blogging

Go get a gravatar!

Have you ever wondered how some people have a cute little picture or a photo of themselves or their business logo next to their name when they leave a comment? It’s called an avatar. Other social networking sites call them by different names but the general name is an avatar.

You can have an avatar through google, which will show up on all blogger blogs. You can also have a wordpress.com account with an avatar but still, this is limited. I’m aware of OpenID but when one wants to keep some things separate I believe that gravatars, linked to your email accounts are the way to go.

What you really want is a gravatar!

Your Gravatar (a globally recognized avatar) is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog. So, when you use your email address on a gravatar-enabled site, your chosen avatar is automatically used. How cool is that?

Many people will tell you that it’s important to use the same logo or photo all the time. I agree that this important if it is a business but I don’t think applies to personal bloggers as much.

I do try to use the same avatar across the Internet but I also like to change it up occasionally. This means that I change it at Gravatar.com, facebook, Google and AussieHomeschool.

Go grab one now at Gravatar.com. Sure but how?

Go to Gravatar.com.
Click “Get your Gravatar today”.
Enter your email address.
Activate your account by clicking on the link in the email you receive.
Choose a username and password.
Add your image/photo.
Crop it and finish.
You can use multiple email addresses and images.

How to enable your (self hosted wordpress site) to use gravatars?

Simply login to your admin dashboard.
Go to Settings –> Discussion –> Avatars and select the desired fields.
Done!

If you have problems, which is unlikely, check out the FAQ.

** Alternatively, if you have a self hosted wordpress site and like the Hover Gravatars that wordpress.com use, you can download the Jetpack plugin, activate it, enable hovercards and away you go!

Hope this helps,

Almost 800 pages

This site contains (at the time of writing) 732 published posts and 62 published pages? That’s 794 in total. That’s over 6 years worth of writing, quoting and linking. So it stands to reason that there are many links which are broken, outdated or no longer existing. I am s-l-o-w-l-y going through the whole site and trying to correct or delete them. It’s a painful process which necessitates the consumption of ample amounts of coffee and chocolate.

In the meantime you may come across a broken link to my site and for that I apologise. However, you could use the advanced search, the site map, the articles page, the archives or subscribe to the rss feeds. Or maybe you were looking for the free downloads? You can also contact me via email, facebook or twitter – just click on the pretty little pictures at the top of the right hand sidebar.

Please be patient. I hope to have most of the links fixed soon.

5 Reasons Why Websites Make Changes

Facebook recently changed their whole layout. As is typical on Facebook, a large number of groups and pages were created by users to express their anger and frustration. Groups such as “I hate the new FB. Give us back the old layout!” and other such titles. The number of comments from people who logged on to the FB account, saw the changes and whined annoyed me. People asked (well, they posed it as a question but I doubt they really want to know the answer) “Why does FB have to change all the time?“.

Now I don’t know much about FB or why they do what they do. But I do know a little about website development, albeit on a much smaller scale than FB. Security, cutting down on bandwidth, advertisers, cosmetic appearance and usability are all some of the reasons that I know of for changing a site’s layout and setup. They may have other reasons yet again but these are the ones that I can think of…probably because they’re the reasons that I have when changing AussieHomeschool’s site layout and functions.

Security is paramount!

Surely no one would disagree with this. Well, just as hard as site owners work there are sick hackers who work harder, seeming to get pleasure from defacing (at the least) and hacking into sites. Website security and patches moves at such a ridiculous rate… it’s hard to keep up, but we must. And sometimes, not every time, but some times a complete layout is needed to fit in with the security updates.

Bandwidth: an issue for everyone.

Just because I might be have a great broadband connection doesn’t mean that I should strive to make my website and bandwidth friendly as possible. Did you realise that your Facebook is free? Yup, you didn’t pay for it. In fact, any surfing of FB that you do comes out of your monthly bandwidth limit. But did you realise that FB also has to pay for a bandwidth limit so it costs them bandwidth every time we (users) download or view a page! Same with AussieHomeschool- it doesn’t cost the user to view the site but we pay our monthly bandwidth fee as part of our account. The bigger the page the higher the bandwidth. So the more streamlined and smaller each page can be, the better for all of us! (however I’m sure that FB doesn’t struggle to meet its payments like most smaller websites).

