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stellamaris
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| Posted: Feb 25 2011 at 6:39pm | IP Logged
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Ladies, you know I have been posting some Catholic Bible study posts over on my blog. My question is: Should I change my settings so that search engines can "see" my blog? Right now, it is pretty private...I just post the links here and on one other forum. I'd like other people "out there" to be able to find it if it would be of interest to them, but I'm not sure what would happen if I change to settings. Will I have random, rude people bugging me with anti-Catholic comments? Anyone with more experience on this have any input? I'd really appreciate your thoughts.
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Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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kristinannie
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I am going to make my blog public when I actually get around to making one. I guess if it becomes a problem, you could go private again.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 25 2011 at 8:01pm | IP Logged
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Caroline,
My blog has been public and available for search by search engines for 4 years now. In that time, I have gotten less than 5 spam type comments, none of which were offensive. Actually, the last two have been about buying faucets.  I just delete them.
In observing my stats, I can see that a number of people find the articles they are looking for through search engines and arrive at that article/my blog via that search engine.
If you are very concerned about comments, simply disable them. Another option would be to moderate them, which would be my recommendation.
If you feel uncomfortable at any time, just change the settings back to a privacy setting you're more comfortable with.
Hope this helps!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Willa
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| Posted: Feb 25 2011 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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I am pretty much going to say what Jen said! I always have my blogs available for web search. I've never had anyone say anything anti-Catholic -- and usually the blogs that get spam are ones that I have basically abandoned. I just delete it. Blogger has pretty good spam filters, too.
I know that when I'm searching for something I sometimes stumble upon someone's blog and am very glad that it was public for search -- sometimes the blogs become favorites of mine. Hope this helps!
ETA: I've searched for "Catholic Bible Study" several times and I suspect I'm not the only one, so you will probably get some visitors that way.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Feb 26 2011 at 6:47am | IP Logged
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Thank you, Willa and Jennifer, for the feedback. I'm wondering if I need to worry about the copyrights on the pictures I've used? Obviously, the blog is not for any commercial purposes, but I haven't been able to figure out the whole copyright on images thing. So, I've just used images that come up when I google. Sometimes they say "might be subject to copyright". What DOES that mean? Are they or aren't they? Can I use them if I don't collect any money? I do try to attribute when I can, but a lot of the images do not have that kind of information available. Is this even something to worry about? 
I really would like people considering the Catholic faith to be able to find my blog, so I am going to see how it goes if I go public. I am moderating comments, as you suggested, Jennifer. I expect I'll get more anti-Catholic comments than you, as criticizing Martin Luther and saying the Protestant Bible is missing books is more controversial than faucets ! Who wouldn't just your fantastic blog?
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Caroline
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 26 2011 at 8:36am | IP Logged
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stellamaris wrote:
| Who wouldn't just your fantastic blog? |
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Well....you might be surprised!!!
stellamaris wrote:
| I expect I'll get more anti-Catholic comments than you, as criticizing Martin Luther and saying the Protestant Bible is missing books is more controversial than faucets ! |
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The content of your blog will elicit a different type of comment - so that's definitely true and something you'll have to keep in mind!
Just to clarify though - I didn't write a post about faucets....that's the spam I sometimes get....it's a random comment about buying faucets.   on posts having nothing to do with faucets.
SPAM --> is a random, nonsensical comment...seems out of left field....has nothing whatsoever to do with the post it comments on. EASILY DELETED. I watch comments closely because once, a long time ago, one of the spam comments I received on my blog was a link to an inappropriate site. I don't even look at links anymore. I just delete spam. Immediately. ETA: Willa is right on this...blogger has a really good spam filter! When I saw that someone posted a comment about *faucets* recently, I went to delete it but couldn't find it on my post. ?? I realized that blogger had already caught it and it was in my spam-inbox...it was never posted to my blog.
NEGATIVE COMMENTS --> are a different thing altogether, and I'm wondering if that's more what you're asking about?? You will eventually have someone comment that disagrees with you or your content. I could give you an abundance of my own personal insight on "the negative comment"...which in itself doesn't bother me, but you'd be amazed at why some people comment negatively and what motivates them might not be what you're expecting. It won't always be straightforward and predictable. So...I guess I'll just stay general and say....
The content of your blog means that you'll probably have people commenting and disagreeing with you personally as well as your content.
Each blog author must decide where their personal healthy boundaries lie with regard to comments and intra-blog communication, and each blog author will be different considering the unique demands in our vocations. This is one of the things I love about blogging - I do so on MY TERMS!!! Just carefully consider how much time you want to/are willing to give in communicating beyond your original post (in the combox) and establish your boundary in light of your vocation. And have peace right there. 
I'm stepping out a little...not quite sure if you were wondering more about the possible negative/different viewpoint comments...or the nonsensical-easy-to-delete spam. But I'm thinking you're wondering more about the negative-I-have-an-issue-with-your-post comments.
COPYRIGHTS --
I know what you're talking about on the images that come up with "this image might be subject to copyright". I'm just not sure on many of them, so some time ago I just chose to intentionally search out copyright-free images. There are MANY sites out there with stock photos that are copyright free. I google *copyright free image* or *copyright free photo* or *copyright free graphics*. Most older images are in the public domain, and therefore not subject to copyright.
