Housekeeping -

imageI have been following several conversations in comments and via email and during the night when I was supposed to be sleeping I was thinking.

Lets look at all of the following as a brain storm, okay? Please give additional suggestions as you think of them…. GingerV

It seems to me that we have developed two groups within our members, those that love posting photos and dialog within our standard process [post on Friday, spotlight your town with photos, post at least once every 3 weeks, but more it better, post a “I’m not here” post, etc.] and those that love the idea, but find it difficult to participate within our ‘guidelines’ [have time constraints, travel for work, have illnesses within their families, are just plain tired, don’t take their cameras in their back pockets everywhere they go, etc.].   I really don’t see why we can’t have it both ways.  We can have a list of gang members on this site for group #1, and MrLinky for group #2.   

Right away I ran into problems with this…

I went to the MrLinky site and didn’t understand one word of it.  Is there anyone who understands how to set us up an account?  Is there anyone willing to set this up for the TownBloggerTeam web site?  AND explain to us all how it works, very clearly so even oldies like me can understand!

I see this solving several problems.  No one has to ‘monitor’ everyone’s participation, if you want on list #1 you say, “put me on #1” (and by being on list #1 agree to full participation?) and when you want off you say, ‘take me off’ and can still participate by way of MrLinky when you want, if you want.  ANYONE who wants to post via MrLinky can  - no waiting list. (?)  [ChefE may need to add something here because there may be reasons we want an informal list / limitations being maintained and this is outside of my knowledge of the process, and we don’t want sites that advertise – commercial or private, do we?]

I don’t know if we are still having Spotlighted Photos – there hasn’t been any for several weeks, but if that continues, the person doing that task could decide how many of group #1 & and how many of group #2 would be included…. it is there time after all – looking at as many blogs as they have time for.

Anyone from either group can visit and comment on all posts.

While I am at it, I had one more thought – what if we expanded to poetry / short stories / and or Photos still focused on our towns and the people in them.   (short stories, 500 words or less?  This is now at 478 words as an example.)

Any comments are going to be copied an inserted into ‘Discussion part 2’

Talk to me!

Comments

  1. Off to look at the MRlinky thing..will be back....

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  2. Ok I signed up and know how to do this..I'm 90% confident I can. Did you want a blog set up to do this on..it would be easy to do and have the team managers authors on..it would not be hard to maintain if you would like me to set that up and do the weekly mrlinky..is this what you were thinking??Sarah

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  3. first what I am thinking is i need an explanation of how it works, I mean the very basics, have you used it before through another blog group? send me an email with the details of how it works and I will post another discussion about MrLinky specifically.
    thanks for offering this help...

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  4. So I like the idea of a sometimes posting blog, and an every week posting blog, but the numbers are manageable for it to still be one list (as in, I can usually manage to get to everyone's posts over the weekend). I'm still good with the 3 weeks and off guideline, though I admit to continuing to visit blogs of people I know aren't posting MTSO because I want to read or see what they have to say. I would like this to remain a photo blog, though I do understand we have some extremely talented writers among us, and I read many of them, I would not participate in a writers blog, as I do not see myself as such. I like the photos of other towns, that is how I think (in images), so that's what works for me.

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  5. J9 I was thinking in terms of the MrLinky allowing us to have some other expression - for me photograghy is enough also, just wanted the idea out there for discussion.

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  6. I have spoken with friends who have had experience with Mr Linky and they concur that Patty is right, you will get spam and porn sites linking up with us...

    I am in agreement with J9, and do not understand why someone who is getting busy just cannot leave a note on their site telling all they will return, then we leave them on the list, keeping this as a photo assignment blog.

    No removal of anyone, since majority of people only go to so many blogs anyway, and only a few visit them all...

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  7. I'd like to participate ..simply when I want to. No pressure at all. I certainly don't want to have to leave a note (like as if I was at school) when I'm doing something else.

    If you look at my post on this I do mention another Wednesday group ...which is linked with Mr Linky. I've never seen a single problem, no spam, porn, nothing. You can go there and look if it helps.

    I might also be reacting to what feels like "over control" ...which wasn't at all evident when I joined up in those early months.

    I would probably only use photos ...but if people want to write something too it wouldn't worry me at all.

    I'd simply like to be a part of a relaxed ... group of people enjoying themselves.

    I have had a good time ...it's been lovely. Thanks again.

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  8. Sarah Lulu, maybe the problem is this web site - really. When there were 12 of us there really was no need for 'control' but when we started being over 50 those involved with keeping track were 'out of control' - for a while I kept a list on my blog of everyone - It was a mess - CRAZY - trying to keep up. Is also maybe me - I really HATE feeling crazy. AND this web site was started to HELP everyone - not to put controls. rigth now it looks like we are headed towards dropping the drop unless the member askes to be dropped.... sweet and simple.

    I looked at the word verf... and thought it said martinies but is matines - ;)

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  9. I have suggested Mr. Linky before, long ago. I think we should just use it period every week for whom ever participates. it is so much easier to visit if you know who has posted. making two groups is just more confusing.