Advertisers

Layout changes occur because of the bandwidth issue and streamlining of pages but also to accommodate the needs of advertisers. Well, someone has to pay, don’t they? FB is a free service but they largely depend upon advertisers. And as with most forms of media, a great deal of weight is given to advertisers. It’s just how the world turns! Same with our non profit sporting club – we give as much credit and weight as we can to our sponsors and donators, for they help keep the club alive. That’s fair, isn’t it?

New features and functions

Sometimes the layout changes occur because of the advancements in website design. New features and functions are constantly being developed and these changes are most often for the user’s benefit. If there were no change, there would be no Web2.0. We’d all still be reading text from static HTML pages! Imagine life with no status updates, no interactivity. Oh my!

Browsers

Other times changes occur in order to keep up with modern browsers. All web browsers read and render information differently. Most browsers adhere to web standards but not all. AussieHomeschool and this site were built according to web standards. At the time of initial publication of each template used the sites adhere to web standards but Internet Explorer 5,6 and 7 do not read websites the same as other modern, functioning browsers. Therefore, as the IE browser upgrades changes, adaptations are made to sites and components used so that it can attempt to accommodate IE. Not easy.

Some seem to complain for the sake of complaining. Seems to me that some people updated their status indicating their dislike for the new layout before even having a play with it. In fact, the whole layout is easier. It is more compact yet more comprehensive. Previously, every corner of the FB screen contained links: Top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right. Hmmm, quite a scroll to get to the bottom at times. However now all the information is found at the top of every page: top left and top right hand corner. In most cases it may only be one click extra but it’s all in the one place. This is clever site design.

Developing character

I was bemused to see the amount of younger people griping about the new layout and how much they hated it! Some were swearing in protest and saying they would leave FB. 🙄 Wow, if they can’t handle a little thing like layout changes then how will they handle the lemons that life may throw their way? We do well to model and teach our children to be flexible and adaptable in this modern, technological age. They have a distinct advantage over the previous generation when it comes to technology… let’s hope they make the most of it!

Lastly I had to spare a thought for the older generation. People like my dad! My dad will probably read this post… but he won’t comment. :-* I hope that one day he will, but for now he is on a huge learning curve, just by owning a computer, learning to turn it on, open a browser and find his way around google and my website. He is doing such a great job and I am so proud of him! It is no easy feat learning about modern technology when one hasn’t grown up surrounded by it. We can learn a lot from the older generation – namely the flexibility, adaptability, love of learning, zest for life and patience that our younger ones (myself included) need to develop.

Next time a website changes (and most sites change layout and appearance at least annually) spare a thought for the site owner. There’s usually a good reason for it. At the very least, go download yourself a proper browser… you’ll be amazed at the difference!

A new year…a new look!

I’ve been at it again…playing around with my site. I just can’t help it. I love web design and seeing what I can do next. I was really happy with the look of my previous theme but I wasn’t overly impressed with its performance so I went for a new theme. However you may be forgiven for thinking that the site doesn’t look all that different, because the basic structure and navigation has stayed the same- because I like it and it works!

The home page tells a little about the site but if you want to go to the blog page, simply click on ‘blog‘ which is the third link along in the navigational menu at the top. don’t forget to hover over the menu to view the drop down items.

As is typical with me the site is not finished…it’s a work in progress. I will continue to tweak it here and there as I have time. I could have waited until I had it ‘just right’ but I really wanted to get it done so I can start on a new look for AussieHomeschool. So it’s not perfect but it’s done. Let me know what you think of it, particularly with regard to page load speed, performance and navigation.

Don’t forget to check out my web development hobby, Kerugma Designs. You can ask for a free quote on any website project, no matter how big or small.

Reviewing My Online Productivity

I’m reviewing…everything I do online.

It’s something I do regularly, more than once a year but I do seem to take it more seriously at the end of the year.

Why do I blog? Why do I tweet and have a Facebook? Why do I have AussieHomeschool? Why do I have AH Twitter, FB and the blog? What fruit do they bear?

What is the aim of these things? Is this the best use of my time?

Truthfully, I don’t know the answers to the question- what fruit do they bear? I know why I do what I do but is it worth it? I know what my aim is…but am I too busy with fingers in too many pies?

It’s right and good that I reassess these things. I have 2 daughters. One is 18, a homeschool graduate and pursuing her interests to the glory of God. My 16yodd has finished school and is a first year apprentice chef. The girls alone keep me fairly busy but add two boys to the mix and I really need to use my time wisely. My 14yods is homeschooling high school (Yr 9/10) in 2010 and is an Air Force Cadet who spends most of his free time training. My 12yods will be homeschooling Yr 7/8 and we’ll be looking to expose him to a few different experiences next year…to ascertain his interests, delights and God given strengths.

