Saturday, August 18, 2007

Wreck Of The Day

After my Ugly Betty and Vanessa Williams post, just like a regressing tumor, my Internet connection miraculously disappeared and left me debilitated for a day or two. I spent yesterday calling for the Internet repairman who is never-on-sight after I brazed the thundering cold for an Internet shop selling prepaid cards so I can update Unbearable Lightness and do bloghop in the comfort of my own home without the perils of thunder striking me alive (me and my iPod are inseparable) or the floods carrying me till I disappear (my swimming skills is pointless against the flashflood current) or whatever. So far, here I am, alive and unscathed… but still disappointed as my DSL connection is nowhere near to restoration.


iPod and Lightning = Catastrophic (but still) Cute Guy


I’ve been using a DSL connection since late last year and being back on Dial-Up is like literally hell freezing over. I visited my site, of course, after trying to connect for almost 20 minutes of unsuccessful dialing and boy oh boy, it just took forever to load. This incident gave me much needed realizations: (1) my site is not Dial-Up friendly, (2) there is too much information/accessories present on my homepage, and (3) waiting for everything to load is plain acceptable, even for me.

Not everyone is endowed with the luxury of High Speed Internet, which may either be a DSL or a Wi-Fi connection. In fact, even with a 1 MBPS of DSL connection such as mine, some pages take incredibly long to load. Blame it on the long posts, or the abundance of images and videos, or of the preponderance of widgets and whatnots, a homepage that is not user-friendly could be a bit turn-off. So in this episode of Unbearable Lightness, I listed down some tips on how we can make our homepages a very user-friendly site for me and you.



1. Do not put all your entries in the main page. Unless extremely necessary and all of your posts are a must-read, and by all posts, I mean everything you have written since your childhood or something, do not put too many entries on your main page. 7-10 is a fairly decent amount. At most would be 10-12 if the entries are not that lengthy. Anything more than 13 must be truncated.

2. Create a personal limit in the length of the entries and the number of images and videos or slideshows per post. UNLESS you maintain a vlog (video blog) or pictoblog (picture album blog), upon which this maxim does not necessarily apply. I have a personal limit of 12 images and/or 3 videos per post, which I unavoidably violated with my Emmy Forecasts upon which I sincerely apologize. Please, pretty please trim down on videos. No biggie for me, as I might have my DSL back sometime, but for Dial-Up users, this is such a big No-No.

3. Tone down on too much ads that take too much time to load please, and besides, your readers won’t buy in there anyways. I guess. Unless you really earn tonloads of money from such ads, or you are dead-sure that the ads do not interfere with the functionality and purpose of your blog, it would be better off without them.

4. Keep widgets to a minimum please. Remove useless widgets, those that consume too much time to be retrieved (slideshows, mp3 playlists, etc.), and those that won’t enhance the appearance (anatomy) and purpose (physiology) of your site. A Message Board, a Twitter, an Archive list, Site Statistics provider, Bookmarking/Feeds Service, and of course, a Links List, could be all that you might need. Too much animations that take forever to load, and the oh-so-annoying BlingyBlobs and NetGlitters could be a bit *just over-the-top. Remove, remove, remove…


Do not get your own glitter at BlingyBlob.com


5. Though I still don’t know how to do this one, a peek-a-boo link, more colloquially seen as, “Continue reading…,” “Complete story, click here…,” or “Keep reading here…,” or seen so fancy like, “The adventures go on here…” or “Satisfy your curiosity here…” They keep the appearance of your site neat and well-organized, and this is the one *most important thing that I definitely have to learn. Fellow bloggers, teach me how to do this one please. I beg of you.

