The end of September has come and with it the end to voting in the 2011 Blogger's Choice Awards. Here comes the fun (and/or scary) part; counting the votes. With upwards of a 1000 votes cast in the past couple weeks, spread over the 10 categories, I have a bit of work on my hands. If only I made it simple and excluded the points system this would be no sweat but, with the 3 tiered system in place, the nominees are going to have to hang tight while I get this done. What's a voting session without some tension as we wait right? :) Hang in there folks, the winners will be unveiled next week!
In other news, the Blog of the Week initiative will launch again later this month after a several month hiatus. Be sure to stay tuned every Sunday when we do launch, as a new blog each week (of the over 300 listed) will be featured.
Also, to those who have requested to be added to the BlogRoll in the past few weeks, thanks for being patient. You'll all be added not long after the winners of these awards are counted and unveiled. Hang tight!
Showing posts with label BlogRoll Info. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BlogRoll Info. Show all posts
Social Media in NL Politics
What's best is that not only did I get to sit down and have a great chit-chat with Mike, but we also received a nod to the NL BlogRoll in the process. You gotta love that. Thanks again Mike and NTV!
July 22nd edit :
There's a 2nd part to this story which aired two nights later. You can watch that part by going here.
July 22nd edit :
There's a 2nd part to this story which aired two nights later. You can watch that part by going here.
Unexpected Hiatus
In my world (like most others I would assume), when offline life becomes busy, the online world tends to suffer. This is exactly the case for my absence as of late. I shocked myself into posting this update this evening when I realized that I haven't posted anything in nearly a month now, not even the Blog of the Week. And here I was doing so well this year too, having missed only one Sunday since 2011 began. That has to be a record since I started the initiative so I should be happy about that I s'pose...
Anyway, while summer is normally a more active time for me regardless, it turns out that this summer happens to be a very busy period at work as well. It's good times when work is busy don't get me wrong but, I am kind of bummed that I haven't been able to keep up things around these parts. There's just not enough time in the day, and the time we have certainly does fly by in a hurry. To be honest, I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone.
So, when I noticed the date of the last post, I felt I should let any frequent visitors know that everything I've been discussing over the past few months is still being worked on whenever I possibly can: The awards will come, the Blog of Week's will continue and many new blogs will be added (and I do have many not added yet). Just bare with me, I'll get there.
In the meantime, you all be sure to unplug now and then as well. Go take some time to enjoy any sun you're lucky enough to get!
Anyway, while summer is normally a more active time for me regardless, it turns out that this summer happens to be a very busy period at work as well. It's good times when work is busy don't get me wrong but, I am kind of bummed that I haven't been able to keep up things around these parts. There's just not enough time in the day, and the time we have certainly does fly by in a hurry. To be honest, I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone.
So, when I noticed the date of the last post, I felt I should let any frequent visitors know that everything I've been discussing over the past few months is still being worked on whenever I possibly can: The awards will come, the Blog of Week's will continue and many new blogs will be added (and I do have many not added yet). Just bare with me, I'll get there.
In the meantime, you all be sure to unplug now and then as well. Go take some time to enjoy any sun you're lucky enough to get!
NL BlogRoll Makes The Telegram
What's even more exciting than the fantastic article itself, is how heavily featured it was. Not once did I think so much coverage would have been given to our community here, but when I opened the paper this morning to see my mug plastered over the front page of the Province section, accompanied by a great article spanning two pages, I became very excited to say the least.
As I mentioned in the article, this whole thing is about promoting our Province and the Blogger's from here, and this article will do wonders in helping me achieve that. I want to take this time to thank the folks at The Telegram for printing the article and more so to Colin for writing it. He truly was a great guy and the hour I spent with him was quite fun. I wish him all the best in his career and I for one will follow his articles along the way. Best wishes to him and all the folks at The Telegram. Again, I can't say this enough; on behalf of the entire community here, I thank you.
Now go read the article!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Category Pages Launched
The task took quite a while to sort out and get ready, but I'm happy to say that things are finally at a point where this announcement post can be made. I've been working feverishly in getting it done as I wanted them ready for the upcoming Bloggers Choice Awards. As I mentioned in this recent post, each of these pages will be used to help promote the winners in each category with each page having links and RSS feeds of the winners and they will stay that way for a year!
