Sunday, August 31, 2008

How to Submit a Post to a Carnival

There have been some questions about how to submit a post to a carnival using the Blog Carnival submission forms. While this is not a feature of Facebook, many of our Genea-Bloggers Group members on Facebook are regular contributors to blog carnivals, and this tutorial is written to help those new to our group--and new to blog carnivals.

First of all, what is a blog carnival? According to the Blog Carnival FAQ (frequently asked questions) page, a blog carnival:
is a particular kind of blog community. There are many kinds of blogs, and they contain articles on many kinds of topics. Blog Carnivals typically collect together links pointing to blog articles on a particular topic. A Blog Carnival is like a magazine. It has a title, a topic, editors, contributors, and an audience. Editions of the carnival typically come out on a regular basis (e.g. every Monday, or on the first of the month). Each edition is a special blog article that consists of links to all the contributions that have been submitted, often with the editors opinions or remarks.

The Blog Carnival FAQ page is full of helpful information and should be a must-read for all those considering participating in a carnival. It explains who Organizers, Hosts, Bloggers, and the Audience are, as well as their roles and responsibilities within the carnival.

The Genea-Bloggers Group currently has seven opportunities each month to participate in six genealogy-related carnivals (although there certainly may be more out there on the Internet): the Carnival of Genealogy (posted twice a month), the "I Smile for the Camera" Carnival, the Cabinet of Curiosities, the Canadian Genealogy Carnival (brand new!), the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, and the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture. All of these carnivals use the Blog Carnival submission form.

There are currently three places that list all of these carnivals and when the submission deadlines are. The first is on my blog, AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors, under the Calendar of Events category. The first post of each month on my blog is always a Calendar of Events post, and among other things, I list all the carnival due dates for that month along with links to their respective submission forms on Blog Carnival:


Each time a carnival is posted, I go back to my Calendar of Events post for that month, and change the link to that carnival's publication post:


Thomas MacEntee has a Genea-Blogger Calendar using the Google Calendar application on his blog, Destination: Austin Family. He gives a tutorial on how to merge the Genea-Blogger Google Calendar to your own, which I personally find very useful, as I use Google Calendar and its handy e-mail reminders exclusively for my personal organizer. I know others use it and find it helpful as well:


Over at the Genea-Blogger Group page, Thomas also posts upcoming events that pertain to our group such as carnivals, memes, Scanfest, and other events of interest:


By clicking on "See All" under the Events title in the right-hand menu of the Genea-Bloggers Group page you can view a list of all the upcoming (future) events, as well as view a list of past ones:


When these upcoming events are posted, you will receive an invitation to the event, which allows you to RSVP. You can also RSVP directly from the event's information page:


Now that you know what a blog carnival is and how to locate upcoming ones, here are the steps for submitting your post to the Blog Carnival using a PC and either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox as your browser (if you have a Mac and/or use a different browser and would like to add pertinent instructions, please e-mail me, and I'll add them to this post):

1. First, write your post, making sure you are staying to the topic for that particular carnival. Go ahead and publish the post on your blog.

2. Look at the published post on your blog. On both Blogger and WordPress, when you hover your mouse over the title of the post, you will see the link to the Permalink URL in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen:


This Permalink URL is the permanent link that links specifically to that post, and not just to your blog address in general.

3. You can copy that link in several ways. If you are using Internet Explorer, you may wish to click directly on the title of the post. The page will reload, and then will show only that post and no others. Go up to the address bar, hover the cursor over the address, and right-click with your mouse on it. Choose "Copy":


If you are using Mozilla Firefox, all you have to do is right-click on the title of the post and choose "Copy Link Location":


4. Once you've copied the Permalink URL, go to the respective blog carnival submission form. I have used the current Carnival of Genealogy submission form for this example:


In the "Article to submit" field, simply right-click and choose "Paste":