6. Please make a simple, straightforward translation of your written chronicles if they are written in vernacular or in your own dialect. You might never know the nationality of your readers but with the power of the Internet, readers from all over the world could land at your site and might offer you a record deal, a book deal, a new job or something. You are not required to complicate your translation. For instance, minahal ko siya could be easily translated as “I loved him/her,” and not “I have sacrificed too much of my time and effort for his/her happiness.” Being over-rated does not apply to you, unless you’re Paris Hilton, Tessa Valdez-Prieto or Malou de Guzman.

7. Some blogs cater to a specific type of audience. For instance, some of my posts tackle some medical issues and medical terms have to be used inevitably. There is nothing wrong with that, but a short definition/explanation about the term could prove to be useful. For example click here and here. A brief explanation could be enough. For instance, Brugada Syndrome = fatal heartbeat, or Reality = female condoms. Provide links if the topics do need to be elucidated further.

This line, “Brugada syndrome is characterized by pathologic delta-positive sloping of the electrographic R-wave as Na ions influxes and alters the myocardial membrane potential” is better off in a medical journal than in a blog. (Unless of course, if your blog provides technical, comprehensive information about certain topics).

8. Kindly update your blogs once in a while. Read your comments and make sure you reply. Not everyone has the time to make one but in case you’ve read one, have the initiative to (1) reply back, (2) let the person know that you have replied to his comment, (3) look at that person’s site if he/she has posted something new, and (4) return the favor. If you don’t have the luxury of time reading everything, HINT: just read the 1st and last paragraphs. You’ll never go wrong in your comments once you’ve read those. Trust me on this.

9. Blog what is in your heart. The readers know when what they’re reading is coming from the heart or just plain crap. Inject your personality and emotions in the things that you’re writing. Do not repost other people’s ideas, images, or videos in your site UNLESS you think that they are worthy to be reposted and the source wouldn’t mind you replicating their ideas. Memes and tags do not apply of course. Even though this is just a blog, Intellectual Property Rights do apply too, you know.

Lastly:

10. Enjoy writing. Blogging serves a purpose. Some people write to express themselves, while some blogs are there to inform other people. Some blogs cater to the businessman or porno-man inside of them, while some blogs are just there to make you feel bad about yourself. What matters is not the amount of traffic you get, but the personal satisfaction that you get from writing. A post that has no comments does not mean it’s bad, or it is not worthy to be read. After all, a writer does her craft not for the number of comments that would be made, but how many lives and emotions would have changed by her entries. Blogging is meant to be fun and therapeutic too. If blogging makes you feel otherwise, then it is serving no purpose to you. Just let go.



Okay, there are my top-ten realizations and tips on how everyone’s blogging experience could become more fun and enjoyable. Of course, I’m not the legitimate source of everything blog-worthy or something but following such simple rules would never hurt. To summarize, just remember three things:

1. SIMPLIFY YOUR SITE,
2. WRITE TO EXPRESS, NOT TO IMPRESS,

3. LET YOUR HEART DO THE WRITING.


Write lightly, read critically, and enjoy blogging as much as I’ve enjoyed making this one (and every entries posted here). See you soon and I hope this entry helped you in anyway possible. Write on!

*

P. S. Sorry if the lay-out is still haywire. Blame the Dial-up Internet. Images from Cultofmac, CherryPacheco, ColinFahey, some Vanessa Williams fan site, some Ad sites and some medical journal sites.

38 comments:

KC said...

hi ruff! finnaly, digitel got rid of the sucky DSL connection so i got to read your blog properly.

anyhooo, i agree with your top ten rules. but i still have a lot to learn since i'm a neophyte here in blogger. i used to blog sa friendster which has no space for personalization. so i did a self check if my widgets are a bit over the top.

i'm guilty with #6 because i don't put translations. haha!

and i just love this : 'What matters is not the amount of traffic you get, but the personal satisfaction that you get from writing.'

more power ruff!

Jhed said...