I spent nearly 9 months of this year trying to get Fit n 40. It was truly a journey of spurts and spills…and I just started to get somewhere along the road of progress when…I resumed softball. Coaching is great – I love it! I also love playing again, albeit that my mind is more willing than my flesh. However, I either went back to playing too early or I shouldn’t have attempted it at all as I have re-injured my knee. Now, even pottering around the house is incredibly painful and draining. Yes, I do plan to have it looked at…as soon as I get a spare day to go to the doctor.

Next year I want to do more, to give more of myself to the boys and their lessons and to my husband and our marriage. Naturally I still want to be involved in the Australian homeschooling community but how? In what way will be the most productive…will bear fruit? What are my ‘big rocks’? What is the ‘sand‘? Of course I talk to my husband about it…although he trusts me…trusts that I will do what is right. He doesn’t dictate my activities to me, although sometimes I wonder if that would be nice? (Nah, I actually love that about him- he trusts me, he respects me, he thinks I am capable!)

This is where my heart and my head have been over the last few weeks. I’ve been praying about it all, and asking God to reveal to me the things I do in ‘the flesh’ along with the superfluous activities and the things that bear fruit and are productive.

What process do you use to discern which activities are fruitful and which need pruning?

Don't Make These Mistakes

As many of my regular readers will know I develop websites– big ones, small ones, ecommerce sites and blogs. Website development is a hobby that keeps me on my toes. The industry is always changing…there is something new to learn every day! Sometimes it is mind blogging, other times it’s just what I need. Mind you, there is a down side to studying web development. One of those downsides is that I have trouble just visiting websites and enjoying them nowadays. I want to look inside…I want to see its engine, know what is running the site, who designed it and what components the site is using. I just can’t look at a custom site and simply enjoy it anymore. Oh well, that’s not really a grumble or a downside, just a curiosity that springs from my delight. 🙂

Anyway I love blogging and studying pro bloggers is also an interest of mine. I have absolutely no aspiration to ever be a pro blogger. Goodness, I don’t even keep a stat counter! I simply do not obsess over comments, visitors or anything like pro bloggers do. Then again my motivation for blogging is quite different to theirs so obviously our sites will be quite different. (I actually started a blog as a place to collect my thoughts that I had been referring to frequently. Threads and posts on forums and email groups had me re-typing my thoughts so I started a blog to keep them all in one place). Despite my lack of blogging aspirations I still like to learn about effective blogging as a mode of communication. Blogging has been a great tool for my continuing learning about communication.

In my travels I’ve come across some beautiful blogs, some blogs with great content and some blogs that I can only read via my RSS feed reader due to the website/blog design. I have a few pet peeves when it comes to site design…and before I ask you to tell me your website pet peeves I thought I’d tell you mine.

Pet Peeves

Music players that are set to autoplay. Usually they are stuffed in a sidebar which makes it near impossible for me to find so I can turn it off. Sometimes I’m reading blogs very early in the morning or occasionally at night when the children are asleep. I may even like your choice in music…but I like to listen to music at a time when it is convenient for me. Bloggers could consider not having the player set to autoplay. As far as web development goes, this option is more courteous.

Spam is yucky. We all hate it but it is a fact of the blogosphere. There are a few plugins and features designed to combat spam but I really have to say that if you want me to leave a comment then please don’t make me jump through firing hoops to do so! make it easy for me to leave a comment. I just don’t like the captcha images where one is supposed to enter a string of numbers/letters. Sometimes I can’t even read the silly image…making commenting quite difficult. (However, this is largely my own personal preference. others may strongly disagree)

Cluttered sidebars…yes I know this is personal preference but for an adult who is highly distractable I find that the very popular trend of cluttering every little available space with images is just mental clutter. Too much for my lil brain. Images, widgets, buttons and ads- oh my! What is most important on your blog? Images, widgets or the content? (Darren is an Aussie ProBlogger who made a video blog on this topic. Take the 2 min to view his thoughts.)

Multiple blogs: let me explain this one. I used to have several blogs. A food/nutrition/fitness blog, a homeschool blog and my family journal blog. Aside from being difficult to keep track of it also made it it hard for my friends who wanted to keep up with my daily activities and thoughts. The beauty of blogging is categories! One blog- many categories. I’d much rather keep up with your one blog and its many categories than try to keep up with 3 or 4 different blogs by you. If I (cyber) know you and have a relationship with you then I want to hear all you have to say! make it easy for me, the reader! (exception to this can be business blogs- but even this should be assessed on an individual basis)

No contact functions. It’s important for readers to know how to contact you privately.

