Feeling Overwhelmed By Your Blog To Do List?

Well I have to say I'm feeling that way myself right now. My TO DO list seems endless and I'm constantly jumping back and forth between things and trying to determine while I'm doing it if it's the best possible action I can be doing for my blog right now.

Well I came across this blog posting yesterday (which I just read today! lol well that's pretty good considering it wasn't on the top of my priority list! haha)

Any ways this article is very helpful in helping you organize your blogging efforts so you can reach your goals effectively.

So definitely check it out!

4 Tips For Making 2008 Your Blog’s Best Year Yet

And remember blogging is supposed to be fun! Try and not get too bogged down with all the little details. I know it feels like no one is ever going to read your blog or even link to it. But they will, they will. Heck you may be the first person ever to read my blog and I've posted almost 60 posts. So I can related to feeling like no one's ever going to find your blog. Have faith.

Love,
CB Webmaster

P.S. Remember if there's anything I can do to help you get your blog into shape I'd be happy to help. And I'm even willing to look over your blog and give you feedback on how I as a reader perceive it. I know we all can use another perspective, blogging doesn't have to be so lonely. Just email me your blog url. Take care.

Blog Post Disappeared - Don't Panic!

Okay I have a blog post that is really one of my best posts! And because it's one of my best posts I have a tendency to link to it within my other posts.

It's called: Blog Material for Life - you can imagine my panic when I clicked on a hyperlink to it today and blogger.com told me the page does not exist!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggh! (that's me running around in circles)

So I sat down and put my thinking shoes on. First I began searching my hardcopy files on my computer (how many times have I lectured on the importance of backing up your blog posts????)

And I found it immediately - phew - okay load lifted.

Then I realized sometimes my "backup" versions aren't exactly well the final draft - eek!

So instead of spiraling downwards again I decided to see if there was some way I could locate the "vanished" blog posting!

First I went to blogger.com's help and had no luck whatsoever! Quite a shock to me! And then when I scoured their help page for a contact email I realized - THEY DON'T HAVE ONE! OMG! How did I miss that fact before?

So silently trying not to spin out of control I thought well they MUST have a contact email somewhere!

So I opened a google search engine and was prepared to type in: Blogger.com contact information

but then I was suddenly struck with inspiration - instead of going down that track (which would probably leave me more frustrated than when I began)

I decide to search this phrase in google: blogger.com post disappeared

And guess what?

I wasn't alone!

The second search result looked promising and so I clicked on the result.

And to my great surprise and relief it had exact details on how to find my post!

Phew! Man that was a relief!

Well on that page Ted said:

"You have searched the Edit Posts list to make sure it isn't there?"

And I thought, well no.... (instead I panicked!!! lol)

So that's what I did.

I went to the edit posts option and scrolled back through my posts until I found the one I was missing (I used CNTL + F to search for a word I knew was in that title)

And bam! There it was on the list still!

I couldn't believe it! I really thought it was going to be gone - but there it was! *picture me awed like a kid who got what he asked for on Christmas*

But I noticed that instead of the usual options on the left which are EDIT and VIEW

only EDIT appeared!

So I clicked on that and - like the wings of an angel I was swept back to my post!

And all I had to do to make it reappear was click: PUBLISH POST.

And like magic it was back as well as its permalink!

I still have no idea how or why it disappeared (although I have to admit for a moment there I thought there was a conspiracy to keep the information I was presenting in this post hush hush! lol!)

Well afterall it is very pertinent information that when applied could make a vast difference in bloggers success rates!

So, alas, conspiracy or not, my blog posting is nestled safely back in my blog's welcoming arms and I can rest well.

Breathing in a deep sigh of relief,
CB Webmaster

P.S. Go here for more info on backing up your posts.

Help I forgot to Add a Title!

Help I forgot to add a title and now the URL for my post is the first line of my blog post!

Yikes!

I know scary! That happened to me! (You won't believe it but I made this error when I first posted the Quote Posting Guidelines! lol! I know I know tsk tsk lol)

Here's what happens in blogger.com

If when you create your post and you do not create a title for it initially then it will by default select the first line of text in your post as the URL for the post.

Note: If you have tons of comments on your post - you don't need to re-title it - people have found it! That's the only reason to re-title a post's URL in the first place. Skip doing this whole process and just manually enter a title in your post's edit window.

To find out why is it so important to title your posts - click here

So Here's how you can fix your Permalink to display the Blog Posting's Title:

1. Copy and paste your entire blog post into a text file.

2. Delete the blog post.

3. Create a new blog post.

4. Copy and paste your entire blog post into the new post.

5. And most importantly remember to put a title on it this time!

Then click: PUBLISH POST

Oh and if this doesn't solve the error, if you're using blogger.com, make sure your: Show Title Field is set to ON. If it's off it will not use the title of your blog for the URL.

And If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions
(it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).

And remember to add the existing labels before you delete your old post - because if this is the only post under a specific label that label will "disappear" from your labels and you'll have to do it over again! Just click: Show All. Add the labels THEN delete the old post.

And don't worry - even if you had tried to correct the title error by making a title after you posted it and now both the old and new post have the same title it won't affect the title. You'll still be able to create the "new" post even with an identical title and then be able to delete the old post as soon as you're done labeling.

Aaaagh but how can I tell which one's the old post when I'm deleting?

Good question.

Before you create the new post - make note of the timestamp on the old post.

That way you can differentiate which one's the old post (which you will be deleting)

and

which one is the new post (which will essentially take the old post's place)

What about existing comments and links to your post?

Well I don't know but I assume they'll be deleted so you'll have to copy those over to the new blog posting as well. Simple enough if you only have 1 or 2.

That's all for now folks,

CB Webmaster

P.S. To avert the title problem get yourself into the habit of adding your title before you begin writing your post.