I am on dial-up and yes.. your site takes forever to load in mine. LOL! But no biggie, your posts are worth the wait anyway.. but please, do tone down on the images. :))

ice said...

wee?!!
i have connection problems too.. DSL..
sigh..

and for the rules..
sigh..
i don't have rules..
non-conformist!
peace!! hee hee

saisho said...

kudos to egay, dsl was 'slower' and it was so freakin hard to connect.

DrG said...

Hey!

Of course you can submit your link, but you'll have to give me some time until I get back to my Home Base in Poland to update the blog!

Mark
medicalstudentblogs.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I don't know if you mentioned this but post length is something people need to consider. A lot of times I won't read an entry on a new blog I've stumbled upon because it's too long! Get to the point, make it short and sweet. I mean having a few useful long posts here and there is good but don't overkill it. A majority of your visitors leave your site within the first 3 seconds!

Also if you're going to put ads on your blog make sure they're relavant or people are just going to say wtf?! For example, why have amazon referrals on an underwear blog? Not that I go to these types of blogs, but you get the idea.

OH and another thing I hate is people showing those "Review me" or "Payperpost" ads on their blogs! Why hire somebody to review your blog especially from a blog that doesn't get that much traffic anyway when you can get it for free? Like at my blog I offer free reviews and I'm getting decent traffic everyday! I hate paying for crap and neither should you! You don't have to have money to make money on the internet! I'm proof of that!

OK sorry for the long comment and overuse of "!!!!!" ! I felt like I needed to vent for some reason.

Anonymous said...

Oh and just to clarify, even though your posts are long I still read them because they're entertaining!

philippe said...

hmmm...everything makes sense. thanks for the tid-bits...they are very useful to newbies like me. cheers!

Kiks said...

hi ruff. it took me time to discover that READ ME instruction sa blogger. kahit pa easier sa wordpress, i feel much more at home with blogger.

if you have an email, i'll try giving you all the links. keri sya. it's a lot better especially for you who write very long, but VERY GOOD posts.

i am still in hk, crossing my fingers for whatever will come out on the visa tomorrow. well, sana makafly...

and thanks for the notes. it helps even oldie-bloggers such as me!

Cory said...

haha hmm napaicp tuloy ako, m on wi-fi kasi @ 54 Mbps so everything practically loads quickly. mabagal ba mgload ang akin sayo? oh n m guilty for not putting translations but i like it more that way, kasi it sounds more impromptu and it's as if ur just hearing me speak wht i've written. well that's just me...

kudos to ur blogging tips! everyone i know sa pinas na naka wi-fi/dsl got their connection all messed up whn it rained. hope urs returns to normal asap. tc ruff!

savante said...

You are so right! For me, my first gripe would be dysfunctional music players. God, the music sometimes can be so damned jarring!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@KC: Hey! Thanks for the comments KC! My PLDT DSL services, annoyingly and unfortunately, are still not yet restored. I’ll make another call later and then that would be it. My patience doesn’t come for free you know. Hehe.

I used to post entries in my friendster too but I tackle very light topics like my favourite novels, quotations, poems, et cetera. And I don’t write personal memoirs there, I once posted a personal chronicle and the next thing I knew it was posted in somebody else’s blog too. =(

Though it has been 3 years since I started posting here, I still consider myself a neophyte writer too. I’m still learning a lot of things (on grammar and rhetoric, what topics are post-worthy, and how to modify the appearance of the site). I think, we all still have a lot to learn and blogging is one really good way of discovering such new ones. More power too KC and thanks for the Triflex gloves. =)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@JHED: Thanks for your patience jhed. As embarrassing as it may sound, even I myself sometimes get exasperated from waiting for everything to load in my site. This temporary disconnection has been therapeutic though, as I discovered things about my blog in a different perspective, and hopefully, gain something from this experience. I’m blaming the long posts, too much images and videos, and probably on the widgets too. Will make note on that one and will make necessary changes too ASAP. =)

