Lorelle on WordPress » Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest: WordCamp Dallas, Pasadena Education and Blogging, and More On the Road Blogging and Talking

Lorelle VanFossen — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:08:44 +0000

This week’s Weekly Digest is going to be a quick one, which I’m sure many will appreciate. I’m in Texas for WordCamp Dallas all weekend and so thrilled be surrounded by everyone talking about WordPress and blogging. I’m in heaven!

Live near Pasadena? I’ll be there April 2 for the Alliance for Distance Education in California talking to educators on blog technology and the social web. I think there are only a couple spots open.

I hope to see you in Chicago in May for the exciting Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference. The theme is “Biz School for Bloggers” and we’re going to be presenting the best of the best in the business of blogging. Liz Strauss just announced that the special price of USD $350 is ending April 1. And Chris Garrett, BlogCatalog, and Authority Blogger is offering a $2,000 consulting prize package as part of the SOBCon promotion. So many exciting things are coming together for this very special event, my favorite of the whole year. You’re going to regret missing this special event.

So help spread the word that I’m coming to Dallas, Pasadena, and Chicago and make plans yourself to attend. Hugs for everyone!

This is the Weekly Digest from Lorelle on WordPress. To subscribe to the Weekly Digest category of Lorelle on WordPress, you can subscribe by the Weekly Digest feed or by email with the Weekly Digest Email Subscription to stay up to date on what is happening in Lorelle’s world of WordPress and blogging.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Lorelle in Oklahoma with Family, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, WordPress 2.5, SOBCON, and More News if you want to catch up. If you do catch up, would you catch me up, too. I’m moving so fast I’ve forgotten where I’ve been!

Lorelle’s News

WordCamp Dallas This Weekend: I’m here in Dallas for WordCamp Dallas this weekend and today is the final day for registration which is required. It is going to be a jammed packed three days! Probably without sleep. The line up of speakers is tremendous and includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

See Lorelle in Action: If you can’t make it to WordCamp Dallas or any of the other upcoming events, you can see me in action at last year’s WordCamp in San Francisco talking about the blog conversation and content. This weekend’s event will be recorded on video and hopefully uploaded next week.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I’m really looking forward to the Alliance for Distance Education in California summit on April 2-5, 2008, in Pasadena. It will cover integration of web technologies into the classroom and distance education. The summit is open to the public and educational professionals, teachers, and leaders. I just checked with the officials and there are only a few slots open. If you wish to attend, even for a day, register now as I believe it might be sold out.

SOBCon 2008: SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I will be there, will you? The Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference is one of the hottest events for bloggers. The best of the best gather and I’m so honored to be one of the lucky ones. It’s in Chicago on May 2 – 4, 2008. There is limited space available so register fast.

Interview on Blogger Talks: An interview I did recently with Blogger Talks is out: The Lorelle Story: An Interview with Lorelle VanFossen. It covers some of my web history, predictions on the future of the web and blogging, and a plea for new web technologies to make the web an easier place to blog and network.

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Blogger and Podcaster Magazine will feature me as a regular columnist this year. Get your issue in stores now, online, or subscribe. There are some very hot articles on blogging and podcasting. They are improving their website and I’ll be recording podcast versions of my articles so you can hear as well as read me.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

What You Need To Know About WordCamp Dallas offers up the things I had to know about attending WordCamp Dallas this weekend, so I thought someone else would need to know them, too.
Guest Bloggers Wanted for Tony Hung’s Blog describes an offer by Tony Hung, popular blogger and former editor of the Blog Herald, and his need to find good guest bloggers while he is going into a major round of testing and sleep-deprived weeks as part of his doctor’s training. If you want a place to share your voice with the world and set an example of how good you blog, go find out what he’s got going on!
Authority Blogger Contest – Win Free Trip to SOBCON08 covers a very exciting new contest worth over $2,000 and a trip to Chicago for the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference in May.
Weekly Digest: Lorelle in Oklahoma with Family, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, WordPress 2.5, SOBCON, and More News was last week’s attempt to sum up my online life.
Bloggers Ask Bloggers To Help With Gmail is a request to bloggers to help us make Gmail, a popular email service for bloggers, be more efficient for bloggers.
Blogging Resources: Business and Professional Resources and References for Bloggers and Writers is the latest installment in my series on blog resources, the resources I use to help me blog better and faster.
WordPress 2.5 New Automatic Plugin Upgrade Problems addresses an issue of concern for many in the WordPress Community. Will this feature be ready for WordPress 2.5?
24 Reasons Why You Should Attend These Blog Conferences highlights the top speakers and reasons you should attend WordCamp Dallas, the Alliance for Distance Education in California, and Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference, and any and all blogging conferences.

Get The Book – Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

My book, Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging, is selling fast, as people prepare for a price increase coming in May. Get your copy now before the price goes up.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past especially for WordPress.com bloggers. I wrote a series of articles that addressed the issues of making your blog posts “fancy” with some fun content area HTML tips and tricks:

Blog Herald Columns

The past few weeks, I’ve been writing about blog conferences as well as other interesting news about WordPress 2.5. If there is a blog conference, or any web publishing and technology conference within a few hundred miles of you, go there. Attend. Talk. Meet. Greet. It will change your life and your blogging.

Come visit my work there and the other regular contributors covering fascinating blogging issues and news, and subscribe to the Blog Herald feed.

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

Drilling Down Your Blogging Niche? A lot of people have a great idea for a blog, but they have just skimmed the top. I talk about how to dig down further into the concept idea to find the real purpose for your blog.
Blogging is About Writing – and Not looks at that you really need to know and do as part of blogging – beyond the writing.
How to Talk to a Blogger is another article on blog conferences and meeting bloggers, offering tips on the kinds of questions we would rather be asked other than “What do you blog about?”
What Do You Bring to a Blog Conference? This article asks you what you need to bring to a blog conference to make the experience memorable, for you, but also for others so they will remember you long after the conference.
Bird Feeders and Blogs: How Are You Luring Birds to Your Blog? was an interesting metaphor article using bird feeders to get you to think about what “food” you are offering your “birds” (readers) to keep coming back to your blog bird feeder.
What Will You Not Blog About explores the line we put in our blogging sand box about what will will and will not blog about. What is the line you draw?

I write every week about WordPress in my weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports and recent issues covered:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and here are some of the articles I’ve covered dealing with comments and comment spam.

This is the Weekly Digest of Lorelle on WordPress.
Subscribe to Lorelle on WordPress Weekly Digest Weekly Digest Email Subscription
Subscribe to Lorelle on WordPress Via Feedburner Email Subscription
Copyright Protected and Reserved – If you are reading this post outside of your feed reader or Lorelle on WordPress, the usage of this content is a violation of copyright and the DMCA. Please report it immediately so action can be taken against them. If you are using this content illegally, and you know who you are, consider this a cease and desist order.
Lorelle VanFossen is a member of WordPress, WordPress.com, the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging.

Weekly Digest: Lorelle in Oklahoma with Family, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, WordPress 2.5, SOBCON, and More News

Lorelle VanFossen — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:04:42 +0000

For the first time in almost two years, the VanFossen clan came together in one place – well, at least our arm of the VanFossen family.

The convenience of coming to WordCamp Dallas enabled my husband and I to make a stop first in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to spend time with family first. In a few days, my husband is back to Oregon and I’m heading to Dallas for the almost sold out WordCamp event!

It is great to be back with family, especially to see how the kids have grown and to peak under the blankets at the new addition to the VanFossen/Quidatano branch of the family that popped out during our absense.

I’ve just checked in with the organizers of WordCamp Dallas and they say that the registration is filling fast. Better get registered now as it is going to be a powerful event. I can’t wait to see old faces and meet new ones. I think I’m more excited about hearing some of the other speakers than doing my own. It’s really going to be a great WordPress and blogging event. Hope to see you there.

So help spread the word that I’m coming to Dallas, Pasadena, and Chicago and make plans yourself to attend. Hugs for everyone!

The last issue of my weekly digest wasLorelle in San Francisco, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, Pasadena, Chicago, and Writing About Blogging In Between Talks if you want to catch up.

