Genealife in Lockdown - Empty Pages.

Genimate Alex Daw over at the Family Tree Frog blog has challenged fellow geneabloggers to write about their lockdown experiences in a series of blog posts on Sundays during National Family History Month in Australia.

See what Alex has to say about the challenge here: 

https://familytreefrog.blogspot.com/2021/07/genealife-in-lockdown-nfhm-blogging.html 

As someone who is always up for a challenge I will try to post on the topic Genealife on Lockdown each Sunday in August. Following is my second post of five.

Impetus to Reflect

I had a very successful Zoom session with a member of our local family history group earlier in the week. This member wants to start a blog and, as a more cautious soul than me, wants to be prepared prior to launching her blog.

Rosie (a nom de plume) had been doing lots of research on blogging and, prior to our session, sent me a list of questions to be answered. This was a most useful session as we were able to focus her learning on her needs. Rosie went away with many of her questions answered.

The session was also beneficial for me, I am the sort of person who often dives into tasks without much thought and when giving advice on blogging I suggest that others "Just do It". Working with Rosie made me realise that my trial and error approach to tasks doesn't suit everybody.

Going through Rosie's list provided me with an opportunity to reflect on my GeniAus blog which is steaming towards its 12th birthday. I have identified several areas that can do with a tune-up so, this morning I have been carrying out some maintenance on the Topics widget in my left sidebar.

As Blogger doesn't offer a Categories feature I use the Labels Gadget which allows one to display up to ten Labels/Keywords, as a de facto Categories component. When I blog I make sure that I always add one or more of the ten labels featured in the Labels Gadget to each of my posts. On looking at my ten labels I decided that they were no longer as relevant as when I set them up.

I feel that the labels I am now using describe the general themes of my blog. I have introduced two new labels in place of the retired "Family", one is Ancestors (soon to become Our Ancestors)for posts about  deceased members of the family and one is Our Family for posts that refer to living family members. I am in the process of relabelling of posts that fit into these new categories.  I also need to tidy up my up my labels for Blogging and Geneablogging, I can't decide which I prefer to use. I'd like to add an Events label so I think Libraries may be on the chopping board.

Your thoughts on this are most welcome.

GeniAus Favicon

There are often several browser tabs open at once on my computer.

It has been said that pictures speak louder than words. I can identify many of these from the little Favicons that display in the browser tabs but when I have  some with the same little icon it's hard to distinguish one from the other. I found directions from Chick Croll on how to do this here https://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2018/10/adding-favicon-2018.html. This used to be a fiddly process but it is so easy now.

Until recently if I had three or four Blogger blogs open I could not identify which was which without reading the small text in the tabs but now that has changed.

Now I just have to look for for my familiar GeniAus portrait Favicon to find my blogger blog. I can also easily identify Myrt's Musings from DearMYRTLE's favicon.

My open browser tabs

That little portrait is an important of my branding - several years ago when I was going to change my portrait to a more lifelike/real photo one of my genimates said "You can't do that - it's part of your brand. So now I use it at every opportunity.

Together with my internet identity GeniAus it make my content easily recognisable.

Open Live Writer

As I am away from home with limited internet access I am using Open Live Writer to prepare this post offline. Once I’m done I’ll log on to the internet and complete my post.

In 2016 when genimates like Shelley from Twigs of Yore said that they used Open Live Writer  I hopped on the bandwagon and, after using it for a few posts, went back to drafting my posts using Blogger online.

I have mentioned Open Live Writer as a good free tool in my Managing Frugally presentation that I have prepared for #Congress_2018 and I wanted to brush up on my knowledge before I take to the stage at the conference.



It appears as though I have a very narrow space in which to enter my text I was able to change the font and font size in my post. I have managed to prepare a draft post and look at its preview, I’ve inserted some hyperlinks and some images – one from my computer and one from my smartphone that is attached to computer via USB. I used the text highlighter to add emphasis to some words in my text – that was nifty.

The spellcheck facility that is on the toolbar found a couple of errors for me ((I can spell) but my typing is punk.



I like the subscript and superscript buttons on the toolbar and the wordcount tool will come in handy too.

When I look at the preview of this post the text looks awfully large although I selected font size of 10 when the default was 4. I presumed this measure was in pt (point size) but maybe it is an em measurement. I guess that I’ll find out when I upload my post to Blogger.

I’ve prattled on for long enough so I’ll turn on my hotspot and upload a draft of this to GeniAus (I’m not game to post it directly from here as it may look like a dog’s breakfast.

And what did I find? The post content transferred well but there was no break between my paragraphs. This was easy to fix - I just added some html code (break) to create space between the paragraphs. There were also issues with the font - it was tiny. I was unable to fix this via the Blogger menu so it was back to the code. I'm not too good with html code but as I read through it I found lots of instances of xx-small and x-small font. I gambled and changed these to small and my post became readable. 

Once I learn where I have gone wrong I may go back to using Open Live Writer especially when I need to preserve my data.

