You know there are a lot of things you can do to make a blog post more interesting for the readers. While none of these are rocket science it is important to review them every once in awhile to make sure that we’re doing a good job.

So in no particular order, here are some things that I consider when I build a post:

1. Structure of the post. By structure I mean the layout. Paragraphs are utilized, bold and italics where necessary, lists, etc. A post that consists of one long paragraph is probably not going to get much attention from readers.

2. Include a relevant picture on the post.  This adds a level of visual interest and in some cases could even be pertinent to the topic at hand.  Please keep in mind when using photos that you should respect the copyright of the owner.  

There are a number of services out there like Acobox where you can get hosted blog photos.  You can also use Flickr, or Google, etc…

3.  Spelling and Grammar should be checked on all posts.  No one expect all blogs to have professional copywriters with exceptional grammar and spelling skills but in this day an age obvious mistakes should be corrected.

4.  Link to other content.  If you make reference to something that is available on the Internet it is always nice if you can link to that content to make it easier for your readers to get there.  In the above paragraph I liked to all of the image providers that I mentioned… this is just an example.

5. Write to your target audience.  Blogs are not one size fits all.  You have a group of people that read what you write.  Try to keep your posts/articles on topic for that targeted group.  Don’t write about rocket science if you primary reader is the backyard gardener. (Unless of course there was some breakthrough in rocket science that is important for backyard gardeners to understand.)

Again, these 5 items may seem to be basic but it is absolutely amazing to me how often none of them are done.

So, in my pre-January making resolution mode I am going to once again make the resolution and commitment to post periodically to Projects Possible. 

Some of the upcoming articles that I am working on include some commentary on the bailout(s), A couple of great websites that I have been enjoying, and my Thanksgiving thankful post. In the meantime keep checking us out.   If past history holds true you know you won’t be overwhelmed with tons of content multiple times throughout the day.

Photo courtesy of gutter

You will notice a new page here on the blog called Wine Cellar.  I am using a new WordPress plugin called wineX that will display the current status of my wine cellar as found on CellarTracker. 

CellarTracker is a free web service that will allow you to keep track of wine that you own or are in the process of purchasing.   The user interface is relatively simple and I find it to be quite easy to add new wine and keep track of the wine that is no longer in my cellars.   When drinking a bottle of wine, CellarTracker also allows you to enter tasting notes that are visible to CellarTracker community.  

If wine interests you at all, I would encourage you to take a peek at the Wine Cellar page here on the blog.  Click on the wine names on that page and you can see additional information about the wine including pictures of the labels or bottles in many cases.  Click on the community score next to the wine and you will get the tasting notes from the Cellar Tracker users that have enjoyed (or not so much) that particular wine.

I currently only have my wine cellar at the lake house loaded into Cellar Tracker.   I hope to get all of my wine loaded soon.

In the meantime I would enjoy hearing your recommendations for wines that I should consider.   I am a Shiraz and Pinot fan!

• The Search Bar located in the Navigation Bar
• The “exploding” navigation bar… when you hover over a page with sub pages they will appear below it.
• The size of the sidebar
• The tabbed sidebar section highlighting posts in various ways
• The clean display of the posts.
• Featured Articles (not in use yet but soon)
• Did I mention it is free?

If in your browsing through the blog you happen to notice a problem  in any area of the blog please let me know.  I will get it corrected as quickly as I can. 

Known issues as of today’s (8/5) email:  The Wine Cellar page is cutting off text on the right side.  The You Tube at the bottom of the sidebar does not consistently load.  Some video content will not play.

WordPress allows me to block this spam in a number of ways including Akismet (their spam filter plugin) and options to not post comments automatically but to wait until they have been approved by me.   Unfortunately, I do not have the time needed to review every piece of spam so Akismet has been a lifesaver for me.   I can periodically just load up my comments and see that Akismet has already flagged them as spam.   With one click they are gone and if I never do anything with them in 30 days they are automagically gone.

Bloggers beware…  If you are new to blogging you need to get yourself protected and sooner rather than later.  I found when I first started the blog that I very rarely received a piece of spam but now it can be literally a hundred or more in a weekend and as I continue to post additional content and opinion it just gives them that many more messages to latch onto.  Do yourself a favor, get your spam protection in place early!

There may be times over the weekend that the blog will be unreachable as I work through things.  I might even play with a new theme or two.  I’m finding that I’ve had a couple of comments about things being somewhat difficult to find so I might simplify.   I love 1Blog (my current theme) but if you aren’t using the features it doesn’t do any good to have them right?

Stay tuned… we’ll see what happens!