Lorelle’s News

WordCamp Dallas Next Weekend: WordCamp Dallas is March 29-30, 2008 and registration is filling fast. I’m a few hours drive away and eager to meet all the great people attending. The line up of speakers is tremendous and includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

Talking Blogging (and Win My Book) with Rachelle Chase: If you don’t have a copy of my book yet, Rachelle Chase, one of my co-speakers at the San Francisco event asked readers to share their thoughts on blogging to win a copy of my book and they had some great things to say. I’ll soon share some of my thoughts on their thoughts here, so stay tuned.

Guest Blogging With Liz Strauss: Don’t forget to catch my recent guest blog post for Liz Strauss, Reviewing Your Face to Face Networking Techniques, a Lorraine style post with tips on why you should attend conferences and get “in the face” of everyone you meet.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Bloggers Ask Bloggers To Help With Gmail is a request to bloggers to help us make Gmail, a popular email service for bloggers, be more efficient for bloggers.
Blogging Resources: Business and Professional Resources and References for Bloggers and Writers is the latest installment in my series on blog resources, the resources I use to help me blog better and faster.
WordPress 2.5 New Automatic Plugin Upgrade Problems addresses an issue of concern for many in the WordPress Community. Will this feature be ready for WordPress 2.5?
Shopping for a Blogging, Traveling Laptop covers some of my wishes and concerns as I start shopping for a new laptop to help be blog as I travel. Readers offered some fantastic recommendations.
24 Reasons Why You Should Attend These Blog Conferences highlights the top speakers and reasons you should attend WordCamp Dallas, the Alliance for Distance Education in California, and Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference, and any and all blogging conferences.
Weekly Digest: Lorelle in San Francisco, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, Pasadena, Chicago, and Witting About Blogging In Between Talks was the last Weekly Digest report on Lorelle’s World of activity.
Blog Resources: Researching the Research, Finding the Facts, and Seeking Supporting Evidence is another in my blog resources series. This article covers resources I use to uncover the facts, statistics, and information to support my opinion and advice.
Blog Resources for English Language and Blog Writing offers resources to help writers write and bloggers blog. After all, blogging is about writing, so those of us who take our blogging seriously enjoy learning more about the method of communication we use.
Weekly Digest: Lorelle in San Francisco Talking Blogging and WordPress, Offering Blog Resources, Beating a Plagiarist, and More is last week’s Weekly Digest.
Blogging Resources and Sources to Help You Blog is part one of a series of articles I’m writing to share the resources I use to help me blog.

Blog Struggles Series

I will soon be releasing more in my ongoing series on Blog Struggles. So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.
Blog Struggles: Surviving the When Blogging Goes Bad Blues look at how to keep on writing when life gets in the way.

Get The Book – Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

My book, Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging, is selling fast, as people prepare for a price increase coming in May. Get your copy now before the price goes up.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Nice Things Said About Lorelle

Siege Curmudgeon wrote a gratitude blog post featuring a thank you to me for writing about bloggers helping bloggers and how important that is for this blogger and all bloggers. We have to stop once in a while and remind each other that this is about “us” and we are all part of a family of communicators around the world, not just alone shouting on a street corner.

Baikong created “My Top 10 Best Women Bloggers with Influence” and included me among some fascinating female bloggers. What an honor!

Inspired by 45n5’s Top 100 Make Money Online Blogs, WPThemesGallery has created the Top 40 WordPress-oriented blog resources. Currently, I’m at number 5 according to their chart. This is also similar to Top 25 Blogs About Blogging by Daily Blogging Tips.

Blasts From the Past

Blog Herald Columns

I’ve written some blog challenges on the Blog Herald recently, trying to get bloggers to start thinking about how they are blogging and why. The response has been interesting as people are starting to evaluate the deeper meaning of their blogging, too.

Come visit my work there and the other regular contributors covering fascinating blogging issues and news, and subscribe to the Blog Herald feed.

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

What Do You Bring to a Blog Conference? When you attend a blog conference, what do you bring to the conference to make yourself “memorable” to the other attendees? I offer some examples and make recommendations on the best things to bring with you when you go to meet other bloggers.
Bird Feeders and Blogs: How Are You Luring Birds to Your Blog? Using the bird feed metaphor, I likened a blog to a bird feeder and asked you to come up with some of your own analogies on how to attract more birds to your blog.
WordPress 2.5 Plugins Beware: Automatic Plugin Upgrade Problems addresses an issue of concern to many Plugin authors and fans. Will the WordPress Automatic Plugin Upgrade feature be ready for WordPress 2.5 release?
Blogs Are Public Documents – Bloggers and Commenters Beware looks at the issue of the “public” part of publishing on a blog and how you have to be ready for others to publicly respond back.
What Are You Not Doing With Your Blog asks a good question. A lot of people think there are a lot of things they have to do with their blog but never stop to ask themselves what are they not doing with their blog that they should. Are you making the most of your blog and blogging experience?
Looking For New Places to Take Your Blog Out showed some examples of how some bloggers are getting more social and viral promoting their blog, and asks what you are doing to take your blog out to attract new readers from different venues.
What You Don’t Know About Blogging Can Hurt You offers some wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years of blogging on how not to blog – or better yet, what you don’t know about blogging can hurt your blogging experience as well as SEO.

I write every week about WordPress in my weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports and recent issues covered:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and here are some of the articles I’ve covered dealing with comments and comment spam.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

Decision or Choice: Is the Difference Stealing Your Focus and Your Time? by Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Blogger really asks the hard questions and this time she is in your face with the truth of how you need to decide or choose – or you lose.
Do You “No” Your Way to Greater Success? by Freelance Switch is a great lesson in how to say “no” the right way on the path to building your business.
Eight Lessons from Eight Months of Full-Time Freelancing is another gem from, Freelance Switch on freelancing. There is an interesting evolution in the process of becoming a freelancer that continues as you move more into independent and away from dependence.
How Many Lifehacker Posts Do You Want Per Day? [Reader Poll] is an interesting poll that pretty much lines up with much of my own research on how often you should publish blog posts without overwhelming your readers.
30 Tips to Rejuvenate Your Creativity is a good kick in the butt from Lifehack on stirring up your creative juices.

Weekly Digest: Lorelle in San Francisco, Heading to WordCamp Dallas, Pasadena, Chicago, and Writting About Blogging In Between Talks

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:08:13 +0000

It’s been a very busy week for me, traveling to San Francisco, meeting friends and clients, and having a great time. I went to an interesting seminar on US politics, which took an interesting turn recently. Also attended a book signing and talk by Bill Hayes, author of “The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray’s Anatomy”, a biography and author’s story of uncovering the real story behind the legendary anatomy book that sits on the shelves of most homes. I also explored the legendary Cliffs Variety Store in downtown San Francisco and had too much fun digging through all its hardware and bits and pieces wonders. I love these kinds of shops!

The conference on web publishing with the Romance Writers of America in San Francisco went really well and I met so many wonderful and enthusiastic people – I can’t wait to share some of their stories with you.

If you don’t have a copy of my book yet, Rachelle Chase, one of my co-speakers at the San Francisco event is giving away copies of my book to those who comment on her blog about their perspective on blogging.

I leave in a week to head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, family home of my husband, for a few days to play with family, especially all the nieces and nephews, and then down to Dallas and Frisco to play even more with WordCamp Dallas on March 29-30, 2008. I’m so excited about this conference, and thrilled to meet so many WordPress and blogging fans. Hope to see you there.

Live near Pasadena? I’ll be there April 2 for the Alliance for Distance Education in California talking to educators on blog technology and the social web. It’s almost sold out.

I also hope to see you in Chicago in May for the exciting Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference. The theme is “Biz School for Bloggers” and we’re going to be presenting the best of the best in the business of blogging. Liz Strauss just announced that the special price of USD $350 is ending April 1. You’re going to regret missing this special event.

The future post bug in WordPress.com I reported on last week has finally been fixed. Along with the fix came dozens and dozens of trackbacks as the server “re-released” thousands of blog posts across WordPress.com, triggering new trackbacks and pings from posts that might have already sent them out. Apologizes for duplicate effort. Some things I can control. Others, I just sit back and enjoy the right.

With future posts fixed, I should be back on a regular schedule for publishing again here. The posts have been written, just not released, and I didn’t add more to the queue in case they all released at once again.

So help spread the word that I’m coming to Dallas, Pasadena, and Chicago and make plans yourself to attend. Hugs for everyone!

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success if you want to catch up.

