Ending 2010

As we jump into the 11th year of this new millennium, I figure I'll post one more update to close out the 10th. The following additions will the be last for 2010 and in adding these few, we will have the final list of blogs to be included in the NL Bloggers Choice award.  Details of such will come in the New Year, but for now please take the time to welcome these newbies to the listings!

Island Girl
http://jennabarnable.wordpress.com/

M. Paterson's Class Blog
http://grade4beachycove.blogspot.com/

The Fighting Newfoundlander
http://thefightingnewf.blogspot.com/

Progressive Tory
http://progressive-tory.blogspot.com/

Designing Home
http://www.designinghome.blogspot.com/

Port aux Basques
http://portauxbasques.blogspot.com/

Two Hundred and Ten Thoughts For 2010/11
http://blockader.wordpress.com/


Happy New Year everyone.  I wish you all the best in 2011, and by the best I mean all the peace, love and happiness that you can find! 

Categories Complete: Next!

Okay, so having a minor case of OCD isn't a bad thing when you want to get things done. I sat down and really focused over the past 24 hours and my reward is that I now have all the mini blogrolls for each category listed. You can check them out on the right hand sidebar. I hope you enjoy!

Oh, and to those listed here; if you happen to see your blog in category you feel it doesn't fit, please don't hesitate to let me know and I'll change it.

So, what's next for this ol' place?  Well, it's probably easiest to show my to do list:
  • Scrap the current NL Bloggers Choice award and announce how things will progress starting early 2011. As a hint, the main focus now will be on awards for each of these new categories and will also feature more involvement with fellow members of the BlogRoll.
  • Return to posting Blog of the Weeks and try really really hard to do so more consistently, you know like every week... considering the title of this initiative.
  • Continue to try and find ways to help cross promote each other, something we've lost with the BlogRolling software being down.
  • Search for possible willing participants to be Guest Bloggers for this ol' hub here.
  • Do some general cleanup of the roll, removing blogs which have not been posted; normal stuff every year.
As you can see, there's still lots tickin' in this brain of mine and lots more to come to this BlogRoll of ours.  With the holiday season here however, a lot will have to wait until the New Year. 2011 is shaping up to be pretty exciting around these parts though.  Stay tuned!


Creating Categories

As I previously mentioned, one main focus of mine in this new re-development of the BlogRoll is the creation of categories for the listings. It's actually something I've wanted to do for years, but never found the motivation until recently. It was forced motivation perhaps, but BlogRolling's shutdown has certainly lit a fire under my butt to get it done... and I'm getting closer as each day passes.

At this point I have all 180+ blogs organized into categories that I feel they fit best and believe me, this was no easy task at times. As I visited each blog over the past few days, one thing I noticed (beyond how awesome this collection of blogs is) was that each space is so unique to itself and finding a common theme for many was difficult. Luckily however, in my days within the blogosphere I've come to learn of the term 'Mixed Bag' but I really tried to refrain from using that label unless absolutely necessary. I wanted to put the blogs in a category that I felt they fit best, what the main theme was. A Mixed Bag blog to me, has to hit several different topics in their posting, never knowing what will come the next time, which some of the blogs do.

Looks like we'll have about 15 different categories at this point though, which is pretty neat-o if you ask me. In the coming days and weeks, I'll be adding mini blogrolls to the right hand side of this blog; one for each of these categories.  Like the main roll, newly updated blogs will bump to the top of each of these lists.  The idea is to give visitors a better browsing experience by giving them a way for topical reading.

Beyond that however, the NL Bloggers Choice award will soon be updated as well. It will soon not be about the Blog of the Weeks any longer, but instead it will be about these categories. You'll have to stay tuned for that though.  Give me a chance b'y!  :)


Next Step: Newbies

Now that I have all the oldbies added to the main roll, it's time to add all those people who have been waiting (some of them) months to be added to our beloved list here.  I do very much apologize for the wait.  I've had a busy / crazy half a year... 

Regardless, the wait is over; behold, the newbies! Be sure to visit every single one of them and say hello for me!