Hope this helps some, Caroline!
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CrunchyMom
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My blog is semi-private, but I chose that because of my family's comfort level in having photos of my children out there. If I were to have a blog that I saw as a ministry rather than a personal outlet, I would probably start another, make it public, and then link to those entries from my semi-private blog (no web crawlers) for those that might already follow there.
If it were a matter of not wanting "general" negative traffic on your more "personal" posts, the same tactic would work. Then you would only have to negotiate spam and negative comments specifically on the type of posts you acknowledge might be controversial.
Does that make sense? I guess I just feel like *my* blog is personal, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't choose to negotiate potential conflict by writing more publicly some day, I would, however, likely choose to separate the two outlets.
Just thought I'd throw that out as an option.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Feb 26 2011 at 10:18am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
NEGATIVE COMMENTS --> are a different thing altogether, and I'm wondering if that's more what you're asking about?? You will eventually have someone comment that disagrees with you or your content. I could give you an abundance of my own personal insight on "the negative comment"...which in itself doesn't bother me, but you'd be amazed at why some people comment negatively and what motivates them might not be what you're expecting. It won't always be straightforward and predictable. So...I guess I'll just stay general and say....
The content of your blog means that you'll probably have people commenting and disagreeing with you personally as well as your content.
Each blog author must decide where their personal healthy boundaries lie with regard to comments and intra-blog communication, and each blog author will be different considering the unique demands in our vocations. This is one of the things I love about blogging - I do so on MY TERMS!!! Just carefully consider how much time you want to/are willing to give in communicating beyond your original post (in the combox) and establish your boundary in light of your vocation. And have peace right there.
I'm stepping out a little...not quite sure if you were wondering more about the possible negative/different viewpoint comments...or the nonsensical-easy-to-delete spam. But I'm thinking you're wondering more about the negative-I-have-an-issue-with-your-post comments. |
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Yes, this is exactly what I'm concerned about. I appreciate the good advice to set my boundaries on the time outside of actual posting the material to interact...I think that is what could really get me spending more time online than would be good for me or my family. I took down most of the more personal content (the blog started as a travelogue to communicate with my kids, then as a family blog to communicate with my parents) and I'll probably keep the content relatively impersonal on this blog; I also removed links to my dd's and my dil's blogs. Unfortunately, I know from prior experience with teaching the Faith that sometimes spiritual matters attract unstable people, so I want to have a certain level of anonymity.
CrunchyMom wrote:
| If I were to have a blog that I saw as a ministry rather than a personal outlet, I would probably start another, make it public, and then link to those entries from my semi-private blog (no web crawlers) for those that might already follow there. |
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Yes, I think this is the way to go. I had set up a wordpress blog a while back, but I hadn't done anything with it, so maybe I'll revive that as a family/personal blog and keep the other one as a more public/teaching-the-Faith kind of blog.
Thanks again for helping me organize my thoughts on this matter! Now to decide if I'm going to post over Lent...or not!
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Caroline
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leanne maree
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Last year I had to do some rearrangemts to my blog settings as I had several unsavoury followers and commentors.
It made me feel very uncomfortable. Waking up in the morning to see the comments awaiting my approval.
I cut out followers for this reason and have my comments set to the highest security.
I also reported the commentors to Blogger. They were actually very helpful.
So In saying all this, Just know that these spammers etc are out there and can make a blogging experience turn sour. I nearly stopped blogging.
I hope my post was clear to understand
Leanne in oz
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stellamaris
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Ok, I don't think I understand "followers". How were they a problem? Do they have the privilege of posting unmoderated comments or something else? I'm not clear what it means even if someone is a follower.
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Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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leanne maree
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The followers can be located in your dashboard. you will see a followers icon, anyone can follow you, or you can follow anyone. I remove anyone who i don't know or who doesn't have a blog
I suppose my experience last year made me very cautious. I realised I need to be careful about my blog. hope that helps a little
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JennGM
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Late to your question, Caroline, but just throwing in my two cents.
I make my blog searchable and public. I moderate all comments, and Wordpress does a wonderful job of sparing me from all that spam.
The occasional hot button comments I don't always approve, as I don't use my comments to have a sparring match. I only like little conversations, as I think the blog post is the meat...I don't have time for reading all the comments.
While I understand the security issues, I think it's important especially when sharing or teaching as an authority to share who you are. Anonymous experts in my mind lose credibility. So, in small ways you can share bits and pieces of you that show your experience and learning, your vocation in life, etc. I'm only suggesting what is in your comfort zone, of course.
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Lacy
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I only get anti-Catholic comments on my pro-life posts, so I stopped allowing comments on those posts. The vast majority of my negative comments actually come from other Catholics. You can never please everyone. I'm trying to learn to let it roll off my back. The negative comments don't make me wish I didn't "put it out there" because I want people to be able to find the stuff I have available. I only moderate comments on posts older than a week old, and blogger catches the spam for me. I don't use those word verification things either- I try to make commenting on my blog simple. You can always delete stuff after the fact if it's important to you. At least that's how I roll.
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Should I make my blog public?
