Blogs are basically simple websites, that have a easy to use backend system that allows for posting of writing, pictures, video and other media. These individual messages are called 'posts' and can vary from a single picture to thousands of words (probably not on this blog). These posts are displayed in chronological order, the most recent being at the top of the blog. Each post has its own unique url web address, but they can all be located within the homepage (the link above).
There are a ton of blogging platforms out there, and we have gone with one hosted by Google, called blogger/blogspot. The simplest way to follow this, or any, blog is to bookmark the web address (listed above) and check it periodically. We can't/won't be posting daily, due to availability of the internet, and timer, but we are planning on posting at least a couple of times a week.
We are using this blog as our primary method of communication from the road for a couple of reasons. 1) Email is clunky and we don't want to be filling up your inbox with updates. 2) Blogs are on-demand for the reader, so you can read when and what you want. 3) The ability to embed multiple forms of media is great. We hope you enjoy these posts and want to hear from you in comments below and throughout the posts.
- Contributors: this blog has 2 contributors, muriel and me. You can always tell who wrote a post by looking at the bottom of any single post and seeing who is the author. This will be right next to a timestamp that documents when the post went live on the site.
- Hyperlinks: we will try and add links for additional details and background info that we might not have on hand. These will appear in the post as standard links and we highly encourage you to click through, even if it is just taking you to a wikipedia page.
- Comments: we really, really hope this is not an entirely one side conversation. Every post has the ability to be commented on, you just click on the 'comments' hyperlink in the post and type away. We will get back to any and all comments as soon as we see them, so if you want to learn more about a specific place or experience just let us know and we can do a follow up post, shoot you an email, etc.
- Sharing: there are a number of ways you can share single posts, and all are available at the bottom of each entry. You can share via facebook, twitter, google+ and email, and for each just click the icon and follow each platform's format.
- RSS feed: this is a tiny bit more advanced, and is the way i consume my daily/weekly blog reading. An rss reader (like google reader) aggregates all of the blog feeds you follow in one, easy location. Since some blogs post dozens of times a day, this can be a pretty big list. For those already plugged into a RSS reader, you can enter in the blog url above add us to your reading list. I did this an hour ago for my own reader, so i know it works.
- Lastly, who anyone interested in the technology we are using to stay connected on the road, we are bringing out an ipad2 with a bluetooth keyboard. Then, we are posting via the app Blogsy.
That is all I can think of, did i miss anything? Any other good tips out there?
Also, if you are like me and didn't really understand an RSS reader -- I think that it is pretty simple for gmail users-- simply go to "google reader" and add our blog. For other email, I am not quite sure. Perhaps, initially simply click the icon below to "Subscribe by email."
ReplyDeleteahh the magic of the internet. we're looking forward to following along and living vicariously!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the beta Mu! Now I got you tracked in my gmail! Will be looking forward to these posts every day I sit down at my desk at work this year!
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