This and That, but Mostly the Other Thing
http://mostlytheotherthing.blogspot.com/

The Penny-Roach’s
http://blog.canadianparents.com/pennyroach/

thenewfoundlandjournalist
http://thenewfoundlandjournalist.blogspot.com/

Knix Hand Knit
http://www.knixhandknit.blogspot.com/

travelling infinity
http://travellinginfinity.wordpress.com/

Sedna Photography Blog
http://sednaphotography.wordpress.com/

365 Project Blog
http://project3three6sixty5five.wordpress.com/

Technological Affair
http://technologicalaffair.blogspot.com/

Trevor Dean Photography
http://trevordeanphotography.blogspot.com/

BLARM!
http://blarmcast.com/

The Owlette
http://www.theowlerychronicles.wordpress.com/

Sorcha's Haven
http://anunquietspirit.wordpress.com/

Charlotte Morgan
http://www.charlottemorgan.com/site/

Brain Droppings
ringkeeper.blogspot.com/

24 Hours to Midnight: The Blog!
http://24hourstomidnight.wordpress.com/

Matthew Barter
http://matthewbarter.wordpress.com/

Danielle's World
http://daniellepercy.wordpress.com/

Crysto'
http://cryst0.blogspot.com/

St. John's Mom
http://stjohnsmom.blogspot.com/

that girl from around the bay
http://baygirl32.blogspot.com/

kim Vazquez.com
http://www.kimvazquez.com

Da View From Here...
http://daviewfromhere.blogspot.com/


Now that that's done, next up on my list of things to do is the development of the Categories.  Stay tuned!

Reconstructing

If you haven't noticed, things are a little different around these parts.  If it's your first time here, well I just finished updating the template a little.  While I still have a long way to go to get everything I have planned in order, having some progression feels good.

I've decided to move on completely (for now) from finding a widget or gadget to applet or whatever to host our blogroll in a way that we can all have the list easily.  There is just nothing else that does what blogrolling did.  Not in any realm which I've searched anyway.  So, in moving on I have begun using the blogroll widget here within blogger which does indeed bump updated blogs to the top of the list.  You can see this list to the left. Ain't it pretty?  I plan on creating several more of these for a variety of categories in the future as well, each displaying 5 of the most recently updated blogs in that topic.  I already have the nearly 200 blogs categorized and now I just have to add them.  First up is finalizing the main list however, which includes an addition of many new faces that have been waiting a very long time to be added.

As I said, there's a long way to go but, things are moving along.  Check back soon for more updates!

Minor Setback

Some sad news to share as I continue redeveloping things around these parts; it appears that the new system I found doesn't quite do everything we were used to. I can indeed create a list that with a little code we can all share, but this list does not update as new entries are posted. It seems that BlogRolling was the only system out there that does this or all that I can find anyway. It's a sad day in Stephen land...

Having said that, I will continue to collect the list in the new software and provide for sharing soon. It'll be in alphabetical form but, a great list none the less. I'll also continue looking for alternatives and please let me know if you come across any on your net journeys.

I'm also going to continue developing the categories idea I have and organize things a little better with these in mind. This will also be the start of the evolution of the Bloggers Choices Awards...

Not all is lost, but BlogRolling continues to be a service that is sorely missed. 

Plan of Attack

So you know, I am busy trying to get everything back up and running again. I've been spending any chance I have as of late adding all the links (over 190 of them) to the new system I spoke of in the previous post. As soon as I have that done, I'll reveal it and pass along the new code for everyone to add to their sites.  This is of course in attempt to reconnect our beautiful network of Newfoundland and Labrador Blogs.

It doesn't end there though. I'm also visiting each page and categorizing each link this time around. I plan on adding more navigation sections throughout (like mini blogrolls for each category for example) to the site and also intend on redesigning the NL Bloggers Choice award to be now about winners for each of these categories. I'll have far more details in the future, but things are movin' in my mind and my available time is being spent getting things in order.

Oh, and to all those who have requested to join the blogroll in the past few months, you will definitely be added to this new system.

Bare with me but, I'll be sure to let you know as things progress!