Lorelle’s News

Preparing for WordCamp Dallas: WordCamp Dallas is March 29-30, 2008 and registration is filling fast. The line up of speakers is tremendous and includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I fly from Dallas to Pasadena where I will be among the key speakers in the Alliance for Distance Education in California summit on April 2-5, 2008. I’m really looking forward to meeting other educational professionals committed to integration of web technologies into the classroom. The summit is open to the public and educational professionals, teachers, and leaders. I just checked with the officials and there are only a few slots open. If you wish to attend, even for a day, you have to register next week or it will be sold out.

Guest Blogging With Liz Strauss: With Liz away this past week in Austin for SxSW, I took over her blog for the day with Reviewing Your Face to Face Networking Techniques, a Lorraine style post with tips on why you should attend conferences and get “in the face” of everyone you meet.

Talking Romance with the Romance Writers of America in San Francisco: It was so much fun speaking at the Romance Writers of America San Francisco Chapter’s special event on Web Publishing for Authors on Saturday. I met so many wonderful writers and learned a lot about how the romance writing industry works. We talked a lot about how to maximize your blog with social networking and marketing techniques to help sell books and increase your marketability by leveraging the skills you exhibit on your blog. And don’t forget to visit Rachelle Chase whose holding a blog comment contest and winners get a signed copy of my book!

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Blogger and Podcaster Magazine will feature me as a regular columnist this year. The most recent article time and financial blog management. Get your issue in stores now or subscribe. There are some very hot articles on blogging and podcasting. They are improving their website and I’ll be recording podcast versions of my articles so you can hear as well as read me.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blog Resources: Researching the Research, Finding the Facts, and Seeking Supporting Evidence is another in my blog resources series. This article covers resources I use to uncover the facts, statistics, and information to support my opinion and advice.
Blog Resources for English Language and Blog Writing offers resources to help writers write and bloggers blog. After all, blogging is about writing, so those of us who take our blogging seriously enjoy learning more about the method of communication we use.
Weekly Digest: Lorelle in San Francisco Talking Blogging and WordPress, Offerring Blog Resources, Beating a Plagiarist, and More is last week’s Weekly Digest.
Blogging Resources and Sources to Help You Blog is part one of a series of articles I’m writing to share the resources I use to help me blog.
Weekly Digest: Catching Up, Speaking San Francisco, Future Post Mixup, Talking to Blogger Talks, and More was last week’s Weekly Digest and update news.
Where Do You Go For Your Blog Research and References? The introductory article that looks at how we use the web to find the resources, facts, statistics, and more we need to write our blog content.
Lorelle Talks to Blogger Talks is the announcement of an interview I did with Blogger Talks.

Blog Struggles Series

I will soon be releasing more in my ongoing series on Blog Struggles. So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.
Blog Struggles: Surviving the When Blogging Goes Bad Blues look at how to keep on writing when life gets in the way.

Get The Book – Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

My book, Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging, is selling fast, as people prepare for a price increase coming in May. Get your copy now before the price goes up.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

My blogging resources article series will continue next week. The response has been overwhelming to this series and I’m very excited about sharing the resources I use to help me blog. I’m looking forward to seeing your lists, too.

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Nice Things Said About Lorelle

5 Top Women Bloggers of Influence by Quick Online Tips recommends me among top notch female bloggers, including Gina Trapani, Jennifer Slegg, Liz Strauss, and Emily Chang.

I am so thrilled at the tremendous response my series on blogging resources has brought. I’m looking forward to others cleaning out their bookmarks and notes and sharing their favorite online blog resources that help them blog better.

Sharonb of Mindtracks wrote in Blog tips and advice that she likes my sights because not a week goes by “without something being published on her blog that is either useful or thoughtful.” I like that description, and it reminds me that I have to work harder to live up to all these expectations.

Increase Your Readership with Keyword Knowledge from Jenni’s Blog on Blogs brings up one of my favorite subjects, writing keyword-rich content on your blogs, and highlights an article on how people find your blog on the web by searching, and how you can help them find you, that I’m really proud of. It doesn’t get much notice, but it was an honor to write. Thanks, Jenni, for making me dust it off again.

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today and might be useful to you:

Blog Herald Columns

I waited with much of the world on Monday for the anticipated release of WordPress 2.5, but alas, the release has been delayed. It’s still ahead of their original schedule, but frustrating for those so eager to pick it apart.

Come visit my work there and the other regular contributors covering fascinating blogging issues and news, and subscribe to the Blog Herald feed.

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

What Are You Not Doing With Your Blog asks a good question. A lot of people think there are a lot of things they have to do with their blog but never stop to ask themselves what are they not doing with their blog that they should. Are you making the most of your blog and blogging experience?
Looking For New Places to Take Your Blog Out showed some examples of how some bloggers are getting more social and viral promoting their blog, and asks what you are doing to take your blog out to attract new readers from different venues.
What You Don’t Know About Blogging Can Hurt You offers some wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years of blogging on how not to blog – or better yet, what you don’t know about blogging can hurt your blogging experience as well as SEO.
Waiting for WordPress 2.5 is my foot tapping experience of waiting for the release of WordPress 2.5 which has been delayed to March 17, though it is likely it will be later than that as they haven’t released the beta version for mass testing yet.
WordPress Upgrade Preparation Checklist covers some basics and beyond you may need to do to prepare your WordPress blog for upgrading to WordPress 2.5 next week.
Are You a Writer Who Knits or a Knitter Who Writes? A lot of people are struggling with answering the question of whether or not you are one thing or the other while doing both things. It’s an interesting look at how we label ourselves.

I write every week about WordPress in my weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports and recent issues covered:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and here are some of the articles I’ve covered dealing with comments and comment spam.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

Good Fixed-Width/Monospaced/Programming Fonts by Abhijit Nadgouda offers tips for fonts to use with programming code. A neat twist on a favorite subject of mine: fonts.
The Wall Street Journal reports bigger computer monitors means more productivity, increasing task completion by 52% on 24-inch monitors over 18-inch. Interesting. Makes me think about getting a bigger screen laptop – ah, but the weight of lugging it around. No thank you. I’ll just squint for now.
Got a beef or bitch? Want to wine? Mashable offers 24+ Sites Where You Can Vent Your Anger. Beats beating your pillow.
Life Hack offers How to Write a Business Letter That Gets Results, an interesting spelled out method for writing powerful business letters – with tips bloggers should read to help them blog better.

Weekly Digest: Lorelle in San Francisco Talking Blogging and WordPress, Offerring Blog Resources, Beating a Plagiarist, and More

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:47:13 +0000

This week finds me in San Francisco starting a spring and summer of public appearances and conferences. I’m getting really geared up for WordCamp Dallas on March 29-30, 2008, and Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference in Chicago in May. I hear both of these are filling up fast, so get your registration in immediately.

I took time out to help Liz Strauss with a guest post while she’s on a business trip, and had some fun releasing my alter-evil twin, Lorraine, to talk about what you need to do to maximize your social networking when you get up close and personal at a blog conference.

This week also finds WordPress.com having trouble releasing future posts. The developers are working so hard on the WordPress 2.5 release on Monday, so they haven’t gotten to this new bug on WordPress.com. I expect it to be fixed soon. What does this mean for me? It means that future posts I’d written to be released while I’m working in San Francisco go unreleased unless I make an appearance and re-publish them.

Ain’t blogging fun.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success if you want to catch up.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blogging Resources and Sources to Help You Blog is part one of a series of articles I’m writing to share the resources I use to help me blog. Next week, I’ll be sharing web technology resources, writing resources, business for bloggers and writers, and more.
Weekly Digest: Catching Up, Speaking San Francisco, Future Post Mixup, Talking to Blogger Talks, and More was last week’s Weekly Digest and update news.
Where Do You Go For Your Blog Research and References? The introductory article that looks at how we use the web to find the resources, facts, statistics, and more we need to write our blog content.
Lorelle Talks to Blogger Talks is the announcement of an interview I did with Blogger Talks.
Blogging Romance with Lorelle in San Francisco is the announcement of upcoming programs and events where I will be speaking, starting with the Romance Writers of America in San Francisco.
Don’t Write Away Your Rights points to a wonderful article by Jonathan Bailey on the Blog Herald about signing away, or not, your writes when you blog for pay.
The Real Hidden Value of Old Post Traffic looks at a wonderful lesson that can be learned from watching your blog statistics once in a while. Your old posts are still working for you, as are the old posts of other bloggers that continue to bring in traffic a year or three later.

