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Long ago, we published a post on using widgets / gadgets on blogs , and it is one of the most popular posts on ITB. To supplement that, we give here some ideas about which widgets go with which types of blogs. The following widgets look fine on most types of blogs, if used imaginatively and without cluttering the blog with too many and too gaudy ones: blogroll of blogs / websites that have related content; social media sharing buttons / stats; archives; label list; best content on the blog [e.g. most popular posts]; pages [to be displayed in a menu bar or as a sidebar widget]; profile; search box; contact / subscription form [if in simple design] In addition, different types of blogs can benefit from relevant widgets as suggested below: Blogs on political and social happenings [current affairs]: news feed; latest comments; poll Travel blogs: currency converter; distance measurement; map; weather; slideshow; world time; translation  Blogs on photography, history, culture, ...

Updated in 2020 with fresh insights ITB sent a detailed questionnaire to a dozen food bloggers whose food blogs have found place in the Directory of Best Indian Blogs and also to a couple of foreign food bloggers. Some kindly responded, three gave some information in confidence, one wanted only an audio session, two promised but failed to reply to specific questions and some ignored us.  The present post is based on our research of the web on food blogging and the responses we received. We tried to find how food bloggers make blogs, how much money they make from the blog, and what good practices they adopt. We’ve also tried to assess whether globally food bloggers have as many avenues to make money as their US / European counterparts.   Responses on "How to start a food blog and maintain it?" A few bloggers on wordpress.com and blogger.com do have well maintained blogs, but their growth seems to have remained subdued due to constraints of free blogging.  Well-kno...

This the second post in the two-part discussion on kid blogging. In the first post, we talked about why it is a good idea to introduce blogging to children early in life . In the present post, we discuss the do’s and don’ts of engaging children in blogging. Safety and privacy aspects of child blogging 1. Communicate with the kid. Ask him/her about the blog, give advice, offer to help. BUT not in an overbearing manner. Be subtle: be a partner rather than a warden or headmistress – they have enough of these creatures to deal with. 2. Discuss with them the specific subject of web-safety. Tell them, how giving personal information on the web – even to friends – can reach criminals and how they can exploit it. Give the blog a strong password and let it not be shared by many, and let there be some comment moderation. Don’t put a high-quality photo or scan of an identity card on the net. Don’t mention address, school details and phone number of small children. If the child ...

The subject is so big, we’d use two successive posts to deal with it. Let’s talk in this first post about what we are proposing and then a bit about children’s online safety. In the second post, we talk about the do’s and don’ts of engaging children in blogging . Gift your kid a blog No joke this, and you better do it now if you haven’t done yet. Some assumptions, first. We are talking about children below the age of 12 or so, not young adults and late-teens. Maybe, we’ll discuss teen matters sometime later. We’d discuss children’s own blogs as well as blogs facilitated by parents. Blogs maintained fully by parents are in true sense not kid blogs.  We are talking mostly about personal blogs with social information and comments [and so, blogs that have personal and social consequences], and not blogs on school subjects, technology etc [socially neutral blogs].  How does early blogging help kids? A blog can help in personal, social and intellectual growth ...

This post, of 2014 vintage, has been retained for archival purposes. For the latest discussion on blogging platforms and website builders , please visit the linked article. We'd compare here the most well-known free platforms - Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr and Livejournal. Common features of free blogging platforms Free account and free blog(s). You don't have to pay to host and publish the blog. Limits on technological support beyond the offer [unless you go for premium services if available]. Themes available to suit different genres and for varied looks and feel. Editing of content, sprucing it up, posting graphic content possible. Sprucing up is possible by  choosing different options of fonts, colors, backgrounds, widgets, etc. No or limited facility to control the base code. You need not know html and other web technologies to change design, layout and presentation of the blog. Blogger Many themes available. You can change code if you so like, to a goo...

Updated in February 2019 It goes without saying that if you want to succeed as a blogger - whether in beauty or fashion or other niches - you will need to act professionally and take blogging as business rather than hobby . It is also expected that you are choosing the fashion niche for blogging because you are passionate about being fashionable and knowing the fashion trends, and you love looking beautiful. It is much better if you have the necessary skills in these areas. Though blogging into beauty and fashion looks easy - especially to beautiful ladies - bloggers face many challenges born out of very high competition form brands, retailers, fashion magazines and websites, beauticians and beauty parlors, and established bloggers.  It is not that you cannot succeed if you are starting a fashion blog now. You can indeed succeed very well. However, for that you should take the right steps and also be aware of the challenges so that you can tackle them effectively....

We got an email this week, reading like this: I have a blog where I am putting everything that I like, mostly music, children and travel, to different places within my state. Can you advise if I should submit my blog to directories. My friend suggested four good ones and I checked them and they are fine. Are Indian directories OK? We replied to the lady by email, and then thought we need to expand the subject and write a post on ITB. WHY SHOULD I SUBMIT MY BLOG TO DIRECTORIES? Of course you want to be discovered by others. This is more significant (i) if your blog is on a particular subject and (ii) if you want to make money out of it. For example, a blog on a research topic, photography, cooking... You want traffic. All bloggers want traffic unless someone wants to keep the blog hidden for a purpose. PLACES ON THE WEB, WHICH TAKE SUBMISSIONS