Our Story: How Our Parenting Digital Platform Was Developed

Hi,

I created this video yesterday and it got me reminiscing about how our parenting digital platform came to be.

I have been blogging a lot about enrichment centers, products, educational news and events. Today, I will take a step back and tell you about our story instead.

You are reading this because you are on my parenting blog - The Parenting Times. This blog was started way back in 2004. At the time, I started it as a personal blog. My firstborn was just a baby then and my second not born yet. At the time, I called it "Mumsgather" because I thought it would be a good place for mums to gather to chat as was popular during the old blogging days. The name stuck and I became known as MG among my online blogging friends. Many of them still call me MG to this day.

Two years into blogging, everyone told me that it was better to get a dotcom for my blog and so I did. I called my dotcom Mumsgather too for lack of a better idea, but I didn't have the heart to delete this first blog, so I changed the name to "Parenting Times" and kept it. I'm glad I did because it continues to be my favourite place to blog though I have several other blogs including my personal dotcom.

As my children grew and by the time they were ready for school, I had accumulated so many articles about my dilemma as a banana mom trying to send her kids to Chinese School. So much so, that I wrote an ebook. It's called "Banana Mom's Guide To Preparing For Chinese School"

However, that was not enough. I didn't have anyone to ask when I had problems as they started schooling. I wished I had a platform to ask other parents about how to register my child for school, where and what type of school bags to buy, co-curricular activities, school holidays, exams and even homework help. So I started a group and invited 50 of my blogger friends to join my group. The group is called the Malaysia Primary and Secondary School Parents On Facebook. The parents in the group are really helpful. Sometimes you get an answer almost instantly when you ask a question, almost faster than Google Search. You also get many view points. It is much better than picking up the phone or texting your query to 10 friends in those days before Whatsapp.

It seemed that I was not the only one that wished I had a place to go to for school and education related discussion. Soon the group grew and grew. It grew till the secondary school parents wanted to have another group to discuss their own issues. So we split the group, renamed it and created the Malaysia Secondary School Parents on Facebook group.

It grew till there were so many people selling their second hand school workbooks that we had to start another group just for trading in preloved school related items without spamming our main group. Not everyone wants to buy or sell stuff and it was getting too distracting. Our trading group is called the Malaysia Market For Children Preloved and Educational Items.

It grew till we needed another place to nurture ourselves instead of talking about school and kids all the time. We parents need a positive place to take care of ourselves so we can take care of our loved ones better. That's why Happy Mom Happy Dad was created.

When the group grew, our bigger numbers also meant that it was easier for us to get all sorts of deals, giveaways and discounts for our members. We have managed to get free parenting talks, story telling session for kids, free workshops for kids, discounts for books, free tickets to shows and events and more.

Along the way, I started Mumsgather Finds, the website to list workshops, enrichment classes, school holiday programmes etc. to make it easier for parents to find. I like to create printables like calendars, subject references etc so now I have a place to store them digitally for sharing with website members. By linking Mumsgather Finds to this blog and the Facebook pages,  we became a complete digital parenting platform. We are also on Facebook (page), Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus and Twitter including about 4000 website subscribers who subscribe to weekly updates on group happenings.

To address some of the most frequently asked questions including search for tutors, transporters, day care etc, I started the Parents Helping Parents Forum to group the topics together so they won't spam up our wall as they would from being asked almost daily by members. I do weekly updates for those on the Facebook group wall so they continue to reach out to all parents in a more organized manner. Grouping them also makes it more easily searchable for example, in our transport forum, we group topics according to schools so both parent or transporter can find each other more easily.

There were so many members searching for test papers so why not share them with each other, and that was how the test papers bank was started. It is password protected for members only and free for members to download for personal use. Currently we have over 1000 test papers shared by 400 parents.

The latest initiative is the Exchanges and Giveaways forum. I dream that it would be a place for parents to exchange stuff to save space and money and for parents to donate stuff so that parents who need them can go and search for them there. That idea is starting rather slowly. I have learned along the way that not all projects or ideas work and some may need to be shelved re looked into but it should not stop us from dreaming.

Everything starts with a dream. Dreams may not happen overnight and may require lots of hard work to realize. With a little bit of dreaming and lots of hard work, today, our group of 50 has grown to 38000 members. Our parenting platform now consist of a website, 4 Facebook groups, a forum and a parenting blog.

