Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

Copyright Julie Goucher, May 2020

So, you have your nice new blog ready to go and you need to sit and compose a post.

Firstly, it does not have to be a long post – perhaps 500-800 words, though you could go up to 1000 words.

A good topic for a first post is probably a welcome to my blog. Here share who you are and remember, never share more than you are comfortable with. Also, never share more than you would be happy to tell a stranger you met at a bus stop or on a train!

Also write about what you are planning to share on your blog – it might be about your surname study, or it might be a blog that encompasses all your genealogical research or even a blog that encompasses a variety of things, including your genealogical material and that of your studies.

You might decide to create a timetable of material, so you might focus on your attention on Monday’s with your explorations of National Trust or heritage venues over the weekend, You might decide that on Thursday you write about genealogy. I don’t have a set schedule, but having typed the idea I might try it! You might decide to write organically, if you fancy writing then do and if you do not, then don’t! I do recommend though a loose structure of writing so you keep “feeding” your blog readers.

If you do create a blog do leave a comment with your URL so I can stop by!

This is part of my Blog Writing Series. Next we are going to look at Engaging with others

Copyright Julie Goucher, May 2020

In this post we are going to look at posts and pages and if there are differences.

Firstly, assuming you are reading this, then you are reading a blog post. Posts can be written at any time and scheduled to post at a later time. They can also be part written then saved, in which case they are draft posts.

When you first create your blog site you can also specify if you want readers to land on a static page or just to the most current post. This blog is scheduled to show the most recent post, which will be this one, until I write or publish the next post, although you can change that at any time.

If you look up to the black banner at the top, which is the menu bar, you will see a number of headings – the last one is Surname Research and if you click that link you will be reading a blog page. As I write so much about One-Name and surname research I created a landing page which has the posts and series relating to surnames collated together on one page. To achieve this I write the name of the category and then link to the category posts.

This is part of my Blog Writing Series. Next we are going to look at writing a blog post.

Copyright Julie Goucher, May 2020

Today we are going to look at the structure of your Blog, akin to the checking out a holiday apartment – you open all the cupboards to see what is where or if this was a car, you would be under the bonnet (hood) looking at the bits!

So, what can you find under the WordPress hood?

There are a few provisions made by WordPress and what you use for your blog will depend on the physical structure you have decided upon. To help you, I am going to share what I  decided for my site. I should also point out, that adjustments can be made at any time.

The image shown here is a snapshot of my site. The individual segments are effectively “widgets” and located under the Facebook plug-in. WordPress provide the plug-in’s and widgets and they are drag and drop!

I have a search box – useful to readers and myself!. The Downloadable Documents and Links sections are similar.

The downloadable documents are those that are written by myself and uploaded to the site for readers to download if they wish. (These are uploaded into the section referred to as Media in the author control panel). Just looking at the items here, the material is in PDF format and a there is a spreadsheet all, in the form of the Research Log.

Having uploaded the items, you then extract the URL for the items, subsequently adding the URL into the Links section on the author control panel.

In the links area of the control panel, it is possible to split the links – if you look at the section below the links, marked One-Name Studies Pharos Courses, here you will find the links to those specific courses.

Just below this area you can see the Categories and Archives areas. I made the decision that I would have set categories and these are shown. The archives are listed in month order showing how many posts were published in that month.

Concluding today’s blog post – The top header image is important. It can be changed as often as you wish. You can upload your own image or use one provided by WordPress, either as a static image, or by using all the WordPress images in a randomised fashion. My own header was out of date, it must be easily more than 3 years since I changed it, which I have done today to match my Twitter header!

This is part of my Blog Writing Series. Next we are going to look at Blog posts and pages.

Copyright Julie Goucher, May 2020

Blogging can be a really enjoyable pastime. It is the ability to write to the ether and a way of sharing information, whether that is sharing about books, ancestors, hobbies or keeping an online journal. One thing that is possible to do is publish posts, but at the same time keeping them private.

On the right hand side of the writing posts page there is a box marked status. Here you can choose when to publish the post, essentially you can schedule for a point in the future.

Next is the facility to publish as a public page, or a page to just admins and editors or password protected, meaning that the page would be live, but only those with a password could read it. Obviously if you chose to not share the password, then it is private and available to just you.

