Blogs for Family History

[Neil Wilson]

So if we all set up a blog/forum, we would have time for this forum

[arthurk]

Thanks for all the ideas, but I really think a forum is more than I'm going to need at present, especially if it requires more hands-on involvement. As it is, the blog is probably still some way off because of other things I'm trying to get done.

I'm not expecting masses of posts - maybe only a couple a week, if that - and I was really only looking at ways of adding an interactive element to what is otherwise a one-way website so that the (few) people working on the same lines can make their thoughts available too if they wish.

As for spam on blogs, at least one of the sites I've looked at has various options for restricting posts, so that may be the way to go.

Arthur

[kateblogs]

I have a family history blog at Wordpress.com, it's a free service and very easy to use. I post a mixture of info about my research and tips, advice and social history articles which are of general interest - the latter are quite popular.

[arthurk]

Well, I got mine going, but it's not exactly well-used. A handful of comments, and I add bits from time to time, though it's presumably showing on search engines, so one day someone might find it useful. I do get quite a lot of spam postings, but by having it set to moderated, they don't actually appear, and the software/host includes a blacklist function so that certain words lead to instant annihilation. (I wish that could be the posters but zapping the posts is better than nothing!)

Arthur

[christanel]

Arthur
Maybe this site may have what you are looking for. It is completely free and has extremely helpful people via email and with help videos available. I put those on my desktop to access if I get stuck but only needed them at the very beginning. Nothing goes online until you want it to and I notice they now have a special genealogy spot.
I removed the full web site just in case it was regarded as commercial but just put 'talkspot' in to google.
Christina

[arthurk]

Looks an interesting concept, but I'm on dial-up and found some of the info pages very slow to load, and I didn't attempt the videos. Maybe if I was starting from scratch I'd consider it, but my primary web presence was established quite a few years before I thought of a blog, and having already got quite a way with that I'm very reluctant to ditch it for something different. For me, a blog was never intended to be a site in its own right, but a way of adding a bit of interactivity to the existing site.

Arthur

[kateblogs]

Well, I got mine going, but it's not exactly well-used. A handful of comments, and I add bits from time to time, though it's presumably showing on search engines, so one day someone might find it useful. I do get quite a lot of spam postings, but by having it set to moderated, they don't actually appear, and the software/host includes a blacklist function so that certain words lead to instant annihilation. (I wish that could be the posters but zapping the posts is better than nothing!)

Arthur

Spam is a problem on a lot of blogs. I moved my personal blog to a new domain a couple of weeks ago and spammers found it before the regular readers did.

You can check if it is showing in search engines by searching for the url on Google. or if you are using a site statistics programme you should be able to see which search engines are sending you visitors. If you don't have one, Statcounter offer a free service and it's very comprehensive. Oh, and have you added it to Technorati? People can search for specific keywords there, and I get quite a few visitors that way.

[arthurk]

Interesting - searching for a few key words produces results at Google and Yahoo, but not Ask or Lycos. In a quick glance I couldn't quite see what to do at Technorati. Would I need to register, and then it goes and indexes my blog, or what?

Arthur

[kateblogs]

Now you mention it, I don't think I ever get any visitors from Lycos either. Not sure why that is. I do see some from Ask though.

Yes, you do need to register at technorati - the home page is a bit cluttered so I can see why you would need to ask, it isn't immediately obvious. Once you have signed up, you add the details of your blog - title, url, description - then you need to verify it. This is pretty simple, you have a choice of adding a button and some code to your sidebar, or adding some code to a post if you can't or don't know how to to the former. Once you are verified, technorati will visit your blog from time to time to find any updates you have made. You can notify it yourself when you post, but most blogging software will ping it (let it know) automatically.

[arthurk]

Actually I think I'll leave it for now as I have quite a lot on. There are so many sites of one sort or another where I could put links or information (including some that I've signed up to but not made full use of), that I'm reluctant to sign up for more. My website and blog are already accessible via some of the major search engines, so I'm reasonably content.

Arthur