HSB Tech Support - Homeschool Blogger

Blogging Revamped ~ Simplifying Blog Contests

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:33:00 -0600

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.

Eric Novak

Blogger Extraordinair
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blogboy

Blogging Revamped ~ Mail Lists 101

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:21:00 -0600

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.

Eric Novak

Blogger Extraordinair
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blogboy

Meet Amy

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:44:00 -0500

Hello fellow Homeschool Bloggers!

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

Home School Highlites

I'm looking forward to meeting you.

Amy

Backing up your blog

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:57:00 -0500

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.

Step 1). Pt 1.

Step 1). Pt. 2.

Step 2).

Blogging Revamped � Secure Your Blog

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:55:00 -0500

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.

Eric Novak
HSB Tech
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSBTechHelp/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blogboy

Blogging Revamped - RSS Widget

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 01:44:00 -0500

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.

To add the widget to your blog grab your RSS code from the site feed location mentioned above and head over to http://www.springwidgets.com/widgets/view/23 at SpringsWidgets.com. You can find an example of what the widget looks like and a place to grab the code.

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.

Eric Novak

HSB Tech

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blogboy

HSB Tech Blog - Reopening

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:25:00 -0500

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.

Eric Novak

http://www.ericnovak.com

Bullet Issues

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:18:00 -0500

After we had some downtime yesterday and the system was brought back up, the bullets on many of our users' blogs turned into question marks.

This has now been fixed, so if you were having trouble with this, it should now be back to normal.

Thanks for your patience!

Jodi

The Ban Has Been Lifted!!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:41:00 -0500

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!

Jodi

Banned users (with update)

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:19:00 -0500

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!

UPDATE on server change

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 11:16:00 -0500

Our server was moved Saturday night and most things are going well. We have some small issues to contend with (as is always the way with computers!), but for the most part the move was a success. If you had some trouble logging in or working on your blog yesterday, you are not alone! We did have some outages off and on, but things seem to have settled down today.

If you did have problems yesterday, please try again today. Most of those problems should not reoccur now that the server has stabilized. We still may hit a few bumps in the road, so if you do notice a slow time or a time when you can't seem to log in or get blank pages, please wait a little while and try again. Most of these issues clear up in a few minutes. But, again, this should NOT happen on a regular basis any longer and we believe you will be very happy with the speed and reliability of the site since our server upgrade.

This has been a long time coming, and I speak for everybody on the HSB team when I say that we are THRILLED that it is finally done! We've been very frustrated, too, and have been doing everything we could to make things better while we waited for this more permanent 'fix'. Thank you for your patience and loyalty as you hung in here with us and prayed for us as we worked through these issues. We are sure everyone's blogging experience will be much more enjoyable now!

Jodi

Friends latest entries page

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 11:07:00 -0500

With the server change, we now have the Friends page back. This lists the entries of your 'Friends', with the most recent first. You can use this page to easily see the latest posts that those on your friends list have made. This was a feature we had before, but it didn't work correctly, so it was removed. It is now back and working as it should!

To see your Friends page(s), you need to add /friends to the end of your blog address, like this:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/blogaddress/friends

For easiest access, you will probably want to add a link to this page to your Links section on your blog. Then you can just click the link whenever you want to read your friends page. To do this, go into your blog settings, then to Links. Put whatever you want the title to be in the first blank box, then the address in the 2nd blank box and save. This link will then show up on your sidebar with your other links in the Links section.

We know many of our users missed this feature, so we are happy to bring it back for you! You may also continue to use RSS feed readers (Bloglines, Google Reader, etc.) to keep up to date on your favorite blogs, but some find this Friends page to be easier to manage. Now you have the option.

Jodi

Long rambling comments (spam)

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 10:55:00 -0500

Quite a few users have been receiving a long diatribe in their comments. This person hit several blogs over the last few days. We are working on keeping them from doing it again.

If you happen to be the recipient of one of these comments (or any other comments that you do not want on your blog), you can delete them by doing the following. Go to the comment in question while you are logged in to your account. There will be a link for 'delete' either just above or below the comment. Each comment will have one. Just click on that and you can delete it.

We apologize that this is happening. We are trying to get it stopped, but more may appear in the meantime. Please quietly delete it and don't give them the attention they are trying to attract.

Jodi
Tech Support
www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSBTechHelp

Server migration problems

Sat, 2 Jun 2007 10:31:00 -0500

Unfortunately, the move to the new server did not take place last night as planned. Right at the end, the server decided to have 'issues' and it was unable to be completed. A 3rd party has to fix the problem, then we can start the process again. Hopefully that will happen tonight!

So the bad news is that it didn't happen last night, but the good news is that it is still going to happen! So please be patient just a bit longer and things will be greatly improved once the move is complete. And please pray for our web tech as he works to get this taken care of - he is running on very little sleep and has other projects to take care of besides just ours.

If I find out any other information, I'll update you here. (Sorry for the gap since my last post, I just didn't have anything to report!)

Jodi

Slow server issues

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 08:37:00 -0500

We are aware that the server has been very slow and causing time-outs for some users. This is simply a matter of too many people trying to use the server at the same time. It doesn't have the capacity for so many at once.

However - we are hopefully getting moved to the new, larger server this weekend. This should alleviate most, if not all, of these problems. You should experience a much faster site once we are switched over. We will also be able to fix some of the lingering issues that weren't able to be fixed permanently on the existing server.