And thanks for the compliments too. That one really touches my heart. =) Less images I promise.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@ALLEICARG: No biggie chei. They’re not necessarily imperative naman if I may add, they’re more of like suggestive or recommendatory lang. And don’t worry; I can’t even follow most of my self-proclaimed rules in my entries, so, I shouldn’t cast the first stone right.
Just feel free to write what’s in your heart. After all, the best rule I could ever think of is to let your heart do the writing. And when you do that, you can never just go wrong.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@SAISHO: Thanks to that aesthetically-deprived-named typhoon and inconsiderate repairpersons, my fantasy of unlimited bloghopping while sipping hot coffee and mushroom soup in my periwinkle pyjamas and bonnet (of course, with Vanessa Williams songs playing in the background) will have to wait until the next typhoon. Why it always happen to me (and by me, I mean us) is plain unacceptable right.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@MARK. Hi Mark! Thanks for your attention. Would be honoured if my site will be linked in yours. Will be waiting for your reply. Greetings from the sunny Philippines.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DOC ADAM: Thanks for your insights Adam, and yeah, feel free to vent your feelings here.

It’s amazing how I blabber non-stop on how to simplify blog sites and post shorter entries when I couldn’t even practice what I preach. This post is virtually excruciatingly lengthy. But yeah, long posts could be a bit turn-off (especially when the font size is microscopic and the color contrast is hideous, unsightly, or tastelessly selected), but with a very good, relatable, interesting topic, it could be a remarkable-read too. I guess I have to further polish my summarization skills, or this blog could expand into uncontrollable proportions. And that would be really bad.

And about the ads, I am not a huge fan too. If I need to purchase something, I browse directly to Ebay, Amazon or somewhere else. They could be income-generating, but I guess the problem is that the user/blogger does not have the exact control over the content of their ads, hence, most of them are inappropriately placed. I once saw an ad for impotence pills on a site maintained by a lady blogger, and trust me, it is just plain unsightly.

Though I’ve encountered just a few, such “Review me” or “Payperpost” ads could be a bit over-the-top too. I don’t think they’re necessary, and I don’t think such ads generate huge incomes too. Though for some bloggers a $5 fee sounds tempting, it is just better not to fall for such traps. In fact, I also know of some sites that review blogs for free, and it’s good to hear that you do too. And your free templates, which are far better than those you have to pay for, are far far worth downloading.

No biggie for the “!!!!!” I guess I just violated the “no long posts” rule in this comment, but for you Adam, I guess it’s worth violating.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@ADAM: Thanks for the compliments by the way. I get some sort of a *rush when I receive nice compliments for posts that I also had a wonderful time doing. I guess my Rule#9 really does apply too.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@PHILIPPE: Glad you liked it philippe. Hope you had fun reading it as much as I had fun making that one. Write on philippe and good luck too. =)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@KIKS: Thanks for dropping by KIKS. I’m having a difficult time posting as of the moment, Dial-Up Internet is taking soo much time. OK ba sa Wordpress kiks? Not that I’m planning to migrate. Ever since 2005 blogger na host ko eh, and the amazing thing is until now, hindi ko pa rin alam paano nagwo-work ung mga RSS feeds, bookmarking, etc.

Sure kiks, post ko sa ABBA yung addy ko for easy correspondence. Thanks sa compliments kiks ha. I still have to learn more blogger hacks ASAP (esp na html idiot ako), but for the meantime, I need to kick out my long posts obsession. Will definitely try making shorter posts in my next entries. Good thing you have the patience of Job kiks.

Good luck sa visa application kiks. Ano ba yan, pati ako na-e-excite sa Venezuela trip mo. Hehe. I hope everything goes really well. I-update mo ko ha. =) And you’re always welcome by the way. Lam mo naman na wuv kita kiks. Have a safe trip and enjoy!!!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@CORY: No problem CORY, *most of my blog-links loads quickly when I’m in DSL, and your site loads perfectly well. Don’t worry about the rules, I’m practically the best example of violating them. I post 15 entries on my main page (before I tone it down to 10), all of my posts are incredibly long, I’m uber-addicted with images and videos, I used to have unnecessary ads, and I still can’t work on the peek-a-boo posts. About the translations, I use the vernacular only on comments like these. I don’t write well kasi in Filipino, at least in English, pwede na rin kahit pa’no.