Blog Struggles Series

My ongoing series on Blog Struggles continues to go strong. Many loved the kitty porn picture I published last week featuring the now recovered Holiday yawning while sleeping on his back in my knitting yarn.

So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.
Blog Struggles: Surviving the When Blogging Goes Bad Blues look at how to keep on writing when life gets in the way.

Lorelle’s News

Guest Blogging With Liz Strauss: With Liz away this week in Austin for SxSW, I took over her blog for the day with Reviewing Your Face to Face Networking Techniques, a Lorraine style post with tips on why you should attend conferences and get “in the face” of everyone you meet.

WordCamp Dallas: I’m one of the fantastic team of speakers at WordCamp Dallas on March 29-30, 2008. Registration is required so sign up fast. The line up includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I will be among the key speakers in the Alliance for Distance Education in California in Pasadena on April 2-5, 2008. I’m really looking forward to meeting other educational professionals committed to integration of web technologies into the classroom. The summit is open to the public and educational professionals, teachers, and leaders, so get your reservation in soon.

Download Squad: The interview with Grant and Christina of the Download Squad’s Squadcast should be out soon. We had a great time talking about blogging, especially how to break down the stagnancy on the web by finding the passion in your blogging again. If you want the latest in hot computer technology information and news, check out their blog and podcast.

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Blogger and Podcaster Magazine will feature me as a regular columnist this year. The most recent article discusses finding your blog purpose and client base, and the next one covers time and financial blog management. Get your issue in stores now or subscribe. There are some very hot articles on blogging and podcasting. They are improving their website and I’ll be recording podcast versions of my articles so you can hear as well as read me.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

My book, Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging, is selling fast, as people prepare for a price increase coming in May. Get your copy now before the price goes up.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Nice Things Said About Lorelle

Donna of What’s Past is Prologue cited Blogging Resources and Sources to Help You Blog as a good resource for genealogy bloggers. Well, Donna, stay tuned. I’ve got more to help with your genealogy research coming.

Second Wind writes up a nice recommendation about Lorelle on WordPress saying:

She is very methodical and clear in her composition, and there are some pretty cool gadgets and design features in the blog itself (what about that graphical article signature? Is that cool or what?).

But the real juice is in the tons of articles ranging from technical to more philosophical and content-related issues.

Way to go, Lorelle, I can only imagine the amount of work you put into your blog, and that´s why I must recommend it to any WordPress enthusiast out there.

And this is why I keep doing what I do. Thank you for the kind words.

Specky Boy offers “63 Essential WordPress Hacks, Tutorials, Help Files and Cheats” and includes some of my articles on different sites, including the WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users. You all know that I’ve written a ton of the articles on the WordPress Codex, right? Sometimes, even I forget how many.

Andrew Pavelski writes about how to write timeless content and cites Lorelle on WordPress as an example. This is something I’m very proud of and he makes some really good points about what defines timeless content on your blog.

I’m seeing more and more posts like this from The Adventures of Mauser Girl and Pinoy Tech Blog that speak of the overwhelming ugly that smacks your blog from comment spammers and content scrapers – the ugly of splogs on the web. We’re hit by mean commenters and junk commenters on our blogs, then slapped by those who steal our content, leaving us frustrated. We feel like we are spending more time dealing with the ugly than with the positive aspects of blogging. I will be talking more about this and how to maintain perspective over the next few months. Thanks for the reminder!

Another of the reasons I keep doing what I do is when I can do this: Cue the Trumpets by Lamb and Frog. I quoted Amber in an article in the Blog Herald on Are You a Writer Who Knits or a Knitter Who Writes? and rocked her world. I’m still smiling at her response. Thank you, Amber, for giving me such wonderful inspiration. It’s people like you that help me do my job better.

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today and might be useful to you:

Blog Herald Columns

I’ve had a lot of fun with some of the articles I’ve written on the Blog Herald lately, including a checklist to help you prepare for the upcoming release of WordPress. A lot of the regular contributors are covering some other fascinating blogging issues and news, so go check them out and subscribe to the Blog Herald feed.

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

WordPress Upgrade Preparation Checklist covers some basics and beyond you may need to do to prepare your WordPress blog for upgrading to WordPress 2.5 next week.
Are You a Writer Who Knits or a Knitter Who Writes? A lot of people are struggling with answering the question of whether or not you are one thing or the other while doing both things. It’s an interesting look at how we label ourselves.
Breaking Trust: How Not To Link to a Plagiarist reports on an uncomfortable experience I had uncovering a wonderful article, and how I almost published a story about it – before I found out that I was referencing a plagiarist, not the original author. The article includes clues and tips on how to help you determine if you are reading an original or copy.
Banging the Pots and Pans on Your Blog offers tips and suggestions on publicizing your blog posts and blog, making some noise in the process.
What Are Your Blog Resources? This is an announcement about next week’s series on blog resources, specifically sharing the resources and sources I use to help me blog.
FireFox Bravely Battles On in the Browser Wars takes a look at how FireFox is doing in the browser wars and how some sites are finding FireFox surpassing the individual Internet Explorer versions for the first time.
Thou Shall Not Blog takes a look at the reasons many can’t blog by order of work, government or religion.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and here are some of the articles I’ve covered dealing with comments and comment spam.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects released by the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) is a great but technical guide to help you understand GPL and open source licensing.
Is SEO A One-Time Activity? by ifacethoughts asks a good question about how we are using and abusing SEO and what it is really all about. Worth an answer, don’t you think?
Usability Bliss and Utopian User Interface Dreams from from Cre8pc on Usability & Holistic SEO looks at the reality and illusion of usability on the web, citing what others recommend and have to say on the issue. Delightful.
How to Be a Good Neighbor In an Attention Economy is self explanatory. Part of participating in the social web is being a good neighbor. So how do you do that?

Weekly Digest: Book Contests, Blogging Big and Small, and More

Lorelle VanFossen — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:37:40 +0000

There have been a few contests that will be coming up soon featuring my book, “Blogging Tips – What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging”, as prizes, so stay tuned for announcements on these. I’m also going to be heading off for a three day vacation – a real non-working vacation – next week. Wish me no-working luck. Haven’t been on a no-working vacation in years. Many years.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success if you want to catch up.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blog Challenge: Blog About Being Small was the opposite challenge of last week on Blog About Being Big – aka Successful.
WordCamp Hamburg, Germany was written and photographed by my friend, Ian of Letters Home To You, about the first European WordCamp.
Can You Sell Your Blog? follows the article on How to Buy or Sell a Blog which explores tips on buying and selling blogs.
How to Buy or Sell a Blog is the first of a two part mini-series on buying and selling blogs, looking at what others are saying and whether or not you should consider buying or selling your blog. It’s going to be a hot topic this year.
Pushing Internet Explorer 7 was news about Microsoft pushing Internet Explorer 7 onto corporate installations and possibly home installations. Since the web browser is your most important tool in blogging, you need to keep informed on what is going on within the web browser market.
Weekly Digest: Interviews, Non-stop Writing, Setting Clocks, and Challenging You to Blog Better was last week’s weekly digest.
Blog Challenge: Blog About Being Big – aka Successful is based upon something a friend of mine says all the time in Israel, “I want to be big!” What she means is that she wants to be successful, which she is, but she wants more successful moments in her life. The response has been wonderful as people share “big” moments in their lives.

Blog Struggles Series

My ongoing series on Blog Struggles continues to go strong. People are really identifying with my stories of some of the struggles I’ve had over 14 years of blogging. So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.

Lorelle’s News

Edublogs Magazine: At the bottom of this week’s Weekly Digest, I’ve now added a section covering my participation on the Edublogs Magazine including articles I and others have written. It’s an exciting project and I’m eager to help bring together blogging professionals with leaders in education, especially online and distance learning experts to help teachers improve their teaching skills with web and computer technologies.

Download Squad: The interview with Download Squad should be out soon. We had a great time talking about blogging, especially how to break down the stagnancy on the web by finding the passion in your blogging again. If you want the latest in hot computer technology information and news, check out their blog and podcast.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I will be among the key speakers in the Alliance for Distance Education in California in Pasadena on April 2-5, 2008. Now that I’m part of the Edublogs Network, I’m really looking forward to meeting other educational professionals committed to integration of web technologies into the classroom. The summit is open to the public and educational professionals, teachers, and leaders, so get your reservation in soon.