By definition, the concept of blogging is to share with others. As you write posts and publish them there is also the ability to link to Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. If you follow me on Twitter you will see posts that have published on this blog, you are then able to ReTweet (RT) the post which is the spirit of blogging. If you follow me on Facebook then you will hopefully be alerted to when a post is published, because it will appear in your newsfeed.

In addition to that, there is the ability to enable readers to follow this blog by the posts appearing in your email or on your blog reader.

The basic principle of blogging is to engage with others and to achieve that engagement to use social media to do so. Twitter especially has a good following of genealogists and there is the ability to connect with many others by searching the #genealogy, #familyhistory, #surnames, #AncestryHour. Ancestry Hour is an online event, taking place on Twitter between 7-8 pm (UK time). Once you have a Twitter account, you can search for the #AncestryHour and see the discussions and collaborative spirit of the genealogical world.

Comments via your blog are also welcoming and it is quite disheartening to write a post and then no one comments. Your mind fills with pondering’s – did people think it was a dreadful post, were there mistakes? STOP. Your blog will be just fine, they are easy to write, the hardest bit is just getting going!

Write, publish and share; build up a following of people and know that once it is out there the search engine’s will pick up the posts and therefore eventually appear in Google search results. Members of the Guild of One-Name Studies can add their blog to their study profile page and to the page in the wiki. For those of you reading along and wanting to get a blog set up for their study or general genalogy, you can leave a comment, let me know your name and the URL and I will find space for the list on this site and help you on the way to the genealogical ether! I have a few sites already flagged!

If you do not write about your study how will people know of you? You have nothing to loose, by trying and remember, baby steps and blogging is more like a marathon than a sprint!

This is part of my Blog Writing Series. Next we are going to look at Blog structure.

Copyright Julie Goucher, May 2020

The first task is to choose a hosting site and to choose a name for your site.

Hosting Sites

There are two main hosting sites – Blogger which is part of Google and WordPress. This blog began in 2002 on Blogger and relocated to WordPress in December 2015.

Whilst I liked Blogger, it began to feel less modern and a bit clunky, compared to the modern feel that WordPress exhibits. I liked the clean approach and feel of several of the themes and I especially liked this one, which is called “Twenty Ten”  Blogger is part of Google and WordPress provides two versions. The first WordPress.org is for those that have their own web space and use the Content Management System (CMS) approach to their website, the Guild of One-Name Studies uses this for their website. This blog is located on WordPress.com and is likely to the one you will chose for your blog, assuming you don’t want to use Blogger.

There is also a third option, though I note today they are no longer accepting new accounts and that option is TypePad, instead they are now recommended a new platform, BlueHost which seems to use the WordPress platform. TypePad and BlueHost charge a month, so I wonder what you get more than using regular WordPress?

I have mentioned previously, this site is on WordPress.com, I already had purchased a domain name from the provider 123Reg.co.uk having done that I simply point the domain to the address on the WordPress platform – you know the domain name, because you likely see it in your browser window!

I recommend that you visit the websites for the providers and see which one feels the most comfort to you to use.

Choosing a Name

Whilst the most obvious, the name of your site might actually be tricky to select. Firstly the name on the hosting platform might already be taken by someone else. Secondly, you want to choose a name that represents you or what you are going to write about.

You might decide that you are going to write about your One-Name study and might choose to select a name like XGenealogy.wordpress.com. Does this mean that you cannot write about anything else? Or you could do as I do, have one site that is reflective of your work and interests.

The image above is not totally complete, I do write about general genealogy, surname studies and research, my own genealogy and my own studies. I also write about European ancestors; writing and researching in Europe and lastly, Desk Ramblings, which reflects the rest of my life that I wish to share – National Trust places, holidays, cemeteries, book reviews, museums trips, stationary and anything else which appeals.

Once you have decided the name for your blog, and you have chosen a provider you can create the site. All sites vary, but some, this one included allow for a tagline. Mine is situated in the top right and reads:

Books, Genealogy, History, Surnames, Butcher & Orlando One-Name Studies, Pharos Tutor, European Ancestors, Sicilian Genealogical Research, Notebooks, Journals and Stationary etc.

I don’t see the absolute need for a tagline to a blog, but if the theme you decide to use has the provision for one, then go ahead and use it, after all, it is opportunity to say on the first page what the site is about.

This is part of my Blog Writing Series. The next instalment will be up tomorrow, when we will looking at the communication and sharing aspect of blogging.