To our blog readers, Facebook members, website subscribers, forum participants, thank you.
Thank you for your support!

Thank You For Following This Blog, We Are 11 This Year!

To all the readers who have been following this blog, thank you. Now it is time to hear from you! This blog is going to celebrate its 11th year anniversary next month. I can't believe how time has flown by.

When I first started this blog, my son was just 5 months old and my daughter was 2 1/2 years old. The boy is now 11 years old and the girl 13. Time really flies. After writing for more than a decade, you'd think that I would run out of juice or ideas on what to write about but fortunately it has not happened yet. Oh, I do get writers block now and then and sometimes I take time off but when I do, I lose momentum and run out of things to write about. It is when I write continuously that I have more ideas to write. The more I write the more things I have to write about. It is really strange that way.

Writing online on a blog is about life so you never stop having things to write about because life goes on and you face new things so you write about new experiences along the way. Still, I would really like to hear from you.

Please take just a moment to fill up this form to let me know what else you would like to read on this blog. That will mean a great deal to me. Thank you!

What To Do If Your Blog Post Is Copied By A Blogger Blog

Recently my blog posts were copied again. In the past my blog post had been taken by another blogger as her own. That was the most creepy because the person took my personal posts and pretended they were her own. It is one thing for someone to copy another person's blog post for financial gain but to copy personal posts and pretend you are that blogger is downright creepy.

Anyway, in the past my blog has been copied lock, stock and barrel before too. This means that my entire blog was duplicated. I found out because someone wrote to me to ask if I had a mirror blog. At that time, I didn't know what to do. Someone thought me to change my blog images to show that you are aware that your blog posts are being copied. For example the blog is copying yours is called Parenting ABC. So all you have to do is include an image that says "Parenting ABC is copying the blog posts of ......" or "What you see on Parenting ABC blog has been copied from..." and that image will be picked up by Parenting ABC blog and displayed on that blog. If you're lucky they may take down the blog but usually that is not the case.

Anyway, these days, the plagiarizers are doing it differently. They will not make a duplicate copy of another blog. On the other hand, they will copy the blog posts from several bloggers and display it as their own. You can usually spot these kinds of blogs easily. There will be no email or contact information on the blog. However, there will be lots of ads. In fact, the blog will be filled with ads because the purpose of copying your blog post is to make financial gain from ads.

Well, recently I found my blog posts copied along with those from several other bloggers. This time I decided to take more proactive action. You can do the same too.

This is what to do when your blog post is being copied (if the copied posts are hosted on Blogger)

1. Report the abuse to Google Adsense using this form.
2. Make a complaint to Blogger using this form.

The first report of abuse is useful because you can cut off the financial gain from adsense which is what the plagiarizer is trying to do. 

The second complaint is useful because Blogger takes a serious view and do take a look at the complaints sent in using the form. I know because I submitted a complaint and it was acted upon within 24 hours. Within 24 hours I received a reply from Blogger and the blog posts were removed within 24 hours too. 

You can use the same form for multiple abuse showing your blog posts that had been copied one url at a time. That is what I did for all the 65 posts of mine that were copied from here.

In addition, I did a simple check (by doing a google search) to find out which other Bloggers posts had been copied on that blog. That is very simple. I know that the posts published there were not original. All I had to do was take a few sentences and do a google search and I found the original Bloggers. I contacted them and urged them to make a report too. Blogger will remove the offending page that had been copied if you make a complain but they will not take down the blog immediately. However, if they receive multiple complaints, that blog will be classified as a repeated offender and eventually the blog will be taken down which was what happened after the other Bloggers sent in their complaints too. The more complaints received, the "bigger" your voice and the more seriously your report will be looked into. 

It took me many hours to write to those other Bloggers as well as to submit my complain for the 65 pages of content that had been plagiarized from this blog. However, it was necessary to do it. I can't allow someone else to gain illegally from my hard work. Besides, your blog will also suffer if duplicated content is found through no fault of your own. 

To find out whether your blog posts have been copied you can use Copyscape the plagiarism checker or you can do what I did. Just take a few sentences from your blog post and do a google search and it will turn up any duplicate pages. 

Image Credit: The above No Copying Sign was generated from here.