Blog in Malay - On St Patrick's Day!

Blogger made an inappropriate suggestion to me..

I have seen no evidence of St Patrick's Day while out and about in Singapore today but thought I should not let the day pass without blogging as the ethnicity suggestions from my DNA tests suggest that I have a good bit of Irish DNA.

Ancestry DNA suggests that I have 51% Irish ancestry while FTDNA suggests my DNA is 86% from The British Isles (which includes Ireland). My traditional research suggests that I am more than 60% Irish so I do have cause to celebrate. In fact I can claim to have a Green Tree.

But let's get back to Blogger and that inappropriate suggestion. The people at Blogger think they know me well but today they suggested that I should blog in Malay. Here is the message I received when I logged in to write this post today.

Thanks for your interest, Blogger. As the only phrase I know in Malay is Selamat Datang, I think I'll pass on your suggestion and concentrate on tracking down my ancestors from Ireland.

St Patrick's Day Image from https://clipartfest.com/">clipartfest.com

Time for a Facelift

This old blog was looking a bit tired.

I had to play with the layout to update to my Rootstech Ambassador Badge and my Gold Rockstar 2016 badge so the blog's appearance has been on my mind. My 7th Blogiversary is just around the corner so it's time for change.

When writing a post earlier today I used the image below and thought that it would make a nice header so I went over to Canva, imported the image and played around. See the result of my playing above.

I've had a few green leafy headers, some white and blue ones and some featuring my tribe of grandchildren but I've never featured myself. I loved the colours of the ocean in this photo from Waimea Bay so I thought I'd give it a go. The image tones in nicely with the Rootstech Ambassador Badge too. Of course I included my avatar drawn by my now 15 year old granddaughter when she was just six, I have to include that as it is my brand.

To maintain consistency I may have to change my Facebook and other Social Media headers too.

I'm pleased with my facelift.

A Genimate's Width Issue

I made this quick video today to answer a question form another geneablogger.




If this doesn't work it is probably because she has a large image in her sidebar. What she needs to do is to go to the image widget in Layout and tick the Shrink to Fit box. That should solve the issue.

I've done it again

When using the mobile Blogger app to publish a quick blog post I sometimes make a silly mistake and publish to the wrong blog. Yesterday I did it again and published to my personal blog.

Will I ever learn that I must take more care when posting from my bed late at night?

It was just a lighthearted observation that I will repost below.

Sponsors

Just came across this tissue pack that was among the delegate goodies in a conference bag earlier this year.

What does it say about the demographic of genies when a funeral director is a conference sponsor?

Requiem for a Blog

From time to time I get an idea for a blog name so I go over to Blogger and set up a blog with that name in case I decide to use it in the future. On other occasions I have started a blog as a result of a particular idea, blogged enthusiastically for a year or two and then given up. Whenever I give a workshop on setting up a Blogger blog I give a practical demonstration on how to do so.

When I checked this morning I had twenty blogs on the Blogger platform. I haven't checked my two Wordpress accounts yet!

As I have been trying to tidy up or decrapify my life in both the physical and online world I decided that some blogs had to go. I exercised the Delete Blog key six times.

Please join me in saying farewell to these six blogs.

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.

Engage with your readers through threaded commenting | Blogger Buzz

My blog is ready for engagement is yours?

Engage with your readers through threaded commenting | Blogger Buzz:

'via Blog this'

A Case of Identity

In 2002 when I started using Blogger for the now defunct TLNewsau blog I was wary of identifying myself online. Current wisdom then was that one should create an online name/identity and use that lest some predator find out your true identity and either steal it or stalk you.

At that stage because I was a librarian I chose the bibliaugrapher label as it seemed to describe my activity and have a reference to my geographical location. When I started blogging for genealogy nearly 3 years ago I chose Geniaus (a genealogist from Australia) as my online identity. For consistency I use this ID as my login on quite a number of social networking sites together with a little portrait by my then 6 year old grand-daughter as my avatar. I see Geniaus and that portrait as my branding.

Last year when I was invited to be an Official Blogger for Rootstech I had to come out of the closet and reveal my true identity. This didn't deter me as I realised that, as long as I practised safe social networking, the predators probably wouldn't stalk me (especially when there are a lot of younger and prettier victims online).

In July Google+ appeared, I was lucky enough to be a very early Beta user of this new platform that I just love. To use Google+ one is supposed to use one's real name (although I know of quite a few dodgy IDs out there) so I complied and moved a little further out of the closet. Today in the Blogger Buzz Blog  I read this news Use your Google+ profile with your Blogger blogs.

It said " Today we’re excited to announce the first way you will be able to leverage Google+ -- by making it possible to replace your Blogger profile with your Google+ profile. 

In addition to giving your readers a more robust and familiar sense of who you are, your social connections will see your posts in their Google search results with an annotation that you've shared the post.

