Hello again
These were tasks that were quite concrete in nature - I had to write comments policy for the blog and to check that the site was "comment friendly". Throughout the challenge, as I have been visiting more blogs, I have been inspired by other's layouts and/or language and/or widgets that all go to make the visitor feel more at home and welcome. I have tried to bring some of those ideas to this site too. I have added instructions on how to use the blog, how to leave comments and some very basic ground rules. I have also tried to make it easier for visitors to leave a trace of themselves, either through commenting on posts (by trying to make the posts more discussional and "approachable") and by entering themselves on our map and/or identifying how they found the site. I have also found a really great widget that non-english speaking visitors can click to receive relevant translation (I would be keen to know if this really worked?).
I guess the proof is in the pudding (to coin a well known phrase) and I would like to hear what you think - is it easy to comment on our posts? Is the blog welcoming? What do you do to make it easy and comfortable for visitors to your blog (if you have one). Actually, another thought springs to mind - if you enjoy visiting others blogs yet don't have one of your own I would be interested to know what you gain from the experience and whether you would want a blog of your own?
4 comments:
I originally had that Google Translate widget from Widget box on my blog but have changed to the widget from Google Translate because it includes more languages.
Not sure if visitors use it because non-English speakers can add buttons to their web browsers. However my goal to show my readers that I'm trying to consider their needs and appreciate the fact that I have many readers that English is not their main language.
You can check it out on my blog here.
We have had people who were just commenting on blogs now start up their own blog as a result of the challenge.
I am a little behind in the challenge because I have had a busy week. But am keen to put a translation widget on my blog. So I'll have a look around so see whats there. cheers Sarah
@Sue
Thanks for the advice Sue, I've changed over to the new widget - I hope it gives better access to people now. I visited your blog and I have to say I really like your "final thought" at the end of each post - it summarises and helps the reader to focus their own thinking. A practice I hope you don't mind if I try for our blog posts?
Thanks again
Sure Angela go for it. Quite a few bloggers have seen me use it and now using it themselves. I think I probably got the idea from another blogger -- may be Chris Brogan. He uses Your Thoughts at the end of some of his posts.
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