Things that make me subscribe or return to your site:

I love it when I can easily discern who you are, what you like to write about and, where you live. An ‘about me’ page or widget, with a photo. It adds the personal touch and immediately lets me know a little about you and the purpose of your blog.

I also love it when I can easily find content on your site. Give me multiple ways to find information! Search bars, archives, popular posts, recent posts, categories, tags and tag searches, etc are great ways for readers to find relevant content on your site.

When referencing a Scripture I love it when the author actually links to an online Bible! This allows me to dig deeper and run off on bunny trails.

Publishing your RSS feed. This was I can keep up to date with all your posts. (Publishing the feed for your comments is even better!)

Having a ‘contact page‘ or widget. Maybe I’d like to send you an email rather than leave a public comment…sometimes this is more appropriate. Let users know how to contact you.

I love it when bloggers write with paragraphs. Writing for web content is actually a little different to typical or proper writing. Web authors need to use more paragraphs, bullet points and typography than when writing for books or magazines. Breaking your content into more paragraphs makes it easier on the eye for people to read.

When a blogger is relating a story, thought or incident and they link to their previous posts in order to give the readers some background. If we are to develop an online relationship then it’s really helpful to not assume that I know your history or previous thoughts. Link them so I can find out. I love it when bloggers do this!

Okay, I’ve really put myself out there and possibly risked offending some of my readers…but please understand where I’m coming from – a perspective of website development. Of course, you may very well disagree with me and that’s fine too- tell me about it! I love to help homeschool mums with their blog design…I love to encourage the Aussie homeschool community, so let’s brainstorm and tell me what you do and don’t like about website/blog design.

A Few Freebies- Christian, homeschool, blogging

Just a quick post to let you know of some goodies that found their way to my Inbox this morning.

I don’t know how long it will last so grab it quickly…a free audio download of Max Lucado’s, “Your Are Special” read aloud by the author.
Need a fun, self-paced, multi-age geography curriculum designed for the busy homeschool family. Globalmania: Master World Geography in Just 7 Months
Oh, another freebie? How about an audio by Robin Sampson: Homeschool Danger goes for 27 minutes.
More? Free Choosing and Using Resources (31 pages PDF) includes classics by grade level .
Lots of free printables at Homeschool-Curriculum for Life
For the WordPress (self hosted) users out there…have you updated to 2.8? I have and I love it!
I know not everyone will get ‘it’ but I love WordPress and thought this was a huge laugh: ‘You might be a wordpress geek…‘ (use discretion- it’s an open blog so who knows who posts what in the comments)
Want another WordPress freebie? Download this pdf that features quite a few tutorials. (helpful for those who use wp)

Joe's logbook and goals

For those who like the idea of CalorieKing but don’t want to record their food intake…or maybe for those that have other daily goals that are not to do with food/health/nutrition, then Joe’s Goals might just be the tool for you!

Joe’s Goals
http://www.joesgoals.com/

Joe’s Goals is a simple yet powerful tool to make tracking your goals the easiest part of accomplishing them. Use the simple single page interface to setup daily goals and track them with just a click. Watch your daily score to gage your success and use negative goals (or vices) to confront and overcome bad habits that finally need to get the boot. Share your success with your friends and family or post your personal score badge to your blog or MySpace page. Add as many Goals as you want and update them all from a single interface. Goals of others are to: read, pray, take vitamins, blog, drink water, clean teeth, eat fruit, money, lessons with children, maths, English, exercise, piano practice and much more! Anything you need to keep track of.

Maybe you’d also like Joe’s LogBook
http://www.joeslogbook.com/

Joe’s Logbook is a simple tracking tool that lets you organize your life using the power of your words. Track your activities by adding daily notes explaining your experiences, victories, and failures. Use the simple, single-page interface to setup and track the specifics of any area of your life. Use it to record your thoughts, track your spending, watch your health, and track your dreams and inspirations. Add as many Logbooks as you want and update them all from a single interface.

This could come handy for many things, including homeschooling. Want to read aloud to the children more? Do some exercise WITH the children? have the children cook a meal once a week?…Ah the possibilities are endless. Just remember to protect your privacy…this is the world wide web!

Enjoy!

