Announcement: Start Your Own VB Blog!

[Michael]

More information...

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/blog.php?b=1

Tip: To switch between the blogs and forum you can click the words "blogs" and "forum" to the left and right of the logo at the top of the page.

Please use this thread to post questions and comments. Hope you enjoy it! :)

[Indian Summer]

I like that the "blogs" and "forums" in the logo are hyperlinks now. Neat!

A couple of questions:
- Are there any particular rules to what can be posted in a blog as opposed to regular forum posts?
- I'm not all that familiar with blogging, but I thought it was common practice to not require membership for people who wanted to just comment on a blog entry. I realize of course that this strategy is extremely vulnerable to spamming & trolling and would therefore probably require a lot more modding work ... But I'm also not sure requiring membership is the way to go. Is it technically impossible to open up for non-member comments? Or is this a policy decision?

In any case, I think the new blog system is a huge improvement over the previous one. So well done!

[Beachbnny]

Oh cool! So maybe now I can post my Iron Chef entries there instead of on a whole new blog :) I like this a lot- thanx Michael!

I am curious about what the rules for posting are too. I don't think I'd break any but I'd like to know the boundaries :)

Thanx again!

[Michael]

I like that the "blogs" and "forums" in the logo are hyperlinks now. Neat!

It's always been like that, I don't think most people knew about it though.


A couple of questions:
- Are there any particular rules to what can be posted in a blog as opposed to regular forum posts?

I'm not really sure right now. I don't really plan on moderating it too heavily, I'd like for people to feel more free to express themselves. Definite no-no's are nudity and trash talking other members. Other than that we'll just wait and see how it goes.


- I'm not all that familiar with blogging, but I thought it was common practice to not require membership for people who wanted to just comment on a blog entry. I realize of course that this strategy is extremely vulnerable to spamming & trolling and would therefore probably require a lot more modding work ... But I'm also not sure requiring membership is the way to go. Is it technically impossible to open up for non-member comments? Or is this a policy decision?

I haven't tested it but I think it's now set up to accept guest comments. If it's not I would like for it to be.


In any case, I think the new blog system is a huge improvement over the previous one. So well done!

Yep, it should be nice, this way whoever wants to participate can. :)

[DieselAmy]

At first I thought this was a feed from members' already-established blogs, but I guess this is a new place to post. Any ideas on a "directory" of non-VB-based blogs by VB members? I like clicking on them but it's unwieldy from ppl's signatures or member info.

[Michael]

New feature: If someone has blog entries you will now see something like "Blog Entries: 3" under their avatar. If you click the number it will take you to their blog.

For an example you can see mine <<<

[jenna]

Nice. A good quick link.

[Percy]

Can I add some images? I'm a designer and I would like to add some vegan designs :) (Siggies in most cases)

[jenna]

When you add an attachment in the blog does it count toward your usual attachment amount?

[Michael]

I'm pretty sure it does but not absolutely positive. I may look at bumping those a bit.

[Indian Summer]

Don't forget to rate blog entries. I definitely rated mine :)
Um btw, how can we rate a blog? It looks like there should be a way to do this ...

[BadgerMan]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but is there a technical hitch with the blogs currently?

The facility to add links, images, text effects etc seems to have gone AWOL and in existing blog entries I am now seeing the raw code rather than the effects the code should be generating.

[Michael]

Yeah, it's currently disabled until I figure out what to do with it. When people use large fonts and that posts shows up on the main page it kind of looks bad IMO. I would say for now avoid using bbcode if you can.

[BadgerMan]

Photos are a key element of my blog entries, so for me the use of BB code is essential. In my opinion, the replacement of the pictures with raw BB code kind of looks bad.

I guess that's the end of my VB blogging activity, which is a shame given that I'd only just started. :(

[Indian Summer]

Youtube videos still seem to work though ...

While big fonts might look bad, raw BB code is not a pretty sight either. Just saying!

[Indian Summer]

Here's a major bug, though:
Blog entries that are saved as drafts will show up on the forums page for everyone to read. I'm guessing that there's a draft flag that is being ignored.

[Michael]

BB code is back on. Please continue to use it. However, I would like to ask that you not use it to make big fonts.

IS - I think people can see the title but not the actual entry (it's not listed on the actual blog page). I think that's a limitation in the add-on that displays titles on the main page and not with the blog itself. They really should have done a better job of integrating the blog into the forums, I assuming that's coming eventually. I'll check and see if there's a fix or if other people have suggested that as an issue.