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Blogger and Podcaster Magazine will feature me as a regular columnist this year. The next article coming out soon will be on the business of blogging, part of a series. Get your issue in stores now! I’ll also be recording podcast versions of my articles so you can hear as well as read me.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

News That Could Be News is holding a contest soon and a signed copy of my book, “Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging”, is one of the prizes!

The demand for my book continues to be high, so we’ve decided to extend the lower price a little longer, but stay tuned for a price increase. Get your book while the cheaper copies last.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today and might be useful to you:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

Using Abbreviations May Hurt Your Blog takes a look at an often overlooked and forgotten HTML tag acronym and the issue of whether or not your use of acronyms instead of full terms hurts or helps your blog get found by searchers.
Are You Just Another WordPress Blog? There are still a lot of WordPress blogs out on the web with the default tagline still in place. I offer tips on changing your blog’s tagline in WordPress.
The True Consequences of Blogging Anonymously takes an honest look at the consequences of blogging anonymously, whether to protect your employment or life.
Consistently Blogging Consistently shares a personal story of mine about a delightful but inconsistent foreign language teacher and offers a comparison to blogs which also feature inconsistent and rambling content.
I Hate What I Blog About shares the stunning comment someone told me at a conference recently, and looks at the issue of really hating what you blog about, and why that’s not a good thing and how to get back to the love.
Edublogs Campus: Bringing Blogs to Schools is my take on a new way to help schools connect teachers with students and parents. Edublogs Campus is based upon WordPressMU and allows schools to replace their website with blogging software that allows each class, student, teacher, or whoever to have their own blogs. Just think what your school experience would have been like if your school newspaper was a blog?
The Art of the Weekend Blogger takes a look at a long-time tradition of a professional writing becoming one by working on the weekend. Many bloggers and writers have full-time jobs during the week, so their only time to blog is the weekend. I offer some tips to help the weekend blogger blog better.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and I thought I’d highlight some of the more interesting posts I’ve published there.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Carbon nanotube carpet darkest thing ever made – I’m just fascinated with nanotube technology. Can’t get enough of what this stuff can do and mean for our future.
Harnessing the power of P2P looks at the benefits the “bad boy” of the web has for downloads.
Photos: Open-source housing for those in need – The Open Architecture Network is using social networking technology with architects on issues for building homes for the poor and displaced, another fascinating use of online collaboration.
Rite, Write, Right, Wright from Daily Writing Tips tackles a favorite spelling boo boo of mine that I find all over the place. I love it when I’m write.
Complex and Complicated is another from Daily Writing Tips that looks at the issues in using these two terms, something I’ve struggled over plenty.

Weekly Digest: Interviews, Non-stop Writing, Setting Clocks, and Challenging You to Blog Better

Lorelle VanFossen — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:40:10 +0000

It’s another week in the blogging neighborhood of Lorelle’s World with plenty of activity and action. A few minutes ago I competed a podcast interview with the Download Squad on the topics of blogging and blog writing. I’m working hard on my two upcoming big article series on blog writing and personal blogging. Working on books. And I’ll have a huge announcement for a big project I’m working on next week – so stay tuned for more fun with Lorelle.

Also, a word of warning. We’ll be raising the price of my book, Blogging Tips, soon as the price of shipping and handling is going up, and we’ve extended the introductory price as long as we can. Get your order in soon as the price and shipping will be increasing.

Remember, I write daily articles on the Blog Herald, including the popular WordPress Wednesday news reports. If you are looking for the latest on WordPress news, Plugins, Themes, security issues, new releases, WordPress.com, and all things WordPress, check these out. The most recent article was WordPress Wednesday News: Happy Birthday WordPress, Automattic Wins and Gets Lots of Money, Security Concerns Over Plugins and Core, WordCamp Hamburg and Hating the Name WordPress.com.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success if you want to catch up.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blog Challenge: Blog About Being Big – aka Successful is based upon something a friend of mine says all the time in Israel, “I want to be big!” What she means is that she wants to be successful, which she is, but she wants more successful moments in her life. The response has been wonderful as people share “big” moments in their lives.
Define Blogging takes a look at what many bloggers are asking about what it takes to define blogging. There are a lot of complicated and yet simple answers.
Setting Your WordPress Blog Clock helps you to set your WordPress blog clock to the right time setting for you.
Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success is the last issue of my weekly digest summary.

Blog Struggles Series

My ongoing series on Blog Struggles continues to go strong. People are really identifying with my stories of some of the struggles I’ve had over 14 years of blogging. So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.

Lorelle’s News

Download Squad: I just completed the interview with Download Squad and we had a great time talking about blogging, especially how to break down the stagnancy on the web by finding the passion in your blogging again. If you want the latest in hot computer technology information and news, check out their blog and podcast.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I will be among the key speakers in the Alliance for Distance Education in California in Pasadena on April 2-5, 2008. It’s an exciting opportunity to meet and greet educational professionals committed to integration of web technologies into the classroom. I’m also tired of hotels, so I’ll be soon asking for a place to stay in a home during that week if anyone has a smoke-free place for me.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

We will be ending the introductory “cheap” price on my book, “Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging” very soon. So get your order in now before the price goes up, along with the shipping rates.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

I Hate What I Blog About shares the stunning comment someone told me at a conference recently, and looks at the issue of really hating what you blog about, and why that’s not a good thing and how to get back to the love.
Edublogs Campus: Bringing Blogs to Schools is my take on a new way to help schools connect teachers with students and parents. Edublogs Campus is based upon WordPressMU and allows schools to replace their website with blogging software that allows each class, student, teacher, or whoever to have their own blogs. Just think what your school experience would have been like if your school newspaper was a blog?
The Art of the Weekend Blogger takes a look at a long-time tradition of a professional writing becoming one by working on the weekend. Many bloggers and writers have full-time jobs during the week, so their only time to blog is the weekend. I offer some tips to help the weekend blogger blog better.
Why Are You Really Blogging? And What Keeps You Blogging? I ask another of those deeply soulful questions about why are you blogging, and what is the real reason you continue to blog over time.
What Do You Bring to the Blog Table? A Remix or Your Own Special Recipe? This is a look at what goes into your blogging pot, a special mix of ingredients that makes your blog special. If you don’t know what the ingredients are, I’ve included a list.
Black Hat Commenting takes a look at bloggers using comments in ways that attract attention and traffic, but also get the ire of many other bloggers.
Does Your Blog Comments Strip HTML and Links? Many are tired of blog programs which strip out links and HTML tags from blog posts, taking away one of the great connectors of the web.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and I thought I’d highlight some of the more interesting posts I’ve published there.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Is your paperwork costing you time and money? from Freelance Switch is a good look at the hidden costs of doing business.
How to title stuff From Seth Godin in a great look at titling your blog posts – and other things.
Standards mode is the new quirks mode from 456 Berea Street looks at a stupid idea (in my humble opinion) to prepare the world for more Internet Explorer trouble.
Beyond DOCTYPE: Web Standards, Forward Compatibility, and IE8 from A List Apart looks at the DOCTYPE and where it is going.
From Switches to Targets: A Standardista’s Journey from A List Apart has Eric Meyers covering browser switching issues.
Whose Internet is it anyway? asks a good question – who owns the Internet and who gets the money that will be coming when the Internet stops being “free”.
Palm closing retail stores, paying out Treo owners is a news story that breaks my heart. Palm had such strength and power going for it, really breaking rules and setting new standards – but they got caught in the age of litigation and their back has been broken. What will become of the future of handheld computers? We haven’t had a decent model released in, what, four years?
IE7 coming at you (whether you like it or not) talks about how Microsoft is going to push Internet Explorer 7 on users and businesses, whether they want it or not.

Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success

Lorelle VanFossen — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:20:59 +0000

I’ve been working non-stop on my upcoming big article series on blog writing and personal blogging. I’ll be posting some requests for your assistance on these issues soon.

I’m also working on two books, as well as the ebook version of Blogging Tips, so stay tuned for more announcements on that.

My schedule is starting to get finalized for all the speaking programs I have lined up this year. If you would like to bring me to speak before your group or conference, please let me know as soon as possible as my calendar is getting full. I cover a wide range of topics dealing with blogging, from WordPress to building a blog to building a blog network of relationships, and everything in between.

