Blogs - A place to share advice and information

[MmeLindt]

I thought it would be a good thing to have a place where we could share information on blogging. I know that there are a fair few bloggers on here, perhaps they can share their wisdom to help others who are just starting out.

I have a techy question to begin with.

Why can I post pics on IE but not on Firefox? When I click on add pictures, I can choose pictures but not upload them. When I do the same on IE it works fine.

[MmeLindt]

My blog

I would like some (kind and gentle) constructive criticism actually. What could I do to improve it?

[SomeGuy]

re-posted, by request:

tabouleh, when you register a domain you are supposed to fill in your details. So mumsnet says:

www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/mumsnet.com

Registrant:
Mumsnet Ltd
Unit 6
Deane House Studios
Greenwood Place
London, England NW5 1LB
GB

Which is fine, mumsnet is a registered company, and that's its registered address, also a matter of record wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/6e46125629d70b41813a9dd63f633091/compdetails

Slight catch is that whois changes are archived, so if you look at

whois.domaintools.com/mumsnet.com

which is a much better whois service
it says 'Whois History:260 records have been archived since 2003-11-26 . '

so you can subscribe to their whois history for $10/month and look those up. It might happen that in 2003 a personal address was used, but again that's probably not an issue as company directors' home addresses are on Companies House anyway, and it is obviously a business, rather than a blog of someone about their family as with the OP.

Anyway, private domain registration costs £5/year, www.123-reg.co.uk/domain-names/whois-privacy.shtml (other similar services are available), and would prevent casual snooping, although whois history would still reveal the original whois record, so while anyone doing a simple whois on the domain would see 'anonymous', you could still look up the original details, for $10.

[SomeGuy]

also if you want to be anonymous, you have to be very careful about using email addresses and usernames on multiple sites. OP this applies to you.....

[MmeLindt]

Thanks, Someguy. I know that I should use different names really. Will think of a different one for the blog. Twitter is slightly different but recognisable. Not sure if I could change it now.

[DuncanDisorderly]

From reading the other thread current at the moment, why is it important to remain anonymous on a blog? I'm fairly sure I'd be easily found from mine - I use all my childrens' real names, I think my full name is on there, certainly my home town is. But why is that or could that be a problem?

[SomeGuy]

Unless you've got two twitter accounts, the one I saw has the exact same username....

Also I think it's best to remove all info from your public facebook page, no need to share it with all and sundry really.

[MmeLindt]

No, it is MmeLindor and here I am MmeLindt



I don't have a lot of info on my FB page, do I?

And how did you find my FB page from my blog

[MmeLindt]

Or are you talking about the OP of the other thread?

[SomeGuy]

Surely it's obvious Duncan? The OP in the other thread thinks she's wonderful and is blogging her perfect life, but somebody has decided that they don't like her and has used the information to report her to SS. Which is what you could call an unwanted outcome....

It depends very much what you're saying, TheLadyEveningStar posts very personal info about her problems with her son on here and I believe, over the years, she has pretty much given away her name and address. Certainly if you had a few hours to go through her past posts you could work it out.

[SomeGuy]

no I'm talking about you, you've obviously forgotten you have two twitter accounts.

[MmeLindt]

Have I?

Oopsie (as my daughter would say).

[MmeLindt]

You are right. Bloody hell. Now I know why MmeLindt was taken, it was me.



Will cancel the other one. Never used it.

[DuncanDisorderly]

I must be an idiot, because as far as I can see, if I'm not doing anything wrong, I have nothing to worry about?
My blog is fairly boring to anyone who isn't interested in premature babies (and probably quite boring even if you are!) but I have nothing to hide.

[SomeGuy]

but the OP in the other thread didn't think she was doing anything wrong either.

[SomeGuy]

and indeed she wasn't, but her blog still (possibly) caused her considerable grief.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

I don't think it's about doing something 'wrong', it's more about your own privacy. Also, anyone else's privacy who is named and having their details put out there on the internet.

[DuncanDisorderly]

Hardly anyone looks at my blog except family and friends so I guess I will take my chances.

[DuncanDisorderly]

I suppose I am just a very open person and don't really 'get' why people are so gung-ho about remaining anonymous.
If someone knows my address and who I am, there is very little they can do with the information.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Technically, they could do rather alot with that information, if they were so inclined. There are an awful lot of odd people on the internet

[DuncanDisorderly]

But there are odd people everywhere - at the drs surgery, on the bus, in the supermarket etc etc. I'm far more likely to meet an odd-bod in my day-to-day goings around town than any of the 21 people who follow my blog.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Yes, but the odd people you meet day to day are unlikely to know your name and address in passing. Or the names of your children. Or any of the personal day to day details you might put on a blog. Can people who don't follow you see your blog? They can mine. In fact, with certain searches, my blog comes up on google's first results page. I think it's about comfort level. If it doesn't bother you that anyone can access the information you have on your blog, then it's not a problem.

[OrientCalf]

i don't have a blog, but I do use different usernames and an anonymous email address for social networking stuff, except FB where I am unsearchable

there is nothing about me which is particularly interesting, but I would like to be as in control of personal stuff as I can be if I'm going to use the internet in this way

[OrientCalf]

it's also about being aware of the privacy of those close to you, as chickens said. my dp is a teacher, and the last thing I want is for him to be compromised by something I've said online

[MmeLindt]

Oh, Duncan. Do I follow your blog?

When I started blogging, it was more to keep friends back home informed about our new life in Switzerland. It has evolved from there. When I opened it up, ie. made it not just invitation only, I removed names and personal details.

[DuncanDisorderly]

Yep you do follow it, MmeLindt. D'ya wanna stalk me? ;)