Every hashtag on every post on every platform should ALWAYS be pascal case (a.k.a. camel case). I made this to illustrate how screenreaders read hashtags depending on whether they are lowercase or pascal case.
It’s a small thing that all of us can do to build a more inclusive, accessible internet for all. Please take the time to use pascal case.
Before I talk about my odd little niche WordPress projects, what are some of your blogs or personal projects, WordPress or otherwise? If you comment and link to them here, I'll definitely check them out! I like to see people's projects, what they've made and what they continue to work on. The fediverse has been really cool for seeing a lot of that. I'm also interested in how long we're able to keep passion projects going amidst the crazy chaos of life. It can be tough! But writing and making things is always super rewarding, as well-- at least it has been for me.
I think I've always liked writing, I like music and that's basically mostly or all writing. At least it is for the lyrics of the vaguely rock type stuff I usually end up making. I write a lot of lyrics, short little bits, phrases. But for longer pieces, I've always liked the ease of writing and reading blogs and digital journals. I'm not one for writing in physical journals. I do like reading physical books, but for writing, but I prefer to type.
Over the years, I've had the chance to experiment with different forms and styles of blogs, just as I've liked to do when designing websites. That was the initial appeal of microblogs like Twitter, things like Livejournal before it, and the huge appeal of WordPress, which of course you can use for short OR long form writing.
I first started playing around with WordPress back around 2008. It was different back then! If you had a free plan, you could change the name of your blog to whatever you wanted as much as you wanted (something they don't allow anymore but was super useful if you needed to rebrand) etc, and all kinds of other differences (no block editor back then, either, obviously!)
I do still have a blog running from back then. It's called space. time. tech. (https://spacetimetech.wordpress.com). The topics I wrote about on the blog are probably obvious from its title. I've been (pretty infrequently) updating that one for 15 years this year. Wow.
The second oldest blog I still run I've mentioned here before. It's called Animated TV Blog (https://animatedtvblog.wordpress.com), and again, as its name fairly obviously suggests, I write about my favorite cartoons. I started Animated TV Blog in 2010 and it's been a blast, even just doing the infrequent updates. And I've been doing it for 13 years this year- another really long-running blog I've been able to maintain somehow (you gotta love the content!) I had a pretty active linked Twitter account too that I ran alongside ATB (back when Twitter was just microblogging, and not a fascist wasteland) for many years. Again, I believe the key to good blog writing is picking a topic or topics that you really love-- something you're really passionate about (not just a fad or a passing interest). That way, you'll be more likely to continue to want to write on the blog. At least it worked for me, in the case of ATB!
My most recently created WordPress blog isn't updated anymore, but the posts are all still up and viewable. It was called Tech User Today (https://techusertoday.wordpress.com) and it was an experiment to try and make something a little more professional, to try and monetize with affiliate links (there's a lot of competition out there). I ended up taking on a bunch of outside reviews, and it was pretty cool, but it also quickly became overwhelming and not enjoyable. I started that one in 2018 and I stopped writing posts for it around two years later, in 2020.
One last thing I've learned from writing WordPress blogs, always make sure to update and maintain your themes! Older default themes tend to start to look outdated or crappy. Just like any good website, it's best to just make sure you like the look of what you're making, and to remember you can always switch up the look of it- I've definitely done this several times over the last 15 years.
If you read all this, you're awesome. And make sure to comment with your own projects!
I see that many of you have personal blogs that you post links to. For some of you, the link shows a preview image. For others it shows a gray box with the post title. Mine used to show up with the gray box, but now they just show up as text-only links when I post them here. Is there a WordPress configuration or ActivityPub plugin configuration that I need to change so preview images show up here?
Thx!
I've been lucky enough to make a number of friends from #blogging. This is a bit of a feel good post about how social media isn't the only way to meet new people.
Hi there, I am looking to follow personal #blogs written by #SouthEastAsians, other #Asians, #Africans. Basically not Western. Nothing wrong with the West just that I have a huge RSS feed full of US, UK blogs. I want to diversify my feed.
Apparently, Malaysians like to #blog about 3 things: Food, politics & money 😂
I prefer genuinely personal blogs that are slice of life stuff. If you know of any please recommend to me! 🙏
Bloggers and writers! Which tool(s) are you using to draft and write your posts or articles? And how do you keep track of the status of a piece (idea/draft/edited/published etc.)? #blogging#writing
The way I blog has drastically changed since I discovered the IndieWeb. For one, I'm less precious with my blog posts. I allow mistakes, errors, and no longer think chronologically. Every post is an evolving document.
Hey yeah! I haven't written about a concert in a long time! I haven't been to one since before COVID-19, hell, even when concerts slowly started to return at times, I still did not go because I didn't want to subject myself to crowds until it died down as well as cancellations due to restrictions. Then my chance finally came when Rob Zombie decided...
I would like to say that I've now gotten off my ass to transfer my domain to my new #Wordpress home. To be specific, Wordpress.com.
I know lots of people will lecture me on why I need to be at WP.org, but this works for me now. I want to focus on writing, and every precious minute is vital. I don't want to spend it on backend maintenance which I do not enjoy. I'm happy to pay Automattic to handle it.
I'm on the way to being 100% #IndieWeb and hope to start #blogging about it soon.
This presentation covers how I transformed my website from being a static digital portfolio into a dynamic hub, ingrained with my social presence, containing the most authentic version of me online.
For anyone who might have missed it last week, I wrote an article about why I switched from Gmail to Proton Mail and you can read it and hopefully share it with others via the link below.
@protonmail also suggested that I apply for the partner program, which I did but haven't heard back yet. Hoping to hear back in the next day or two and hoping that I get accepted.
In a recent podcast, @pluralistic & said he writes a lot cos it's a way to deal with the anxiety he gets about things.
I can relate. I have a lot of thoughts rattling in my head all the time. If I don't externalise them into words, I get overwhelmed, anxious & can't sleep, so I often share them on #socialmedia first because it's quick. Later, I will flesh them out into a #blog post or a #journal entry. #Writing this way is a form of selfcare.
Hello! Thank you for reading what I write. Sorry to ask, but… who are you? I was chatting to a friend about what it is like running a blog, finding new topics, keeping up with a daily schedule, moderating comments, etc. And they asked, quite reasonably, "who are your readers?" And, honestly, I have very […]
I am SO happy that WP.com supports the #Fediverse this way. Now I don't have to depend on brid.gy to allow Mastodon comments to my posts to appear on my blog. I'll figure out how to do this after my walk.
Woohoo. So excited and am so glad I decided to ditch #Squarespace for #Wordpress this year.
More info: https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/10/11/activitypub/
Myself and @beardedtechguy are looking for writers to write for our #AllThingsTech blog that we launched earlier this week.
If you are interested in doing some blogging about tech related stuff, please reach out to us as we'd love to talk to you and possibly bring you on-board!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask as I'd be happy to answer any questions.