OH and to all the current members of the NL BlogRoll: If you feel your blog is better suited for a category different than what it's currently found in, please reply to this post (or email me) with your suggested category and I'll be sure to move it!
Now, all I have to do is finalize the prep work for the awards initiative and all I'll be well on the way to getting my task list for the year completed! As always, stay tuned for future developments on that and more.
Twitter Tips for NL Bloggers
Twitter Lists
I've created a bunch of Newfoundland and Labrador related twitter lists (NL Newsies, NL Arts, NL People and Newfoundlandia), some of them displayed on the sidebar, but the main one we have to chit chat about is the one dedicated to this BlogRoll community: NL Bloggers. It currently sits at 136 followed, all bloggers from the province also using twitter. If you're not listed there yet, let me know and I'll rectify that problem (@seliharris).
NL Blogger's Daily
A related initiative comes from a free service (Paper.li) which collects links from tweets into one online 'Newspaper'. I've created one for us (NL Blogger's Daily) which will collect posts found in the NL Bloggers Twitter list daily. Every 24 hours a new paper will be created and with that, a new tweet of the top stories selected from these posts sent out to the twitter-verse. Lovely no?
Twitter Feed
Speaking of sending posts into the twitter-verse, I strongly recommend any blogger n' twitter user sign up for TwitterFeed. It's again another free service which automatically tweets whenever you post a new entry to your blog. It creates a short url of your post and includes it in the tweet, along with the title. It also lets you add a prefix and suffix (any text you want) to the tweet as well. For mine, I decided to have 'NL Blog Post' before the link and title followed by a couple hashtags: #Newfoundland #Blogs. It can be anything you want though. Have fun with it. I think it's a great tool to easily help promote your blog posts. Check it out.
As you can see, I've been busy trying all kinds of new way to help promote all of us here. Twitter has provided me an opportunity to network with a boatload of new people and with that an ability to talk about this beloved community we have here. That to me is worth all the time I spend there.
Of course, I'm slightly twit-dicted, so that helps too...
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Expanded Social Network
In effort to further connect the bloggers of Newfoundland and Labrador, I've put a lot of time expanding our online social network as of late. Until now, it has always been in my mind to refrain from diving too deep into the other platforms in effort to help preserve this 'old fashioned' strait up way of blogging. As everyone knows, applications like Facebook and Twitter (and the million others) have sucked most of the 'true' bloggers away and I didn't want to help that along any faster than it was already moving.
Then I thought, there's over 200 blogs listed within this blogroll, a tiny piece of the 'interweb', one with a focus on a single province in a single country. This could only mean that there's tonnes of bloggers left out there! So with this thought in my head, I hit the social networks (and hit them hard) and instead of fear them, I embraced them:
FaceBook Fan Page
This is really something I should have perhaps done long ago but, it's better late than never. The NL BlogRoll now has a facebook fan page. Be sure to head on over there are 'like it'... if you do. :)
Empire Avenue
This is the newest network in which the NL BlogRoll has been listed and is perhaps the most exciting at the moment. It's a rather new platform whereby people actually buy virtual shares into your social network. They essentially invest in you. I'm finding it a fantastically fun way to help promote this blog and the community found within. I also whole- heartedly recommend it to any social media nut out there.
Twitter
As mentioned in one of the last posts, I do have a Twitter account which I use to help network with fellow Newfoundland and Labrador Tweeps. This is a personal account however (as a disclaimer) and not all my tweets will be NL BlogRoll tweets... just so you know.
All in all, I've been pretty busy hitting the virtual streets to try and get the word out more about this awesome community we have here. I've even created a YouTube channel associated with this place where I'm going to continue collecting random vids related to this province. This whole venture of mine is not only one to help promote blogs afterall, but also one to help spread the word about this wonderful corner of the universe I call home. Let's see how much this new social networking expansion helps out with that!