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  10. I use Mr Linky on my blog and could help if needed. Also, generally I would fall into group 1 but I think Mr. Linky would make everything easier generally - you know who has posted and when, no time spent looking.'

    Not being much of a writer I am more intersted in photos unless the writing describes the photos, history, related stories. etc

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  11. If I could add one little reminder for those who were here from the beginning, In the beginning there were no rules because there was no list of links to members. When the link list was started, it soon climbed up to opver seventy. People were complaining about going to seventy blogs only to find that less than half of them were posting. Patty, asked me for help in solving the problem. If a cap had not been put on membership we would probably be up to about 120 on the list by now with about 45 or 50 doing regular posting. It will be a total nightmare if some controls are not maintained. Some will ask to have their name removed, but others will just disappear as Reggie Girl did without a word to anyone. I vote for some kind of order. The rules in place are not to punish anyone. They are to maintain sanity. It is rediculous to say that showing a little responsibility is asking too much.

    P.S. I started the photos of the week feature. If the administrative team would like I will continue it.

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  12. Happy to continue in the main group.

    Would prefer it to remain as photos.

    Have never understood Mr Linky and would love to know how it works!!!

    P.S. Anyone who tries to organise anything like this has my thanks - and sympathy!!!

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  13. I've participated in my photo challenges/memes and most of them uses Mr Linky, which is much easier to know who has participated on certain weeks. Sometimes for some reason one is not able to log in and post a note of not participating until it's too late, so Mr Linky is a good option. Participants also can use the list in Mr Linky to check out photos of other members.
    Sincere thanks to those managing this site, for giving me a change to show off my tiny island and to see the beautiful places around the world from the comfort of my home. Bless you and keep up the good work.

    I'm not much of a writer like some of the members here, I think it's better to leave it as photo log, but it's up to individual members if they like to write more words/ stories with their entry, after all it's their blog.

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  14. Although the group is so large now that some controls are necessary, I think it's a shame to divide us into groups based on frequency of participation. If Mr Linky can help with seeing who has posted and who hasn't, great; just explain how to use it. Like Sara-Lulu, I dislike having to leave a 'no-post' note. If I don't have time to post, I don't have time to post that I'm not posting (and naturally I think that whatever post was my last one when you come looking is plenty interesting in its own right, so I'm happy for people to see my other posts now and then).
    I would like this to remain a photo-based group, though that can mean anything from numerous pictures without a word, to one picture and a full story with it. I go to both extremes, depending on the theme and what's on my mind that week. What I don't want is for the group's rules to take over my blog.

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  15. I just really appreciate the effort required by you heroes who try to bring order into chaos. I just like posting pictures on Friday and will do so no matter which group I'm or whether the official shootout group(s) include a million members or none. Keep trying. Poems, shortstories...sure! I'll say yes to anything. How about instructional manuals, philosophy, twitters, pornography, mathematical equations. The potential is infinite. We could rename the Friday Hometown Shootout too. We might call it something like the Internet.

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  16. Hmmm..I understand the need for some controls here..I suggested the MrLinky to help cut down on the amount of work being done by the wonderful leaders here. I don't think we need two groups..just my opinion...personally I write in other places and enjoy the photos here..but am happy to do whatever.
    Basically in a nutshell..MrLinky is a way to connect all who are participating each week. Each member who is doing a shootout goes to that post and adds their name and link to their blog ..this adds them instantly to the list in the post. So we can see who is doing a shoot out. When you click on their name..it takes you to their shootout..no guessing. It would also offer the managment team here a chance to quickly see who is participating each week and who isn't...no searching sites to see who has and hasn't. Once everyone does it once I think you will all find that it is simple and nice to use. Just my thoughts ...Sarah

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  17. I think that the Mr. Linky idea is a great one - for everybody. That way, you know exactly who has and hasn't posted for the week. If you don't have the chance to post, don't add a link - no problem! It's been frustrating trying to go through everyone's blogs for the Spotlight photos only to find that half haven't posted anything (and, speaking of the Spotlights, I'm sorry that there haven't been any for the past few themes...there's been quite a bit going on lately and, unfortunatly, my blog participation has had to take a backseat for a bit. Hopefully, it won't last). I think that having everyone add a link as they complete a theme will take some of the guesswork out of checking blog after blog every weekend.

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  18. Kate, as I said to Jen when she agreed to do Spotlight Photos, all you need to do is ask for some help and I will fill in for you. Others would be glad to, also, I'm sure.

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  19. I tend to think Mr. Linky is a thing to look into (and familiar with how it works) I like to participate when I can but just couldn't get to it every week or remember to post a "not this week" post.

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  20. Somehow, things are getting easy on my part now. Mr Linky is really useful but for the meantime, I easy know who are participating with the use of blog links. I added all the 41 members' blog on my other blog and I can see who join every weeks theme. I really appreciate the work of the team. They make and keep thinking what's the best for all of us. That's why I love this group.

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  21. I like what Mark said. (butler and bagman) I'm game for anything. I love this group and I will continue to post no matter how it is organized. I think Mr. Linky is a good idea. I've participated in other blogs with Mr. Linky and have had no problems and it does make it easier to see who has posted something.

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