5. The page will automatically reload and will most likely automatically enter the title of your post as well as the name of your blog and its URL. If it does not do this automatically, then enter the information manually:


6. Enter your name and e-mail address:


7. Choose a category from the drop-down menu bar. Sometimes the theme is listed, sometimes not, depending upon whether the Carnival Organizer has entered that information. (If you receive a message that says it no longer is receiving submissions, then you have passed the submission deadline and will have to wait until next time to submit a post. Oftentimes there is a three- or four-day wait between the submission deadline and the carnival publication date. It takes time to successfully write a quality carnival publication post!) You can add a short description of your post in the "Remarks" section:


8. Enter the security code and click on the Submit button:


9. If you have filled out the form correctly, you will see the following page. If not, go back and make sure you've entered all required information correctly:


10. You will receive a confirmation e-mail verifying that you have successfully submitted your post to the carnival:


11. Stay tuned to the carnival host's blog to see the carnival publication post. Enjoy seeing your post listed and reading other bloggers' submissions!
Posted by Miriam at 7:14 PM 5 comments Links to this post
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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Blog Action Day "Poverty" Writing Challenge


by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Lori Thornton who writes and publishes Smoky Mountain Family Historian has just called to attention the upcoming Blog Action Day addressing the broad topic of "poverty" in a post Blog Action Day -- October 15, 2008.

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15. I will be joining Lori with a post dealing with the issue of poverty on that day and hope to see other writers joining this action by writing about poverty and family history.

Thanks, Lori, for announcing the topic --- and although you didn't challenge us to write but rather invited us to participate, I'd like to issue to the Genea-Bloggers Group a "Lori's Challenge to Post about Poverty on October 15."

I've already started on a piece --- and will finish it and put it in my scheduled posts for October 15 --- and I hope you will respond to the "Lori's Challenge to Post about Poverty" too. I look forward to seeing each member of the Genea-Bloggers Group all writing about poverty on the same day, October 15. Of this activity I can't think of why a "round-up" is necessary --- all the posts should appear on the same day --- not a carnival; not a round-up challenge --- but just all of us writing to the general topic of poverty as discussed by Lori.

I think this a worthy project for family historians and a writing project well suited to the Genea-Bloggers Group. As Lori says you've got almost two months to prepare an article so that it appears on Wednesday October 15.

UPDATE: It has been called to my attention that Jasia writing at Creative Gene in a post titled B.A.D. is Coming, and That's Good! announced this challenge prior to Lori's announcement. The only problem is I read Lori's post six hours before I read Jasia's --- sorry Jasia. So the challenge is on! Lets all get behind Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty and write, write, write about poverty and family history and post it on October 15.
The Genea-Bloggers' community is richly blessed with caring writers --- and I know whether you've learned about this challenge from Jasia, from Lori, or from the mess I've made of it you will write about poverty for Blog Action Day.



Posted by Terry Thornton at 9:21 AM 1 comments Links to this post
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Thursday, August 14, 2008

An Index of Site Titles Published by Members of GBers on FB with Links to those Sites


by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Below are titles and links to almost 150 websites written and published by some of the 133 members of the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook. Most of the links were obtained from individual GBer's profile pages at Facebook on August 13 and 14, 2008. A few links not listed at the profile page were added because of my personal knowledge of your publications.

It is my plan to publish the entire list in a special listing at my blog, Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi. I would like the list to be as complete as possible and need your help to finish it.

Note 1: If you are a member of GBers on FB and whose website/blog/publication is not listed below, please contact me if you wish to be included. If you publish additional websites you wish included in this index, please let me know and I'll add those titles/links.

Note 2: I did not add to the index a feature I much wished for --- after the title/link I wished to have the following statement: "by NAME OF WRITER" except on the four blogs I own. Because several of you post anonymously I didn't make any attempt to identify owner/writer/publisher but I feel such would be of value in future listings. If you wish your name to show on this index, please contact me.

