blogging: back to the basics

blogging: back to the basics

so evidently i have the ability to inspire.

or maybe persuade.

or perhaps doggedly nag until i get my way.

anyways, a few of my very bestest friends have started blogging and that makes me so so happy because i mean, who the heck are we trying to kid here? i love to read blogs. so we can attribute that to my inspiring ways. or my nagging. whatever floats yer boat.

anyways first and foremost go check out their blogs:

alina

rhiann

jared

secondly i though maybe it would be helpful if there was a place for them to learn things about blogger that i did not know until after many hours of trial and error, praying that i did not hit save, and just plain "oops that was a mistake but turned out great so i'm leaving it!"

{disclaimer: sorry jared. i don't know the first thing about wordpress so you're on your own...}

thirdly i have no idea who will read this and i don't want to assume i know what anyone's knowledge of blogger is or isnt out there. i am going to start by answering a few questions that i have been asked by my friends and go from there. so if i mention something that makes no sense please leave me a comment and ask! if i haven't covered something that you want to know please leave me a comment and ask!

and fourthly this is, again, all stuff i have learned on my own. if you have a better or more efficient way of doing it please grace us with this knowledge! the whole point behind me doing this is to teach what i have learned about blogger and hopefully learn a lot more in the process!

today is something superbly basic but it is something i didn't know how to do until i had to teach myself how to do it.

the ins & outs of linky parties

first of all let's discuss a linky party. it is not a place where bloggers get together and make one of those paper chain link thingys you made for your mom as a second grader and it still hangs on the christmas tree.

it is however, a place for bloggers to pool ideas and gain inspiration. the host blogger writes up a post about whatever the subject may be and then invites other bloggers to link their site to this post so we can all go ooh and ahh over what was written or done.

some good examples are:

this is a linky party hosted by layla at the lettered cottage called "how to's day" that is posted on the last "to's day" of every month. here, bloggers show off something they made and then tell us how they dunnit!

every wednesday lindsay at the pleated poppy hosts a linky party called "what i wore wednesday" where ladies (and men sometimes) show us all their creative outfits in an effort to get out of stay-at-home-mommy-clothes.

and then there are parties that don't happen ever week or month but they are sporadically thrown together.

like this one. four of my favorite design bloggers, kate, rhoda, sara and layla, got together for a massive "home may'd" party that included things like spray paing projects and recipes.

from what i understand, you have to pay to host these linky parties. i could be totally wrong about that. either way, considering that the hosts of these parties are a) hosting the thing in the first place and b) possibly paying for it on our behalf, it would behoove you to be aware of a few "rules".

one. link the permalink to your blog post about the linky subject. don't link it to your blog home page. (don't start hyperventilating, i'm going to send you to a great tutorial for that!!)

two. keep the blog post that you are linking up relevent to the subject at hand. if it is a recipe linky, don't link a post that goes on and on and on about how you spray painted your living room mirror. or vice versa.

three. somewhere in your blog post mention "i am linking up to so-n-so's such-n-such party today! come check out all the awesomeness!" and provide a link to the hosts blog by either using the button they provide or just insert a hyperlink. (also covered in the tutorial mentioned below!) the more people the merrier!

four. after you link up, visit a couple of the linkers before you and after you and leave comments. the point of these linkys is to bring bloggers together. if you reach out to others they will return the favor!

and to wrap up this wordy little tutorial, how about i give you a really great tutorial on how to link up to a blog party? my friend traci at beneath my heart has a great post on it and i really think you should hop, skip and jump on over and let her show you how it is done. she is such a sweet woman and really does a great job explaining it so why should i try to steal her thunder?

questions, comments, concerns?

as i embark on offering these little tidbits of knowledge, please please please offer any feedback and let me know what you don't know how to do and help me out if there are better ways to do anything! :) i'm all ears and open to any suggestions!

next time: how to add a button to your sidebar.

**linking up to**