Blogging Research, Memories, and Family Stories 1
© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Welcome to
Blogging Research,
Memories, and
Family Stories
Instructor: Laura
Hedgecock
Note pack and other resources are available at
http://TreasureChestofMemories.com/rootstech-handout.
My email: Laura @LauraHedgecock.com
My passion is telling
stories and helping
other people tell theirs.
That passion led me to
write a book,
Memories of Me: A
Complete Guide to
Telling and Sharing
the Stories of Your
Life.
My website, http://TreasureChestofMemries.com is all about
preserving and sharing memories and family stories.
This session focuses on technical end of blogging.
When it comes to creating content for your blog, both my
book and website have lots of helpful ideas and resources.
Blogging Research, Memories, and Family Stories 2
© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Session Outline
why family historians blog helping you to identify your goals and preferences
look at website building and blogging platforms to help you find the right one for you
l look at some family history sites to help you develop Ideas for how you want to configure your site.
how you’ll find and connect with your readers.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Your stories are like optics.
zoom in and make your own version of Who Do You Think You Are?
provide selfies.
use a wide-angle lens, tell stories against the backdrop of history.
Explain why the research matters; share the journey
You might not have access to the
professional genealogists that WDYTYA?
enjoys, but you can highlight the family
stories that make you who you are.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Both blogging and family history is about connecting:
Connect with your past
Create a legacy and a bond with loved ones. Even future ones.
Collaborate, share theories, frustrations
Find new cousins
• Unlike journals, blogging lets you share immediately
and globally.
• Push information out to people
• Post it to let others find it
• Include image files, audio files, and video files.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Your goals and
motivations will help
you evaluate the site
building platforms…
Content Management Systems --- CMS
• no longer just maintain a site.
• provide and mange content.
• Look at how best to deliver content to readers.
• Bells and whistles are only useful insofar as they
highlight and deliver your content.
• In fact, often it’s the complexity of the content—not
your technical aptitude—that will determine the
complexity of your website.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
What kind of readership do you want?
How are you going to connect with them?
• A blog that you only share with a small circle of
friends and family?
You can “publish” privately or even publish
password protected posts.
• A blog and resources that drives web traffic to your
business site?
• Complex e-commerce requires a more robust site.
• For a global audience, you’ll want a website building platform that helps you with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO or SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is basically the best
practices that make it easier for your site to achieve a high
raking from Google, Bing, or other search engines.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
There’s best fit for
• Your content • your abilities, • your goals, • your technical aptitude, • your budget, and • Your time.
________________________________________________
It’s a balancing act
between user-
friendliness and
functionality/control
• Friendliest options limit you in some way
• Most flexible options require a more know-how or
willingness to learn.
• You can change your mind later. You can “migrate” or
move a site, but it’s not always convenient.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
The Contenders
(See last page of
handouts for detailed
comparison chart.)
All the sites we’re
looking at today will let
you do the following:
• Design an attractive site with
• a logical layout and navigation
• Support a blog as well as other pages
• Support multiple users/bloggers
• Integrate with your social media
• You can use your own domain name
• You can use your logo and tagline.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
DEFINITIONS:
User-friendly and fee options:
Wordpress.com and Blogger.com
• WordPress.com and Blogger.com provide hosting,
• WordPress comes in two “flavors.”
o WordPress.com is the free version.
o WordPress.org is the self-hosted version.
BLOG vs PAGE
• Your blog displays articles—or posts—usually in the order of the most recent first.
• Pages, in comparison, tend to be relatively static and usually display the most critical information “above the fold,” so visitors can find that info without scrolling.
THEMES The preset formatting that gives the site a cohesive look and feel without you having to work hard at it. It chooses the layout, color scheme, fonts, and image sizes
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
PROs of WordPress.com and Blogger.com
• Free
• Includes hosting and domain or (subdomain).
• Beginner friendly
• Wordpress.com is open sourced.
CONs
• Limited Customization
• Limited Functionality
Weebly and Square Space
Depending on the package you choose, they price out at anywhere from $3 to $25 a month.
What you CAN NOT do with the free options.
• You can’t structure your permalinks.
o You can change the ending slug, but you can’t work around their file structures.
• You can add some simple buy now and donate now
buttons to your site, but more complex e-commerce won’t work with these platforms.
• Domain management – you can’t create subdomains, testing domains and re-directs
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Weebly and Square Space – con’t
PROS
Reasonably priced
User friendly o drag and drop interfaces. o easy transfers from other blogging platforms.
“Premium Support” options
CONS
not open sourced –You rely fully on Weebly and SquareSpace to meet your needs.
Some limits to customization, but not as limited as with the free options.
The less you pay, the more you’re limited. Using code – particularly html – is trickier
Likewise, some limits to their functionality.
o The limits tend to come in the blogging interface.
o increased functionality can cost more
per month Either of these options might be good for you if: • You want your site up quickly
• If you needs are straight-forward.