Note 3: If you do not wish for your publication to be linked on this index, please request that it be removed.

Note 4: It is amazing how many members of GBers on FB don't have a clear notice or links to their webpages anywhere that I can find on the Profile page. I'm not talking about those of you who are readers and don't publish --- but experienced publishers of long standing who ignore the opportunity to post a link to their webpages on their profile. And I'm amazed at the number of links listed in the profile pages that are garbled and not workable. I recommend you double-check your Profile page and list your websites/blogs and verify that the url is workable.

Note 5: If my link below is broken, please let me know as soon as possible. Also please notify me if I've got spelling errors in the title of your website.

Note 6: I don't have time to go through all 133 profile pages again looking for your publications and links to them. If you update there, please update this listing also by either posting a comment here or by emailing me. Thanks.

Here are the titles and links to the publications of some of the GBers on FB.

Destination: Austin Family by Thomas MacEntee
Digital Storytelling by Midge Frazel
Inside the Magnolia Curtain by Terry Thornton
Lann Cemetery Blog by Terry Thornton

MacGenealogist by Ben Sayer
Midge Frazel's Home Page by Midge Frazel
New Hope Cemetery by Terry Thornton

The Educated Genealogist by Sheri Fenley
The Family Curator by Denise Levenick
TwigTalk

Valeehill Genealogy by Virginia Hill Travis
What's Past is Prologue by Donna Pointkouski
Whitley County Kinexxions by Becky Wiseman

No title: a website by Carol Head (click to view)
No title: a website by Linda Stienstra (click to view)


Posted by Terry Thornton at 9:10 AM 30 comments Links to this post

Monday, August 11, 2008

ADD INTRO, BLOG NAME, and URL to your FB PROFILE



Kathryn Doyle writing here on August 1 in her suggestion New Facebook Quick Tip: Adding an Intro provides one of the most helpful tips for Genea-Bloggers. Put an intro beneath your Facebook profile photo --- and be sure to include the name of your blog and its url (those hot links are sure ways to attract readers).

I'm amazed at the number of Genea-Bloggers whose profile image does not include an introduction nor give link to their web site. And some don't even tell us the name of their blog or web site.

So let me shout out Kathryn's excellent advice: GO TO YOUR PROFILE PAGE AND ADD AN INTRODUCTION BENEATH YOUR PHOTO AND INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR WEB SITE AND ITS URL.

On the other hand it you don't wish for folks to come to your web site and read what you've written, leave it off. I didn't take the time to track down some web sites last evening because the authors had not included the url nor even the names of their blogs. One was a new member of the GBers on FB and one was an older experienced Genea-blogger whose name I recognize, whose work I once read with great interest, but whose location is now lost to me. I wished to go read --- but I can't figure out what or where.

Don't make us guess where your work is located. Give us a clue --- state your blog title and its url whenever and wherever possible.

Terry Thornton
Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi
Posted by Terry Thornton at 10:01 AM 5 comments Links to this post
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Sunday, August 10, 2008

News Wall



If you use the New Facebook and have the Blog Networks application loaded, there is a new feature called News Wall.

With News Wall you can see the last five posts of the blogs you follow in Blog Networks and then select the posts you want to read. It is a great way to get to the posts!
Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 12:09 PM 1 comments Links to this post
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Friday, August 8, 2008

Creating and Managing A Group

So, there isn't enough Facebook to keep you busy so you thought you'd start a group, huh? Groups can be an effective way of championing a cause, finding like-minded Facebook friends, or in my case, to seek out people with a specific surname and see if I can add more to my research for that surname.

There are several surname groups on Facebook but the concept realy hasn't taken off yet. Now with more and more genealogy blogs being posted, I think it is only a matter of time before genea-bloggers will want to understand how to create and manage a group.

Create A Group

1. Click on the Group application and then click on Create a Group. The Create A Group dialog will appear:





2. In the Group Name field, enter a name for the group. Leave the Network selection as Global - if you select a network such as Chicago, IL only members in that network will be able to join. Continue completing the other fields and then click Create Group when done.