As many of you may know, I write daily articles on the Blog Herald, including the popular WordPress Wednesday news reports. If you are looking for the latest on WordPress news, Plugins, Themes, security issues, new releases, WordPress.com, and all things WordPress, check these out. The most recent article was WordPress Wednesday News: WordPress 2.5 On Track, Uninstalling WordPress Plugins, Premium WordPress Themes Debated, Permalinks, and More WordPress News.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Blogging on Blogging, Speaking at SOBCon and WordCamp Dallas, and More on Blogging if you want to catch up.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blog Challenge: Write a Travel Post got an amazing amount of response from a variety of bloggers writing travel stories. Examples include snow covered dogs, a search for the perfect travel backpack, the family of a comic book fan blogger going on a trip to find a super hero, a gruesome travel story with a blogging point, and the first time seeing a waterfall adventure. Such an amazing diversity in stories.
Cancer Blogs and Bloggers was a post from my heart, having lost many family members to cancer, and proud to have many more still fighting and kicking. I love celebrating bloggers who really give so much.
Weekly Digest: Blogging on Blogging, Speaking at SOBCon and WordCamp Dallas, and More on Blogging is last week’s weekly digest.
What Did You Learn Last Year? Do You Look Back? It’s that time for reflection, though I do it more frequently than annually, and many are writing about what they’ve done over the past year and I highlight a few.
SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I’m going to be there. I hope you are. I talk about the upcoming conference and who is speaking, and look back at last years incredible event.

Blog Struggles Series

I’m astounded at how well received my ongoing series on Blog Struggles has become. I’m really surprised. I was so nervous doing this article series and worked on it with doubt for months. People are really identifying with my stories of some of the struggles I’ve had over 14 years of blogging. This series will continue indefinitely as I dig through my memories of the internal debates, conflicts, and challenges I have faced while learning about the web and what eventually became known as blogging. Let me know if you are enjoying it, and I’ll keep reminiscing.

So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.

Lorelle’s News

Download Squad: I’ll be doing an interview soon with Download Squad. If you want the latest in hot computer technology information and news, check out their blog and podcast.

SOBCon 2008: SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I will be there, will you? The Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference is one of the hottest events for bloggers. The best of the best gather and I’m so honored to be one of the lucky ones. It’s in Chicago on May May 2 – 4, 2008. There is limited space available so register fast.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

I was really surprised at the overwhelming response to Cancer Blogs and Bloggers and a new post in my Blog Struggles series called Recovering From a Traffic Spike. I really am proud when my articles touch the heart and spirit. Thank you for paying attention to them.

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

What Do You Bring to the Blog Table? A Remix or Your Own Special Recipe? This is a look at what goes into your blogging pot, a special mix of ingredients that makes your blog special. If you don’t know what the ingredients are, I’ve included a list.
Black Hat Commenting takes a look at bloggers using comments in ways that attract attention and traffic, but also get the ire of many other bloggers.
Does Your Blog Comments Strip HTML and Links? Many are tired of blog programs which strip out links and HTML tags from blog posts, taking away one of the great connectors of the web.
Putting Value Into Your Link Lists is another attempt of mine to help you give more when you create your link lists.
My Blog is a Resource For Me. Is It? This brought up a lot of controversy, but it’s clear that the really swift bloggers got the point. Your blog may be about you, but if you hit the publish button, it’s about the readers.
I Need to Comment More. Don’t You? I needed a kick in the butt reminder that I needed to comment more. Don’t you?

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Perishable Press » WordPress: Comprehensive URL Canonicalization via htaccess for WordPress-Powered Sites really impressed me. From the beginning of my use of WordPress, I’ve been struggling with the limitations of permalinks and Apache. Now, with the amazing improvements in canonicalization by Ryan Boren and others on the WordPress team, we have more control over our blog’s URLs.
Andy Skelton: Apology: Not Useless Code really clicked with me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to say “Um, you’re wrong” when people pontificate on their “expertise” of WordPress and blogging. Andy has done so beautifully in describing the WordPress Loop and how it isn’t useless coding.
Whom Are You Writing For? from Daily Writing Tips is a great look at exploring who your readers are. If you don’t have Daily Writing Tips in your feeder, you are missing an invaluable blogging resource.
Ever wish you had a Virtual Assistant? Freelance Switch points to a contest in which you can win a virtual assistant. Are you ready for a virtual assistant? I’m getting close and giving it serious thought, so maybe I’ll enter the contest. Come join me.

Weekly Digest: Blogging on Blogging, Speaking at SOBCon and WordCamp Dallas, and More on Blogging

Lorelle VanFossen — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:33:39 +0000

This week has been a busy one as I prepare for two intensive blogging article series coming up in the next couple of months. I doing a lot of research and I’ll give you a hint. One is about personal blogging and the other is about blog writing. Stay tuned for more hints.

I’m sent to speak at WordCamp Dallas and SOBCon 2008 this year and have more details below. I’m working on confirmation of many other speaking gigs and workshops. It’s going to be a busy year.

The last issue of my weekly digest was End of Year Rush, Lorraine is Bad, Awards, and Kicking Blogging But – As Usual is the last issue of my Weekly Digest.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

What Did You Learn Last Year? Do You Look Back? It’s that time for reflection, though I do it more frequently than annually, and many are writing about what they’ve done over the past year and I highlight a few.
Blog Challenge: Intelligent Online Toys and Play Things is an interesting twist to my blog challenges. I wanted bloggers to blog about their favorite online play things…um, well, you know what I mean.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I’m going to be there. I hope you are. I talk about the upcoming conference and who is speaking, and look back at last years incredible event.
Are You Ready and Willing for CSS3? I take a look at some of the news about the upcoming CSS3 and what it means for web designers.
Weekly Digest: End of Year Rush, Lorraine is Bad, Awards, and Kicking Blogging But – As Usual is the last issue of my Weekly Digest.
WordPress 2.4 Release Delayed announced that the next version will be released in March and be called WordPress 2.5, in order to give more time to the new features and improvements.
Unworthy Again: Nominated for Performancing Awards: Okay, so they’ve nominated me and I’m feeling guilty again. SIGH.
New Article Series – Blog Struggles: In this new ongoing series, I share with you some of the intimate thoughts, internal debates, conflicts, and challenges I have faced over the past 14+ years of blogging. So far, the series includes:
- Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
- Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
- Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
- Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
- Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
- Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
- Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
- In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
- Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
- Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
- Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.

Lorelle’s News

SOBCon 2008: SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I will be there, will you? The Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference is one of the hottest events for bloggers. The best of the best gather and I’m so honored to be one of the lucky ones. It’s in Chicago on May May 2 – 4, 2008. There is limited space available so register fast.

WordCamp Dallas: I’m one of the speakers at WordCamp Dallas on March 29-30, 2008. Registration is required so sign up fast. The line up includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: It looks like I will be continuing my work with Blogger and Podcaster Magazine into next year. The last three issues included articles on tips you need to know on blogging mistakes, editorial calendars for bloggers, and improving your writing skills. I’m working on a series on turning your blog into a business for the next couple months.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

It appears my book, “Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging” sold very well before the holidays, so I hope my book is making some new and old bloggers happy to finally get a real bloggy gift.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

My Blog is a Resource For Me. Is It? This was a short post that has gotten a lot of positive attention and negative responses, which surprised me. I thought it was one of those “this goes without saying” kind of posts. I mention a blogger who told me that his blog was a resource for him (what he really said was “My blog is for me and only for me.”) and I thought he’s right, but he’s also a bit wrong. When you hit the Publish button, your blog becomes about who reads it, too.
I Need to Comment More. Don’t You? I’ve been traveling and so busy lately, I’ve forgotten to comment on other blogs so I wrote a kick ass reminder to myself and others that we can’t forget the “communication” part of the definition of blog.
Internet Explorer 8 Getting Ready for You is a reminder that the web browser is our blogging friend, and IE8 is getting ready to hit the streets. I just hope we web designers are ready for it.
Should Journalists Be Required to Comment? Should Bloggers? A year ago I ran across an article about how CNet is requiring their journalists to comment on their other journalists blogs, and it got me thinking. A lot of people starting thinking about this and sharing their comments on the issue, too.
Don’t Blog About That Which You Understand Not is a simple thought, but some had problems with it. For me, there is nothing more important that blogging 1) what you know, 2) what you are passionate about, and 3) what you know best.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Making promises – Seth Goodin reminds us all, including me, that we better watch what we promise. Someone may expect us to keep our promises.
Seth Goodin – The truth about word of mouth – This is a great way to look at the power of word of mouth, especially online.
34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer – This is the reader’s answers to improving your writing from the Daily Writing Tips blog.
The Incredible Em & Elastic Layouts with CSS – From Jon Tangerine, more web designers have got to break free of the fixed width designs and try some flexible or “elastic” width designs. Use up the screen’s real estate.

