How Do You Comment On Blogger Blogs?

If a particular garden blogger allows for Google Accounts, OpenID and Name/URL comments to be left on a blog which one do you use? I asked garden bloggers which option they chose and here are some of the responses I received on Twitter.

"I generally use Name/URL...it's nice to keep consistent ID across multiple blogs." Marie-Gardening.About.com

"Name/URL. Probably because it existed before the others and I want to keep my 'brand.' " Zanthan Gardens

"When posting comments on blogs I always use Name/URL. Sarah at Toronto Gardens. Sis Helen uses her name so u can tell us apart." Toronto Gardens

"I use my Google acct. Makes things easier since Google owns me online." Katie-GardenPunks

"Definitely Name/URL. If something requires me to log into Google/OpenID I end up not commenting at all unfortunately." Xitomatl

"I use whatever it seems to default to, usually Google (nice to keep a consistent ID across multiple blogs)" InterLeafings

As for me, I use a combination of the Name/URL option and lately the OpenID option. I'm not always logged into the Google Account associated with the MrBrownThumb blog so this allows me to keep things consistent. I started using the Name/URL option when I noticed that my MrBrownThumb Blogger profile had over 2 thousand views (now at 5,800) and I started wondering how many potential visits to the blog were lost because people never clicked beyond the Blogger profile. I sometimes get lost reading the information contained in those profiles and never get around to visiting the blog and it must happen with others too. If you regularly use the Google Account option to comment make sure the URL to your blog is visible in your profile. I have the URL to my blog(s) in the "About Me" section and under the Homepage URL field just in case a viewer doesn't scroll past the top of the fold.

If the Google Account, Name/URL and OpenID commenting option is available to you which do you prefer to use?

Blogger Is Crowdsourcing New Templates

Some good news on the Blogger templates front for those who wish Blogger would issue more templates.

I came across this page by Siobhan Quinn, Product Manager, Blogger.com, asking for designers familiar with CSS and for graphic designers & photographers to submit background images and patterns. If you're a web designer, photographer or graphic designer see here for more info on how to participate.

The contact form used to collect information was created with Google Docs. You can see a short tutorial on creating a contact form in Blogger here.

Soungle-Royalty Free Sound Effects Library

The other day I was putting together a video in Windows Movie Maker and getting it ready to upload to YouTube. I recorded the video with a compact digital camera, and as is the case of most of my videos recorded in this manner, the background noise and wind was amplified. It is distracting and annoying but I can't do much about it without better equipment.

Or so I thought.

I remembered this tweet by Ron Wolford and visited Soungle, a royalty free sound effects library, in search of something to make the video better. The video I was going to upload to YouTube was of a beehive I spotted near the Hull-House Heirloom Farm on a recent visit. I didn't like the sound in the video because it sounded windy and was too loud. So I searched Soungle for audio clips of bees and download a couple that I added to the soundtrack of the video I took. You may want to turn down your speakers a little because the sound may be LOUD.



That is the result of the sound the camera recorded and the sound clips of the bees I added to the video. Not a great job of mixing but the bees do sound louder. After I was done and uploaded the video I started to feel guilty about adding the sound clips of the bees because it wasn't an honest representation of what was recorded.

Ever since I started dabbling in Photoshop I've made sure that photos I use for my garden blogs are as "honest" as photos can be in our digital age. Sure--I crop, sharpen, boost colors and contrast in photos, but I don't go beyond what can be achieved using traditional film techniques. This has been a conscious choice of mine and something I've wrestled with for a few years and I'm pleased with how ethically I've used the medium of digital photography. In part, I've set up rules for myself because I'm always disappointed, and a little mad, when I buy a plant because of a photo and it looks nothing like the photo.

I took photographs at the beehive and it wouldn't have occurred to me to add more bees to the picture to make it better. Few people will ever see the video, even fewer will notice and less will care--but it bothers me that I crossed a line I wouldn't have crossed in a photograph.

Do you make videos for your garden blog? Do you or would you enhance them beyond adding a musical soundtrack or narration?

Two Floral Templates For Blogger

When I asked; What do You Like About Blogger? several people commented on the lack of new templates made available for Blogger. If you're tired of having the same look as everyone else the best solution, at the moment, is to search the Internet for templates created by third parties. The best templates available are those that have been ported from WordPress.