3. The group will be created and the Edit Group dialog will appear. You can now customize the group settings in terms of participation and add a photo as well.




4. You need to make some decisions as to how this group will function and then check or uncheck certain customizations. Here are some issues to consider:

Open, Closed or Secret Group? - If the group is Open then it practically manages itself, that is if you don't have spammers or other Facebook members looking to cause problems. If you want potential members to meet a certain criteria (surname or surname derivation, common interest, etc.) then select Closed. Potential members will make a request to join which you as Administrator must approve. A Secret group is the most restrictive and one that other Facebook users won't stumble upon in a search - you will need to invite potential members.




To Post Or Not To Post? - notice in the options below that I have only given the ability to post videos and items to the Administrator.

Configure the options as you want and then click Save Changes.





5. Now you can invite Facebook friends to join your group or you can enter the e-mail addresses of non-Facebook friends.




6. Your group is now ready. Post Discussion Board items, Photos, create Events, etc. as you please - you are the Administrator!

Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 2:53 PM 0 comments Links to this post
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Thursday, August 7, 2008

Adding Your Blog Using Blog Networks

There have been several requests to outline the steps involved in getting your genealogy-related blog added to Facebook using Blog Networks. Here is a short summary:

1. Make sure you have Blog Networks added as an application.

2. Select the Blog Networks applications. Click Add New Blog.



3. When the Add A New Blog dialog appears, enter the pertinent information.



4. When finished, click Next. You will be asked if you are the author of the blog. Click Yes.



5. You now need to get 10 confirmations that you are the author. Why? This is Blog Networks' way of making sure that splogs (spam blogs) don't make their way into Facebook.

Click on Ask Friends to Verify.



6. Select up to 20 friends to whom you want to send the invitation. They will be asked to confirm you as author.



7. Your blog is now part of the Blog Network. It will not appear at the top of the My Blogs list until you receive 10 authors. Also remember that you need 15 readers or more to be included in the blog feed for Blog Networks.

Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 7:02 AM 4 comments Links to this post
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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Re-arranging Items on Your Facebook® Profile

Let's face it, like decorating any room in your home, arranging items on your Facebook® Profile always seems to be a work in progress. And, as you make Friends and travel to see other profiles, you may wonder, "How did they do that?" So here are some tips on arranging items in your Facebook® profile.

Old Facebook®

I am still using Old Facebook® and will do so until they pry my mouse from my cold dead hands. I find it is easier to re-arrange items under Old Facebook® as well.

1. Keep in mind that when you add new items such as Applications or Causes they usually end up at the bottom of your Profile.



2. Place your cursor on the "banner" or "heading" at the top of an item, hold down the left mouse button and "drag" the item to the new location.



3. The item will appear when you release your finger on the left mouse button.



It may take practice to move items around - I find that the screen scrolling can be slow or quirky so often I will drop the item farther up the screen, then move it up a second or third time.

New Facebook®

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of flexibility when it comes to moving New Facebook® items.

1. Click the "pencil" icon in the item banner and the Edit Box menu will appear.



2. You will not be able to drag this item to the main body of the profile. Your choices are Move to the Boxes tab or Remove. If you select Move to the Boxes tab, it will appear in the Boxes tab and you can then move it to a location within the Boxes tab.



3. And if the item is in the Boxes tab, you can select Move to Wall and the item will only appear in the far left area of the Profile not in the body of the profile.

Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 6:00 PM 1 comments Links to this post
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Monday, August 4, 2008

Metadata Tags for Photos - Windows Vista

For those of us using Windows Vista, the ability to use metadata for photo files is much greater with more flexibility.

Tags

One form of metadata available to Windows Vista users is a Tag. Think of tags the same way you think of labels for blog posts: tags are a series of "keywords" that you develop which allow you to group items together under a common theme. In this blog labels such as Profile or Applications are frequently used.



