Blogging 101: adding options for following your blog

Well hello everyone. Sorry for the radio silence this week. Planet Baby's affairs of state have been keeping me occupied. We've had our gate and fence fixed after those crazy winds. Once the car is repaired, the total cost of the damage caused in that split second will be about $4,000! Madness. Thank goodness for insurance ☺. Anyway, it's time for another 'Blogging 101' post.

So far, we've looked at:

• linking your email address to your Blogger profile;

• choosing your profile photo/avatar;

• adding your 'About me' widget; and

• adding 'Home' and 'About me' pages.

That means people can contact you, know what you look like and have an idea of what makes you tick.

What next? Let's make it easy for them to follow your blog!

Subscribing using Google Friend Connect (GFC)

When I started blogging in July 2010, GFC was a great way to follow blogs and could be customised to make it much more personal. Unfortunately, this option now only works on Blogger blogs and only in a basic form.

To add the GFC widget:

• Go to your blog homepage and click on 'Design' and 'Layout'. This is what mine looks like.

• See the 'Add a gadget' box on the right-hand side? Click on it.

• The Blogger 'Add a gadget' box will then pop up. Scroll down to 'Followers' and click on it.

• You can change the title from 'Followers' to something more personal if you wish.

• Click 'Save' and then drag and drop it to where you want it in your sidebar. Having it somewhere near the top is a good idea.

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done!

Non-Blogger blog options

Some options used by bloggers with non-Blogger blogs are:

• Bloglovin';
• Networked Blogs; and
• Hello Cotton.

Let me know if I've missed any and I'll update this post!

Subscribing in a reader

• Go to your blog home page and click on 'Design', 'Layout' and then 'Add a gadget'.

• Click on 'Subscription links'. You could change the title from 'Subscribe to' to 'Follow me' or something like that. Hit 'Save'.

• Once you're back to the 'Design' page, just drag and drop the box to where you want it. Click on 'Save arrangement'. 

• It gives people the option to subscribe to your feed in a reader. A reader is an aggregator which pulls the posts from all the blogs the person is following and presents them in a list so they’re in all in one handy spot. 

• The most common one used is Google Reader but there are heaps of others. 

Making your feed user-friendly

To make your feed user-friendly (ie with all the options for the different readers so everyone's choice is covered):

• Go to http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/myfeeds;

• If you haven't already, type your full blog name (ie http://www.yourblognamegoeshere.com/) into the box under 'Burn a feed right this instant'.

• Click 'Next'.

• A box will then open up with 'Atom' and 'RSS' options. I usually choose the 'RSS' option. Click 'Next'.

• Click 'Next' again. Then you'll see this.

• Click 'Next'. And 'Next' again.

• Then click 'Optimize' and 'Smart Feed' on the left.

• Click on 'Activate' and then you're done! Now when people click on that widget, it will open up with a variety of reader options for them to choose from.

Subscribing by email

Another way for people to receive your blog posts is through an email subscription using Feedburner. 

Set it up by doing this:

• Go to http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/myfeeds;

• Click on your blog name;

• Click on 'Publicize';

• Click on 'Email subscriptions' on the left;

You then have two choices for how you want to  display it on your blog.

By form

• The first option is to have a box in your sidebar where people can enter their email address.

• Click on 'Use as a widget in' and select your type of blog. Click on 'Go'. The widget will then appear in your sidebar for you to drag and drop to where you want it. 

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done.

By link

• The second option is to offer email subscriptions from a link rather than a form. Just copy the following link code. Users who click it will be prompted to enter their email address in the form that appears.

• Click on 'Use as a widget in' and select your type of blog. Click on 'Go'. The widget will then appear in your sidebar for you to drag and drop to where you want it. 

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done.

So there you go! It sounds tedious, I know, but you really only have to do it once to set up your blog. Giving everyone all the options should make subscribing to your blog a breeze.

Do share if anything's unclear or I've missed anything out. Has this helped? I look forward to hearing from you.

