Ghostly WordPress goings-on

Am I the only one who is being haunted by the Ghostly ‘like’?

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This little orange ‘tease’ hangs in the corner of my toolbar like a candle, drawing my eye away from whatever I was writing and…

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Eh…

Sorry, I lost my thread there for a moment. What was I saying? Right, so I click on the ‘like’ only to find that there is nothing new there.

Worse, if I change pages in WordPress, it reappears! I click on it

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it has been joined by a ghostly ‘comment’ that does exactly the same.

There’s nothing there.

I know it’s not my computer because I’ve seen this whilst using four different units (not all at the same time, obviously. This isn’t ‘Swordfish’).

Please tell me that I’m not the only one who is being teased and mocked by technology.

WordPress, if you are reading this, please come up with a ‘fix’ for this.

If you don’t, I may need to seek out a ‘fix’ of my own…

S’okay, I’m only talking about caffeine.

Without the sugar.

And the milk.

And water.

*crunch*

How to find more bloggers like you…

If you’re short on followers or don’t have many interesting blog posts appearing in your feed, a simple way to search for others who are writing about your interests is to explore via the bloggers that you already follow.

By commenting on your (I’m assuming here) small circle of bloggers posts, others will see those comments and perhaps be intrigued enough to search for you – especially if your comments are witty and / or informative. The more often you comment, the better your chances.

The flip side of this is that when you see a useful comment on a blog site, you can visit that blogger in one of two ways;

Click on the blogger’s name (beside their gravatar)

and that should route you directly to their site.  You can then browse to see if their content is of interest to you.  If it is, ‘follow’ them, ‘like’ their posts (if applicable – if not, why would you follow?) or even leave a nice comment…which might intrigue other visitors to seek you out.  See how it works?  Caution – if you leave a comment without following too, your comment will most likely be held in a moderation queue pending approval by that blogger.  This will not only delay the posting of your comment, but a busy blogger may miss it altogether.  I know because I’ve discovered pending comments days after they were posted. 😀

Another (sometimes less effective way) to find bloggers is to click on their gravatar.

This will route you to the bloggers gravatar page where you can read all about them – assuming they have posted anything.  Not everyone does and you can be left staring at nothing more than a larger version of their gravatar.

Note to other bloggers – please put some details on your gravatar!  Other bloggers are interested in you.

Here’s mine;

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I’ve tried to include as much relevant information on my own gravatar page so that I can be located on WordPress, Twitter, Goodreads, Twitter and LinkedIn.  To find my WordPress site, you’d only need to click on the site name, andrewtoynbee.wordpress.com.

However, even if a blogger that you are desperately keen to follow hasn’t posted any details (and one has to wonder why), the mighty Google can come to the rescue.  Simply copy (or memorise it if you’re good) their blogging name, open the mighty Google (other search engines are available if you prefer) and type ‘WordPress’ followed by their name;

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Voila!

You can then click to find the site and ‘follow’, comment or ‘like’ as before.  The blogger may be kind enough to follow you in return and hey presto! you have increased your feed and your following in one simple move!

For blog sites that are not hosted by WordPress, you may have to be a little more creative, omitting ‘WordPress’ from the search and perhaps adding spaces in their gravatar name.  If you know which host they are using, add that into the search box instead.  Then, if you wish to follow their feeds, copy their web address, go to your ‘Blogs I Follow’ page and paste their URL into the box at the top of the page.  I’ve covered this in slightly more detail on my How to follow non-Wordpress blogs post.

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Happy blogging!

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Let’s play a little game…

You’ve been tagged!

Carissa of ramblingsofabipolarwoman recently tagged me in a little game, the rules of which are as follows:

Rules:
1. Post these rules. (check)
2. Post a photo of yourself (do I have to?) and eleven random facts about you. (check)
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post. (check)
4. Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them. (check)
5. Go to their blog/Twitter and let them know they’ve been tagged. (done)

Okay; Here’s a picture of me.  It’s not particularly recent, but I rather like the chap who’s standing beside me…I hear he likes Robin Hobb’s dragon stories.

I’ve got plans for a better pic that ties in with the Angel of the North, but that’ll keep for later.

11 facts about me:

1. I have a large collection of silly T-Shirts at home.

2. I have just had to accept the fact that I am ageing – by buying reading glasses!

3. This year I will be 49…but in my mind, 50 is the new 30! 😀

4. If it wasn’t for my current job, I would probably never find the time to write.

5. I cannot concentrate on poetry…my eyes simply skip across it – but I am determined to change.

6. I have never lost the joy of watching falling snow.

7. I enjoy watching chick flicks.  Some of them, anyway.  My Best Friend’s Wedding was cool.

8. I enjoy making short YouTube videos [add a link?] by matching songs to modern movies.

9. If I was ever to visit the US, I would have absolutely no idea where to begin!

10. My MP3 is filled only with soundtracks and similar music.

11. I only recently discovered The Walking Dead and I am now a huge fan!

Now to answer the questions given to me by Carissa:

1. What is one of your fondest childhood memories?

Sitting beside a Scottish river whilst my parents fished for trout.  To this day, I can still find peace beside a river.

2. What town & country were you born in?

I was born in a town called Burnley in Northern England

3. What is something you HATE to eat?

Eggs – in almost any form.  It’s taken me years of determination to be able to touch an omlette or the yolk of an egg.

4. What is a talent you wish that you had or that you were better at?

I wish I could master a musical instrument – I love music, but learning the technicalities seems to take all the pleasure out of it.

5. Why did you join WordPress?

To journal my writing progress in 2010.  I didn’t post anything until July 2012.  Now I love it!

6. What is one of your most favorite dishes to make/eat?

Anything that has a cheese topping.  Lasagne and macaroni cheese is at the top of my list.

7. Where is somewhere you haven’t been that you’d like to travel to?

The US…

8. What animal do you think best suits your personality?

I’ve always felt an affinity towards bees.  They work from dawn till dusk without complaint, but always manage to stay under the radar.

9. Do you like sports, if so…what is your favorite to watch?

I used to watch motor racing – my favourite sport – but not since the UK’s TV coverage messed up.

10. Have you ever played a musical instrument, if so…what and if not, what you play if you could be taught?

See 4. above.  I think it’s best left to the professionals.  But if I was suddenly given the ability to play, I would like to be able to play either keyboard or a guitar.

11. What do you think your best qualities are?

Persistence and determination.  It’s served me well in my job and in my desire to be an Author.

11 questions that I will ask those I choose to tag…..

1. What was the last book that you read?

2. If you could retire within the next five years, to where would you like to retire?

3. What genre are you writing – and have you attempted any other genres in the past?

4. Fruit or chocolate?

5.  What stage is your current WIP at?

6. What colour is your hair – and your eyes?

7. Agent or self-publish?  And why?

8. What was the last movie you went to see?  With friends or alone?

9.  How long have you been with WordPress – and what was your first post about?

10. What can you see beyond your screen?  If it’s a wall, what’s immediately behind you?

11. Do you type head-down or head-up?

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Tag along!

Now I’ve got to tag a few people and let them know that they’ve been tagged.

I hope that the following bloggers will join in the fun and pass the game along.  That way we can all learn a little more about each other!

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Jon

Sonya

Candace

Ryan

Kisa

Pat

To anyone else reading this, feel free to participate and keep this going!