Plus, bloggers who switch will automatically get access to the Google+ integrations we’ll be rolling out in the future"

As I want to enhance my social connections and be in on the ground floor for any new Google+ initiatives I closed the closet door and changed my Blogger profile to my Google+ profile. I am no longer Geniaus on Blogger but Jill Ball who blogs as Geniaus. I hope that the new Google+ integrations come before the month is up as I have that long to crawl back into the closet and reactivate my Geniaus Blogger profile.

Are you changing your Blogger Profile to Google+ or are you adopting a 'wait and see' approach?

Geniaus in your pocket

Geniaus Mobile Template

Geniaus has gone mobile. No more should you have to squint and scroll to see the Geniaus blog on your mobile device.

I'm pleased that I selected the Blogger Designer templates for my blogs, Geniaus, GeniAusEvents and GeniMates because Blogger has released mobile-optimized versions of them.

I have set the options for my blogs to use the mboile templates on mobile devices and Blogger Buzz says this morning states "If you are using one of these templates, when you enable the mobile template option your blog will begin rendering using the mobile version of the same variant."

Well I have tried to look at Geniaus on my Windows Smartphone and Galaxy Tab this morning  and they are displaying the normal template.

Have I done something wrong or are there teething problems with these new templates?

PS.  I was just too quick with my test. I have gone back to my tablet and it is now displaying my three blogs in their mobile templates.

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Hornsby Family Tree

It's a brief FollowFriday post today as I have been distracted by the birth last night of a new grand-daughter.

I hadn't thought of using Blogger for a family site until I came across the Hornsby Family Tree.

Hornsby Family Tree

The benefits in using Blogger are that it is free and easy to use and it puts one's information out on the web for search engines and potential relatives to find. One is also able to allow for an element of collaboration and communication by enabling multiple authors and enabling the comments facility.

The disadvantages, when compared with a dedicated genealogy software application, relate to the inability to view data in standard genealogy formats such as charts and trees.

On this blog each post is devoted to one member of the Hornsby family. Where there is further information about other people cited in an entry there is a hyperlink to the entry about that person. There are also hyperlinks to newspaper articles  from some of the posts.

Typical post on Hornsby Family Tree

The appearance of the blog that has used a simple Blogger template is clear annd uncluttered.

 I am always impressed by creative uses of software and was pleased when I found this use of Blogger for genealogy. I look forward to watching the site develop and hope that its presence on the web initiates some worthwile contacts for the writer, Hornsby.

Geniaus Blog - Last week's Popular Pages - 27/9/10

The stats provided on blogger blogs now make it easy to see which blog posts have been popular with readers.

I am going to attempt to post each Monday (when I am not on holidays)  a list of the pages from my Geniaus blog that have been the most popular with readers in the previous week.

Last week's Top 5

Genealogy Blog Bling Sep 24, 2010, 3 comments  78 Pageviews

Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Our Famil... Sep 24, 2010  51 Pageviews

International Follow a Library Day - October 1st -... Sep 27, 2010  20 Pageviews

SecondSite Sep 24, 2010  16 Pageviews

Ten years ago - 24 September 2000 Sep 24, 2010  12 Pageviews

What's been hot today?

The New Blogger Stats Page (a real-time stats service that's fully integrated with Blogger) reports that these pages on this blog have been visited today:

The Old School Tie Sep 3, 2010  21 Pageviews

Flickr for Family and Local History Jul 29, 2010, 2 comments  9 Pageviews

Birthday Thoughts Sep 3, 2010 7 Pageviews

Pointers for Presenters Aug 16, 2010, 9 comments  5 Pageviews

10 things I can’t live without to support my genea... Jul 26, 2010, 1 comment 5 Pageviews

Get Prior Information on your Audience Sep 1, 2010, 2 comments 4 Pageviews

Australian Vital Records on Ancestry Jul 14, 2010, 14 comment s 3 Pageviews

Comparison of Windows Live Photo Gallery with Pica... Jun 26, 2010  2 Pageviews

20th edition Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture:... Jun 23, 2010   2 Pageviews

JewishGen Blog: The Home of Jewish Genealogy: Mage... Dec 2, 2009  1 Pageview

If you have a blogger blog I suggest you have a look at new Stats tab on your blog’s dashboard. I find it more convenient for a quick overview than Google Analytics

30+ Great Resources for Blogger Templates

30+ Great Resources for Blogger Templates

Great post on Mashable for those genealogists who use Blogger to write and host their blogs. Watch out for a slick new Geniaus look after Christmas.

Twitter

I have been using Twitter , a microblogging tool, for a few months to keep up with colleagues in my industry. I wonder if it could be useful tool for genealogists.

I am not the only person thinking about this as I just came across this article :How To Get Started As A Genealogist On Twitter. An earlier article is entitled : Can Genealogists Use Twitter?

As a result I've set up a Twitter account with a widget on this blog so that all my Twitter posts will be replicated here. Genealogists, especially those iin Australia, are encouraged to follow itgeniaus.

I'll have to wait and see if this is a valuable tool or a fun experiment.