Category: Blogging

Today is the last day of 7 Days about Blogging, created my Carol at She Lives. She had asked some very interesting questions that I wish to answer on my blog.

1. How do you find the blogs you regularly read? I started out with ‘traffic sites’. I found some through them that are still on my blogroll. But mostly through the comment section; either my own or blogs I visit (and their blogrolls). Or through participation in carnivals or memes.
2. When you leave a comment, do you frequently return to that post? Not if I know the blogger doesn’t respond to comments. I have a couple blogging friends who do respond to comments on their blog, those I check. I used to respond to comments on my blog, but now I use the email feature I have with WP. Especially if my visitor is a first timer on my blog.
3. What types of situations cause you to stop reading a blog that you once enjoyed reading? I will be perfectly honest with on that question. Christian bloggers: when they become sort of self-righteous. We all have different up-brining in our walk of faith. But you know what? We are still all sinners. Just because someone is a Christian doesn’t mean that only their view or ‘their’ Bible translation is the right one. I am sure that you have come across those bloggers. I hope that I will never, ever come across that way (then I might as well stop blogging on Sting my Heart). Non-Christian bloggers (yeah, I read those too): when every post is a rant post, make fun of certain groups (especially Christians), or excessive bad language.
4. How much personal privacy do try to maintain when posting on your own blog? Yah – I tried keeping my first name from my blog for the longest time, but than it just happened that people started using my first name in the comment section – so now I started signing my posts (once in awhile) with my real name. I do like to sign though with Eph2810, because it is my favorite Bible verse. I have never mentioned my hubby’s first name on my blogs, but I have mentioned our son’s name a couple of times. I do not reveal where I live though. I have edited it out of comments, if for some reason one of my visitors posted it my comment section. Sorry – just don’t want every one on the web to know where my earthly dwelling place is. Arizona is enough to reveal. I also keep personal information I receive from fellow bloggers to myself – especially if a person never mentions their first name on their own blog. I will always refer to their blogname.
5. Offline friends reading my blog? Yeah, I used to have a couple friends that use to read my blog that are not on-line. I have mentioned to some that I blog, but they are not interested in reading it. That is okay. My own family doesn’t even read my blogs, so how can I expect friends to read it?
6. What have my favorite blogs in common? – That is an easy question. HONESTY! I might not agree with some view points my favorite bloggers have, but I do know that they are honest with what they post – it comes straight from their heart.
7. Are there any blogs I read on a regular basis that contradict my own belief? Nope – I don’t like confrontation :smile:.
8. If I disagree with a view point, do I voice my opinion? Do their size of readership influence my oponion? Like I said, I don’t like confrontation. I don’t comment if I disagree, even with my favorite bloggers. And no, their readership does not influence my opinion when I disagree. The only thing I do do is that I weigh it against God’s Word and not the blogger’s size of readership.
9. What are my blogging habits? Monday through Friday? Saturday and Sunday? Well, I am pretty much 24/7. I do write some pre-scheduled posts. I visit blogs as often as I can. My favorite time is though Saturday mornings when the house is quiet and I can just read blogs and post comments.

Wow, Carol, that sure has become a lengthy post. Good that I opted to post on my own blog and not your comment section :lol:. Found out more about me through this post? But it sure helped my to evaluate my blogging habits and what I like. I think I need to adjust my bookmarks and blogrolls to reflect my post…Have a blessed weekend.

Living in His grace ~ Eph2810 aka Sting my Heart (or Iris if you prefer :grin:)

As you remember, my blogging friend Carol is posting ideas, thoughts and tips about blogging this week (and she invited us to do the same and put in our own two cents). If you are brand new to blogging and need some helpful tips, visit her blog and read her post from yesterday – HERE.

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I changed to WP because of some issues I had with blogger and I wanted to take my little ‘outlet’ serious. So, yes, I am paying for my blogging.

Today, I just want to talk about a couple of things I find helpful blogging:

• My RSS reader via Thunderbird – another fine product from your friendly developers at Mozilla. This is not just an email client, but it keeps me up-to-date with my favorite blog-reads.
• Colored tabbing for my Firefox brower. It is easier on these old eyes when I toggle between tabs and want to link to other bloggers (linkage is a good thing :wink:).
• A good photo editing software that is easy to use, like Ulead’s PhotoImpact or Paint Shop Pro.
• A reliable hosting company. If you put a lot of time into your blogging, you want to make sure that people can access your blog at all times and can comment :smile:.
• Software that helps me with my spelling (this post might have some mistakes, because it is 6am and I just wanted to write a few things).
• And last but not least a ‘support group’ of bloggers – aka your Blogroll.

I hope that my helpful tips are also helpful to you. To find more tips about blogging go over to Carol. Some great bloggers have already linked to her post today….

Have a blessed day ~ Eph2810