We're sorry for the frustration of the slowness. I've had problems with it myself (which is why, if you've sent in a tech support request in the last few days, I'm way behind on answering them). I think we'll ALL be thrilled when we have the new server up and running!

Hang in here with us. We're trying to keep up with this rapidly expanding community as best as we can. You have all made us so popular! :-) That's a good thing, but we are all experiencing some growing pains along the way. We appreciate your patience!

Jodi

Newbie's Guide to Flickr

Mon, 2 Apr 2007 14:38:00 -0500

Are you running out of room in your blog photos area? Like the cool Flickr add-ons you've seen on other blogs?

I ran across a nice tutorial that explains how to use Flickr from start to finish. If you'd like to learn how to use this free online photo sharing service, this is a great place to start:

Webware Flickr Tutorial

I'm often asked about how to get more photo storage space (we don't offer more than the 1 MB here at HomeschoolBlogger) or how to use other sites' services. Unfortunately, I can't really help with that because we don't offer support for other sites. Hopefully this tutorial will help those who are wanting to know about such things. :-) Flickr seems to work pretty well with Homeschoolblogger most of the time, so I can definitely recommend it for your photo sharing needs.

Jodi

Template Problems

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:27:00 -0500

Some users have been having problems with their templates looking 'funny' over the last couple of days. This is being caused by a change we had to make in the jumpbar at the top. It is being worked on and your templates should be back to normal soon. At least those using default templates - modified and custom templates may be a different story.

Unfortunately, we can't help you fix your modified custom templates because that is beyond the scope of Tech Support. You change your templates at your own risk, sorry to say. But you may want to take a look at your blog to make sure everything looks as it should. If not, you may have some detective work to do.

Work is still being done on the design of the jumpbar, so you will probably continue to see it changing until the final design is in place.

Jodi

JavaScript currently enabled

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:57:00 -0500

For those who have been waiting to make changes to their templates, now is the time! JavaScript is enabled right now. Things will change again in a little bit, but for now - go for it!

We do need your help, though. To keep our community safe, we will need to partially shut down JavaScript again pretty soon. BUT we want you to be able to use the scripts you enjoy. In order to do this, we need to set up a filter on the system for each safe script our users want to employ. So please send us the code of the scripts you are using.

To do this, go into your template and copy each script you have starting with <script> and ending with </script>. Just copy and paste each one into an email to me at hsbadmin@homeschoolblogger. I will compile a list for our web tech to add to the 'allowed' list so when we do turn JavaScript back off those scripts will still work.

Thanks for your patience while we work through this. And send me those scripts!

Jodi

Please Read Latest news on site virus/worm activity

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 14:26:00 -0600

Here is the scoop on the recent worm attack on Homeschoolblogger and some other important information you need to be aware of.

Someone found a way to bypass the existing security measures to release a ‘worm’ on the site. This particular worm did several things, some of which caused the triggering of virus alerts for users and sometimes opening unsavory web pages. It also attached to the template code of those viewing infected pages while logged in, which is how it spread.

The good news is that the problem has been taken care of. The malicious code has been removed from all affected blog templates and from the system. The security hole they used to gain access has been plugged. So the site is completely safe and virus/worm free.

The bad news is that in order to protect the site while we work out some other security measures, we have to disable JavaScript again. We realize that many of our users rely on JavaScript to run certain items on their blogs, such as visitor counters and blogrolls, etc.

So, what does this mean for you? If you have JavaScript codes in your current template, they WILL continue to work if you leave them as they are now. However, if you modify your template in any way and re-save it, ALL JavaScript you may have on your template will be wiped from it. It will look right in the preview, but when you actually save the template, it will actually be erased from your template code and no longer work. So unless you absolutely have to change something on the template, we suggest you not do so, at least until we explain what will happen next as far as allowing some JavaScripts to run.

This only affects your blog template (the visual design of your page). You can post entries, edit entries, leave comments and do any of your other usual activities.

In short, carry on - but leave your template alone if you can! :-)

Jodi

ATTENTION: JavaScript turned off again

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:25:00 -0600

Due to a worm attack (most likely caused by malicious JavaScript), JS code has been turned off on the site. This means that if you make any changes to your template, any JS code you have in it will stop working. This includes counters, blogrolls, etc. The only way to keep your code working right now is to NOT make any template changes. Once you save a changed template to the system, it will be stripped of any JS code.

If you do need to change your template, I suggest you copy and paste all of the existing code to a text file on your computer first so you will not lose your current codes. Then if/when JavaScript is turned back on, you can add them back to your template without having to look them up at the individual sites again. Right now, we are considering this temporary as we try to find another way to solve the problem, but there is no known timeframe on this.

Jodi

HSB Tech Support - Homeschool Blogger

Blogging Revamped ~ Simplifying Blog Contests

Blogging Revamped ~ Mail Lists 101

Meet Amy

Backing up your blog

Blogging Revamped � Secure Your Blog

Blogging Revamped - RSS Widget

HSB Tech Blog - Reopening

Bullet Issues

The Ban Has Been Lifted!!

Banned users (with update)

UPDATE on server change

Friends latest entries page

Long rambling comments (spam)

Server migration problems

Slow server issues

Newbie's Guide to Flickr

Template Problems

JavaScript currently enabled

*Please Read* Latest news on site virus/worm activity

ATTENTION: JavaScript turned off again

Please Read Latest news on site virus/worm activity