Glad you liked this post Cory, the typhoon’s out of the country na and I’m hoping the connection’s going to normalize within a day or two. If that still does not happen, there’ll be payback.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DOC SAVANTE: Thanks for the visit DOC PAUL. Oh god, such mp3 widgets are the worst! They took incredibly long time to load, they incessantly play harsh, annoying music, and the most appalling, they almost always play automatically, and you, the innocuous reader, would be often caught off-guard. I just hate them. Those that have stop/play controls would be better and unless of course, if it’s Vanessa William’s singing, then, I can make an exception.

Anonymous said...

*lol* i would go ballistic too if digitel wouldn't live up to their promises.

yeah i agree that we all have a lot to learn when it comes to blogging. but one thing i learned and always do is that i put credits if i quoted somebody or "borrowed" photos. i hate using the works of other people as my own. ooh! that may be rule #11: properly credit the real owner.

anyway, i hope that your dsl connection would be fixed already. =)

Anonymous said...

ruff! Sighs... I had the same sentiments of having long entries in my blog... Fortunately I had managed them (I think!).. Well you do need to have peek-a-boo link since most of your entries are quite long.. Ohh btw! I have the "Read in full article" link if you have noticed mine... Hehehe... Being an IT grad has given me enough background about html, CSS, javascript stuff though am not really good at it (Poor me!)... Ohhh and going back to your peek-a-boo link, you need a javascript codes for that... Quite hard and confusing to set up esp. for a dumb pip like me.. To have it in your blog, you need to carefully put the codes correctly, one wrong single code and/or character could ruin you blog in a snap... So you will need a back up copy of your original blog html codes in editing… Whew!!! :-)

chase / chubz said...

hahay, nakaka arrgghh and dial-up
#8 is very very important

i also noticed your blog's loading time is very long. but no biggie here.. idol ko kaya si ruff.
read all your stuff! very intresting and entertaining.
love ko to!!

Drake said...

Hi Ruff! For #5, you may opt to use javascript or CSS tweaking in order to have that "Read more of this post" link. In my blog, I use CSS to make this possible, together with the features of Blogger.

Before you do any changes in your style sheet or HTML template, better save it first in your PC so that you may recover your initial settings if something wrong happens.

In your main HTML template, add the following text in between the <head></head> HTML tags (probably just before </head">)

<style>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
span.fullpost {display:inline;}
span.linkfullpost {display:none;}
<b:else/>
span.fullpost {display:none;}
span.linkfullpost {display:inline;}
</b:if>
</style>

Then in any post that you want to shorten whenever accessed in your main page add

<span class="fullpost">

before the block of text that you want hidden. At the end of this text block, add the close tag </span>

Then add

<span class="linkfullpost">
<a href="YOUR POST URL HERE">
Read more of this post...
</a>
</span>

at the end of your post.