Google Reader Alternative For Reading Blogs And News

I'm sure by now that everyone who has been using Google Reader will know that Google Reader is being retired on July 1, 2013. That is sad news indeed for me. iGoogle is also being retired and that's sad too. I love both platforms and use them daily. Now, I can't use my Google Reader to read my favorite blogs and catch up with news anymore.

Google Reader used to make reading blog updates so easy. I had it on my personalized iGoogle page. I don't even open up my Google Reader as I look at it from my iGoogle which is also being retired later this year. I receive new updates on quick clickable links to blog post titles or news headings.

Google Reader Links To Blog Posts

Clicking on the link brings up a pop-up to read the blog content. If I want to leave a comment, then I click on the content to go to the Blogger's page.

Google Reader Pop-Up Content of Blog Post

Now, that Google Reader is being retired, I have to search for an alternative fast. I've decided to try Feedly. I've downloaded Feedly on my Chrome, iPad and Android phone. It was easy to download and it uses data from my Google Reader seamlessly. I don't have to sign up or do anything else further .... accept to authorize it to get my data. Yup! I'm leaving more and more trails on the net.

Anyway, transition is easy and for a time strapped person, that is a joy. I hope they don't start charging later on. Here is where you can get all the links to transition from Google Reader to Feedly alternative including Feedly for your iPhones and iPads, Feedly for your Android phones and Feedly for your various browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari. You can use Feedly as an alternative to Google Reader for all your devices including iOS and Android devices plus your desktop computers.

Here is a peek at the Feedly from my Chrome. You have a choice of reading your feeds in Magazine or Card Format, just the titles or full articles etc.  It is a good enough substitute or replacement for my Google Reader for the time being as I don't have time to search for other alternatives.

  Feedly Links To Blog Posts

Pardon the quality of the images. I didn't have time to do a Screenshot, so I just took photos of the pages using my phone and then I BUMPed them to my computer using the BUMP file and photo transfer app. You can read up how to do that here on my post on How To Quickly And Easily Transfer Your Photos From Your Phone To Your Computer.

Can you spot your own blog post in my Reader? If you see my own post in my Reader, it is because I subscribe to it too. I read somewhere that it will help the search engines to crawl your site faster. I'm not sure how much it helps or if it really helps but it only takes seconds to subscribe to your own site. So why not?

Threaded Commenting is now available for Blogger Blogs

Threaded Commenting is now available for Blogger Blogs and my blog has a new look because of that. Yes, I'm crazy like that. Changed my look just to get threaded commenting up and running.

I was still using the old Blogger because I did not want to go through the hassle of moving and updating all my old customization. It is such a lot of work. Another reason is because this is my ‘best performing’ blog under Adsense for some reason which I don’t know so I did not want to do anything to change that! The other blogs earns almost nothing from Adsense.

However, its 2012. I can’t put it off any longer. More and more goodies are now available to Blogger users. I had all the while been sitting back in the side lines looking on unable to enjoy the updates. So finally, I have gotten round to doing it.

Now I can enjoy threaded commenting, turn on my blog for mobile view and a host of other things I could not do before. Adding scripts and other stuff is so easy now. However, I am glad that I started blogging before they made things so user friendly. That way, I learned many things. I learned some html and how to change my template and layout directly. It was a good thing, really.

In case you are interested, here is how to turn on threaded commenting for Blogger. While, you're at it, you might just want to turn on the mobile template for your Blogger Blogs. My blog looks great on the mobile phone now. Have a look at it from your mobile and check out the look.

Now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed that my Adsense earnings will not be affected. In with the new and out with the old. Did a little spring cleaning for my blog while I was at it. Happy 2012 and Happy Chinese New Year to Parenting Times and to all readers of this blog. Thanks for your support. It's been a blast and still is. I enjoy blogging now as much as I did when I started in 2004.

Social Networking for Kids

Recently my girl asked me about Facebook so I showed it to her. However I did not create an account for her nor did I encourage her to do so. We did however find that about a dozen of her classmates are on it.

Ok ok. I know its the new age the internet age. Afterall I am a blogger myself with several blogs. So what is the harm of letting her have a facebook account? However, I prefer to tackle that a little later on. She is afterall only 8, just discovering how to make friends and socialise in the real world. She does not need the complications of learning how to socialise in the cyber world and deal with all its fascinations, complications etc plus other issues that it will inadvertently bring.