Weekly Digest: End of Year Rush, Lorraine is Bad, Awards, and Kicking Blogging But – As Usual

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:10:52 +0000

I had last week’s Weekly Digest of “Lorelle World” ready to go, but life stepped in with a lot of snow and too many distractions. My apologies. So this week, you get three-for-one.

I decided to have a little fun these past few weeks with the types of articles I published here and on the Blog Herald. I hope you all enjoyed the fun. It’s always risky when you take your blog off track, even for a single post. Consider some of the fun a holiday gift for bloggers. Yes, I was a bad girl this year.

Don’t forget that I’m still looking for your input on blogging events for next year for the blog conference and event calendar I’m working on. If you are a part of a blogging or WordPress group that meets regularly, let me know!

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Back on the Farm, Improving Your Blog Series, WordPress Podcast Reporter, and More.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

WordPress 2.4 Release Delayed announced that the next version will be released in March and be called WordPress 2.5, in order to give more time to the new features and improvements.
Unworthy Again: Nominated for Performancing Awards: Okay, so they’ve nominated me and I’m feeling guilty again. SIGH.
Is It Time For You To Consolidate Your Blogs?: The author of I’d Rather Be Writing decides to combine his two blogs, a regular blog and a podcast blog, into one and offers some excellent tips, and I ask if it’s time you did the same.
Blog Challenge: World Records Bloggers Could Break: What world records could bloggers break if there were world records for bloggers to break?
Considering Writing Some WordPress Tips?: A couple times I year I remind people that the world of WordPress would not be so wonderful if it weren’t for all those who contribute WordPress tips to the WordPress Codex and on their blogs. A big hug to all who donate and volunteer their time and effort to help make WordPress great!
Adding Avatars and Gravatars to Your WordPress and WordPress.com Blog: With Automattic’s purchase and integration of Gravatars into WordPress.com, I offer a step-by-step guide for adding avatars and Gravatars to your WordPress and WordPress.com blogs.
We Give and Give and Give – But We Still Have to Pay the Rent: Liz Strauss was the brave one to ask this question, and I’m still watching closely to see how the blogosphere responds to “When we give so much of ourselves and work for free on our blogs, how do we ask for money to pay the rent?”
The Demographics of Who Clicks on Ads: I’m always fascinated by those who make money from ad clicks, and those who click on ads. It’s a strange phenomenon. Sometimes I think that most of the ad clickers are people who video tape television shows so they can skip the ads.
10 Really Rad Righteous Blogging Tips: Okay, I had a hacker – well, sorta. An “alter-evil twin” attacked my blog over the holidays and left a rather…shall we say…interesting…blog post for you to learn more about blogging. SIGH.
The Sharing and Caring of the WordPress Community Shines: My annual love fest for all things WordPress.
Are You Willing to Pay Taxes For Your Blog?: I was really surprised to see so much attention, welcome attention, to this issue. I wonder if anyone is really doing anything to stop it or just whining.
Are you a Blog Curator or Caregiver?: This is a fascinating question. It’s a statement on how much you “care” for your blog.
Preparing for the Annual “What I Want Gone from the Web” Post: I’m getting ready to publish this annual list and the results of the feedback was actually surprising. Many of you have some serious HATES on the web and want them gone.
Weekly Digest: Back on the Farm, Improving Your Blog Series, WordPress Podcast Reporter, and More: Okay, so I’ve been doing holiday stuff and not keeping up with this. Forgive me? Actually, we spent most of Christmas with no Internet, but a lot of sudden snow. That whole week it was hit and miss with the satellite Internet.
What’s Your Favorite Blog Conference or Event? – A request to help me create a calendar of blogging events and groups for next year. Please let me know what your favorite blogging events, groups, associations, and conferences are and why.
New Article Series – Blog Struggles: In this new ongoing series, I share with you some of the intimate thoughts, internal debates, conflicts, and challenges I have faced over the past 14+ years of blogging. So far, the series includes:
- Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
- Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
- Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
- Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
- Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
- Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
- Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
- In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
- Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
- Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
- Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.

Lorelle’s News

Peformancing Award Nominations: On the list of things I’m not worthy of are two award nominations from Peformancing: Most Influential Blogger Award and Best Writing and Blogging Award. I’m in the best of company among the nominees. Go vote for them.

Lorraine: Okay, my “alter-evil twin” had some fun and gave you all the gift of 10 Really Rad Righteous Blogging Tips for Christmas. I hope you all enjoyed it.

On the Blogroll Honor Drummed Roll: In 2007 Blogroll Awards by Jake’s Life, I was one of many wonderful recipients of his Blogroll Awards, a delightful satirical look at his favorite blogs of the year. Here is what he had to say about my blog. It just bears repeating – putting in cement actually!

WordPress Jedi: Lorelle On WordPress

If you are just starting with WordPress, or you’ve been using it since the beginning, you can learn from Master Lorelle. This blog provides so much information on the WordPress blogging platform it’s sickening. From the small tweaks to fix something only you are bothered by to the good ol’ overhaul you’ve been planning, and everything in between. Bookmark, subscribe, however you do it, but read it. Cheesy as it may sound, the Force is strong in this one, hrmm, yes.

Jake, I’m going to put my award on my About page with a link to the post. It’s an award I will treasure always.

Among the 10 Most Influential Blog Posts: Cape Code SEO published a list of the most influential blog posts for the year and my popular article on the Problogger, Blogging Is About Writing, made the list along with some other great company.

On the Top Posts List for Blogging Bytes: Blogging Bytes offered their top list of blog posts about blogging for 2007 and several of my articles were listed including Hundreds of Resources for Finding Content for Your Blog, Selling Your Blog: What Are Blog Buyers Looking For?, and Selling Your Blog: What Goes Into The Selling Price?.

Interviews: I was recently interviewed by the new Blogger Interviews in Interview with Lorelle VanFossen, Lorelle on WordPress. I talk a little about how I started on the Internet in the “early days” and where I see the web going.

WordPress Book Reviews: In WordPress Books (Plus Reviews), WPThemesPlugin did a summary/review of the various books available on WordPress. My book, Blogging Tips, started off the list, which is wonderful, but my book is not about WordPress. It’s about blogging with whatever blogging platform or program you use. Still, thanks, Moses, for the kind words and the endorsement.

Improving Your Blog Tips on the Blog Herald: The series I started this past week on the Blog Herald, Improving Your Blog Tips, is getting a lot of attention and getting people thinking about what they need to do to improve their blogs.

Lorelle on ProBlogger: I recently published Readers Versus Visitors: Whose Needs Are You Meeting, an article that looks at how to not let your interpretation of your blog stats, or assumptions about your blog readers and visitors, get in the way of serving and meeting the needs of your visitors and readers.

Among the Must-Read Blogs: Damien Riley published a “Must-Read Blogs This Season” which included me, but also a lot of other interesting blogs worth checking into.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The announcement of the delay of WordPress 2.4 brought a lot of eager WordPress fans here to find out what was going on. I predicted this release would be delayed a while ago, and while I’m sad to see it pushed back, I feel much better about the new features they are going to be adding in the new WordPress 2.5 coming in March.

Adding Avatars and Gravatars to Your WordPress and WordPress.com Blog helped many people who love adding their picture to their blogs and incorporating images that represent other bloggers within their blog comments. The issue of avatar image size is a touch one when choosing the right image that can take the shrinkage and still remain visible, so it was interesting to create different images and see how they would handle the size reductions.

I read dozens, sometimes many dozen, of articles about WordPress every week, and it was time for another set of tips for writing WordPress tips. It was also time to encourage people to contribute their tips to the WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users, so they will be there for everyone to use.

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was just tired of people spending too much time looking at the year in review and plans for next year. Me, I got a little cynical and abrasive during my end-of-the-year posts on the Blog Herald, basically telling bloggers to get their act together and start blogging with their heads and hearts and not their lazy back ends. I hope someone appreciated it.