In the image below, I have used tags to label my census images for my genealogy research. I created tags such as 1900 Census, 1880 Census, etc. This tag system will then allow me to sort on the Tag column.



Entering data for tags, and in fact, for several basic metadata fields is made much easier in Windows Vista. There is no need to right-click over a file and select Properties. Go to the panel at the bottom of the Windows Explorer screen and you can select and edit any field.



Metadata

The metadata fields available when using Windows Vista are much more robust than Windows XP. If you right-click over a photo file, select Properties and then select the Details tab, you will see many more fields including those automatically populated by your digital camera.



Warning! Genea-geek speak ahead! Instead of the EXIF standard used in Windows XP, Vista utilizes the XMP (Extensible Media Platform) standard developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. With XMP metadata, there are many more fields available plus you can perform bulk edits of metadata either using Windows Live Photo Gallery or various third-party applications. Some of the more popular XMP-based metadata programs are iTag and Pictomio.
Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 3:29 PM 0 comments Links to this post
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Metadata Tags for Photos - Windows XP

This post is in response to several inquiries over at Facebook® since using metadata for photos is part of the Organization competition in the upcoming Genea-Bloggers Games.

What is Metadata and How Does It Get There?

Think of metadata as "data about data," meaning data such as file size, file name, fiel type, etc. The easiest way to see metadata for a file in Windows XP is to use Windows Explorer (which lists your files NOT Internet Explorer which is a web browser) and right-click over the file name, then select Properties.



In the example above, on the General tab, basic data such as File Size, File Type, etc. are shown.

These fields represent basic metadata that are embedded with the file when it is created. Also, when you use a digital camera, the metadata is written to the file and is populated when you connect the camera to the PC or laptop and download the file.

You can also supply more metadata youself - the type that helps to further categorize your photos. Clicking on the Summary tab displays even more data fields:



The Title, Subject, Author, Keywords and Comments fields are available for you to complete. By adding information about the photo you are supplying metadata - descriptive data about a data file. Enter information and click OK.



If you are curious about the Advanced button (and who isn't - if there's a button there you bet I'm going to check it out!), click it and more metadata is displayed including height, width, as well as the metadata you just entered.



So What Can I Do With Metadata?

Now that the metadata is embedded as part of the file, both supplied by the camera and by you, it can be displayed in Windows Explorer by adding the fields to be displayed. Right click over any of the fields in Windows Explorer and a quick list of fields in use appears with a check mark.



Select the Author and Comments fields and they will then be displayed in Windows Explorer.



Now, you can sort and organize your photos based on this new metadata.

Warning! Genea-geek speak ahead! If you want to learn more about the metadata standards used by most digital cameras, read about EXIF (exchangeable image file format). EXIF is the most common standard used with files stored in Windows XP but is today seen as somewhat inflexible and antiquated.

So I Have To Manually Input Metadata For Each Photo File?

You could spend have your life editing metadata manually for photo files in Windows XP and by time your done Microsoft will have come out with its next generation of Windows operating system.

There are several programs that are available for free that allow bulk editing of metadata - check them out at Download.com.
Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 2:47 PM 4 comments Links to this post
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Sunday, August 3, 2008

Memorable Web Addresses for Profile, Page or Group

I've been using this relatively new application on Facebook® called Memorable Web Addresses for Profile, Page or Group which allows you to create your own easy-to-remember URLs for various Facebook® areas.

Example: my profile URL on Facebook® is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1019772152. Well, that isn't exactly easy to remember. But by adding this application, you can create a customized URL that starts with http://profile.to/. You just have to make sure that someone else hasn't snagged the neat or unique name you thought up for that URL.

The one I picked is Totally Thomas, so I can now send http://profile.to/totallythomas/ or include it in my email signature and the link will take people to my Facebook® profile. Pretty neat, huh?

