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aneliese
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| Posted: April 22 2009 at 9:06pm | IP Logged
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Okay, I have no idea where to post this. I tried to search on it but couldn't come up with anything on this forum.
I'm looking to start a blog for our family to keep our long distance family and friends updated on our daily adventures. For example, I'd love to post the story and pics of our 3 year old in his cast rather than send multiple emails and updates.
I feel so behind on technology without a blog, facebook or twitter profile. =D Any leads on where the best place to blog for a newbie. Thanks!
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sunny
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| Posted: April 22 2009 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
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I remember this conversation that started me on blogging
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Erin
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Unquestionably blogspot 
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 7:28am | IP Logged
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Erin wrote:
| Unquestionably blogspot |
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I would disagree, because I love Wordpress! I work with several blogging templates, and Wordpress is my favorite. I like it better than Typepad, which is a paid thing. Of course, I don't do all those fancy and pretty things on my blog.
But it's all a personal choice.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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stellamaris
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 7:51am | IP Logged
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I was going to suggest blogspot, which I used for a recent trip, but when I went to the site, yikes!, my no-script program put up a big clickjack warning box. Unless you are using Mozilla Firefox and No-Script, I'd be careful on that site. I'm not very techno savvy, though, so maybe someone else has more insight on this.
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In Christ,
Caroline
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Flowing Streams
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MarilynW
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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Hey Aneliese - you could always come visit and Abby or I will give you a blogging 101 - and whilst you are here you can give me a quick 101 on how to use my Moby - I seem to have forgotten the basics!!!
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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aneliese
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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Anyone familiar with homeschool blogger? That's one that I had noticed.
I can write HTML... you think this wouldn't be so difficult but I feel like I'm so behind with technology. I just need something simple and free. There's just so many out there to choose from.
Jenn, what do you like about Wordpress over Blogspot?
Marilyn, I'm always availalbe for a Moby tutorial.  Just let me know when! Want to bring your ds by for Jr. Blue Knights?
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Martha in VA
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 10:58am | IP Logged
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aneliese wrote:
Jenn, what do you like about Wordpress over Blogspot?
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I'm curious too, Jenn. I have one of each and I find Blogspot much simpler. BUT there may be features of Wordpress that I just don't understand.
Martha in VA
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Tami
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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I'm following this thread, too, having given serious thought to starting a blog after our big move last summer. But I'm perplexed about which format to choose. I'm not really technically literate, and honestly, don't want to invest time learning how to be (if that makes sense). 
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Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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folklaur
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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aneliese wrote:
Anyone familiar with homeschool blogger? That's one that I had noticed.
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I won't use Homeschool Blogger for political-ishy (i just made up a word!) reasons - but "Homeschool Journal" is a nice place - and word press based.
And blogger/blogspot is what I use now, because even tho I like HSJ better, everything is hooked together with blogger now that it is with Google. So my Google reader, my gmail, blogger - it is all hooked. So it is simple.
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 12:13pm | IP Logged
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Martha in VA wrote:
aneliese wrote:
Jenn, what do you like about Wordpress over Blogspot?
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I'm curious too, Jenn. I have one of each and I find Blogspot much simpler. BUT there may be features of Wordpress that I just don't understand.
Martha in VA |
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I like having categories and subcategories. That is one of the huge things. Uploading and editing images is easier. I have options to create stand alone pages besides blogging posts.
I like the layout. I've accidentally posted in both Typepad and Blogger because it's easy to make that mistake. Perhaps because I like to see the code, I find the choices of visual and html easier to write a post than the Blogger choices. When I edit formatting in Blogger and Typepad they don't always "take", which is extremely frustrating.
Not everything in Wordpress is creamy-dreamy, but of all three, it's my hands down favorite.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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aneliese
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 3:11pm | IP Logged
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I'm a sucker for organization (although you wouldn't believe me with the current state of things around here). The categories/subcategories sounds right up my alley.
Jenn you say "of all three" are these the ones you're talking about:
Typepad - paid blogging site
Blogger and Blogspot - same thing
Wordpress - more along lines of HTML
It sounds like Wordpress may fit the bill for me with being able to do HTML and the categories. When creating pages for my website (which are woefully out of date) I prefered to do HTML in a Visual Studio environment rather than a Dreamweaver or FrontPage GUI format.
