Contests can be the life of a blog. Really, how many people can resist spending a few minutes posting a short entry when there is a great prize to be won? Blog hosts can attract a huge crowd by giving away virtual prizes such as E-Books. They don't even have to spend a dime on the contest because a lot of businesses will donate their E-Book just for the exposure. In fact, the only thing the contest host has to spend is a lot of time. They have to write up their contest text, contact businesses, create banners and campaign for people to join their contest. As soon as everyone is finished submitting entries, the host has to count them up, gather the scattered links, determine the winner, and finally get the prize to them. It all takes a lot of work.
Thankfully with the free widget "Mister Linky," you can eliminate half the work out of your contest by organizing your participants and allowing them to place their links right in a formatted box on your blog. Forget the scattered comments and gathering names. They're right on your blog entry!
To get started with Mister Linky:
1. Create an account at the Mister Linky website.
2. Click on the Wizard link at the top of the page.
3. Choose your server (HSB uses HTML).
4. Choose the widget you want to use (just use Original Auto-Linkies).
5. Click on the Generate Code button.
6. Paste the Code in the HTML editor (Source) when you are writing a blog and publish it.
People should be able to add their name and entry URL right into a box on your blog.
Mister Linky offers free and paid accounts. If you are running a more complex competition, a small upgrade may be just what you need. To see more information on prices and benefits, you may want to visit their upgrade page.
A while back we talked about RSS feed - the automated post notification system. A mail list is basically a manual way of letting people know that you've posted. Personally I prefer mail lists to RSS because I am able to manage who gets my notifications and what message they receive. I still leave RSS enabled, but I keep my own mail list as well. As you probably already know, when you mail out to a list, it serves as a reminder that they should come read and comment on your blog. However, since RSS is a way for people to keep track of your blog we will include it in Mail Lists 101.
There are three main ways to mail to a list. 1. Use standard RSS 2. Use the HSB system mail list or 3. Just create your own mail list and send it from your computer. I prefer option three because I am able to manage who is on the list and what they see. Take a look at the chart below to see which list best lines up with your needs.
As you can see, RSS is automated. You don't have to ever send it out yourself. However, it doesn't let you manage your subscribers and it doesn't let you change the message they receive.
The HSB mailing system is automated and you can manage your subscribers, but it doesn't let you change the email the user gets.
The self sent email list isn't automated, but it allows you to manage your subscribers and to change the message they get. So pick which one you want to use and follow the instructions below!
RSS
There really isn't anything you need to do to setup your RSS. It should be automatically enabled and all users need to do is view it and click "sign up." Your RSS link will be http: //www.homeschoolblogger.com/rss.php?w=YOURNAMEHERE; if your RSS is not turned on just login > Click "settings" > Click "Site Feed" > Select the drop down menu and save it as yes.
HSB To add people to your HSB mailing list login > Go to settings > find the "mailing list" text box and paste in the emails of the people you want to notify. Separate each email with a comma. > When posting an entry select the "Send to Mailing List" button.
Self Mailing List
To add people to your self mailing list go copy their email and paste it in a word doc. Save it to a handy location that you can get to whenever you post a blog. When you post a blog copy the link of the blog and paste it in your email along with a personalized message. Then send it to the people on your mailing list document.
No matter which mailing list you choose to use, it will increase your readership and your comments level.
I'm the newest member of Homeschool Blogger's technical support team. If your having troubles with your blog feel free to e-mail me through the help system and I'll try to assist you. (Please don't leave a help question in the comment section of this blog!)
You may view my personal blog where I'm journaling our homeschool experience at
Backing up your blog is pretty easy. In fact it only takes a few steps.
1). Login to your blog and click the settings button. Find the “Entries Per Page” section and change it to 100.
2). Click “View Blog” then go to “File” menu and click “Save Page As.” This will save a copy of your blog to your computer. If you have more then 100 entries then you may need to click the “Next Page” button and save that as well.
Note: Following the steps above won’t save the comments – you have to click each entry individually and repeat the beginning of step 2 in order to save that data.
Backing up your template
Backing up your template works the same way.
1). Login to your blog and click “Settings” then click “Template.”
2). Follow step 2 above.
After morning devotions and making sure the kids are settled into their schoolwork, you decide to check those comments you received last night. Settling into your computer chair, you type in your URL – http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lifeisapicnic. The computer makes a noise like a Boeing 747 taking off, and then the screen flickers from the nice blue Google logo to a blank white screen. Hmm, you think to yourself, that’s strange! You quickly type in your profile address: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/profiles/itsgone! This time the page immediately loads but displays the error This user does not currently have any blogs. Frantic, you call one of your friends who knows a friend-of-a-friend who knows a guy in tech support, and in minutes it’s confirmed – your blog is gone!
Nothing is worse than sitting down to your computer and finding your blog is hacked or totally gone. For some who have been blogging for a short time, losing a blog is just a matter of choosing a new template and starting over, but for others, years of hard work can be lost. There are several steps you can take to prevent blog theft and protect your data.