Memorable Web Addresses also allows you to create the same type of links for groups on Facebook®. So I decided to reserve http://groups.to/genea-bloggers/ for Genea-Bloggers.
Posted by Thomas MacEntee at 5:48 PM 0 comments Links to this post
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TIP: Putting Your News Feed to Work

The News Feed area of your Facebook home page keeps you updated on all your friends. It can do a lot more. I was scanning my news feed this morning and noticed that a couple of my friends had become fans of Heritage Books.com. Hmmmm. Heritage Books is a great genealogy resource and I'm glad to see they're on Facebook so I wandered on over to their page and took a look. I see that they are posting updates on new items and special discounts - things I would like to know about. So, all I have to do is click on Become a Fan in the right sidebar and each new update will show up in my Facebook news feed.

You'll find many interesting and useful organizations and businesses on Facebook. For example, I use WordPress as my blogging platform at Family Matters so I'm a fan of WordPress on Facebook. This is an easy way to keep up with news and updates about WordPress.

Not only is Facebook a great way to meet other genealogy addicts and socialize with people who understand your addiction, it's a great way to keep up with news, deals, updates and opportunities from organizations and vendors supporting our community. All it takes is one click to become a fan and the news is delivered to your Facebook news feed.
Posted by Moultrie Creek at 4:54 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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Friday, August 1, 2008

New Facebook Quick Tip: Adding an Intro



One complaint I'm hearing about New Facebook is that biographical information is hidden away under the "Info" tab.

I recommend that you add a short introductory paragraph just under your main photograph. Click on the little pencil icon just under your pix to reveal a space to “write something about yourself.” Be sure to add the url to your blog or Web site.

You'll notice those pencil icons throughout your Facebook pages. Take advantage of the feature to tweak your content to suit your taste.

Posted by Kathryn Doyle at 3:22 PM 2 comments Links to this post
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Why Facebook?

Yes, Facebook can be confusing, and a distraction, and a bit silly, and even overwhelming at times, but it does have great potential for all of us. It's the virtual equivalent of a Chamber of Commerce mixer or a membership social - only it never ends.

Jasia's Carnival of Genealogy was the first step the genealogy community took in online socializing. The comments and emails generated from each edition of the carnival helped to develop friendships across the miles. Miriam's Scanfest kicked that up a notch. Now, with Facebook, we have the ability to develop significant relationships with others in the genealogy community. Yes, this can increase traffic to my blog or help me find a research cousin, but I personally look forward to just "talking" to others who understand and appreciate my fascination with dead relatives.

For the last couple of weeks I've been bombarded with friend requests and suggestions for friends. For the most part, I've just added them as friends and gone on my merry way. Now, it's time to start getting to know these people and developing a relationship that's more than a connection between one profile and another. Introduce yourself to one of these friends and learn more about that person. Then, do it again and again.

A couple of tips on socializing in the virtual world:
  • Virtual conversations aren't always real time. You send me a note which I may not see for hours and then not respond until even later. Don't feel slighted if you don't get an immediate response to a message or inquiry. I may be at work, cooking dinner or whatever. Even if you can see that I'm online, I could be involved in something and don't want to be distracted. This doesn't mean I don't want to chat - just that I don't have time right this minute.
  • Don't take it personally if someone isn't interested in virtual gifts or hugs or whatever.
  • I enjoy the newsy chit-chat everyone posts, but please remember that Facebook is a social site not a research site. I love to hear about a new online archive or digital collection, but once your news item moves down the continual stack of news and notifications will anyone ever see that link again? In addition to your Facebook news flash, post it permanently somewhere it can easily be referenced anytime. For links to useful online resources, try the Genealogy Resources group at Diigo or USGenWeb or Cyndi's List or all of the above.
Now that things have settled down a bit, it's time to build our community. Yes, it will take time away from your research, but I can guarantee you'll find it worth the effort.
Posted by Moultrie Creek at 3:29 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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