I was amazed that some of her friends has over 250 friends on facebook and lists Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber as favourites. I mean they are only 8? Isn't that growing up a little too soon, too fast? They just graduated from Nursery Rhymes!

My girl asked me about Lady Gaga. She said her friend's favourite song is by Lady Gaga. Her friend told her that all she needs to do is press number 2 on the radio/tv and you can get to listen to Lady Gaga. :) That remark is charming in its innocence and tells me that number 2 on the radio in her home was set not by her. I tried to find some suitable videos on YouTube on Lady Gaga to show her but I could not find any. I find her dressing and manners inappropriate for a child of 8. Imagine wearing a piece of meat to an event. Oh well, it takes all kinds.

Back to Facebook, at the moment I am not prepared to teach my girl about social networking and educate her about safety, cyber bullying etc etc. I am also not prepared to deal with her spending too much time on it, playing games, updating her status etc. So I shall leave it for now. There is no escaping it or course and in time, she will have an account but not now.

Now, she can spend her time reading, instead of updating her profile. And she can worry about which friend to "friend with and not friend with again" the next day at school instead of counting the number of friends she has on Facebook and the number of comments she gets. There is a certain fascination and addiction in it and I prefer that she and I not have to deal with it at this moment, when she is just 8. We also don't have the time for  it and I do not see it as one of the must haves for an 8 year old kid to learn about life and socialising.

Perhaps I am outdated and old fashioned and my girl will suffer from peer pressure of not having a Social Networking account but I think it is the right thing to do for now, for us. In time, she will have an account and I will teach her how to be safe online and deal with all the things that comes from having cyber friends ie friends that she has never met in real life but for now, I shall concentrate on teaching  her how to be a friend in real life. Ok. So now shoot me because I know there are a lot of bloggers with kids who have an online presence who probably think I am making a mountain out of a molehill but then that is just me and that is why I continue to remain anonymous after so many years online. :P

Supermummy Amazing Blogger Award - Vote for me!

I'm amazed to have been nominated for the Supermummy Amazing Blogger Award. Yes, its simply amazing! I'm no supermummy, just a mummy. I'm no amazing blogger but I'm one amazed blogger right now for being nominated.

Yes, I'm an Amazed Mummy Blogger so I hope you all will vote for me. Hehe. Judging ends on Tuesday, 30th April 2009.

So what is this amazed mummy blogger up to right now?

As a mummy.......

Well, lets see, I just got the syllabus and schedule for my very first term exam for my first kid. Notice that I said my very first term exam, not her very first term exam because I feel like I am being tested. I was told to prepare her well because the kids go into streaming next year in Std 2 and this May exam results will be pro rated with the end of the year one to decide which class the kids go to. So this mummy is going to be very busy studying.... studying how to prepare her kid for her first test. When I look at the syllabus, I want to pengsan. Not only text books but activity books (2 or 3 for each subject). Fuiyoh! We really had it easy in our days.

As for the second boy, his 5th birthday is next week. Daddy has taken some time off. Yippee! But the poor boy has the sniffles and cough! I hope he will recover soon in time for his birthday which I haven't planned yet!

As a blogger.....

Well, I just blogged all the above down, didn't I? Thats what we crazy bloggers do. Blog blog blog about everything but we love it!

To vote for me, please click on the above banner or the one on my sidebar. Thank you for voting and have a good weekend everyone!

Consolidate my blogs or maintain them all

First of all, I have 3 main blogs. Most of you would know that they are....

1. This blog: Parenting Times
2. My personal blog: Mumsgather
3. My exclusive blog for Mothers: Mothering Times

This is my very first blog so its my favourite naturally. However, my personal blog is my personal space so thats also become my favourite blog. The reason why I have 3 blogs and not 1 is for monetary reasons. However, due to the dearth of paid posts, its really not worthwhile to maintain so many blogs, well at least not for me. For those who are very very hardworking, its still worthwhile.

Still, I am too sayang to give up any of the blogs so I'm not sure what to do. This blog is my main Adsense earner. The other two are so minimal I might as well just remove the Adsense. They hardly count. I wonder why. In terms of comments, these days, I appear to be receiving more comments on my personal blog, so comments does not translate to $$$. lol. I believe I have more subsribers to this blog compared to the rest since its my first blog.