Oh, and don't worry, I'm still doing my part (we all are) to help prove that 'old fashioned' blogging ain't dead yet. Stick with it!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Then I thought, there's over 200 blogs listed within this blogroll, a tiny piece of the 'interweb', one with a focus on a single province in a single country. This could only mean that there's tonnes of bloggers left out there! So with this thought in my head, I hit the social networks (and hit them hard) and instead of fear them, I embraced them:
FaceBook Fan Page
This is really something I should have perhaps done long ago but, it's better late than never. The NL BlogRoll now has a facebook fan page. Be sure to head on over there are 'like it'... if you do. :)
Empire Avenue
This is the newest network in which the NL BlogRoll has been listed and is perhaps the most exciting at the moment. It's a rather new platform whereby people actually buy virtual shares into your social network. They essentially invest in you. I'm finding it a fantastically fun way to help promote this blog and the community found within. I also whole- heartedly recommend it to any social media nut out there.
As mentioned in one of the last posts, I do have a Twitter account which I use to help network with fellow Newfoundland and Labrador Tweeps. This is a personal account however (as a disclaimer) and not all my tweets will be NL BlogRoll tweets... just so you know.
All in all, I've been pretty busy hitting the virtual streets to try and get the word out more about this awesome community we have here. I've even created a YouTube channel associated with this place where I'm going to continue collecting random vids related to this province. This whole venture of mine is not only one to help promote blogs afterall, but also one to help spread the word about this wonderful corner of the universe I call home. Let's see how much this new social networking expansion helps out with that!
Oh, and don't worry, I'm still doing my part (we all are) to help prove that 'old fashioned' blogging ain't dead yet. Stick with it!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
BOTW Easter Hiatus
Frequent visitors to this blog may have noticed something missing this week; that being the Blog of the Week selection not posted yesterday. Unfortunately, because of the holiday this weekend and me being out of town, I didn't get a chance to make said selection this time around. It's unfortunate because I was on quite a roll to start 2011, not missing one week until now, and it makes me sad when I think about it... so I won't think about it. Chin up (and I say that to myself more than anyone), things will return on Sunday!
NL BlogRoll is Twit-dicted
I'm slightly behind the curve on this one perhaps but, as of late things have gone all Twitter-pated around these parts. Though having an account on the (highly addictive) social network for quite some time, it's only as of late that I've really used it... and obsessively used it I have. The good thing is that in that obsessive use, I have found a wealth of new blogs to share. Better yet, I see the opportunity for many more to be revealed as I continue to play around and as anyone who has been following this blog knows, I love finding new bloggers to add to our community!
This new Twitter addiction is quite exciting for me at the moment as it provides a new opportunity to further develop our online community of social media enthusiasts. I've already gone ahead and added a couple of feed gadgets to the sidebar here in effort to help promote the many Newfoundland and Labradorian users I've managed to find already: One feed is a list of people from our province and the 2nd is one for random provincial tweets from businesses, news organizations, entertainment folks and all things in between. If you have a twitter account, feel free to follow the lists and keep in touch!
Oh, and at this point it's important for me to note that my Twitter account is my personal account and the posting there will not be limited to all things related to this great province of ours, nor always about this awesome collection of blogs. Just so you know...
And with that said, it's time for me to stop gabbing and share the newest blogs added to the list. As always, be sure to go say hello!
NL Dads Blog
http://nldadsblog.wordpress.com/
Bigger Pants
http://biggerpants.blogspot.com/
Live Rural Newfoundland & Labrador
http://liveruralnl.com/
Candice does the world
http://www.candicedoestheworld.com/
Calling Shotgun
http://ringkeeper.blogspot.com/
We Be's Bloggin'
http://rattlingblogers.blogspot.com/
Corner Brook Running Club
http://cbrun.wordpress.com/
Brian Carey Photography
http://blog.briancareyphotography.com/
Blue Hair. Green Attitude. Off-Colour Vocabulary
http://gardenvarietypunk.wordpress.com/
Welcome aboard newbies! I'm gone to look for more...
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
This new Twitter addiction is quite exciting for me at the moment as it provides a new opportunity to further develop our online community of social media enthusiasts. I've already gone ahead and added a couple of feed gadgets to the sidebar here in effort to help promote the many Newfoundland and Labradorian users I've managed to find already: One feed is a list of people from our province and the 2nd is one for random provincial tweets from businesses, news organizations, entertainment folks and all things in between. If you have a twitter account, feel free to follow the lists and keep in touch!
Oh, and at this point it's important for me to note that my Twitter account is my personal account and the posting there will not be limited to all things related to this great province of ours, nor always about this awesome collection of blogs. Just so you know...