Blogging 101: adding 'Home' and 'About me' pages

Hmm, I'm crawling to the end of the school holidays, people! Nearly there. I thought I'd post on something simple and useful tonight - adding pages to your blogs.  Not sure what they are? They're the little tabs normally at the top (although they can be in your sidebar) of a blog. You click on them and another static page opens up. Still not sure? Let's investigate mine to get more of an idea.

Up the top of my blog, you can see these tabs. They contain information I like to keep visible at all times. I think they're helpful for new readers to gain an impression of what makes me tick and what they can find on my blog.

Adding a 'Home' page

Let's start with my 'Home' page. It's a bit different to the other two I have. When you click on it, it takes you back to my home page. Sound obvious? Not sure why it's good to have one?

Well, if you don't have one and people want to return to your home page to find your most recent post, they'll have to make a real effort to find out how to do it. 

They'll have to scroll right down to the bottom of a post, underneath all the comments, to find something like this:

By clicking on 'Home' right down the bottom, they'll return to your home page. It can take a bit of time and effort to find, especially if you allow a number of posts to appear on your home page.

So, having a 'Home' page at the top of your blog is both a courtesy and convenience to any readers of your blog, yourself included!

To add one to your blog, do this:

• Click on 'Design', 'Pages' and 'New page'.

• Previously you used to have create a new 'Home' page. But now, with the recent blogger changes, I think just clicking on 'New page' immediately creates a default 'Home' page.

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done.

I just created a dummy blog to try it out and that's what happened. Let me know if it works like that for you!

Adding an 'About me' page

This page is always the first I seek out on new blogs. I want to know what makes the blogger tick. Know the feeling?

Often I click away if I can't find one, disappointed. 

Having such a page is your chance to allow readers to instantly connect with you. It's your welcome mat! If you make it inviting, they're likely to want to stay awhile.

My favourite blogs have theirs prominently displayed and have current information, photos and a dash of humour.

To add one, do this:

• Click on 'Design', 'Pages' and 'New page'.

• Type in your information and add some photos.

• Scroll down the menu pane to decide where you want your pages to be displayed.

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done.

What to include:

I updated my 'More about me' page when doing the Blogging Your Way 2.0 e-course. Here's the top of it.

Some of the tips of things we were advised to include on our pages were:

• Your name or your alias. You can use your full name, first name or alias - whatever appeals most. Adding a current clear photo of yourself really adds appeal. 

• Who you are. Why are you writing your blog? You might want to state your background, occupation or passions. For instance, you might describe yourself as 'a want-to-be writer'. It doesn't have to be completely serious. You might identify with being a 'dreamer', for instance.

• Where you live. A general geographic location is all you need. You don't have to name your suburb or even city. You might just want to put your country. Whatever you choose, it allows people to mentally place where you are on the globe and form more of a connection with you.

• What your blog is about. A pithy, informative few sentences will do the trick. This is the meat - what people really want to know. Here they'll discover if you're like-minded. Or not!

• Why to read your blog. It helps to mention the topics you cover, how often you post and whether you have any special features or series.

These are the two main pages I'd recommend for any blog. You may also choose to add 'FAQ' and 'Contact me' pages if you wish, for example. It's totally up to you!

So, do share if you have any more tips of things to include on your 'About me' page. Is anything unclear? Are there any features you seek out when reading such pages? And do you have any pet peeves? Over to you - I look forward to reading your ideas.

Blogging 101: adding your 'About me' widget

Well hello, you gorgeous souls! I'm tickled pink to see how many of you have already enjoyed reading my last post about sweet Iris from irideeën. Fabulous. Okay, it being Thursday, it's time for my next Blogging 101 post. So far, we've tackled some of the basics. Now you know:

• how to link your email address to your Blogger profile and customise your comments settings; and

• choose your profile photo or avatar.

Now readers of your blogs can contact you by email and see what you look like. The result? They know you're approachable and are starting to form an impression of you. That's all helping to build a rapport with them. 

So what do you need next? You need to introduce yourself.