The ground rules are going to be pretty simple…  I’m going to periodically create a post that will have a direct link to a page on your blog.  All I ask is that you do the same.   Give me a link in a post on your blog. 

What do you need to do?   Simply leave a comment on this thread with the following information:  

1. The URL you want to link to. (your domain URL is fine)
2. Some text the describes your post the post I am linking to in #1. (your site focus if linking to your domain URL)
3. The URL of a link-back to me… www.projectspossible.com - A general purpose blog where the author shares things that he WORKS on, PONDERS, and ENJOYS!

Exclusions:  I won’t post adult sites and/or sites that condone illegal activities or topics.  I also reserve the right to NOT post content that I do not believe is approprite for my general family audience.   

Just for future reference I am in the process of creating a TOPSITE for Weblogs for the purpose really of sharing links.   I will let all of the commenters know when it is fully operational so you can add your site

In the past month I have had two full weekends that the blog has been inaccessible due to problems at my webhost – Flexihostings.   I was left no alternative, after another full day today where they could not resolve the problem, but to change webhosts.

This evening I moved the entire blog, all images, databases, etc… so if in your reading you happen across something that doesn’t look quite right please let me know as soon as possible and I will be sure to get it corrected.   (You can just leave a comment on this post.)

To my readers,  I apologize for the inconvenience that you may have experienced.  If you tried to submit posts for the carnival please try again.  You will have until the end of the month for your submissions.  I hope that this move to the new host will produce an environment that will be a bit more stable but will also give me access to a tech support team that I am confident will be able to resolve issues in a timely manner.

Now about the retraction…  On January 8th I posted an article about choosing a webhost and I refer to my webhost of about 5+ years.  The interesting thing about this article is that it doesn’t mention the reason that I had to change hosts… Reliability.   It is incredibly important that when you consider a webhost that you absolutely choose a host that has a proven track record of reliability.  You might also want to take a look at what their definition of UPTIME is and what kind of a guarantee they offer. 

The other area that I have had to reconsider in that original article is the section on Customer Support.   Originally, I thought that email support was good enough.   This is definitely something to reconsider.  In my exchange with tech support starting this past Friday I’m still not sure that they understand what the problem is, or why their attempted resolutions are not working.  (My gut feel is there is a symbolic link somewhere that has pieces of my account pointing to one server and other pieces pointing to a different server in which Apache was compiled without MOD_REWRITE.)   Being able to get in touch with a support person 24/7 is important and still not having a resolution after 3 days is just not acceptable in my opinion.

So the retraction is that I would no longer recommend Flexihostings as a webhost based on recent experiences with Reliability and Customer Support.  Perhaps after I’ve been with my new webhost for awhile I will offer a review and opinion on them.  In the meantime choose carefully and make sure you know what is important to you and your operating environment.

To set the stage I think it is important to understand what a “blog carnival” is.    If you look at the Wikipedia link you will see that a “blog carnival” is a blog event.  It is described a really nothing more than a collection of permalinks on a particular topic.  It is likened to a “magazine” in that the host, acting as the editor, compiles the stories into a post and lists all of the links to the blog articles that were submitted.  The readers of the post have a plethora of information at their fingertips on a specific topic, and the blog authors have a link back to their blog.

The Email Productivity Carnival is anticipated to be a monthly compilation of blog posts related to email productivity and email tools that increase productivity.  Submissions will be accepted through the last day of the month and then I will edit them and create a posting in the “Carnival” category on the Projects Possible blog approximately 1 week later.

Article or Post Suggestions:

• Reviews of software applications
• Tips and Tricks
• Email Etiquette
• Feature and Functionality of Mail Clients

The Email Productivity Blog Carnival is posted on Blog Carnival if you would like to submit links.   You can also submit links by clicking on the Contact link at the top of all of the blog pages.   Comments on this post might also work but there is no guarantee that I will get them included in every posting…

Check back around March 8th for our first posting…

Buzzfuse offers a unique marketing opportunity for blog owners as well as those that would like to share pictures, audio and video, or flash content.  The process is relatively simple and involves signing up for an account (which requires email validation), placing some code into the content that you would like to share, and then activating that code by clicking on it.   It is at this point that Buzzfuse becomes a bit unique in that it would then like to send your content to a group of individuals that you designate as your reviewers.   It gives them an opportunity to create a “buzz” about your new content and to share it with others that they indicate as well. 

As a nice added bonus there is a bit of a revenue stream for the top “buzzing” items for the month.   I’ve added a buzz to my Geek Speak post… check it out and click on it… letting me know what you think… share it with your friends.