Growing Your Blog

Regular readers of my blog will know that I don’t do stats– don’t care about them, don’t record them in any way. It’s just not important to me. While visiting The Mother Lode today (who incidentally has a great post on “What curriculum should I use for my Kindegardener? ) she talked about AlphaInventions. Having absolutely no idea what it was I thought I’d pop over there and see. I’m still not sure what it is but it is designed to get page hits for your site. In the interest of seeing how this works and with the aim of letting others know about it in case it interests them, I thought I’d give it a whirl. Alphainventions.com is useful for wordpress.com, typepad.com, spaces.live.com, and blogger.com.

How To Attract More Traffic To Your Site

I’m going to cheat a little and post something that I originally wrote as a response to a question on a favourite message board. The discussion was about how to build a reader base for one’s website or blog. Now I’m not into this kind of things for myself – goodness, I don’t even have a (and have a reason for doing so) but as part of my website development business I have learned these things. So here we go!

“Dear ____

Now on to building your blog/site. Bear in mind that as part of my work I know these things but I do NOT do them. I build websites but I don’t do any of this stuff because I don’t need/want to. But, it works!

Sadly, the important thing is content distribution- not even quality of writing. Sad but true. You need to build a commenting base and a readership.How to do this?

Comments! It’s the best way. You have to visit other blogs and leave comments. This lets other readers see you and follow back to your blog but so will the blog owner. I notice you don’t allow comments- matey, this is blog suicide! You need to build readership- you need to build relationships.

Link to other sites. Yep, I know it sounds contrary to send people away from your site but it works. Also link back to your own writings. refer to your previous posts but don’t expect everyone to know the history so fill in the blanks when doing this. Also link to your previous posts- keeps people on your site plus builds a relationship with them. Blogging is all about developing relationships!Subscribe to this blog and read the good articles

I notice you don’t have a blogroll. Don’t underestimate the performance of a blogroll. It helps build readership and get you around the ‘net.

Submit your site to all the social networking sites. Build your reader base through RSS. This is SO important. People read blogs via RSS more so than visiting the site these days so, get your feedburner account up and running and get it looking swish. Make it VERY easy for people to subscribe to your blog.

Get your name out there more…actually I just searched for your name/sitename and your ‘previous’ blog came up first so you need to do some more work on your blog to push it up in the ranks. Get your keywords. Tag all posts. Get your mission statement or aim and put it in your blog. Work that blog girl! Hey, I know you’ve done that but it needs more!

You need a few pages – A visitor will only be on your blog for about 6 seconds if you’re lucky. You need to GRAB them. They need to see everything in one hit. Where is your About Me page? How do I contact you? Remember, make it easy for me, the reader. Why would I want to contact you? Are you available as a guest writer? A guest speaker? Sell yourself to me T__ ! Tell me why I need you! Tell me why I want to visit your site.

Freebies! Everyone loves something to download so get some freebies to give away. You’re a gifted writer and speaker. Make a few podcasts and offer them for free!

Learn to use typography to your advantage. It helps break up a post into bite sized pieces and makes skimming easier. And, like it or not, most people skim.

Get some useful plugins. Do others readers really care about the live feed? I know YOU do but do others need to see it? Nah, not really. But how about a Related Postsplugin? That kinda thing. Oh, related posts to your OWN posts, not others. See this post of mine I have two plugins (they both give good related posts). One is at the bottom of each post and the other is in the sidebar.

Personalise your site even more! Yes, it is possible without giving away all your personal details. eg: design your own logo or avatar so that it can follow you around the Internet. Sign up with Gravatar or OpenID so that everytime you comment on another blog it links back to your site and it includes YOUR avatar! It is important- builds familiarity-relationship. You can include your avatar or logo on your site in the sidebar or in the top of every post! Design a banner that you can give to other sites to display, that links back to your site.

Study how to build your site. Subscribe to blogs that primarily exist for this reason.I’ll list a few with good info, but bear in mind that they are not Christian.

http://www.adsensetipssite.com/adsenseblogging/tentipsblogging.html
http://www.problogger.net/
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/
http://www.successful-blog.com/
http://www.blogbloke.com/
to name a few…but this would get your started.

Another way is to follow the example of others- look at Cindy Rushton and Robin Sampson! Now, there’s two Christian homeschool mums (moms) who are using the Internet to their full advantage to build a business. Study the things they do and see how you can incorporate some of those ideas into your writing site.