• If you don’t want to learn the things you have to learn to
get a self-hosted site up and running.
• Especially for business sites, if you like-- and can afford--
the security of technical support.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Wordpress.org,
Joomla, and Drupal
Big 3 of Open-sourced
Self-hosted website
builders
• Self-hosted means you arrange for the hosting yourself.
The software is free.
• One time set up; annual renewals
• There are advantages to having a self-hosted site. Much
more control of your site, domain, etc.
PROS
Opened sourced. - Huge knowledge base means forums, how-to articles, and videos.
- They’ve been tested and re-tested
-They continue to be updated
- Developers continue to offer additional themes and plugins.
Sites are highly customizable
Have great functionality. Wordpress.org
- over 2000 free themes, plus “premium” themes that you
can purchase.
- 27,000 plugins.
Joomla
-900 themes and 8000+ plugins.
PLUGINS are add-on
software packages that
make your application do
something better or do
something differently.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Drupal
- Most robust of these three
Cons:
You have to set up hosting on your own domain name.
Learning curve in getting started
all those plugins aren’t all created equal and it can be time consuming to test them out.
These options are best for:
• Those wanting increased customization
• Those wanting control of everything.
• Those with comfortable with technology.
• Those moving from Wordpress.com or Blogger.
Moving from a Wordpress.com or Blogger site to
Wordpress.org doesn’t involve a huge learning curve.
The editor screens are very similar.
Themes and Layout
Changing “themes”
within a platform is
easy:
You lose no
content,
No search engine
rankings
No subscribers.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Choose one that will
• Fit your personality and your audience, as well
as your needs and content.
• Support a side panel
• That’s responsive
• CAVEAT, some themes will let
you customize more.
• Some themes will work better with certain plugins.
Layout options:
Header images:
They take up room
above the fold, but also
provide personality and
visual appeal
Landing pages--
Websites can open up
to your most recent
post, a page of “snippets” of your recent posts or to a
different page of your choice.
What side panel apps –or widgets-- would work for your
purposes?
Layout Considerations
Aesthetics:
o Consider the age of your readers
o You want to draw readers in. Don’t make them
work to read your content
RESPONSIVE means that
your site will render, or
display, well on all sorts of
different devices, from
phones to PCs.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Side panels:
o Right vs Left: We read from left to right, so consider what’s most important—your post content or side panel content
o Categories and tags translate into short links that you can place in the side panel or elsewhere.
o Archives by date don’t help first time visitors
o Easy to find search field is a “must”
o Side panel can offer ways for readers to follow or connect with you via social media
o Side panel can display badges with your professional or vocational associations
Top Navigation
o Should look clean and professional.
o Good place to reference services or resources.
o Should not confuse visitors
o Font big enough to find things at a glance.
General appeal o Let your personality shine
o Header can depict your interest and emphasis
o Can add personality
o Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Test your choices out by asking friends to find info at your site.
o Landing page
If your site opens to a snippet page, readers will see the types of things you blog about versus one post.
You can also have your blog open to a different page.
Note: when visitors come to your page via social media or search engines, they’ll come directly to that post, not your landing page.
Remember: Categories and
tags aren’t the same.
Categories are more of an
upper level organization.
Tags function as a detailed
indexing system.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Blog readers like to scan.
• Use shorter paragraphs • Use more active speech. • Add white space to your page
o Post length varies, some experts recommend 400-600 words. You can publish longer articles in installments.
• Use h1, h2, etc. tags (see articles in resources below)
Connect with your readers. The tone of a blog is conversational
o Use 1st person speech
o Use informal speech
o Bad grammar is bad, but personal flare and license are good
Sharing and Promotion is a matter of you and your
audience finding each
other.
Two factors
• providing and
delivering fresh,
interesting content
• Connecting with
others
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Social Media & Sharing
Sites “integrated” with
Social media.
That means:
• You can set things
up so that every time
you “publish” new
content, you also
“publicize” or promote
that content your new post on the social media outlets of
your choice.
• Content (pages/posts) can be accompanied by “sharing”
buttons allowing readers to promote or share, via their
favorite social media.
• You can place social media “follow me” apps in your side
panel.
**** If you don’t use social media to interact and build
relationships, you’re limiting what Social media can do for
you.
Share others’ content, interact, show personality.
Pinterest:
Great for sharing family history ideas and articles.
See recommended articles Why Pinterest is Great for Family Historians, How to Use Pinterest to Share
Memories, and see also Pinterest Boards for Memory Sharing
Twitter:
Great for interaction
#memes (#familyhistory #genealogy, #rootstech) can increase readership. Twitter users look for content with those memes.