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Tami
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 6:19pm | IP Logged
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My eyes are glazing over  LOL
Somehow I thought (hoped?) this would be easier.
Maybe I'm not tech-savvy enough to blog? 
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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Mary G
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Tami (and Aneliese)
I'd test the waters by going with a freebie -- I've used blogger now for 4-5 years and I love it especially since Google bought it and I can hook everything together (google calendar, gmail, blog, etc). I like that I can create many blogs ... some private (my day-by-day journal of the nitty gritty of homeschooling as a "paper trail) while I can also have public ones with multiple authors or just me and choosing folks who can read it.
I don't think you'd go wrong just trying it out on either blogger or wordpress and see if you like it. Some of the folks on here started with a free one and then changed to a pay one for personal/business reasons. Like I said, Blogger works for what I want and so I use it.
Long story short  , just try one out and see if you like it. A free one costs nothing (  ) and can be deleted if you find you don't use it/like it/whatever ....
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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ladybugs
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Tami,
You are tech-savvy enough and you have a lot to offer!
I use blogger but truly I haven't been blogging too much these days.
I really want to be off the computer more - but I think I might be a wee bit addicted to you all.
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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JennGM
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aneliese wrote:
I'm a sucker for organization (although you wouldn't believe me with the current state of things around here). The categories/subcategories sounds right up my alley.
Jenn you say "of all three" are these the ones you're talking about:
Typepad - paid blogging site
Blogger and Blogspot - same thing
Wordpress - more along lines of HTML
It sounds like Wordpress may fit the bill for me with being able to do HTML and the categories. When creating pages for my website (which are woefully out of date) I prefered to do HTML in a Visual Studio environment rather than a Dreamweaver or FrontPage GUI format. |
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Wordpress lets you do tags and categories and subcategories. It's the feature I like most.
Blogger has free blogging with a gmail account
Wordpress.com has free templates, and then there is a paid Wordpress.org (costs less than Typepad) that gives you more freedom with the template. MicheleQ at Family Centered Press uses that, so does Stefoodie (I'm not at my computer so I can't give a link right now).
For each post, Wordpress gives a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) visual, as does Blogger and Typepad. They all three give an HTML option, so you can view and edit the code in a post. BUT, I find that Typepad and Blogger correct and "undo" what I want it to do. They have some overrides so I'm not always feeling under control.
Does that make any sense? Right now I just use the standard Wordpress.com free template. There are many, and they give options to change headers.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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mom2mpr
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Ummmm...I am totally not technical. I know the basics--how to do e-mail and come here and "talk."
I and consider blogging occasionally--so the nice people here can see me and I can keep in touch with family.
But, the learning curve might throw me.
I am considering doing a Shutterfly website where friends and family (you add or invite) are e-mailed automatically when you put photos or comments on the site.
It might be worth a look for you.
My neighbor has a page and it is really pretty and she has plenty of written updates on her babies and cute, cute photos. Not sure how easy it is but everything I've done with Shutterfly so far has been pretty easy.
Anne
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dawn2006
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Jennifer (and other Wordpress users):
What are the differences, in effect, between tags, categories, and subcategories? Are the benefits mainly for the blogger? Are there any benefits for the reader in making those distinctions?
TIA.
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 8:17pm | IP Logged
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dawn2006 wrote:
Jennifer (and other Wordpress users):
What are the differences, in effect, between tags, categories, and subcategories? Are the benefits mainly for the blogger? Are there any benefits for the reader in making those distinctions? |
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I don't see much difference between tags and categories except that I can organize the categories further than just one long list. That benefits me and the reader (if they think like me). All my Easter pages are organized under Easter. I can visually see the subcategories. All my Liturgical year posts are together, but then organized underneath that so I have for certain months and feast days and seasons, to make it easier to pinpoint a post.
This is my personal take. The tags are something that search engines use to find similar blog posts, and the categories are a little more "personal" to my page.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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dawn2006
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Thanks, Jennifer.
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Blogging 101