T____, pop over to my site. Now I know the colours aren’t everyone’s ideas of nice but they’re *mine*. I would tone it down a lot if it were a business site, but not everyone does, aka. Cindy Rushton. From the outset you can see my RSS feeds (posts AND comments) in the top right hand corner PLUS on every single blog post I remind the reader that they can subscribe.

I have an easy to use , and page and the navigation is fairly easy, I think. Also, you can see that I’ve put my footer to good use. It has the necessary stuff but also a link to another page in my site!

Does all this take time?

Yup! It’s a part time business but if you want to succeed to any degree you need a strong online presence. You have a presence- you need to build it and that takes work.

Of course if you’re really serious, you could also go with your own domain name and hosting which allows for heaps more individual customisation. Let me know if you need some help with that.

That’s it for starters…gee I should start a web development business eh? LOL

What should I blog?

I know I blog primarily for me…but I also like to have a focus, a purpose. This blog started primarily as a way for me to keep all the emails and forums responses that I had written. I still receive questions via email and often my response will be edited and end up here on my blog. But I’d like to hear from you, the reader.

You can check out some posts in each category, to get a feel for what I’m talking about. Using the little tab on the right hand side, click on ‘categories’ and a few posts will come up.

What posts have you particularly enjoyed reading on my blog? What topics do you like to read on my blog? What sort of things do you think you’d like to see me write about?

Here’s a few things I tend to write about but feel free to add a suggestion either as a comment to this post or using the widget in the sidebar.

Aussie Homeschooling
Book Talk
Educational Philosophy
Homeschool Subjects
High School
Teens/Youth
Homeschool Efficiency
Lifestyle of Learning
Reviews

Home & Family
Health & Fitness
Journal of my days and general thoughts
Recipes

Bible study
My Spiritual Journey
Web stuff and Internet goodies (web design, web helps, etc)

Blogging Addictions? Blogging Balance? (by Robin Sampson)

Today’s post is not my own writing. It is from a dear lady, Robin Sampson. This article was a blog post and you can see it in real time over on her blog. While you’re there, you might like to subscribe to her blog and receive updates of all her new blog posts- it’s worth it!

This morning I read two blogs Susan recommended warning Christian ladies about blogging addictions. Those Sneaky Idols and Blogging: What’s Your Motivation? Both posts made several excellent points.

We can turn anything into sin if it’s out of balance or if we have the wrong motivation. Shoes, make-up, food, TV, sports, pets, etc. can become addictions or idols. Volunteer work at church can become sin when it’s out of balance (before family) or done with the motivation to win approval. Balance and motivation are the keys.

God Created us with a Desire for Relationships

Christianity is about relationships – relationships with God, and relationships with other people. Blogging or reading and commenting on a blog are ways to interact and develop relationships.

In Bible times women interacted daily at the well or gathering animals, etc. They also lived with extended families (grandma, aunts, cousins, etc.). Today’s American women are isolated and crave the company of other women. We don’t go to the community well each morning but we can go on the Internet.

Blogging and leaving comments are great ways we can encourage one another or bear one another’s burdens. There are going to be times when we just don’t have much strength and we need encouragement from others. God tells us,

Think of ways to encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:24)
…build each other up… (1 Thess 5:11)
Bear one another’s burdens. (Gal 6:2)

Encouragement is a special expression of love helping us to focus on God and resist sin! “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13.

I don’t feel guilty about blogging or commenting when it is in balance. My reasons for blogging are listed at Five Reasons I Blog. I need relationships. God made me that way. However, the first relationship I need is God. If my time is spent anywhere else before I spend time with the Lord, it is out of balance.

What About Blogging Awards?

Blogging awards are a way to tell others about a blog you recommend. No different than telling a friend you know someone she should meet–someone that is like-minded. I found so many special blogs, I created Spiritual Sunday Meme as a place to list encouraging links weekly. (HOW depends on word-of-mouth because we don’t have the funds to advertise.) Blogging awards shouldn’t be motivation but certainly can be an encouragement, just like comments. Again–balance and motivation are keys.

Our Most Important Relationship

We can only encourage others and bear one another’s burdens when our relationship with God is in order. When I fail to take in spiritual nutrition, daily Bread, I walk in my flesh; I am too weak to battle the fiery darts; I am too weak to take every thought captive.

But when I take the time to read God’s powerful Word I get strength and wisdom. It is only through this essential two-way communication—prayer and Bible study—that we build our relationship with God. And only then do we get the strength to walk in His ways, resist temptations, and gain the wisdom to make the right choices that will affect our entire lives (and our children’s and grandchildren’s lives).