In terms of page views, I haven't checked in ages but I checked this morning and saw that this blog averages 250 page views a day, the personal one averages 150 page views a day whereas the Mother's blog averages 100 page views a day. All nothing to shout about. Still its interesting to note that this blog earns 98% of my Adsense income compared to the other two even though the page view is not 98% compared to the others. I still wonder why. I am technologically challenge and I'm too lazy and have no time to dig into the reasons why.

Sometimes I think I should go back to having just one blog but I sayang lah. Haha. So I guess I shall maintain them all for the time being. I don't write duplicate posts on them though some of the contents may overlap a little. So maintaining them still requires some work. Strange isn't it? I have 3 blogs for monetary reasons but now I maintain them for the love of it rather than for money because they don't make money.

Since Adsense is my only income generator these days, I might as well tutup the other two blogs. Previously I wrote more paid posts, several in a day, so one blog is not enough to write them all since we need to have interim posts between the paid ones. But you'll notice that I hardly write any paid posts these days.

I also have different readers for my blogs. Some of the readers from this blog or the Mother's blog don't read my personal blog at all. I'm not sure if they even know it exists. Haha.

What about the rest of you who have several blogs? How do you maintain them all? Tiring or not? ;)

Please vote for me!

This is an unabashed call for votes! Suddenly I feel like a politician on a campaign trail. Lol! You see, I've been nominated for the Best Parenting Blog category (amongst others) under the 2008 blogger's choice awards by Suzette who maintains a great parenting blog herself.

Gosh! What should I do now? I guess I have no choice but to burn the campaign trail or suffer the shame of no votes. Hahaha. So, guests, blogger friends, visitors, anyone out there? Would you please vote for me, please? *flutters eyelashes* Lol!

Just click on the little badge above to vote.

Thank you so much for the support and thanks again Suzette for the nomination. You just made my day, even if I end up with just your one vote. :)

Auld Lang Syne

Doesn't singing the song "Auld Land Syne" give you a very special feeling? It gives me a special feeling. We usually sing it at the stroke of midnight to say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new year but sometimes we sing it on the last day of school too.

I remember singing Auld Lang Syne with classmates, college mates, colleagues, girl friends, boy friends. Haha. The list is endless. Joining hands with arms across bodies gives a very warm feeling. Out with the old and in with the new. Let bygones be bygones as we head on to the new year. Sometimes we sing it with tears in our eyes as we say farewell to each other at the end of the school year.

So blogger friends, shall we sing this together online in cyberspace? Hehe. Happy New Year 2008 to everyone and may you all have a good year ahead. Thanks to those who dropped by with your wishes while I was not around. :)

MG's Top Ten Parenting Tips

Here is my Top 10 Parenting Tips for the day:


1. DO NOT STEAL!

2. DO NOT COPY!

3. DO NOT TAKE WHAT IS NOT YOURS!

4. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!

5. DO NOT PASS OFF OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEAS OR THOUGHTS AS YOUR OWN!

6. DO NOT COMMIT LITTERARY THEFT!

7. DO NOT PRACTISE FORGERY!

8. DO NOT ACT DISHONESTLY!

9. DO NOT TAKE WITHOUT ASKING!

10. DO NOT CLAIM OTHER PEOPLE'S WORDS AS YOURS!


And this, my dear blog readers is directed to the one who needs my Parenting Tips the most ie the blogsite which calls itself Parenting Details. (fake site)

Oh, I almost forgot. Read my blog post to find out more: Help! Someone is copying my entire blog! A short summary; It has come to my attention that the above fake site has been copying the contents of this blog Parenting Times.

I'm keeping this post sticky for a while. Please scroll down for my latest post. Thank you.

Win a Dot.com blogging contest

As some of you know, I have 3 active blogs. Two of them are hosted on blogger and the other on my own paid hosting. I have been contemplating getting another dot.com because its really more beneficial and valuable than a blog on free hosting.

For those of you who are doing paid blogging or considering paid blogging, you need to go dot.c0m. Advertisers prefer those. Despite this blog having better traffic and stats than my dot.c0m blog, I am constantly getting more orders on the other blog. Dot.com is the way to go forward.

So, when I read that 5xmom is giving away free hosting and free domain names in a blogging contest, I jumped and immediately did an entry. Hahaha. I didn't realise that the contest was for those on free hosting thinking of going dot.com. This blog is on free hosting but I already have one dot.com. So do I qualify? Oops!

