Category Archive: Blogging Help/Links

Sep
01

Using Google+ for the #writecampaign

Categories:

by

The Awesome Power that is Google+ –> Writers, you should use it!

This post contains:

  • What is G+
  • How the #writecampaign participants can use it
  • How to join if you are not already in G+

Google +

As i’m sure most of you are aware, Google+ is the “new thing” is social media tools out. It is just awesome. I MUCH prefer it to twitter in most respects. I now find twitter so impersonal. G+ is like having the real time streaming of twitter emersed with blog posts and blog comments. With a dash of Facebook friends thrown in.

You can post your blog post, with a little blurb about it asking for comment on a topic… some will go and look at your blog and leave comments there. Some will leave them on G+, the interaction on G+ is awesome. Real time discussion about a issue or problem is fantastic. Unlike Twitter where the replies take up room in the stream and are really short. On G+ it is done in the comments of the post. So much more handy. –> Ok so you are worried that blog comments will go down, hmmm but you are making real connections on G+. I’m happy with that trade off.

Best of all you can limit who sees what!

f you only want your closer writing friends to see your query for Beta-readers. They only they need to see it. If however your book is about to be launched and you want to scream it to the world, you can scream it to everyone who wants to listen to you.

Twitter on the other hand you have no power over who sees your tweets. Your Twitter readers decide if they want to see your tweets or not.

#writecampaign –> What can you use it for?

Well it is a nice place for sharing out posts. If you all follow each other, then you can add everyone to a “Writecampaign circle and share your posts:-) Or you can write messages about how you are going with the campaign and challenges.

I have made a list for everyone in the #writecampaign on Google+ –> go HERE TO ADD YOUR NAME <– If you have not already done so. From this post you can easily hover over each name and add it to your circles. Easy!

 

–> Mini blog plug (sorry) –> don’t forget to sign up for my competition. If you have a book published and would like me to buy it/review it slash whatever. Sign up to the linky list. In the post here. I will buy at least one book a week maybe more.<–

 

 But I’m not in G+ and I can’t get an invite!

Sure you can! Just send me an email, tweet, message with THE EMAIL YOU WANT CONNECTED TO YOU G+ ACCOUNT.

In other words I need you to put the email address you want connected in the body of the email. This makes it very clear to me that you want that email connected.

If you already have a Google account (google blogger/feedburner ….) then use that email connected with that account. Then your profile will be imported. (You can change it of course)

My secure Email form is here –> Email Sarah for a G+ invite, leaving your email address in the body of the message

 

 I’m in G+ and want to have that badge thinggy on my blog

I have a page where I have described this process –> Add a badge details From here you can add a badge to BLOGGER or WORDPRESS. Assuming you can add an HTML widget to your blog. (Blogger no problems) (WordPress, should be no problems). There are lots of pictures to talk you through.

 

BLOG LAUNCH:

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this new blog launch today. All your comments have eased my mind that people are going to come and find me at the new site. Please make sure you update your RSS feeds and things as they are obviously different to the old Precocious Scribe.

Problems so far:

  • No ability (yet) to subscribe to comments (fixing soon)
  • RSS has been playing up
  • Feedburner not recognising my statistics yet. (I still have zero subscribers according to them) I know that at least 15 of you have sent me personal messages/emails to say you have actually signed up to the RSS, so I feel a little better. It’s horrid seeing it at zero instead of hundreds.
  • Still have little content, the pages are rather bare…
  • Basic formatting error and messyness.

On the whole I am happy:-)

 

Thanks again guys you are awesome

 

 

This post has no tag

Aug
29

How To Add a Google+ Badge to Your Blog

Categories:

by

I have had a few people ask me how I got my widget on this blog, and on my new WordPress blog that I am starting to make. Here are some instructions, with pictures, for people that are not too good with the whole adding code and widgets thing.
Primarily this “how to” is for Blogger, but the process is the same for WordPress.
 

This works for both Blogger and WordPress

1. Open up your Google+ account and click on YOUR “about page” –> You will see a series of numbers in the web address. This is you ID number. Cut and paste this somewhere safe as you will need it.

2. Go to this website –> http://widgetsplus.com/–> To create your widget

2. Click the “get widget” blue button on the left hand side. (Your widget looks like the box in the top right) 3. Once you click the button “get widget” the screen changes to this one

3. Fill in your ID number (from step one) into the box that i have circled for you. Advanced: –> You may change the other boxes to get the colours/size you want.

4. Hit the big orange “Get code” button.

5. Cut and paste all of the code it creates into an HTML widget on your blog.

Creating the Blog widget:

WordPress –> This is normally under –> widget –> Text/HTML –> you drag the box to your sidebar where you want it. Add in the code to the HTML section and that should do it.  (Sorry i have not done pictures of this one)

Blogger –> You add an gadget and then add the HTML/Javascript widget to you blog.

 

Add the HTML widget

Then add a title “Google +” or some such Then add in that code and hit save :-)

Make sure you add ALL the code as an error in one little part will stop it from working. you should have now have your widget.

 
HINT: –> What do i do if the widget is too wide for the blog spot?

This is easy. Open up your widget again so you can see the code. If you look at mine in the picture above, you will notice a “320″ on the first line of the code. Change the numbers to “230″or something. Be careful to keep everything else the same including the quote marks. This should reduce the width of the widget.

 

HINT –> What do I do if it is not working?

1. Start the process again. Sometimes you might have made a copy and paste error when copying the code to the HTML. 2. Refresh the page 3. Sometimes things just don’t work. Wait come back in an hour and see.

Hope this little guide was of help to you …

Tags: , , , ,