Zero to Hero: Day Fourteen
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Okay,
I used the day to think about what I actually want to happen. I want to build a community/network of immigrant mommy…So I have several questions as I am learning to find my way into this technology.1. Does anyone knows how? I have research mingle and buddypress today… Does anyone know benefits and flaws of each?
2. When will be the right time to have that “community” function in your blog? Do you wait until there are lots of followers?
3. How do yo get them?
4. What does a “grab a button” actually do?
5. I got a new logo.. would you please let me know what you guys think about the logo and if I should add anything?
http://immigrantmommy.com/2014/01/16/zero-to-hero-day-14-a-new-logo/
6. Is it too much if you have a logo and a banner?
Thanks much folks!
FLo -
I am really enjoying doing this challenge. I’ve learnt heaps and again today I learnt more by just reading this forum. I should make sure I look at the forum thread for each day.
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@immigrantmommy, I think it depends on what you mean by “community,” and what you’d like community members to be able to do. Can you say more about your vision?
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Just letting you guys know I’m also loving this challenge so far, and learning a fair bit in the process : ) Five of the days I’m still working through, the trickiest being the theme task (Day 5), but I’m sure I’ll get there.
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I have a couple of questions for you guys that will help me to determine some features of my page.
1) What is your preferred method of navigating a site? What kind of side-bar widgets help you find your way? Archives? Calendar? Top vs Recent posts?
2) List or drop down for things like Categories & Archives?
3) Where do you put/look for the network badges for things like social media and blogging groups you are a part of? Same with a blogroll? How many blogs is too many?I have a list of things I’m trying to accomplish from the challenge that I have not had time to finish yet, and the widgets one is a biggie (along with a new background and color scheme.)
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@michelle, I would like for them to network… Kind of like here in Zero to Hero… So members would be able to post their blog .. Kind of like ‘tasty kitchen”. Categorize by their country so they can also support each other and exchange tips etc….
Hope that helps… The idea kind of came up from seeing how this zero to hero works…
THanks…
flore -
@kumbricia – Sometimes I have that issue too with following too many blogs especially if I’m following news blogs that are posting so many updates in an hour, other blogs can get lost in the feed. What I do in Reader is follow tags.
For example, if I want to see other posts tagged with zerotohero it would take me to http://wordpress.com/tag/zerotohero and next to the title is a Follow link. I’ll click on that and it’ll be added to the right in Reader.
When you set up tags to follow and if you have the WordPress app on your phone, it will sync and I’ll be able to filter what I want to read first.
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@jillianmartin – If there’s a lot of different type of content on a site, I find both Archives and Calendar widgets helpful.
For example, If I come across a site that has 5 years of content, I don’t like to keep scrolling to see the entire list of 5 years. I prefer it to be a drop down and I find it’s cleaner and appears less busy on a site.
Calendar widget – useful if I’m a regular reader of the site and I know that I haven’t read anything in x-amount of days, then I can click to that date and continue forward to read the content I missed.
Top and Recent posts I find can be helpful if it’s a new site. It can help to highlight what other posts are interesting to read that others are enjoying.
I don’t have network badges, but social media icons, I put that in the sidebar. If you don’t have a lot of network badges, you could put that in your sidebar, but if you have a lot, a page would be better organized to list it all. What you could do is put perhaps put the first 3 network badges, then a link such as, “View My Network Badges” and set that link to the go to the page where the reader can see the rest of the badges.
As for the blogroll, if you have a very, very long list of all the blogs you enjoy and let’s say the number of blogs you follow is about 100. I think putting all 100 in a side bar is too much. Similar with the badges, perhaps list the top 5, then a link to go to a page that lists all the blogs you follow, which you can list them out in a group if you want (e.g., Writing blogs, Humor blogs, photography blogs, etc.)
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@immigrantmommy, I’d think you would want to have a decently-sized, very engaging community before starting up something like that –you ned a certain number of people to be active at the very start, or else your community looks empty and people aren’t motivated and don’t see the value to signing on.
Spend time building your blog and connecting with people in the community. Participate in a blogging event, and maybe, in a little while, try hosting one (we’ll have a Zero to Hero day on events coming up). Get a sense of (1) what the community’s needs are and (2) how they engage with you, and each other, before investing the time building a social network that might sit empty.
Just my two cents!
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@jillianmartin – oops incomplete thought with this line: “Top and Recent posts I find can be helpful if it’s a new site.”
Meant to write, “Top and Recent posts I find can be helpful if it’s a new site to me that I just came across.”
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@jillianmartin, totally agree with what @daphnec2002 says here:
As for the blogroll, if you have a very, very long list of all the blogs you enjoy and let’s say the number of blogs you follow is about 100. I think putting all 100 in a side bar is too much. Similar with the badges, perhaps list the top 5, then a link to go to a page that lists all the blogs you follow, which you can list them out in a group if you want (e.g., Writing blogs, Humor blogs, photography blogs, etc.)
You can list out your top 5-10, or rotate them monthly, and then link to a resources page that has the full list.
As for navigation, I like a menu across the top of the blog, or down the side. You can link to your categories from it, and create pages that collect and present your content the way you choose.
Social media goes in the sidebar, unless your theme includes them in its layout (as many newer themes do). Giving all your social media links a consistent look will help keep your sidebar streamlined — check out how this blogger does it for a great example: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/widgets-201/#brand
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@daphnec2002 Thanks for all of your input! I think since my blog tends to be a mishmush of topics, I’ll keep categories to a drop down menu. My archives right now are only a few months. When I hit 6 months I’ll make that a drop down, too. (Whoa! Wait. That’s next month!) I think I’ll also add a top & recent posts.
@michelleweber I’ll decide on the network stuff in a bit, but my social media is gonna go on the side. I like the example you shared. It’s what I’ve been wanting to go for, but haven’t really hit.
If I have buttons, should I also have a Twitter/Instagram widget? I kind of want to try to keep it decluttered, and think that just a button should be enough. I’ve always had the Twitter & Insta up and it feels weird to get rid of them. (Just a few days ago I was sure I wanted to take them down. I am so indecisive.)
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@jillianmartin
When in doubt, I say err on the side of less clutter. You can always add something back in later if you feel as though you are missing traffic or activity.
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a breather day was perfect. there’s been so much to learn in the past two weeks and i was getting slightly overwhelmed. i needed a day to just relax, read blogs, comment, and still find my way around. thanks for the breather!
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I have to agree with jennyshoes, a breather day was just what I needed to catch up to the last two days. Finally, I’m caught up!
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This is a very insightful project. It has me rethinking so much, maybe to much. :D But, thanks for having this WordPress
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Glad to have “breather” as well, although I did post, read, and comment. I’m having hand surgery tomorrow, so posting will be “fun.”
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I was really pleased with my comment thread on Creation science. One IRL old friend, three blogging buddies, two people new to me.
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I loved reading the other blogs. It definitely gave me an insight into different topics.
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