Blogs

[pigletwillie]

Blogs are becoming ever more popular with more and more people having them. I personally think that they give great insight into how people garden and grow fruit and veg and really enjoy looking at them.

However, it is becomimg more and more common to see references and links for these blogs anywhere and everywhere which somewhat detracts from the forum itself.

Can you please keep your blog details confined as a signature link in your profile, where people can view them if they so desire, without them taking over the forum.

[wellie]

I agree with everything that you've said Piggy, and we all knew it was only a matter of time before we were all 'called into order'?!

And I think that most people who regularly look at certain 'you know whats', now know on which day they are MOSTLY updated by their respective 'owners'? I just love Sunday evenings for that, and shall continue to do so, without ever mentioning it again. Promise.

[JennieAtkinson]

And hopefully you all have links in your blogs to the Grapevine!

[Mrs Dobby]

I enjoy seeing a note when someone updates their blog, as it gives me a chance to visit their blog for a peek, but can understand whats being said! Wouldnt it be enough for those who had updated their blog to mention it as a part of an update on the 'What they did today' thread, with the link in their signature and not posting any other link? That way it wouldnt take more than a few letters, max one line lets say, and would allow others to know they'd updated without being too much in yer face? Just a suggestion, and of course I'll follow whatever is decided!

And Jennie, of course we all have links to GYO in our blogs, dont we?

[pigletwillie]

All links and blogs have to be checked by Jennie and I to ensure that they have no unsavoury content. In an attempt to keep the forums style neat and user freindly and to cut our workload down, the signature link is the ideal place for any blogs to be, those that want to look can and those that dont are not swamped with it. Its a fine balance to get right on the vine but the best blogs speak for themselves.

[Vegmonkey]

Here! Here!

[Alice]

Jings, I think I've missed something here. I haven't seen these blog links anywhere and everywhere and cluttering the forum. Maybe now that it's been mentioned it will all be there in front of me. Get your eyes opened Alice !
About the links, maybe we don't just understand how much work the moderators have to do. I put a link on if I think it will be helpful to another grape. Should we not do that, keep it to a minimum, or what ?

[NOG]

All links and blogs have to be checked by Jennie and I to ensure that they have no unsavoury content.

So my blog about Pickles is ok cos its savoury but the Mrs Nude Jam page is out then.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Probably ok to put links of existing threads in our posts - I guess it's the external links that have to be checked out?

I love looking at the blogs in an idle moment, and having a blog link in the sig seems to be the best place.

Interesting to see how often grapes update their blogs - I tend to update a couple of times a week, but of the blogs I look at (Wellie's wonderful words aside) the average seems to be a bit less than that. Actually, Mrs D's got a good idea to include 'updated the blog' in the 'what I did today..' thread....

[wellie]

And I'd like to think that that would be acceptable to GYO as well Hazel and Mrs. Dobby.
With complete respect, surely, it's 'one thing' to post up links all over the forum, referring to any number of other sites, and quite 'another' to tell The Grapevine Forum Members in your 'What I Did Today' that you have just updated your blog, because for me, that is always going to be a part of what I did today once or twice a week that's relevant to the origins of that particular thread.
NOG. Lovely Humour......

[pigletwillie]

Unforunately the signature strip is not just used for blog links and signatures, more and more adverts are creeping in and we dont want to get to a position where ALL links are banned because of a few people, so with that in mind please let your blogs speak for themselves.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Sorry, I think that I'm being a bit dim here.....

So - it's OK to have a blog link in the sig strip (like me, Wellie and PW in this thread), but NOT really ok to have other links in there (except for a charity link like Peter has for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf?). And you can say 'I updated the blog today' but NOT put the blog addy up except for in your sig...?

In the posts you can put a link up to other threads (like 'we had a discussion about x plant problems last year you can find it here LINK') but what about other links? I'm thinking of things like, the link to the gardeners world show, or whatever.

Is that right, or am I wildly off course......? Don't want to be a menace to the mods, or be the unwitting cause of having blog links outlawed!

PS I rarely put a link in as it's such a faff to remember how to do it!

[pigletwillie]

Hazel, signature strips are the ideal place for blog links to go, they are at the end of every post you make and are quite discreet. However this also make it an ideal place for those who want to advertise. By keeping all of the blog links there, they are easy to police and to check that they are not links to something unsavoury and believe me we have had everything from porn, to gambling to drugs turn up. A member was permanantly banned by yours truely for persistantly advertising in the signature strip on Saturday.

Links in posts to items of interest are ok and indeed are often very informative. If a moderator deems it unsuitable the link will be removed but this happens very infrequently.

Getting back to the blogs, this is a gardening forum, with its main emphasis on fruit and veg, it is not a "look at me" spring board and with that in mind blatant advertising of blogs is something that is getting out of hand and is being complained about and so will be edited out.

[Alice]

Thank you Piglet. It is now much clearer what this thread is about.

[zebedee]

I keep trying to set up a blog for the hospice garden project my learners have done and it don't seem to work! Any one got any good ideas, or sites I can use, please?