installed, had a brief look around the software, ignored most of it for now and true to form, have dived in with my first effort.

I've made a brief post and put some personal info on the "about" page for now and will post some more when I have a chance to sort stuff out for it - hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

I'd appreciate it if pepole would have a look and see what they think - I'm in two minds about the theme; I downloaded, uploaded and installed it but now I'm thinking it may be a little dark and some of the text is difficult to read - grey on black may not be the best way to go :undecided:

Anyway, comments, good or bad, will be welcome and advice will be listened to (may not be acted upon, but will be listened to ;) ).

You can find all the excitement here (http://www.bigstan.net/blog/).

[Haly]

I'd say the colours do clash a little, it is a bit tricky to read the text for the links.
However I liked the content, I learned new things about you :D

[petemc]

I'd say the colours do clash a little, it is a bit tricky to read the text for the links.
However I liked the content, I learned new things about you :D

Agreed. Themes (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/06/26/21-fresh-usable-and-elegant-wordpress-themes/), themes (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/05/07/10-fresh-elegant-and-clean-wordpress-themes/), themes (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/03/29/8-fresh-and-clean-wordpress-themes/), and themes! (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/02/09/83-beautiful-wordpress-themes-you-probably-havent-seen/). :)

[Stan_Lite]

OK. Changed it now - better? I think so, may not be exactly what I wanted but the limited bandwidth from the crappy satellite internet on the rig kinda restricts browsing through hundreds of themes. I'll have a good search when I get back home to proper internet.

[Haly]

Looks much clearer to me :)

[petemc]

Yup much nicer, and kudos for using the Apple theme :D

[leowyatt]

The best theme Stan ;) welcome to the fold ;D

[Stan_Lite]

I didn't actually make the Apple connection until after I'd installed it - I suppose the name "itheme" should have given the game away but there are so many things nowadays which have nothing to with Apple which stick an i on the front, that it's not always an indication that it is in any way associated (that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it :p ).

[Joe 90]

whoo blogs are ace :D and good to see you've switched to WP :)

My Blog (www.marksweb.co.uk/blog) isn't as well used as it used to be and equally doesn't have the same content, but i keep bashing at it and posting things when i can... it was much easier to blog before i came to uni and started 'doing stuff' that gets in the way of a good post!

[Daz]

Interesting read about the job Stan :)

[Stan_Lite]

I've been meaning to make a long post here about my work for a while now since most people seem interested when I talk about it (maybe they're just being polite :embarassed: ). I thought, since I'm starting the blog, I may as well put it up there for all the world to see.

I've just made another post a few minutes ago about safety on the rig and my recent award, if anyone's interested.

/Stops blowing own trumpet :p

Thanks for posting my first comment Jen :D

I'll need to do a few non work related posts soon to even things up a bit. Since I'm on the rig just now, I'm naturally focussed on that but will try to get my mind onto something else.
When I get home, I would imagine there will be more beer and whisky reviews than anything else :D

[Haly]

Ramble about any old crap if you get stuck, it's what I've done in the past :D

[Pebs]

Does anyone know anything about Blogger as a blog provider type thing? I didn't think to do a search for blog until after I'd made it, what a doofus! How secure are these things if I set them as private? I want to be honest in my blog but not if they can be seen by people I dont want seeing it.

Perhaps I should transfer over to Wordpress?

[petemc]

Off the top of my head I'd assume you can set a blog to private, but I don't have that much experience with Blogger.

[Pebs]

Hmmmm perhaps I'll transfer it over to the one Stan is using then...is that better?

[Arcade Fire]

As per thread title, I've decided to start a blog and would appreciate a few pointers.Don't. 99.9% of blogs are criminally boring.

[Stan_Lite]

Don't. 99.9% of blogs are criminally boring.

I disagree entirely. That's like saying "Don't eat vegetables, they all taste like grass" :p

I have been reading some blogs whilst researching this project and whilst there is a fair amount of material in them which holds little interest for me, there is quite a lot of stuff of interest. They also give an insight into how the author's mind works and how they view the world - quite fascinating actually.

[petemc]

I also disagree as I'm subscribed to nearly 200 of them. Photoblogs are fantastic (http://photos.vfxy.com/). Obviously there is a large amount of kids out there blogging their lives away, but theres a decent amount of content for normalish people.

[BBx]

BUMP!!! :D

Today I have created a Professional Blog... my comment on the marketing world ;) I used Blogger for my personal Blog, but have chosen to use Word Press for my professional one as I would like to devise some sort of Professional Blog for work.

Please prepare yourself for noob questions about WP :p

The first of which: Can you not edit font size or colour in WP? Or does it depend on the theme that you use as some are restricting?

Thanks :)

BB x

[Treefrog]

I just got a 404 error when I clicked your link Stan :(

[Stan_Lite]

That's odd, the link works fine for me :huh:

Try the url http://bigstan528.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=cat%3dHealth%2band%2bwellness

I haven't updated it since May though, so it's not up to date :o Must get around to updating it a bit.