DISQUS

I've just implemented your 404.php, Doug.

Try this: hamelife.com/child

Now, that's a better 404 page!

Again - Many Thanks.

Thanks for letting me tip your blog, Rory.

Are you kidding, Doug? I am so thankful to you for casting a helpful eye over the site. I need all the advice I can get, and I really appreciate the pointers you have given.

First off, I am blown away by your compliments. Thank you so much - they are enormously encouraging.

Now, I wonder if you could help me with your further tips:
Point #1 - The M of hamelife takes a visitor to a sitemap. I used the Sitemap designed for Cutline. Do I have this configured correctly? Or should I move directly to Point #2 and configure my robots.txt correctly?

My robots.txt actually reads:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-content/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-includes/
Disallow: /wp-
Disallow: /feed/
Disallow: /trackback/
Disallow: /cgi-bin/

and I have it located in hamelife.com/wpblog/robots.txt. Something doesn't seem right with this - I feel like it should be located elsewhere, but I'm not sure how to do it. I could use the help.

My set up is to have the blog in hamelife.com/wpblog, so I don't have it in the root directory. You can see how confused this is getting me!

Point #3 - Thank you for your suggestion, I'll have to think more about it. I'm leaning more towards a second blog. I know it means keeping two lots of content, but I'm learning to be a bit more laid back about this blogging thing - not be so stressed.

Point #4 - I'm looking at your Wordpress 404 article as we speak. It is excellent advice and I will implement it as soon as possible.

Thanks again, Doug. Your help is much appreciated.

Doug - whether or not you get around to reviewing Hamelife - thanks for this great offer.

I've linked to you in my recent post: Oh, My! The Bennet Girls Are On The Weekest Links.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

I love to use paper - though I agree with your point about tediousness. It is tedious transferring an article I've written in a notepad on to a word processor.

There is, however, a major pro I have recently discovered: You can write with one hand!

Bear with me on this one...

I have several reference books I use regularly which do not lie flat. It is much easier to hold them open with one hand while writing with the other. It helps to keep the flow going, and I find I can get almost a whole article written in one sitting. When I try to work at the computer, I need both hands to type - I have to keep opening and shutting the book with a marker in it, or keep it open with my elbow (actually, that doesn't work at all!). On a scale of tediousness, I would rather have the satisfaction of transferring a complete article into the Wordpress editor.

Yay for paper!

Now think about all the active bloggers. Not the 75 million number. I’m talking about the 15 million who post at least once every three months according to Phil Gerbyshak.

Once every three months is considered an active blog?! Does that mean 60 million are just sitting there doing nothing? That's a pretty staggering statistic.

I found #14 to be most heartening. Vernon Lun saying It usually takes 18 months to get a blog up and thriving. Don’t be discouraged by two new visitors a day. Two new clicks per day is 700 people per year. You could be developing relationships with each of them, and that’s a helluva a lot of potential.

Reading this kind of encouragement really helps to spur me on and keep at it.

Vernon seems to be doing a great thing at The Good Blogs, but I wouldn't mind reading more of his own stuff if this quote is an example of it.

I guess nobody has much time any more to just step back for a moment. It's all go go go.

Without getting too maudlin, David Burns' distorted thinking patterns are a great way of keeping <strike>your</strike> oops, sorry, MY thoughts in order.

Along with that, I think if family happiness is always at the top of the pecking order, you can't go too far wrong - to hell with the cries of, "Platitude!"

Oh, and let's not forget: Not being guilty about just having some plain ol' FUN!

Ah, this is a wonderful post, Jason. I could read myself in much of it, and that made it very helpful. I liked the encouragement on No One Reads My Blog.

And, that is good advice about writing blog posts in advance. I am finally beginning to use Wordpress as a text editor and write articles even when I don't immediately plan on publishing them. They are saved into the "Draft" list. It can be soul destroying to have the "blank page" day after day - so with several drafts on the go it eases the pressure, and they might only need a few tweaks to get them ready. If I'm really daring, I'll write an article, time-stamp it, and hit "Publish" even when it's in its incomplete form. I find in psychologically uplifting to know an article is going on on that day.

Thanks again.