Hope this satisfies your #5. God bless!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@KC!!! Yeah, that’s an important rule too. A bit guilty of violating that rule at times (re images) but I do agree on that one. Though it’s quite difficult to adhere to that maxim in cyberspace, I guess an ethical and professional blogger would respect the copyrights of other bloggers, and would be decent enough to give due credits to the source. For images, I use the Paint program to append a watermark of my site when I include personal images, and I use the PostScripts (PS) to credit others. I also use links, whenever necessary. =)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DAIZUKE: I definitely agree DAIZUKE. See, I’m the most persistent violator of my 2nd cardinal rule: no exceptionally long posts. But yeah, most of my posts are a tad longer, and I’m just blessed that I still get a decent traffic despite my lengthy entries. By the way, how did you embed those “Read in full article links?” I went to hackosphere and the instructions on putting those html codes are quite complicated. But yeah, both of your tips are extremely identical. I just could not afford to lose my site that’s why I’m still hesitant to attempt it. =( But I promise that when my DSL services resume, I’ll try the steps on my other site first, then on this one. It’s funny how I’m still html/css-ignorant despite my 3 years here right? I just find it extremely complicated. Thank god blogger went beta, before, the templates are all in html language, and my site is in total disarray. But now, thanks to drag and drop menus, my site looks fairly decent naman. Thank god. =) Hehe. Super thanks for the tips daizuke ha! I’ll ask you questions if some things go awry ha. =) Hehehe.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@CHASE: Sorry CHASE, my browser also gets a timed-out connection every time I visit it myself. And dial-up life is torture. When will the lamb stop screaming?

Thanks sa compliments chase ha!! Alam mo naman na love din kita. Thanks for your constant presence, and thanks too for finding my entries interesting despite most of them being lengthy and narcissistic. Love you too!!!

About Idleness: Maybe if it weren’t for these life events, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience what we have and be the person we are right now. Maybe that is what makes our family unique. And as for the future *revelations, I guess we just have to let destiny, by itself, unfolds. =)

Be well always chase. You are special. =)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DRAKE: Hi drake thanks for the tip! Though i still dont have the luxury of dsl (as of the moment) to try it out. nakakatakot itry drake eh, i heard a single misplaced character would be enough to torn the site into pieces right? =(

how are you now? i mean after all the emotional conundrums, and this time, with your plan to *elope (?) the country (a business plan, of course)? Hope everything's going well. If everything goes well with the phone company, I might start bloghopping again within the next week. But for now, dial up and internet cafes would suffice. =) Bon voyage my friend!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. =)

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not... Am still opt to the classic blogger, the beta has more complicated and confusing codes than the previous.. Its kinda hard for me to edit some stuff in beta since I was quite familiar with the classic one, though it is much easier to add up some stuff thru beta's drag and drop feature... Unfortunately I cant give you the idea on how to embed the "Read in full article" since you have been using the blogger beta :-( ... The way how you put it in your blog is different (I think!).. Not to mention that I am extremely dull in explaining codes (Shame on me!).. But ill see what I can do..

Btw! Thanks for the comment! :-)

Russ Ligtas said...

hey ruff. no rules for me..hehe my blog is my space. i'm sure that'll help would-be pros though.

[chocoley] said...

absolutely I AGREE ;)

chase / chubz said...

ayyy kinikilig ako sa message ni ruff.. heheheh
tnx a million.

Anonymous said...

hey why havent i read ur 10 do's & dont's B4?! I'l try to keep these in mind everytime i do my post!

We have d same fear on those "peek a boo" click here for complete post thing. Me being a "bobo" on html codes, but i'l try hard to learn d stuff.

Kudos to ur site Ruff! 1st time for me to visit & i'm already hooked!

aries said...

'teh, hiramin ko rin ung comment ni drake ha. gusto ko rin ung collapse ever na entry...mwahh

Thad said...

Amen to this post. Gosh, hangang dial up lang kaya ko for now lol!

2. WRITE TO EXPRESS, NOT TO IMPRESS,
3. LET YOUR HEART DO THE WRITING.

Write lightly, read critically, and enjoy blogging -------------------words of wisdom from ruff.

I totally agree. We are not here to get a job or to get people to say Oohh you are a genius etc etc. The danger with that is that people's expectations build, and even good writers make slips sometimes. If you happen to post something that won't meet their standards or not to their liking- then here comes an avalanche of criticism.

What's with the pressure di'ba? As you said, blogging should be therapeutic. Sometimes we come up with good posts, sometimes mediocre, sometimes really bad- but that's all part of the fun.

Thanks for posting this very relevant article = )

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