Here are two floral templates that have been ported into Blogger that were originally WordPress themes.

Notepad Chaos. Demo here. Download here.

Water Color. Demo here. Download here.

Before you make any changes to your template back sure to backup and download your blog in case you should make any major mistakes. I'm just providing information here and can't be held responsible if something happens to your blog by using a third party template. If you need help with installation contact the developers. If you'd like to be able to make a simple changes to your template see the Table of Contents for a few tutorials.

Looking for Landscape Contractors/Designers for a National TV Show

DIY Network/HGTV landscape makeover show is on the hunt for young, hip, creative and energetic landscape professionals who have an innovative eye for design and construction/masonry skills. It's a great experience and a way for you to get your name and company on TV. Please EMAIL photos of yourself and your work. Please include a brief description of yourself and your specific talents.


Email: Helpareporter@gmail.com (Put LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS/DESIGNERS FOR A NATIONAL TV SHOW in sub)

Deadline: 03:06pm PACIFIC - 19 June

hat tip: Container Gardening

Where Do You Write?

A couple of days ago I started composing my blog posts in Google Docs or Notepad and pasting them into the particular blog editor I'm using. I've found this liberating and have noticed that I can create a blog post a lot faster than if I was typing away in the little blog editor provided. After all these years of blogging away inside a tiny box I never realized how constricting it felt until I started using my whole monitor to write out a blog post. It was like gardening on a windowsill and then being given a proper yard in which to plant. All of a sudden I have all this new space that I feel I need to utilize.

It got me curious, how do other garden bloggers prepare post for their blogs? So I asked and there are some of the responses I got:

Post editor bad habit- but for awhile I used Scribefire; tried out Livewriter. If the post editor doesn't lose the post I default.-Ilona's Garden

In Blogger I compose in the editor box, look at preview to catch typos, publish to catch more typos, lots of back-and-forth!-Inter Leafings

I write inside the blog editor as well.-Toronto Gardens

I use the post editor. I've tried using Word, but it didn't feel right.-Indoor Gardener

Now in post editor because Wordpress is wacky. On Blogger I would copy & paste off of word.-Anarchy in the Garden

One downside to composing a blog post outside of the blog editor is making sure I don't copy any of the formatting from whatever I'm using. What works best for you? Inside the post editor or outside?

Chicago Garden, Garden Bloggers On The Move And Spring Cleaning

This winter I was approached to see if I would be interested in being part of a network of Chicago based blogs for a website the Chicago Tribune was launching. This week ChicagoNow.com went live in beta and my garden blog there is Chicago Garden. I'm excited and honored that I was given this opportunity and hope that I can make that blog work. Instead of trying to explain what ChicagoNow.com will be like in the future you can see the video about ChicagoNow.com to give you an idea of what to expect when the site is fully "live." If you garden in Chicago or know someone who lives in the area please send them my link and make sure to stop by for a visit.

You may already know that Colleen Vanderlinden writes for About.com, but did you know she got hired to garden blog for TheDetroitNews.Com? You can see her profile and archives here. 

I'm not sure if Gayla Trail, YouGrowGirl.com, considers herself a garden blogger since she's a published author but I claim her as a garden blogger. She was hired to write gardening articles for the TheGlobeAndMail in Canada. You can read one of her articles on soil here. 

Have you spotted other garden bloggers writing or blogging outside of their garden blog this year?

I've spent a lot of my free time being part of the organizing committee for Chicago Spring Fling and really fell behind in keeping up with a couple of my blogs. If you requested a blogroll swap with this blog and I never completed it, please fill out the form again and I'll add you--this time I mean it. 

When Blogger merged Google Friend Connect with the Followers Gadget in Blogger our accounts were set to follow anonymously. All of the garden bloggers I was following with this account wouldn't show up in my profile after I set them to public. Last night, I unfollowed everyone and opted to follow all of the gardeners following this blog. I hope that fixes the glitch that occured when they merged both features. If you follow www.GardenBloggers.com and you don't see this account following your garden blog, let me know and I'll add you to the list.

If you'd like to write a guest post on this blog about any issue related to garden blogging or you have news, events that garden bloggers would be interested in feel free to contact me. 

Hope your spring is going well.

Regards,

MrBrownThumb