Andy, when I follow your link to the Bumpzee DoFollow community, I get this message: "We're sorry, the product or page you have reached is not available."

I have set up a Bumpzee account, but I can't find the community that way either. When I checked on your profile, it claimed that the DoFollow community was "not active". Suggestions?

I have been carried along by the enthusiasm for DoFollow, so I have applied it to my site.

I also really appreciate the link to WP-AJAX Edit Comments. I think it is a wonderful idea to be able to allow the commenter to edit their comment. You feel like a right idiot when you hit publish, and then reread your comment and immediately see a glaring spelling mistake. The ability to edit a comment is a gift. Although I do tend to correct grammar and spelling mistakes on my readers' comments - in order to save their blushes - I'll give this plugin a go, so that it gives them still more of a fighting chance.

Thank you very much.

My sympathies with you, Jim.

A few years ago I had a domain name called "lessbrilliant.co.uk". I did some writing, music reviews, that kind of thing, but for one reason or another I didn't keep it up. A couple of months later I regretted not keeping the domain name so I went to re-apply for it, and it had been taken!! Who the heck would want lessbrilliant.co.uk? All the other lessbrilliants were still available, of course.

To add insult to injury it was one of those generic, hideous, and highly suspect search portals with a heavy leaning towards singles, sex and dating. Like "lessbrilliant" is a great name for that field!

I think some people have software that scours the internet for abandoned domain names, and then snaps them up to glean the traffic that is still searching for the old site. Also, it claims it has to charge enormous administrative fees to release said name. It is altogether a frustrating and nefarious business.

I really hope you get the better of them.

I'm a leettle beet confused: Loren starts off by saying that the "alleged" A-list is BS, 'there's a list of one - you'.

Then at the end he says "whether or not you hate the A-list, or not, you need to respect them..." Eh?

I'm left feeling the same way I do after watching a time-travel movie...what if they met themselves...if they've changed the future, then...how could they...

Hey, Robert, Ask The Ninja what his opinion is on the "alleged A-list". Then we can have some laughs. And not get left with the feeling that if I do subscribe to the notion of an A-list, I might be garroted in my sleep.

This is a very helpful post. It is so positive.

And, surely by responding in this way you are more likely to win the negative commenter over. Nobody's self-esteem is damaged. In fact, I'd say it is win-win.

I also wondered whether #2 and #3 could go together. Engaging them might include finding out what exactly "sucks". Perhaps they could be clearer. Then we can find at least a grain of truth in what they say, and agree with that.

Thank you, again, for the reminders.

I absolutely believe that, Robert. I just wonder whether other people have been misrepresenting you. Or attempting to. Or something...not that it matters...

Reading paul's comment: That's the second time I've witnessed you being insinuated in to a Hate-Darren-Rowse consortium as a silent partner, Mr Scoble.

Oh, wow! The Link Blog is a great idea, darn it! I might steal it, if you don't mind. (That is, set one up of my own, rather than hot link to yours...although that might be a better idea.)

Haven't yet found the cat. I'm fixating on it as I scroll back through 96 other posts.

Ben, thanks for taking the time to comment on this. It's a learning curve for me. Your honesty is extremely helpful.

I'm subscribing!

And I have thrown the story to the wolves...gulp!

I hear you, Ben. And thanks for the frank comments, they are very helpful. It is too easy to fall into the trap of wanting to write the killer headline, and that just goes against the "One Person At A Time" ideology. So it's pretty much doomed to failure.

Hey, if I cared so much about the James Kim story I would throw it into the fray, wouldn't I? It's just that I have been a bit reticent (maybe read "cowardly", or "overly cautious" if you are a forgiving sort)D'you know, I might just go over and do that now, just for the helluvit

Interlinking - now there's a great idea. I came over here from your 8 Steps...One At A Time.

Some good advice here, too. It's not easy making the headline both "in yer face" but also SEO friendly. But it is possible.

I just wish my recent headline had grabbed a bit more attention.

Fine reminders, Ben. Thanks.

The thing that stood out? One visitor at a time. It is all very well getting the big hit, but what you really want is the visitor that stays. One at a time - you are in it for the long haul, or not at all! Hey, do I smell a tagline?