And with that said, it's time for me to stop gabbing and share the newest blogs added to the list. As always, be sure to go say hello!
NL Dads Blog
http://nldadsblog.wordpress.com/
Bigger Pants
http://biggerpants.blogspot.com/
Live Rural Newfoundland & Labrador
http://liveruralnl.com/
Candice does the world
http://www.candicedoestheworld.com/
Calling Shotgun
http://ringkeeper.blogspot.com/
We Be's Bloggin'
http://rattlingblogers.blogspot.com/
Corner Brook Running Club
http://cbrun.wordpress.com/
Brian Carey Photography
http://blog.briancareyphotography.com/
Blue Hair. Green Attitude. Off-Colour Vocabulary
http://gardenvarietypunk.wordpress.com/
Welcome aboard newbies! I'm gone to look for more...
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Categorically Speaking
In further preparation for the coming NL Bloggers Choice Awards, I've decided to simplify things a little more within the categories. As they say, 'less is more' and with that thought in mind I've gone ahead and cut the number of categories from 14 down to 10, combining some logical choices. Each mini blogroll in the sidebar for the new listings have been updated, and if you're curious the final list is below:
What this now means for the awards, is that we will now be selecting only 10 of the best (as voted by you) blogs found in our community of over 200.
Also, just to keep you in the loop on some of the other items I've been working on; sometime in the near future I'll be launching stand alone pages for each of these new categories. I'm mainly doing this for a better browsing experience within the full site but, this also impacts the choice blogger awards. By that I mean, for each of these categories, the winners will gain a full year of promotion on their corresponding stand alone page: 'ads, links, RSS feeds and whatever else I can think of. Each page will essentially facilitate a new way to promote the choice bloggers and you gotta love that!
Now... if I could only find the time to get all this done. That's always the struggle but, as I push through it, I'm sure I'll keep you in the know as I always try to do. Stay tuned!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
- POLITICAL / COMMENTARY
- PHOTOGRAPHY
- MIXED BAG
- PERSONAL / JOURNAL
- SPORT / RECREATION
- ART / CRAFT / FOOD
- ENTERTAINMENT / MEDIA
- SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY
- EDUCATIONAL / BOOKS
- BUSINESS / TRAVEL
What this now means for the awards, is that we will now be selecting only 10 of the best (as voted by you) blogs found in our community of over 200.
Also, just to keep you in the loop on some of the other items I've been working on; sometime in the near future I'll be launching stand alone pages for each of these new categories. I'm mainly doing this for a better browsing experience within the full site but, this also impacts the choice blogger awards. By that I mean, for each of these categories, the winners will gain a full year of promotion on their corresponding stand alone page: 'ads, links, RSS feeds and whatever else I can think of. Each page will essentially facilitate a new way to promote the choice bloggers and you gotta love that!
Now... if I could only find the time to get all this done. That's always the struggle but, as I push through it, I'm sure I'll keep you in the know as I always try to do. Stay tuned!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Newbies and News
Before getting into the listing of new inclusions to the blogroll, I wanted to take a moment to provide an couple updates:
Happy 5th Anniversary:
On January 31st, 2006 I posted the very first entry here and I thought it would be fun to note that this blog and the BlogRoll itself is now 5 years strong. Over the the last half decade we've been through a multitude of ups and downs and redevelopments; a true roller coaster ride for me in fact. When I started this thing way back then, I had no idea the heights it would reach, nor the community that would eventually be built. Through the years I have constantly been reminded of how incredibly wonderful this collection of minds truly is. I'm very proud of this place and the blogs which are featured within and I want to take this time to thank you all for your hard work and dedication to your own spaces within the blogosphere. Without your beautiful minds, this place would have no reason to exist.
Bloggers Choice Award
It's been a while since I last discussed the initative and I want to ensure everyone that it's still being developed. I'm currently in the process of weeding through all the blogs to decide on those which we'll be voting on. As you can imagine, with there now being 199 blogs on the roll, this continues to be a lengthy process. Having said that, my intention was to launch the initiave during the spring or summer months anyway, so things are still on target.
Newbies
My main reason for posting today was to welcome the newest blogs to our community here. I've added 10 new ones today so be sure to browse you way over to each and say hello!
