Little Blue Stars

This post is directed to those who read or write Wordpress Blogs.

For those who read:
Do you enjoy some of the Wordpress posts you have read? Do you want to acknowledge the bloggers for their efforts but are too shy or don't have enough time to write a comment on the post? Are you aware of the little Blue Stars?

Blue Stars are found at the bottom of many Wordpress posts.

The Little Blue Star prior to receiving a Like

When I read this blog post this week I scrolled down to the bottom of the post and clicked on the Little Blue Star to indicate that I "liked" the post.

Blue star turns white after "Liking"

I have gotten into the habit of doing this for most Wordpress posts I open (I don't open all that appear in my RSS feeds). I want to let the blogger know that someone out there in cyberspace is reading what they have written and appreciates their efforts to contribute to conversations in the geneasphere.

Some people who use the blue stars are not so liberal as me. They may just "Like" posts that  they agree with or that they find exceptional. Most of  the posts on my Wordpress blogs must be unexceptional as the number of "Likes" I receive is only a tiny percentage of the views my posts receive. As a blogger I get a buzz when someone "Likes" one of my posts.

Another reason that people don't use blue stars is that they read posts in their RSS Feeds and do not open the posts.  Might I suggest that, if you find a post thought provoking or exceptional, you open it in your browser and "Like" it.

For those who write:
Blogging is a two-way street and we should provide means to encourage two-way communication.

I find it frustrating when I come across a Wordpress post that does not give me an option to "Like" it. Please consider adding this facility to your blogs so that readers can give you feedback.

To enable "Likes" on your Wordpress blog please follow these instructions: https://en.support.wordpress.com/comment-likes/#how-to-enable comment-likes

279 and Growing

Having plenty of material for future blog posts makes life easy.

About nine weeks ago when I had a bit of time on my hands I set up the Geneadictionary over on Wordpress. As I have been using blogger for eons this was a brave move for me. I didn't know if the Geneadictionary would be a flash in the pan or if I would be able to find enough content to maintain a regular posting schedule.

Several of my genimates look out for and even coin words and phrases to add to the dictionary, I am so grateful to them for their assistance, as I add their suggestions I try to add their names to the list of Genealogophiles at the Geneadictionary.

I seem to have developed a heightened awareness for Genealogisms which seem to jump out at me as I read genealogy news. I find myself waking up at night and grabbing my phone to add to Evernote a new word, phrase or acronym that has just hit me.

Can you believe that I have 279 entries for inclusion in the Geneadictionary saved in my Evernote folder? I think the Geneadictionary is here to stay.

http://geneadictionary.wordpress.com

Likeing Wordpress

Although I have had some Wordpress blogs for a few years I had not seriously strayed into Wordpress territory until I set up the Geneadictionary last month.

While it takes a while to get used to a new interface I am becoming more comfortable with Wordpress. I have banged on quite a bit about Blogging being a two-way street ie not just a publishing medium but a means of communication between two or more people; I like the way that Wordpress facilitates that communication with its Like button that appears at the bottom of each Wordpress blog post.

Wordpress Like Button

In Blogger we can give a quick Google +1 to a post we like but I don't get notified of any +1s my blog receives. Do you? So unless we go back to each post we have written we cannot see if anyone has quickly communicated that they have read/liked our posts.

I much prefer the Like button on Wordpress because when someone likes one of my posts I get a notification,  You can turn this off if you are overwhelmed with Likes but in my case I get so few Likes so it is great to get that positive reinforcement. 

Next time you read and like a Wordpress blog  remember to let the blogger know by pressing that little blue star.

This Blogger is Liked a lot.

Great new UK Resource

Read about it here: National Archives Of The UK: Royal Marines Records Available Online

I'd like to be able to use the Sharethis widget in my browser to post bits form other blogs to Blogger but it just won't work so I have to resort to copy and paste and that is inefficient. I have tried sharing withWordpress and Delicious and it works a treat. A search of the Sharethis Support page brings no joy neither does a Google search. I need help with this one.