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

Should Journalists Be Required to Comment? Should Bloggers? is a post I started writing a year ago, but just couldn’t finish. So I decided to open up the question to my readers.
Don’t Blog About That Which You Understand Not is a rant to all of the bloggers who blog without the expertise to back up their blog content. Come on, folks, tell us what you know, not ramble about what you don’t know. We’ve had enough of that.
Help Translate WordPress For Your Readers and Everyone is an invitation to anyone speaking more than one language plus English fluently to help translate WordPress and how you can translate your WordPress blog for your multilingual readers.
Bring Something New to the Blog Table, Please is a request to all bloggers to stop blogging about WordPress, blogging, and SEO subjects. We’ve had enough. Bring something new to your blog table.
I Blog shares an odd experience I had while at the dentist office, telling the hygienist that I blogged brought no discussion, but describing my husband’s much more boring work as a aircraft engineer brought an hour’s worth of discussion. Is blogging boring? How do you explain blogging to those who don’t understand, or don’t want to understand?
Prolific Versus Long Winded Versus Gregarious Bloggers is one of the shortest blog posts I’ve ever written. It asks you to consider which one you are.
Want. Want. Want. Blogging is About Giving. I wanted to really hit the holiday season hard with a reminder that blogging is about giving.
The Art of Backlinking looks at how to get links to your blog the right way.
Are You Stopping Comments Before They Ever Get Started? I will be talking more this year about the blog conversation and this is just one of the first in the series.
What Do You Want Gone From the Web in 2008? I asked this on my blog and on the Blog Herald to get a wide spread answer to what people really hate on the web. I’m getting some interesting answers. Make sure you respond so your hated item on the web will get a voice in my annual report.
Blog Writing: Are You Writing With Grit? I’m going to be writing more about the art of blog writing and this was a visual step in that direction asking you if your writing is like a grit of sand that grinds a pattern in to the rocks on the beach, sticking in our heads for long periods of time and making us think.
Name Calling Bloggers is a exploration with tips on what to call the characters in your blog story – using acronyms, fake names, or other descriptive methods to name the people you write about while protecting their privacy and helping your readers understand more about who you are writing about.
Blogger Sucks. Wanna Move to WordPress? I’ve been reading about many wanting out of Blogger and deciding to move to WordPress. It’s very easy to move and I offer a step-by-step guide to help you manage your move.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

50 Blogging and Online Money Making Tips of 2007: I’m constantly asked to write more about making money with your blog. Why should I when there are such great bloggers doing it so much better like JohnTP?
24 ways: Typesetting Tables: While tables should not be used to design your blog, don’t forget that tables have a use in your blog content for displaying content. This looks at some typsetting issues for HTML tables.
Economist Ready To Try ‘Social Networking’ Again: Okay, so I’m still laughing about this announcement. I like “trying” and “retrying” social networking. At least they are trying.
Words for Telling the Future: I’m always working to learn more about the words I use to write what I say, and this was a great insight into the words we use to define the future.
To Blog or Not: Which Businesses Are Ideal, Which Are Not: A good look at which businesses should blog.
456 Berea Street highlights of 2007: One of my favorite sites for web design tips and information, this is their annual article highlight list.

Weekly Digest: Back on the Farm, Improving Your Blog Series, WordPress Podcast Reporter, and More

Lorelle VanFossen — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:59:38 +0000

While the world is rushing around doing holiday activities, I’m in panic mode to finish up some major projects and working very long hours – in between feeding animals and doing farm work.

Had a lovely adventure with one of the mini-donkeys, Rocko, who got lose and I found him wandering around in front of my window. Took some doing to get the normally cuddly and loving puppy-dog creature back into the fields, especially since he turned donkey stubborn in the process, but it’s amazing what food bribes can do. [This is Rocko and Leslie, his owner, getting his butt scratched, his favorite pastime.] Then it was slogging around looking for the escape route, which we haven’t found yet. The mud from the rains and floods make for boot sucking walking. Getting back to work was more like a vacation after slogging around in the yuk.

This week, I continue my Blog Herald series on “Improving Your Blog”, a poorly titled (in retrospect) series explaining all the redundant things I tell my web consultancy clients who should know better, but don’t. A few in the WordPress Community take on the issue of the WordPress Theme Viewer being closed to Theme authors, and get a response. And I ask for your help to compile a calendar of blogging events for next year. There’s been a lot going on!

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Floods, Harp Guitars, WordPress 2.4 News, and Improving Your Blog Tips.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

What’s Your Favorite Blog Conference or Event? – A request to help me create a calendar of blogging events and groups for next year. Please let me know what your favorite blogging events, groups, associations, and conferences are and why.
Copyright and Translation: Help Your Community Yourself – This article reminds everyone that if you want to translate an article and publish it on your blog – ASK FIRST. You might get a yes, but more importantly, to do so without permission is a violation of copyright and can land you in more hot water than you might need. If you really want to help your community, then rewrite the tip in your language in your words so it serves your community and isn’t a direct translation.
Access Requested to the WordPress Theme Viewer – Nathan Rice reminded me that the WordPress Theme Viewer is still closed to backend access, making it impossible for Theme authors to update their Themes. His cry brought a response and it looks like it will soon be open and active.
Protecting Cultural Heritage With Blogs – Looks at how some blogs and organizations are working with blogging to protect and preserve cultural heritage and bring the past alive.
Weekly Digest: Floods, Harp Guitars, WordPress 2.4 News, and Improving Your Blog Tips is the last weekly digest with news on the next version of WordPress and more.
Blog Challenge: Write a Political Post challenges readers to get a little political with their blogs and experiment with the art of political writing and commentary.
Staying on Track with WordPress 2.4 News is a quick introduction to Westi’s weekly reports on what’s happening with WordPress 2.4, and where to find more tips and news on the next version.
New Article Series – Blog Struggles: In this new ongoing series, I share with you some of the intimate thoughts, internal debates, conflicts, and challenges I have faced over the past 14+ years of blogging. So far, the series includes:
- Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
- Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
- Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
- Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
- Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
- Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
- Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
- In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
- Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
- Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.

Lorelle’s News

WordPress Podcast: A new episode of the WordPress Podcast is out. Episode 32: Automattic Rumors, Lorelle Provides WordPress.com News includes an interview with Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today and the Blog Herald discussing copyright issues and content theft, rumors of Automattic’s financial ventures, the WordPress.com Premium Theme Marketplace, and ME! I’m now the official reporter for news on WordPress.com for the WordPress Podcast.

Among the Must-Read Blogs: Damien Riley published a “Must-Read Blogs This Season” which included me, but also a lot of other interesting blogs worth checking into.

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

It appears my book, “Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging” is a hot item for giving to your favorite blogger during the holiday season. Sales have kicked up and I’m barely able to keep up. I’m still sending out autographed copies at the introductory price – while supplies last (sigh) – so get your order in soon before I run out before the holidays. You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past week were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

Blogger Sucks. Wanna Move to WordPress? I’ve been reading about many wanting out of Blogger and deciding to move to WordPress. It’s very easy to move and I offer a step-by-step guide to help you manage your move.
The series on Improving Your Blog continues on the Blog Herald and covers the basic tips I redundantly give my web consultant clients that should know better, but don’t. So far, the ongoing series includes:
- Improving Your Blog: Clarity covers the number one think lacking in many blogs and websites: a clear purpose, identity, and content which supports the design as well as the intent.
- Improving Your Blog: Clean It Up overs what it really means to clean up your blog’s design and content.
- Improving Your Blog: Consistency looks at how to build trust and integrity with consistency in your blog.
- Improving Your Blog: Creativity covers how to break the same old song blahs to make your blog really interesting and attention-getting.
- Improving Your Blog: The Google Game looks at the games we play with our blogs and if they really work, as well as what we should be doing instead. Remember, Google ain’t the only game in town.
- Improving Your Blog: Why Blog? Before you start blogging, or expanding your blog, really look at why you blog, if you have the time and the energy, as well as the commitment to keep blogging for the long term.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Management by Semantics – The Business Pundit does it again, getting you thinking about how the words work and which words really help you tell the story you want to tell.
Social Networks are NOT a Cure For Stupidity is a great perspective on how idiocy follows the masses.
Sometimes Not So Important Matters from ifacethoughts is a great look at what really matters in life and work.
Writing For a Cellphone Audience from Writer’s Write makes me think about this new audience. Shouldn’t you be thinking about how they read your blog, too?