They want to read more about you so they can decide whether to follow your blog. Who are you? Are you their style of person? What makes you tick? Why do you blog? That's the lowdown they're all looking for. After all, that's what we all want to find out when we're looking at new blogs, don't we? 

Adding an 'About me' widget to your sidebar

As I have a Blogger blog, these tips only pertain to the Blogger format. But, the technical details aside, their essence is still relevant to all blogging platforms.

Not sure what a 'widget' (also called a 'gadget' by Blogger) is? This is what I'm talking about. 

Here's my 'About me' widget in my sidebar. It's still a work-in-progress as I'd like to make it succincter and snappier. But it'll do for our purposes to show you how to create your own.

Here's what to do:

• Go to your blog homepage and click on 'Design' and 'Layout'.

• This is what my page now looks like. See the 'Add a gadget' box on the right-hand side? Click on it.

• The Blogger 'Add a gadget' box will then pop up. Scroll right down that box to 'Profile' and click on the + sign. 

• A box called 'Edit profile' will then open up. Mine looks something like this (I can't grab an exact screenshot).

Edit Profile

Title
Share my profile	Your profile will not be shown if it is not shared.
About Me	Show on this blog
Name
Description
Location	Show on this blog
City/Town
Region/State
Country/Territory	Not Specified Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo [Republic] Congo [DRC] Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Timor-Leste Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands [Islas Malvinas] Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia [FYROM] Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Saint Helena Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States U.S. Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Serbia Zambia Zimbabwe

Save Cancel Back

• You might like to change the wording from 'About Me' to 'Who am I?' or something witty.

• Click on 'Share my profile' to link your Blogger profile to your blog, if you wish.

• Next to 'About Me', click on 'Show on this blog'.

• Add your name. You can elect whether to show your surname or even use a nom de plume, if you wish to blog incognito!

• Next to 'Description', type in several clear, concise and informative phrases or sentences summarising who you are, what your passions are and perhaps why you blog. Getting this right is so important.

• Don't stress if you can't get it quite right at first - you can update it at any time. But do try to find that happy medium between brevity and conveying enough information to hook readers in. It's frustrating to read blogs where the description is so short, you can't get an idea of who the blogger is or it's so long that you get lost in the words and give up, frustrated. Just remember it's merely a snapshot of who you are.

• Next to 'Location', tick the box 'Show on this blog' if you wish readers to know where you live. You don't have to. You choose.

• And then hit 'Save'.

• Now when you return to your homepage, your fancy new 'About me' widget should be beaming out at you!

• Oh, and something important - it's best to have this widget right at the top of your sidebar so people can spot it straight away. If it's buried at the bottom of your sidebar, people might not bother to look for it and click away.

• If you wish to move the widget, go to your blog homepage and click on 'Design' and 'Layout'. Then drag and drop the 'About me' widget to the right spot.

• Click 'Save arrangement' and you're done!

I know all this seems a little dry and tedious but once it's done, you'll be so pleased with yourself. It'll mean you've made yourself approachable, contactable and interesting! That should hook more followers in for you ☺.

And what's more, readers can click on the 'View my complete profile' link at the bottom of the widget to be taken to your Blogger profile which has even more information about you such as your interests etc, if you've added them.

Next week, I'll post about how to add 'pages' to your blog.

So tell me, have you tried this out? Is anything unclear? Do you feel happier with your new intro? Comment away - I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Let's recap: the posts you might have missed last week

Hello you gorgeous 549 Planetarians. I'm so relieved my commenting system is working again after last week's hiccup. Sorry about that! Just in case it caused you to miss my last posts, here are the links again:

Down the rabbithole: meet Mel from Coal Valley View

Have fun meeting my gorgeous friend, and Planetarian, Mel. Her blog is a fabulous read - do have a look and say hello from me!

Blogging 101: choosing your profile photo/avatar

Here I explain how to choose a great photo of yourself to use as your avatar all over the web. Having one which you use consistently everywhere really helps make you stand out and become memorable to other readers.

One year ago...

It's one year since my Dad died - here are my thoughts.

Please come and say hello to me - I've missed you all over the past few days!