Max Anders said,

“It matters to God how we use our time. It is something which He has given us. We don’t own it. We are responsible to manage it for Him. It doesn’t mean we must always work. Part of our time should be used in recreation and rest, the development and enjoyment of relationships. But we must be aware of how we use our time, and use it wisely” (30 Days to Understanding the Bible).

If you are on the Internet to the point that you put aside Bible study, recognize this as a signal, like recognizing hunger pain as a signal to eat, that it is TIME for Bible study and prayer. Time is limited. It is like a handbreadth. Use it well.

“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

What do you think? Are you a good steward of your time? Is Bible study a priority in your day? Pray about evaluating your schedule and ask God to lead!

Blogging Addiction? Ironic Post

After my last post, I thought I’d do a quick quiz. Guess what? It’s official! I am not as addicted to blogging as I once was. There, I read it on a website so it’s gotta be true eh?

Actually, the only reason I scored 68% is because I know what I’m doing with blogs, not because I blog regularly or frequently. So I use RSS instead of manually checking individual blogs? Doesn’t mean I’m addicted…but it does mean I’m trying to be efficient with my time. So, I represent, resemble, er resent that score of 68%. 😉

68%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

How about you? Are you a blog addict? Here are ten signs that may indicate that you have an addiction.

Bloglines, Google Reader or some other RSS reader is constantly open on your computer’s desktop.
You tell customers/friends that you missed a project deadline because “some things” came up but in reality, you were blogging.
You periodically dream that you are blogging.
You get inspiration for new blog posts at the strangest times – in the spa, on the softball diamond, while reading a book aloud to your children, while showering… you get the picture.
Before blogs, you used to tuck the kids into bed at night. Now you check for unapproved blog comments before heading to bed yourself.
In order for your family to keep up with what’s going on in your life, they have to read your blog. Furthermore, if they want to communicate with you, they have to comment on your blog.
You have actually considered setting up a blog for your pet of which you would post the entries pretending you are your pet (weirdo).
You can’t remember dates for your wedding anniversary, kids birthdays, etc., but you know what your Technorati rank is.
You blog about anything and everything including bad meals, your pets, getting your car stuck in snow, conversations you have in the bathroom, etc.
Keeping a blog is no longer enough but you now have to record your every move on Twitter.

Nah, I’m sure I’m the only one who has experienced those things…none of you gals (generally my reader base are women) would know what I’m talking about eh? 😉

Downfall of Homeschool Blogging

I love blogs! I like blogging! I also love online forums and communities. I believe they have different purposes. I’ve often said that some people need to stop ranting on forums and get themselves a blog! Forums are for sharing ideas, resources, etc whereas I see blogs (within the home-school community) for personal sharing, ranting and raving and expressing one’s own thoughts, being as biased or straight forward as one likes. Your blog is your personal soap-box. Forums are a bit different and much more netiquette is needed.

B U T …

I believe that the blogging explosion has stolen something from community forums.

Think about your early days of homeschooling. Did you belong to an online forum, email group or online community? Did you receive help and support? After having received help and support are you now one who gives support? Have you noticed that as the blogosphere has grown the online community forums have diminished? How do you feel about this? How do you think newbies feel about this? ( I don’t have the answers – feel free to comment)

I love having my online home, where I can decorate as I like, rant and rave…write or not write! But, I will never give up forums…I love the combined effort that online communities offer. I started blogging as I found I was writing the same answers over and over again – it seemed more time efficient to simply put it in one place, but I know that many people prefer a more personal response – they prefer forums. So, I will continue to be a part of online communities – it’s my way of trying to serve others.

Blogging can be addictive.(It has it’s own dangers= the lure of popularity, to come up with ‘new’ information or thoughts, etc) To be a self publisher and see one’s own words in print – wow! Once one starts to post regularly the comments start rolling in…one can gain in popularity, get ranked in the blogging social bookmarking sites. It all looks rather professional really. However, there are dangers that every Christian needs to be aware of. Guard your heart.

Online communities offer something that the blogosphere doesn’t or can’t by its very nature. An online community can offer support, encouragement, information, resources, laughter, fellowship in the one place – from more than one member! Which means one can go on holiday and feel at peace- instead of worrying about the readers wondering when the next blog post will be written.

We’re created to be part of a community…and the blogosphere provides an online community – to an extent. But community forums are where newbies go for help first…

So I ask, why do you blog? Are you blogging for you or with the heart motive of serving other’s. Should the answer to this question change your actions at all?