TIP: When you promote with social
media, you’ll reference a permalink
that goes directly to the post, by-
passing the landing page. Likewise,
if your users find your articles via
Google or Bing, they’ll go directly to
your article.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
If you want other people to retweet your content, it’s better to keep you tweets down to 110 to 120 characters
Facebook:
Recent changes in Facebook metrics have made its “Fan” or business pages less valuable unless your want to pay to “boost” your posts, i.e. advertise.
Often, less than 11% of your followers will see your Facebook posts.
If you have fans or collaborators on your personal pages, you can use that to promote new content.
Linked In
Network with other professionals as well as share articles.
Join groups
Great place to find content and develop ideas.
Google Plus
Gurus seem divided, but
Good for interaction
TIP: As you blog, your stats till tell you
where your visitors come from. From there,
you can decide on which social media
outlets you want to concentrate.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Other Sharing Options
Geneabloggers.com
Genealogy listing service
Everyone should register! (one time registration)
Great place to find bloggers with similar interests
Daily blogging prompts
Cyndi’s List
Comprehensive listing service of all things genealogy
related.
One time signup.
RSS feeds
Often called Really Simple Syndication
Readers can sign up to receive notifications of new
content
One time set-up, place in side panel
Mailing Lists
Great way to share content
For businesses, great way to grow influence
Ideal frequency is monthly. No more often than every
2 weeks, no less often than quarterly.
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SEO, or Search
Engine Optimization,
is the technical and
writing best practices
that help search
engines find your
content, which results
in referrers.
**** Good content is king.
o Good content and fresh content trumps writing
for search engines.
o Good content and fresh content is what keeps readers coming back.
Google, Bing, and others’ algorithms constantly changing
Very complicated
The technical attributes of your site builder affects SEO
Your writing and formatting can help
Self-hosted sites have plugins that evaluate drafts and suggest tweaks—keyword use, naming photos, reading level of writing..
o You don’t write so much for SEO as tweak your
writing and content to optimize your visibility.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
• Be bold, try new things and explore new things.
• Connect with others! Enjoy yourself as you share.
• Don’t let your stories go untold. Tell your stories!
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Website Builders Comparison Chart
Platform Pros Cons Good for Wordpress.com
Free (with fees for upgrades) Limited ability to customize Testing the Waters
Powerful and popular Limited functions Beginners
User friendly Limited to built-in pluginsi ii Technophobes
Includes hosting (sitename.wordpress.com)
Easy to migrate to self-hosted site later
Blogger
Free (with fees for upgrades) Limited ability to customize Beginners
Powerful and popular some html required to customize iii Casual Bloggers
User friendly Limited functionality Google Apps &
Includes hosting (sitename.blogspot.com) Google claims they own content Google + Users
Easy to migrate to self-hosted site later
Weebly If you want:
$3 -$29 per month depending on functionality and support.
Not open-sourced Attractive site w/out a lot of technical expertise
More functionality costs more monthly
User friendly Less you pay, more you’re limited Content management system
Drag and drop dashboard Using css or html is trickyiv want a site up quickly
"Premium" Support at all levels Limited to Weebly plugins security of tech support
Supports e-Commercev May charge more for domain namesvi
Limited SEO Or if SEO less priority
Blogging interface limited.vii
Square Space If you want:
$8 - $24/month, including domain Not open sourced: content management system
Beginner friendly drag and drop interface
Has SEO infrastructure, but no plugins to evaluate content.viii ix
Attractive site w/out a lot of technical expertise
Easy transfer from free platformsx Not as customizable as self-hosted Site up quickly
Free domain with annual packagexi
Some limits to functions, esp. blogging Security of tech support .
24/7 support; live chats or 1-hour email replies Can’t modify backend codexii Or if SEO is medium priority
Supports e-commerce
Wordpress.org (self-hosted) Good for those
Platform free-- you pay for the hosting. Learning curve getting started comfortable w/ technology
Open sourced; huge developer community You need a hosting service wanting full customization
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Very flexible and powerful You need your own domain name. wanting full CMS
Many web-hosts have 1 click installationxiii Not all plug-ins created equal. preferred by many authors.
"Best Pick" for self-hosting beginners. Options can be overwhelming Moving from WordPress.com
Highly customizable +2,000 free themes Used for many businesses
27,000 plugins
Joomla
Platform free-- you pay for the hosting. slightly higher skill level required comfortable w/ css, html
Open sourced; huge developer community You need a hosting service E-commerce sites
Robust platform Learning curve getting started comfortable w/ technology
900+ themes, 7000+ plugin You need a hosting service wanting more customization
Drupal
Platform free-- you pay for the hosting. Learning curve getting started Techies
Open sourced; huge developer community You need a hosting service Group Sites
Extremely flexible and powerful You need your own domain name.
Probably more functionality than average Family History site needs.