Protect Your Password
I’ve been involved with tech support for over a year and have had to encourage a number of people to change their passwords due to their high susceptibility of being hacked. I highly recommend taking the following precautions to secure your blog.
1). Never make your password the same as your blog name. That is the first thing a hacker will try to!
2). There isn’t much difference between a passphrase and a password, but a passphrase is generally longer and made of several words. HomeschoolBlogger has no limit on the number of characters used in a password, but we don’t allow spaces. Generally it is easier to remember a few words from a song or Bible verse, than 12 funky unrelated characters.
3). Don’t share your password with anyone online! If someone is helping you with your template, you don’t need to give them the password, just the HTML.
Back Up Your Blog
Keeping an active blog backup is also a good idea. The quickest and most efficient way to do this is to simply select all of your entries and paste them into a Word document. If anything happens to your blog, you will be able to repost the entries or at least have them on file.
Keeping a backup of your blog template is also a good idea. If your blog goes down, the template usually goes with it.
Remember, the blogging tech team is here to support you. If you have any problems or questions, you can always contact us using the help links in your control panel.
RSS feed is one of the most important (and one of the most ignored) features of a blog. It allows your readers to retrieve the latest content from your blog without actually having to join any newsletter or wait for your blog to load. RSS also ensures that your readers visit your blog because the RSS can be sent directly to their email. RSS stands for "Rich Site Summary" and the number of sites offering RSS is growing rapidly - for good reason.
Turning the RSS on for your HSB Blog is fairly easy. Follow these simple steps.
1) Sign into your blog.
2) Click the Settings button.
3) Click the Site Feed button.
4) Switch the Publish Site Feed drop down to yes and click save.
That's it! A link should show up in the "Site Feed" section with your feed URL. This link should also show up on your sidebar. Now that you have your RSS activated, you may want to make it a bit more noticeable. Many people don't take the time to scan text links on a blog so you should use a widget to get your RSS noticed and that is where the SpringWidgets RSS Reader comes in handy.
1) Click "Customize This Widget" on the left side of the page and enter a size for your widget (100x250 should be fine for most blogs).
2) Delete the feed URL titled http://feeds.feedburner.com/springwidgets.
3) Paste your RSS feed URL into the first feed URL field and click the "+" button to the right.
4) Change the border color and the header image if you wish and push the "Click Here To Get The Code" button. Over the top of the sample feed image a box with multiple buttons will appear. Click the HTML button and copy all the code that appears.
5) Login to your HSB blog and go to your template editing page. Find your sidebar code and paste the code you copied earlier in the location of your choice. Save your changes and the widget should appear on your blog.
Congrats! You have now installed the RSS Widget. All that your users have to do is click the yellow RSS button in the widget and they can sign up to get email updates of your blog. Additionally, readers can scan your posts and see if they have missed any of the latest content!
Tips
The widget may not appear if you don't have Flash 9 or later. To download the latest version go to http://tiny.cc/flash998
To center the widget use this code: [center]widget code here[/center] (replace "]" with ">").
You can add as many feed codes as you like! Just paste the RSS feed URL in the first field and click the "+" button.
If you have any questions about using the widget you can email me.
We’ve decided to open up the HSB Tech Blog again and bring you some of the best tips for revamping your blog. Paul and I will be blogging on here pretty regularly now that we have taken over tech from Jodi (actually that was several months ago). I’m also going to be posting articles here from my new column in Blogging Basics.
One note before I go, I’ve opened up the comments but they are only for commenting about the entries. If you need any help with your blog, you will need to contact tech support through the help system.
For those on AOL and CompuServe who were not able to get into the site over the last couple of days, the problem has been corrected. If you know of anybody who was affected by this situation, please let them know that they should be able to access the site normally now. If they still can't, please contact me at the tech support email address over on the sidebar.
Thanks to Shawn, our web tech guru, for getting us all fixed up once again. :-) Now maybe, just maybe, he can get a little sleep!
I've been receiving reports that some users are getting messages that they are banned from the site or certain parts of the site. This is not intentional and is some kind of a glitch in the system somewhere. So if you or someone you know is currently 'banned' from the site, please know that our web tech is working on the problem and we will get everyone back in as soon as possible. My guess is that a security measure has gotten a bit TOO tight and is therefore keeping some out, but I don't really know that for sure. I do know that it is our #1 priority right now to get this corrected.
Check back here for updates. I'll let you know here when I get any news about this.
Jodi
(who was on 'vacation' for a homeschool conference this weekend and can see by the volume in her email box how much she was missed. )
UPDATE: From looking at the emails I'm receiving, this problem seems to be limited to AOL users. If anyone is getting the banned message that is *not* on AOL, please email me at blogadmin@homeschoolblogger.com and let me know. We are now fairly certain that it's probably an issue with AOL not being compatible with something in our current set up. Now we just have to hunt it down and fix it!
Step 1). Pt 1.
Step 1). Pt. 2.
Step 2).
To add the widget to your blog grab your RSS code from the site feed location mentioned above and head over to 
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