Please go to her blog and read up this blog post to find out more about the contest: Go Dot.com contest. - 5xmom is giving away 2 free one-year hostings and 7 domains. Closing date is 10th October, so don't procrastinate.

Since I have done up my "entry" for the contest, I will post it up anyway... whether I qualify or not. You are supposed to write one post of about 200 words on why you think blogging is beneficial. Make sure you read her blog post carefully so you understand the rules and criteria. Happy trying! Good luck!

THE BLOGGER'S POEM

I am a little blogger, only 3 years old
How did I start blogging?
This story must be told
I am here to stay, its not a passing thing

I started blogging in '04 September
Though I didn't know what its about
But then I can still remember
At the baby forum 5xmom gave a shout

To lets have fun blogging together
Now thats when I started having fun
To write about life or just the weather
I knew that the fun had just begun

We left comments on each other's sites
That motivated me to blog even more
I blogged through my days and nites
Now I'm hooked right to the core

Then she told us how to Make$ Money$
Blogging had suddenly taken a new twist
The timing was really uncanny
Blogging had slowed but this I could not resist

So blogging took on a new chapter
As I monetized my blog and learned new tricks
I learned to be an adapter
And so begun my new fix

Soon 5xmom said we should go Dot.com
If we wanted to give our blogs more value
It was as if she had dropped a bomb
It was hard work but then I did pursue

And now just as I am trying hard to slow down
She organised this contest on the benefits of blogging
But even as I begin to frown
My fingers begin typing

So what are the blogging benefits
There are so many I can't write them all
Its not just about traffic and getting hits
Its something that can really enthrall

Blogging is about love, laughter, tears and life
It makes me laugh, cry, rant and smile
To see how freely others share their strife
As they walk down life's mile after mile

It helps me focus and be more positive
About the things I want to achieve
It also helps me become more creative
Writing things down can really be a relieve

Our blogs are our virtual real estate
It grows with maintainance and good content
So how could I resist this free domain bait
I assure you 5xmom, your money will be well spent

I haven't written a poem in a long while but I enjoyed writing that. Hehe.

Blogging for three years and beyond

Happy Birthday to me.....
Happy Birthday to me.....
Happy Birthday to my blog....
Happy Birthday to me......

I can't believe it. In a blink of an eye, I've been blogging for three years. That would mean I started blogging when I had only 1 kid and she was 2 years old then. Now I have 2 kids and they are 3 and 5 and I have 3 blogs and my first blog is 3. Lol!

This blog birthday is also my blogging anniversary. Because its my first blog it also happens to be the first time I started blogging. So, Happy Blogging Anniversary to me too. 3 years and I continue to enjoy blogging and am learning new things and getting to know new bloggers all the time.

Wanna know how I generated the birthday cake? Visit the The Generator Blog. You will love it and have lots of fun, I promise. Hehe. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving me comments, especially those who have been with me right from the start. Thank you. I love it. :)

I love hosting local ads on my site

I enjoy hosting local ads on my site. Every weekend I look forward to checking which company, product or service is going to be advertised on my site. Take for example this week, I am so pleased to have MPH my favourite bookstore advertising on my blog.

Its fun to see the latest promotions etc being delivered right to my blogstep. I must admit that usually, I'm the first one to go and check out the promotions or sites being advertised. Hahaha. Unlike adsense, I won't be penalised for clicking on those ads so I would definitely click to find out more.

I don't care very much about the local ads war. At the moment I've just signed up for Nuffnang because they are the first I came to know about. It seems strange to sign up for both so I'm sticking to just one for the time being. I have no complaints so far accept that the price it fetches for me is a bit low.

So which side are you on in the ad war?

Poof! Disappeared!

This just happened:

1. I type my blog post *clickety clack clickety clack*
2. I hit the publish post button
3. I check my blog post
4. Several paragraphs are missing!
5. I retype my blog post from memory
6. Repeat Steps 1 to 6

Aaargggh! This blogger. Has anyone ever encountered the problem where you write a lengthy post, they you hit publish and when you check your blog post, several paragraphs are missing! It just happened to me and its happened a few times before this too. Really annoying and a waste of time. Probably I should do what most people do, type in word then copy and paste before publishing. This way at least my blog post won't disappear into thin air.