Freshwater Bay
http://freshwaterbay.blogspot.com/
Own Your Food
http://ownyourfood.blogspot.com/
Feller From Away
http://fellerfromaway.wordpress.com/
Nancy's Photo Journal
http://nancyhawkinsphotography.blogspot.com/
Grand Falls Station Chronicle
http://gfwchroncile.blogspot.com/
NL Matters
http://nlmatters.blogspot.com/
Twig (v. to catch the meaning)
http://twignl.wordpress.com/
Newfoundland Computer Resources
http://www.bekcomputers.com
I code by the sea
http://icodebythesea.blogspot.com/
I also make Cookies
http://ialsomakecookies.blogspot.com/
Have fun visiting and be sure to tell them the NL BlogRoll sent ya! :)
Happy 5th Anniversary:
On January 31st, 2006 I posted the very first entry here and I thought it would be fun to note that this blog and the BlogRoll itself is now 5 years strong. Over the the last half decade we've been through a multitude of ups and downs and redevelopments; a true roller coaster ride for me in fact. When I started this thing way back then, I had no idea the heights it would reach, nor the community that would eventually be built. Through the years I have constantly been reminded of how incredibly wonderful this collection of minds truly is. I'm very proud of this place and the blogs which are featured within and I want to take this time to thank you all for your hard work and dedication to your own spaces within the blogosphere. Without your beautiful minds, this place would have no reason to exist.
Bloggers Choice Award
It's been a while since I last discussed the initative and I want to ensure everyone that it's still being developed. I'm currently in the process of weeding through all the blogs to decide on those which we'll be voting on. As you can imagine, with there now being 199 blogs on the roll, this continues to be a lengthy process. Having said that, my intention was to launch the initiave during the spring or summer months anyway, so things are still on target.
Newbies
My main reason for posting today was to welcome the newest blogs to our community here. I've added 10 new ones today so be sure to browse you way over to each and say hello!
Freshwater Bay
http://freshwaterbay.blogspot.com/
Own Your Food
http://ownyourfood.blogspot.com/
Feller From Away
http://fellerfromaway.wordpress.com/
Nancy's Photo Journal
http://nancyhawkinsphotography.blogspot.com/
Grand Falls Station Chronicle
http://gfwchroncile.blogspot.com/
NL Matters
http://nlmatters.blogspot.com/
Twig (v. to catch the meaning)
http://twignl.wordpress.com/
Newfoundland Computer Resources
http://www.bekcomputers.com
I code by the sea
http://icodebythesea.blogspot.com/
I also make Cookies
http://ialsomakecookies.blogspot.com/
Have fun visiting and be sure to tell them the NL BlogRoll sent ya! :)
Beginning 2011
Now that 2011 has come and the busy holiday season is quickly ending, I can fully concentrate once again on getting things back in order around these parts. There's still quite a bit of work to do, but I would like to provide some updates on where things stand and whats on the way.
Blog of the Week
After a very long hiatus, this initiative will commence again in one week on January 9th and I will be doing everything in my power to continue from there every single week without any large gaps between postings.
NL Bloggers Choice Award
Sometime in the coming week I will be posting the new rules and regulations for how this awards initiative will continue this year and going forward. There is still much for me to do before setting out get some votes, but the details on how things will work have been developed and will be shared in the coming days.
Guest Bloggers Initiative
Sometime in the near future, I will be calling for submissions from fellow Bloggers who may be interested in being a guest writers on this blog. This is intended to be a way of further promoting the great talents which exist in our community here, with full credit and link backs provided within the post. Full details on how this will work continues to float around my brain and will be shared in the near future.
Other Items
In addition to the 3 main initiatives above, there a few other items I have in store. Sometime in the coming months, I'll be posting some blogging tips that I've learned over the years as a way of helping any new bloggers who are just starting out. I'll also be working on more ways to help cross promote each other, which is something we lost with the closing of BlogRolling.
As you can see, there is still a lot of work to do on this end but the light at the end of the tunnel is somewhat visible. I can't tell you exactly when all this will be finalized, but what I do know is that as we quickly approach the 5th anniversary of this space, things certainly are shaping up for the better. Please stay tuned as I unveil everything as it gets developed.
