Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. -- Gene Fowler

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Blog relocating to Blogger

I've spent most of the month pondering my various blogging options, and I've settled, at least for the moment, on Blogger.

Blogger has a lot of advantages: it's highly customisable (and doesn't charge for access to the CSS), allows for scheduled posting so I can post blogs several days in advance and have them automatically go live when I want them to, and it's readily accessible to anyone with a Google account or an OpenID. Even if it should happen that you don't have either of those, you can post a comment and it will show up screened for me to approve of.

On OpenID: If you have an account with certain websites, you already have an OpenID. These sites include Google, LiveJournal, Yahoo, Blogger, MySpace, and Flickr. Check out this site for a complete list and instructions on how to log in with your OpenID.

I've played with some Blogger templates and I'm undecided as to whether I'll use/modify an existing template (like Clips or Paper Wall) or just hack up the Minima template I'm using (and have already modified in a few ways). There are a lot of beautiful templates out there, but I'm more inclined to stick to the clean and simple. Such pages will load faster and not be too visually distracting. I'm looking for a certain look and feel as well as elements that suggest writing and/or art. I also have ideas for some customisations to the current template.

Another advantage to Blogger is its access to advertising options. I have no plans to splash Flash or animated adverts across this blog, but I would like to get set up with Google AdSense or to become an Amazon affiliate. Being that this is a writing blog and I make frequent reference to books on writing, it makes sense for me to become an Amazon affiliate. Then I can display books and get potential ad revenue if someone makes a purchase. On VOX the only people who get paid if someone buys a book through a link on my blog are VOX.

I can also get wider exposure with Blogger, I think. My blog is automatically indexed on Google, and the community doesn't seem bogged down with spam like VOX. I think a lot of blogs have left VOX and just not mentioned it. The VOX Literature Liberation Front used to be somewhat active, but don't read too far through it now or you'll hit a huge swath of NSFW images as part of a Russian advert for dating sites. That no one has removed this post tells me the community isn't being maintained any longer.

So for the moment, Drops of Blood on My Forehead's home is at Blogger. RSS feeds are available for both posts and comments, so even if you don't remember to come round and have a look, you can have blog updates dropped in your e-mail box.
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