Switched to the New Blogger

I've been switched to the new blogger. I was not allowed to sign in unless I switched and so switch I did. It took all of 2 minutes and everything was done. All my add-ons and other customization stayed intact. Phew! *wipes cold sweat off forehead*

I was dreading this day for months worrying about losing my layout etc and having to redo everything. I even went to change the template on my other blog to make it more "switch friendly" because I had problems switching earlier. I was worried that the template that I was using was not compatible with the new blogger. Hmm..... should have left my old template intact.

Now, I'm still running on the old html code because I'm so worried about trying out the new ones and having to waste time redoing everything. (my various add ons). Feel really silly for having switched but not trying out the new blogger but no time to mess around with templates these days.

MyBlogLog

I've just joined MyBlogLog for the fun of it. I love to try out new things on my blog and since a big name like Yahoo has acquired MyBlogLog recently, I figured that its worth a try. Bradley Horowitz, vice president of product strategy at Yahoo, said “Every publisher wants to know his readers, and the readers want to find out about each other. It’s the power of implicit networking.”

What I like about it so far is the little widget right at the bottom of my sidebar which shows me the pictures of my recent readers but beyond that, I'm still wondering whats the point of it. Lol! I see some familiar faces and a lot of new faces and everyone is sort of playing Peek-A-Boo with each other as they drop by to say "Hi and Bye". Beyond the ego thing of watching your blog communities and contacts grow, so far, I'm not really sure what else I can do at MyBlogLog. Can anyone tell me?

I'll keep stick around for a while and test it out just like I did with Haloscan for its trackback feature (until I found out that my comments disappear after 3 months under my free account) or my tagboard (which I deleted after I got too many pop-up ads appearing on my site). Anyway, what I really like about blogging is the fact that its really dynamic and I'm learning lots of new things, terms and skills everyday.

Cut and Paste Word Count for Paid Posts

This post is for all those bloggers out there who write paid posts. As you all know, one of the most basic requirement for any post is the number of words. Usually it starts from as low as 50 (yippee!) to as high as 300 (must think twice before writing). So how do you all do your word count?

Previously, I used to do the dumb thing and did finger counting. Yup! Serious! You heard me right. In this day and age of advance technology where you can do almost anything online, I was dumb enough to do a finger word by word count. Pretty time consumming and very stupid!

Anyway, I've wised up and found a cut and paste word count site so I'd like to share it here. Its very simple. All you have to do is cut and paste your blog post into the example box provided then click "Calculate Words" and hey presto you've got your word count, just like magic. I usually write a little extra say 10-20 words just in case so that I won't get it wrong. Wouldn't want my post rejected because of that! So, how do each of you do your word count?

Whats up with blogger these days?

I've been having problems with my blogger recently. The problem of disappearing posts. Its so frustrating.

I type a post then save it either in draft or publish it and then I can't find it. Poof! Its disappeared into thin air. All my thoughts and hard work typing. Grrrrr! That makes me so mad. I hate retyping. Worse, I can't retype some because I've forgotten. This happens when I hit publish to an earlier draft.

And to top it all, I still cannot switch to the new blogger account. Double Grrrrr! And the internet connection is still unreliable. Geez! Aren't I grumpy today?

The Honk if you're a Malaysian contest

I love contests. I think I've said that before many times. In fact, recently I won something again. Nothing much, just some toiletry products. Its just the thrill of winning that I like.

Well, now I'd like to join another contest. Its the Honk! Honk! contest. How to participate? If you've read "Honk! If you're Malaysian", all you have to do is write a review on your blog. Or, if you have not read the book, you can help spread the news about this contest like what I'm doing now. ( Sorry lah Lydia, I haven't read the book, not from lack of interest but from lack of time! But if I win the contest than I can take my own sweet time to read it eh? *hint hint* LOL!)

Closing date for this contest is on 19 January 2007. If you haven't read the book and would like to know more about it, read all about the book's successful launching on 16th December 2006 here. "Honk! If You're Malaysian" written by Lydia Teh is a sequel to "Life's Like That" and takes a humorous look on slices of Malaysian Life. Lydia is a mother of four and she still has time to write books. I am full of admiration for her and thats another reason why I'm joining this contest, to support a fellow mommy.