What's a blog and why are they popular?

Ever wondered what the big craze with blogging is? Or how a blog works? What system lies behind the success of the blogosphere? well, if you’re interested in starting a blog or curious as to the what,when, where, how and why of blogging you might like to watch this short, 3 minute video put out by the folk at Common Craft.

Short, easy to understand and to the point. You can watch the video or download the script to read. If you’re interested in blogs, it’s worth a look.

Cleaning Up My Internet Habits

Moreover, as they go about from house to house, they learn to be idlers, and not only idlers, but gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say and talking of things they should not mention.
1 Timothy 5:13

Many years ago, I read an article that convicted me of the sin of ‘needing to know‘. But you know what? Just because God taught me some things about that then, does not mean that I now have all my ducks in a row and that I don’t struggle in this area anymore. I do.

And something happened this week to show me how things get mucked up when I try to operate in my own strength and do things on my own.

I have a confession to make. I have been lurking around places, (read: forums, blogs, etc) simply to know what is going on. I have not been contributing to them, I just want to know. I have again been convicted that this isn’t any better than the woman that Paul describes as wandering about the neighbourhood, dropping in to say hello and finding out the latest goss. [ouch]

Its time for a cleanup- of my heart, mind and websites I am on. If I am not involved in some way with a person or site or blog (by praying for them or commenting them) or if I’m not serving them by responding to queries then maybe I ought not be there. I need to ask myself: Why am I here visiting this site? Is it to serve, to be edified, informed, to pray? If not, then I need not be there.

Lord, I am sorry. Teach me to keep myself busy with my tasks here at home instead of wandering ‘around’ getting into everyone else’s business. Forgive me for straying from your ways and set my feet upon the right path again Lord. Help me to guard my heart and mind, that in all things I give glory to You.

Cyber flowers for commenters and fellow bloggers!

Cyber flowers for commenters and fellow bloggers! Hmmm while looking over my blog for the last month I saw that there are a few people who read it. And there are a few comments. Wow, firstly I am delighted that you do. 🙂 I also realised that I like to receive comments. Ah! is this because I need the affirmation or is it because I love interaction with people? (Inquiring minds need to know!) I believe it is the latter. 😉

Amanda, you are like a breathe of fresh air. I can’t wait until you have your own blog so I can leave you comments. 😉

Leonie, I am constantly amazed, informed and encouraged by your posts on your blog. You seem to have such an amount of energy that I dream about. Thanks for being such an inspiration to me, and to many others.

Margaret, mum of the 2kidschoolhouse: Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I think you already know how much I enjoy your insight and humour.

Jacqui, thanks for your comments, your openness and your honesty. You must be a blessing to those you know in real life because you are a blessing over the Internet. Your humour also cracks me up. I wish I had a sense of humour like some of you ladies…while I don’t, I love being around you, if only in cyber-land. 🙂

Jocelyn, your blog and knowing you both in real life and over the Internet has enriched my life in more ways than one. You are such a calming influence, often seeming to sit back, take your time and then come out with profound wisdom.

Chrissy, lovely to meet another Heart of Wisdom user. I check your blog regularly now. I also love your theme and colours. 🙂

Lisa, you crack me up! But I also appreciate your insight as a fellow homeschooler with teens.
Shelso, your determination and perseverance are inspirational!

Well, that’s my roundup for this month! I am inspired by you ladies and while I don’t blog for you, (I blog because I like to) commenting on each other’s blogs is fun, enjoyable and enriching.

Bless you!

General Audience: All Ages Admitted

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

death (3x)
pain (1x)

Go here to rate your blog.

Not sure that this is something I should be shouting from my blog but I am partial to a good cappacino or even a milk coffee at home.

I am 81% Addicted to Coffee

Eek! Not sure I should be proud of this either!

1,887,480

Enough already! Time to get on with the day. 🙂

Another help for RSS and feeds

I have previously posted about using RSS for feeds where I tried to explain that instead of visiting sites daily to see if they’ve been updated (which is time consuming), you can subscribe to many sites via a feed reader (RSS) where the information you choose to be notified of, comes directly to you (a time saver).

Here is a short, 3.5min video which explains it very well. If you are confused about using RSS feeds but want to know more, this video is for you. The short video will teach you why feeds are good and how to set one up. This video will teach you, the homeschool mum, how to make the most of your time.

Let me know if you find this sort of information helpful. 🙂

Click To Play

Alternatively, you can visit the website and view it there.

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