Blogging 101: choosing your profile photo/avatar

Well hello you gorgeous Planetarians, all 548 of you - I'm waving to all you newbies! I'm sorry if you've been unable to comment on my last post on Mel from Coal Valley View. My commenting system stopped working this morning for some reason. I've emailed the Help Desk and hope to get it fixed ASAP.

Anyway, it's Thursday again so it's time for another 'Blogging 101' post. Last week, I started with how to link your email address to your Blogger profile and customise your settings for comments. That means you and your readers can contact each other easily. So, what's the next step, then?

Using an avatar

The next thing you want to do is make it easy for readers to identify with you both on your blog and all over Blogland and social media. How can you do that? Your trump card is your profile photo or avatar. That's the image you use to represent yourself online - the tiny thumbnail which shows up under the Google Friend Connect widget and next to comments you leave on blogs.

You see hundreds of them every day when popping down Blogland's rabbitholes, don't you? But I bet you can't recall many of them. Some of them might choose a business logo, a photo of something dear to them, a flower, a famous identity, a house, a family pet - there are endless variations. It's such a personal choice and I pass no judgements.

However, I find the avatars I'm most drawn to and look out for are photos of the bloggers themselves. Why? Well, once I've seen you, I feel a connection to you. It makes you more real for me. If you look at bloggers you admire, I bet many of them use fabulous photos of themselves.

Tips for choosing your avatar

• The best ones have a clear headshot of the person, up close and preferably with a plain background. 

• White is the best background option as it's clean, crisp and makes the headshot stand out.

• If you're not comfortable with a face-on headshot, then you could instead use a photo of you looking side on, down or even away from the camera.

• The main thing is to ensure your face is clearly visible and distinct.

My avatars

When I started, I used this avatar.

Whilst it didn't have a white background, I found it nevertheless stood out due to the green cardigan I wore.

Earlier this year, I changed it to this one which you can see in my sidebar under 'About me'.

By this stage, I'd worked out the white background idea. I've found the mauve top stands out, as does the simple navy necklace. It's been fine to use but I plan to change it soon as I've since had a haircut and that smile is a little too forced for my liking!

Tips for taking a fantastic photo 

I also picked up some useful tips on taking profile photos in the Blogging Your Way 2.0 e-Course I recently did. Here are some of them:

• Good lighting is essential - natural is best.

• You might like to have a professional photo taken. Equally, you could ask a family member or friend with a good quality camera to photograph you.

• Choose your clothes and accessories carefully. Think about the image you want to convey. It should match the overall tone of your blog. 

• Don't hide behind sunglasses! Your readers want to see your pretty face, don't forget ☺.

• Just be yourself. Looking natural always comes up trumps.

• Make sure it's a recent photo.

Using a consistent avatar

Right, so now you have a fabulous photo of yourself. What do you do with it?

Upload it to your Blogger profile 

Do this so it shows up on your blog where you have the 'About me' widget in your sidebar. To do this:

• Go to your blog home page and click on 'Design'.

• In the top right hand corner, click on the drop-down menu. A box like this should appear.

• Click on 'Blogger profile' and 'Edit profile'.

• Under 'Profile photo', upload your fancy new photo and click on 'Save profile' right down the bottom of the page.

• Now when you return to your blog home page, your new photo should be beaming out at you from the 'About me' widget in your sidebar. 

Upload your photo to Google Friend Connect

If you have a Blogger blog and use the Google Friend Connect ('GFC') widget to show your followers, you should also update your photo there. 

Why? Well that means that all blogs you're following where you've joined using GFC will have the same photo. Your friends and readers will realise it's you there. You'll start to gain some recognition.

Before Blogger retired GFC for non-Blogger blogs, you used to be able to go to the GFC page and change your photo there. However, that no longer seems possible so here's another method.

To do this:

• Go to your GFC widget in your sidebar and log in. 

• Click on the drop-down 'Options' menu. This is what mine looks like:

• Click on 'Site settings' and 'Basics'. Upload your new photo and click 'Done' down the bottom.