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Blog of the Week
After a very long hiatus, this initiative will commence again in one week on January 9th and I will be doing everything in my power to continue from there every single week without any large gaps between postings.
NL Bloggers Choice Award
Sometime in the coming week I will be posting the new rules and regulations for how this awards initiative will continue this year and going forward. There is still much for me to do before setting out get some votes, but the details on how things will work have been developed and will be shared in the coming days.
Guest Bloggers Initiative
Sometime in the near future, I will be calling for submissions from fellow Bloggers who may be interested in being a guest writers on this blog. This is intended to be a way of further promoting the great talents which exist in our community here, with full credit and link backs provided within the post. Full details on how this will work continues to float around my brain and will be shared in the near future.
Other Items
In addition to the 3 main initiatives above, there a few other items I have in store. Sometime in the coming months, I'll be posting some blogging tips that I've learned over the years as a way of helping any new bloggers who are just starting out. I'll also be working on more ways to help cross promote each other, which is something we lost with the closing of BlogRolling.
As you can see, there is still a lot of work to do on this end but the light at the end of the tunnel is somewhat visible. I can't tell you exactly when all this will be finalized, but what I do know is that as we quickly approach the 5th anniversary of this space, things certainly are shaping up for the better. Please stay tuned as I unveil everything as it gets developed.
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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:
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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.
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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! :)
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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! :)
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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.
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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.
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
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!
Newfoundland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, BlogRoll
Well Holy Crap
It looks like I may have found a solution that fits pretty much every need (so far as I can tell right now) that we have. I won't get into the details right now, but it looks like we may be able to keep this thing going as it was. You're still going to have to bare with me as I get all the links listed in this new location, but so far I'm pretty excited about things. Motivated.
In the meantime, as I do that, be sure to remove the current BlogRolling code that you have on your websites if you haven't already (but you can keep the image and link to this place if you want). The service is officially dead. I'll have some new code to provide the the coming days (weeks... umm, maybe months because of the busy season) so be sure to keep an eye out.
Stay tuned!
In the meantime, as I do that, be sure to remove the current BlogRolling code that you have on your websites if you haven't already (but you can keep the image and link to this place if you want). The service is officially dead. I'll have some new code to provide the the coming days (weeks... umm, maybe months because of the busy season) so be sure to keep an eye out.
Stay tuned!
Just so you know...
... the blog IS being reworked. I have some ideas that I'm working on in my spare time and am constantly searching for alternatives to BlogRolling. I have a couple to test, but nothing solid as of yet. I do have a remodeling idea for this whole thing though, so if all else fails, I'm going with that. Bare with me.
BlogRolling Security Warnings
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am well aware of the security warnings that people are getting when visiting your site... and so is BlogRolling. Before I get into the bad news, the good news is that there is no threat as you can see in the message below.
The bad news? Well, it appears BR will be shutting down soon, meaning our lovely blog collection (in this software) will die with it. I'm scrambling to look for some solutions or alternate systems, but I'm doubtful in finding something as good as what BR is (or was). If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
The bad news? Well, it appears BR will be shutting down soon, meaning our lovely blog collection (in this software) will die with it. I'm scrambling to look for some solutions or alternate systems, but I'm doubtful in finding something as good as what BR is (or was). If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
Stay tuned. In the meantime, here's that update from BlogRolling:
Update on BlogRolling
We’re aware that there is an issue with BlogRolling blogrolls causing some browsers to display a security warning.
There’s nothing really wrong with BlogRolling itself but the way we connect your blog to the sites in your blogroll makes some security algorithms think there is.
If you find yourself in this situation, we recommend you remove the Blogrolling code from your site.
We’re probably going to be shutting the service down soon. We’ll post more information here and on our Twitter account (@blogrolling) as we decide on next steps.
We’re hoping we can give you enough time to get any data you need out of your blogrolling account before we shut down, but if you really need that data, you might want to get it now just in case.
Why aren’t we just fixing it and letting you continue using the service?
BlogRolling has largely been on auto-pilot for the last six months or so. The people who built it for us don’t work for us anymore. Even though it doesn’t make us any money, we wanted to keep it running because we know folks like it. But we’re not really comfortable with the code causing security warnings and that means it’s probably time for the service to end.
Thanks for your support. Stay tuned for more details in the next few days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)