Reformatting the Blog

I've spent quite a bit of time over the past couple of days learning more about HTML and the different things that Blogger allows you to do on my blog. For those of you who have blogs, or enjoy reading blogs, you know that having a good template and format is important. I admit that I am still a big newb to me and I still have a lot to learn about blogging (right now, I'm thinking that length of posts is something I need to work on...) but I've taken some time and tried to work on the blog itself, which is why I haven't been posting anything recently.

 

So what is it I've been working on? If you can't tell, that's a good thing. The biggest thing I've been working on is the combination of the blogs. I had been working with multiple blogs that were all interconnected - when you clicked on "DAILY WALK" or "SEMINARY" on the tabs, it would actually take you to an entirely different blog not connected to the previous one at all. My biggest problem with that was the inability for the blogger archive to display posts from all 5 blogs, and the inability for followers to be able to follow all the categories in all 5 blogs by just following once.

In order to get all the pages I wanted on the same blog, I had to somehow link pages that would contain categorized blogs without going to a completely different blog altogether. This was not something that Blogger allowed you to do too easily and required me to learn a little bit about the HTML coding that dictates the template of the blog itself.

I have also added the Bible-verse display feature when hovering over a reference. There were times when I wanted the verse to be visible but in an attempt to work on reducing the length of my posts, I didn't feel like including the entire verse. This little gadget allowed me to have my cake and eat it too in terms of having the verses I wanted without taking up room on the post.

I'll still be looking for ways to continually improve the appearance of the blog as well as improve the quality (and length...) of the posts. If you are blogging on Blogger (or are thinking about starting), I'd like to hear from you about your blog formatting frustrations, solutions, tips, or questions. Thanks again for reading (and following...)!

Why I decided to start blogging

I've wanted to start blogging for quite a few months now. Last summer, a few of my friends started blogging and to this day, I find their blogs great and fun to read. Sometimes I am genuinely thankful that the post was written (I am encouraged, or built up in some way), sometimes there is an issue that is raised that makes me think - think deeply, and helps me to examine some idea that I have and why I have or how it applies to my life. Sometimes I just enjoy reading little stories about what people are up to and some of their reflections, their thoughts, and the decisions that they have to make day by day. In general though, good blogs are just fun to read. Just like good books, good articles, good papers - they're all very different and whether they are informative, creative, pursuasive, fictitious, encouraging, they are captivating to read and are often remembered.

So why did I decide to start a blog? There is really no one or main reason other than I just wanted to. I did try to think of one and, in a sense, thought I should have a reason before starting. Then I just decided that I would give it a try and see how it went. There are a few things that I am looking forward to as a result of starting to blog (I guess they might count as reasons...)

1. I am excited about remembering

A few months ago I was reading through Exodus (new Bible reading plan got me to Exodus right around February...) and I was once again hit with how concerned the Lord is with instructing the Israelites to remember (Ex 16:32). It was important for them to remember the goodness and the provision of the Lord, and I think, in this season especially, it would be very approprite for me to seek to remember the great works of the Lord in my life, and blogging about them would be one way of doing so!

2. I am excited about learning to write/communicate
There's no question that blogging (at least good, enjoyable blogging) requires a certain level of maturity, conscientiousness, and tact. I admit I am not a very proficient writer or communicator, but I hope that through blogging I will grow in learning how and what to communicate through writing. I especially hope to learn how to better engage on more personal or sensitive topics.

3. I am excited about becoming more disciplined
I think one of the reasons many people want to blog but never get started is because of the "daunting" pressure to keep the blog running with frequent posts. Of course a blog that is alive and worked on frequently is maybe more appealing to read and follow than one that is scarcely touched. So I think a part of me deciding to go ahead with this blog will require a certain level of discipline in taking a little time out of my day/week to write something up and keep this guy going.

4. I am excited about hearing your thoughts and comments
Even though blogging is about... blogging, a big part of me is really interested in hearing comments, responses, and thoughts on any and all of these posts. Part of me would rather simply read your blogs and comments than write my own. But because of the reasons mentioned above, I'm hoping that I can still do this while at the same time blogging.

I'm not sure where this blog will go, but I'm pretty happy to have finally had it started!