• Now whenever you visit a blog you're following using GFC, your new photo should appear.

Upload your photo to Gravatar

So now your blog shows your splendid new photo, you want to ensure that same photo is used all over the internet. That is, if you wish to be consistent and allow your readers to recognise you in all forms of social media.

But if you are wary of privacy issues, you don't have to do this. Your choice.

If you do want to have the same photo used wherever you are on the Net, then go to Gravatar. Here's how they explain what they do:

Your Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. 

Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?

Here's what to do:

• Just follow the prompts to create your free account. 

• Click on 'My account' in the top right hand corner. This drop-down menu will appear.

• Click on 'About me', fill in your details and hit 'Save profile'.

• Click on 'My images' and upload your spanking new photo.

• Click on 'Contact information' and add the same email address you use for your blog.

• Click on 'Verified services' and the drop-down menu. Choose the websites you wish to use your photo on eg Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

• Click on 'My links' and add your blog URL if you wish.

• Click on 'View my profile' and you should be able to see all the websites you've chosen which now show your new photo.

Summary

By now, hopefully your fantastic new photo of you should be the same everywhere on the Net. 

Your readers now know how to contact you and what you look like.

That is a wonderful start for building fabulous friendships and growing your blog readership.

So tell me, is anything unclear? I'll do my best to answer your questions. And are you excited at the thought of presenting yourself in your best light in Blogland? I can't wait to hear your thoughts (as soon as my commenting system is fixed, that is!).

Blogging 101: linking your email address and Blogger profile

Hello, you gorgeous Planetarians. I'm so delighted with your response to my last post about gorgeous Viv. I'm thrilled you are enjoying meeting new Planetarians through my 'Down the rabbithole' column. It's funny -  now I have regular days to post such columns, it's providing me with so much more focus which I relish. 

Now, as I promised back here, today I'm starting my new 'Blogging 101' column where I'll share tips I've road-tested and applied here so you know they work. I'll also share useful links to other blogs and websites. I think we'll have a lot of fun. As always, I encourage you to interact, leave comments and questions and make this a useful resource base for us all. Okay, let's get this show on the road!

To start, I thought I'd get the basics out of the way. One of the most important tools you need to connect with other bloggers is email.

Source

I received a typically thoughtful email from sweet Emma at Frog Goose and Bear after my post 'Where has all the blog love gone?':

I wonder if many of the new bloggers know about enabling their email and not being 'no-reply bloggers'. I know you wrote a post on it a while ago. 

There are a few bloggers who I'd love to have more of a relationship with and who leave questions on my blog but I just can't reply and continue that conversation without their email being enabled. 

Maybe it's time for another reminder for the newbies' sake?

A brilliant idea, Em! Being able to contact fellow bloggers is one of the best and easiest ways to form friendships. You wouldn't credit how hard some bloggers make it to be contactable!

Sometimes it's done deliberately. No worries - their choice. But if it's done through not knowing how to rectify the problem, then I'm happy to help you.

I've just edited my old post to incorporate the latest changes to the Blogger format.

It also covers the following information for post commenting generally:

• Comment location;

• Who can comment;

• Comment moderation;

• Word verification;

• Backlinks;

• Comment form message;

• Language and formatting;

• Linking up your email address to have comments emailed to you; and 

• Contacting people who have left comments on your blog.

Here it is. If you click on the link, it'll open up in a new window - why don't you do that while I wait for you back here? Okay, click away!

Right, great to see you back here. Let me know if anything's unclear. Are any bells ringing for you?!

Please comment here rather than on the original post, just so we can keep everything current instead of delving into the archives.

I really hope this post helps you to connect with other bloggers and have more meaningful interactions with them. Many of the wonderful bloggy friendships I've formed have started from a single email. Really.

So go on - why don't you fix your email settings and then email a fellow blogger? I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised at what follows! Do let us know if it helps you start friendships with other bloggers as well.

PS And if you find it helpful, you may wish to share it on Facebook and Twitter to share the blog karma around. Now sure how to? Just click on the Add this button below this post which looks like this: