Blogging Q & A (or Tech Geek Speak)

Janis SmythWhen Jane asked me to be a regular contributor for MidLifeBloggers.com as sort of the “tech go-to” person, I was thrilled and began a series of articles on basic blogging, one of which was published quickly because I finished it quickly. I have several others started and the next in the series almost complete, but not in time for my deadline. My bad.

However, Jane being the resourceful and intelligent woman she is, suggested in addition to any specific articles I had planned that I have a series of “answer and question” posts – you ask the questions, and I’ll provide the answers to the best of my abilities. And while I’ve been blogging for a relatively short period of time, I’ve been enamored of and involved with computers and all things technical for 30 years, and have been a fervent user of the internet, participating on forums, user groups and technical websites since the mid-90′s. My husband and I run a small software business and I’ve been developing websites for seven years, and have an extensive knowledge of HTML, XHTML, CSS, Photoshop and various open source software packages. I also have a wealth technical resources at my disposal.

If I can’t answer your question immediately, I can certainly find out the answer in a short time.

So, I want to start off with a poll: What are your biggest interests and/or concerns about blogging?

  • Templates/layouts
  • “Bells and Whistles” or plugins
  • Driving traffic to your site
  • Ads or making money
  • Adding graphics or multimedia to your blog
  • Upgrading from a “free network” blog to a self-hosted blog
  • Etiquette

Or make a suggestion or pose a question. Just leave a comment expressing what you’d be most interested in learning.

I look forward to hearing what you want to know!

Popularity: 7% [?]

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  • http://hillcountryliving.blogspot.com Becky Lane

    I have a somewhat urgent concern. Someone just listed me as a “Blog that’s fun to read” on her site. I am now supposed to list 4 or 5 of my favorites as links on my site, and pass the “award” on to them, but I don’t know how to do any of that. Also, I am a member of Story Circle Network, and would like to post their link button on my site, but don’t know what to do with the html stuff they provide. Sure hope I’m not the only tech moron out there!

  • http://adifferentnest.blogspot.com Carol

    Thanks for asking! I think my top issues are driving traffic to my site and understanding how to take advantage of stuff like Twitr.

    Your suggestions of the top three add-ons or ways to drive traffic,and how to set them up and use them (implementation – the tricky part!!), would be great.

    My burning question is this: How can I track comments I make on other blogs? I tried to sign up for Com.ments but couldn’t figure it out. So, I leave comments on a few blogs but don’t always check back for responses. From what I have read, commenting on other blogs is a great way to drive traffic but I know I’d be more likely to do it if I could keep track of responses.

    Thanks again for helping us all out!

  • http://onebagnation.wordpress.com Ann at One Bag Nation

    Hi,
    I think any and all of those topics are good.

    My current burning issue is that I’m hoping to start a new self-hosted blog and I’m really struggling with whether to use a free theme or buy one. I’d be more than happy to buy if I felt confident about being able to customize it, but I know next-to-nothing about how to do that.

    Really looking forward to your articles!

  • http://www.duchessomnium.com Duchess

    I think q&a is a great idea. I have lots! At the moment I want to know how to get the RSS feed thingy on my site (in the unlikely event anyone wants to subscribe…)

    As to your general poll, all those topics sound good. I’m interested in etiquette, because it is a bit of a minefield, I think, for new bloggers.

  • http://www.jbsitedesigns.com janissmyth

    Okay! I have answers for everyone, and it’s all fairly simple. I’ll be back this evening and we’ll get down to business.

  • http://www.lifeatthehome20.com Marue

    I’m getting back up to speed on HTML and will re-tackle CSS shortly. If I want to learn PHP from the ground up, where should I go? Is there a good web site or book you would recommend? I would eventually like to do my own blog templates but for now I need to work out some glitches in the template I am using. I can’t change templates every time I run across an issue. Thanks.

  • http://www.womenbloom.blogspot.com Allison

    Driving traffic, always a good topic. Also, I don’t understand really how trackbacks work, maybe this is related to the question above about comment tracking?

  • http://www.duchessomnium.com Duchess

    I want to know how people know what visitors type into Google to find them — if you see what I am trying to say.

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