1800+ themes, 24,000+ plugin Not as user friendly as Wordpress.org
wide variety of content types
Front-in functionality
© Laura Hedgecock 2014-2015
RESOURCES:
Susan Gunelius, “How to Choose the Right Blogging Platform for Your Business,” Annanova.com, March 20, 2014, http://www.ananova.com/blogging-platform/.
“Plugins,” Wordpress.com, accessed February 2, 2015, http://en.support.wordpress.com/plugins/.
Jake Jorgovan, "Squarespace vs WordPress - The Ultimate Guide to choosing the right platform," WP Curve, June 19, 2014, http://wpcurve.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress/.
Kasia Mikoluk, “Best Blogging Platform: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, SquareSpace, or Typepad?” June 20, 2013, https://www.udemy.com/blog/best-blogging-platform/.
MOZ forum: "SEO and Squarespace," MOZ.com, January 13, 2014, http://moz.com/community/q/seo-and-squarespace-is-this-really-an-option
"Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]," WPBeginner.com, February 2, 2015, http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/?display=wide
Ginny Soskey, “How to Choose the Best Platform for Your Blog,” Feb 4, 2013, Shareaholic.com, https://blog.shareaholic.com/best-blogging-platform/ .
"Weebly Starter, Pro or Business: Which plan should I choose?" Websitetooltester.com, http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/reviews/weebly-review/starter-vs-pro-vs-business/.
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© Laura Hedgecock 2015
Other Resources -- click on link to go to pdf
document with other resources.
Bonus Material:
Making your site look more professional
✔Align photos✔ Use sub-titles✔ Proof-read✔ Logical categories and tags✔ Add badgesX Images without permission
Why does Weebly not mention their pricing anywhere on the website before you sign up?" Quora, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.quora.com/Why-does-Weebly-not-mention-their-pricing-anywhere-on-the-website-before-you-sign-up.
Jeremy Wong,"Weebly Pricing - What You Get from Weebly Business, Weebly Pro & Starter Plans, Website Builder Expert, November 17, 2014, http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/weebly-pricing-pro-starter-plans/.
Jeremy Wong, “Website Builders Comparison Chart,” Website Builder Expert, February 2, 2015, http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders-comparison-chart/.
"Wordpress vs Joomla vs Drupal + CMS 'Comparison Chart'," Website Setup.org, accessed November 21, 2014, http://websitesetup.org/cms-comparison-wordpress-vs-joomla-drupal/.
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• The DO’s • Align your photos. This is like wrapping text in
Microsoft word. I have a more detailed explanation in my handouts, but in most applications, from Mailchimp to Drupal, it’s as simple as left clicking your image and opening up the image properties. If you choose align left, the photo appears on the left with the text continuing to the right.
• Use sub-titles and format them using the h2 formatting options in your dialogue.
• Proofread. I know. The worst person to proof-read text
is the person who wrote it. Yet bloggers seldom have the luxury of a proofreader of copy writer. Use a text to voice program that will read your post out loud to you. It will help you find errors. The good news, however, is that when you do find an error, you can correct it.
• Use a logical group of categories and tags. They turn
into hyperlinks and can really help users find the information on your site.
• Add a badge representing your professional or other affiliations to your side panel
• The DON”Ts • Don’t grab images from Google images. Use stock
photos sites (see listing) or use your own or ask permission.
• Don’t copy other’s content, which is basically why you can’t grab images off Google.
i Ginny Soskey, “How to Choose the Best Platform for Your Blog,” Feb 4,
2013, Shareaholic.com, https://blog.shareaholic.com/best-blogging-
platform/. ii “Plugins,” Wordpress.com, accessed February 2, 2015, http://en.support.wordpress.com/plugins/. iii Soskey.
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iv Susan Gunelius,"How to Choose the Right Blogging Platform for Your Business," Annanova.com, March 20, 2014, http://www.ananova.com/blogging-platform/. v "Weebly Starter, Pro or Business: Which plan should I choose?"
Websitetooltester.com,
ttp://www.websitetooltester.com/en/reviews/weebly-review/starter-vs-pro-
vs-business/. vi Ibid. vii Gunelius. viii Jake Jorgovan, "Squarespace vs WordPress - The Ultimate Guide to choosing the right platform," WP Curve, June 19, 2014, http://wpcurve.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress/. ix MOZ forum: "SEO and Squarespace," MOZ.com, January 13, 2014, http://moz.com/community/q/seo-and-squarespace-is-this-really-an-option x Kasia Mikoluk, “Best Blogging Platform: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, SquareSpace, or Typepad?” June 20, 2013, https://www.udemy.com/blog/best-blogging-platform/. xi Gunelius. xii Kasia Mikoluk, “Best Blogging Platform: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, SquareSpace, or Typepad?” June 20, 2013, https://www.udemy.com/blog/best-blogging-platform/. xiii Gunelius.
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