Before I talk about my odd little niche WordPress projects, what are some of your blogs or personal projects, WordPress or otherwise? If you comment and link to them here, I'll definitely check them out! I like to see people's projects, what they've made and what they continue to work on. The fediverse has been really cool for seeing a lot of that. I'm also interested in how long we're able to keep passion projects going amidst the crazy chaos of life. It can be tough! But writing and making things is always super rewarding, as well-- at least it has been for me.
I think I've always liked writing, I like music and that's basically mostly or all writing. At least it is for the lyrics of the vaguely rock type stuff I usually end up making. I write a lot of lyrics, short little bits, phrases. But for longer pieces, I've always liked the ease of writing and reading blogs and digital journals. I'm not one for writing in physical journals. I do like reading physical books, but for writing, but I prefer to type.
Over the years, I've had the chance to experiment with different forms and styles of blogs, just as I've liked to do when designing websites. That was the initial appeal of microblogs like Twitter, things like Livejournal before it, and the huge appeal of WordPress, which of course you can use for short OR long form writing.
I first started playing around with WordPress back around 2008. It was different back then! If you had a free plan, you could change the name of your blog to whatever you wanted as much as you wanted (something they don't allow anymore but was super useful if you needed to rebrand) etc, and all kinds of other differences (no block editor back then, either, obviously!)
I do still have a blog running from back then. It's called space. time. tech. (https://spacetimetech.wordpress.com). The topics I wrote about on the blog are probably obvious from its title. I've been (pretty infrequently) updating that one for 15 years this year. Wow.
The second oldest blog I still run I've mentioned here before. It's called Animated TV Blog (https://animatedtvblog.wordpress.com), and again, as its name fairly obviously suggests, I write about my favorite cartoons. I started Animated TV Blog in 2010 and it's been a blast, even just doing the infrequent updates. And I've been doing it for 13 years this year- another really long-running blog I've been able to maintain somehow (you gotta love the content!) I had a pretty active linked Twitter account too that I ran alongside ATB (back when Twitter was just microblogging, and not a fascist wasteland) for many years. Again, I believe the key to good blog writing is picking a topic or topics that you really love-- something you're really passionate about (not just a fad or a passing interest). That way, you'll be more likely to continue to want to write on the blog. At least it worked for me, in the case of ATB!
My most recently created WordPress blog isn't updated anymore, but the posts are all still up and viewable. It was called Tech User Today (https://techusertoday.wordpress.com) and it was an experiment to try and make something a little more professional, to try and monetize with affiliate links (there's a lot of competition out there). I ended up taking on a bunch of outside reviews, and it was pretty cool, but it also quickly became overwhelming and not enjoyable. I started that one in 2018 and I stopped writing posts for it around two years later, in 2020.
One last thing I've learned from writing WordPress blogs, always make sure to update and maintain your themes! Older default themes tend to start to look outdated or crappy. Just like any good website, it's best to just make sure you like the look of what you're making, and to remember you can always switch up the look of it- I've definitely done this several times over the last 15 years.
If you read all this, you're awesome. And make sure to comment with your own projects!
Hi there, I am looking to follow personal #blogs written by #SouthEastAsians, other #Asians, #Africans. Basically not Western. Nothing wrong with the West just that I have a huge RSS feed full of US, UK blogs. I want to diversify my feed.
Apparently, Malaysians like to #blog about 3 things: Food, politics & money 😂
I prefer genuinely personal blogs that are slice of life stuff. If you know of any please recommend to me! 🙏
Qué tiempos los de la #bollosfera y los del libro «¿De otro planeta? Miradas cotidianas desde el Universo Blog», que allá por 2006 recogía textos de blogs escritos por lesbianas
Fue la primera antología de #blogs que se publicó en España, así en general. Y también fue el primer libro que edité yo, lo cual para mí es más importante.
Aprovechando el día que es, dejo por aquí el link para descargarlo gratis, en PDF y EPUB.
I am SO happy that WP.com supports the #Fediverse this way. Now I don't have to depend on brid.gy to allow Mastodon comments to my posts to appear on my blog. I'll figure out how to do this after my walk.
Woohoo. So excited and am so glad I decided to ditch #Squarespace for #Wordpress this year.
More info: https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/10/11/activitypub/
Getting back into RSS after finding an app I like for Android, Feeder (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nononsenseapps.feeder.play). Only thing I don't like about it is that when you read something, it marks it read instantly & removes it from your feed altogether instead of just leaving it there read like I'd prefer.
But you can save favorite posts before you close/back out of them for reference - you just have to remember to do it.
Other than that, Feeder is a GREAT app with an excellent simple, intuitive UI. I now have 30 blogs in it that I follow and check regularly.
If you’re a blogger (of any kind, not just a sex blogger), reply with one of your favourite posts/a post that you think is especially’you.’ Could be something you really enjoyed writing, something you’re especially proud of, one you poured your heart into, whatever.
There are some things about WordPress' internal dashboard that I just don't like. The menu on the left has all this extra crap, things are tough to find within menus, the layout is just kinda overall crappy. Wish they'd overhaul it a bit. I just wish the menu was customizable for everyone using it. I mean, how tough could that be?
Also, some of the confusion going back and forth from legacy widgets, etc has been a total pain, too. And a lot of navigating around the WordPress dashboard UI is just NOT intuitive. The weird 'write' button at the top - does anyone even use that?
Is it futile to tame the deluge of information? Well, I'm trying anyway by simplifying, streamlining and yes, deleting stuff.
My system hinges on #RSS and hopes to capture them into #Obsidian
For those with #RSS readers - what is a #blog that you read the most? I want to get some #recommendations for great #blogs also please #boost it! Thank you
It's been two years since I started my blog hosted at @write_as So I posted about my experience with Write.as, what I like about the platform, and what I like less:
Research has continued and I think that #WriteFreely, despite being a great piece of software, isn't really accurate for my needs and is a bit too restrictive.
#Hugo might be more what I need, so I'll look at upgrading to that at some point. I just need to work out how to self host it!
Started a brain dump for a new blog post. Something I've been thinking about and talking about with different people here and there. Mental health, technology, etc. The strange times we're all navigating.
And now, the difficult part: expounding, arranging, and editing.
This #Blaugust thing I'm hearing about this #blaugust2023 is there a theme to it? Is it about gaming blogging or something? In 50 words or less, what is it about? Just #blogging and #blogs?
Ken Zinser encourages to publish "cornerstone pages" on personal websites and blogs, i.e. pages with standardized URLs and well defined content such as /about, /blogroll, /contact, /now, /photos, and more.
Useful resources [Updated 2023-12-16]
Hello everyone,...