A request of Bloggers in nScale.net Blogger land.

Bryan

Posts: 4239
Joined: 2004-02-29

Ladies & Gentlemen, we love your Blog contributions, but when making a Blog entry, please take the second or two that's required to select the appropriate category(s) that your entry might fall into... You can select one or more of the categories available under the "News: *" dropdown... Yes, the RED asterisk is to remind you to select something.

Blogs are not moderated like the forums, so it's up to you to categorize the topic/content so member searches can better find your info... As it stands there are ~45 Blog entries that are solely categorized as being about "Books", but in fact have nothing to do with books.

So, if you have a moment, PLEASE return to your Blog entries (one today, one tomorrow, as you have time), edit them, and select one or more categories that they do belong under.

Your time in doing this is greatly appreciated, and will enhance the usefulness of your contributions to this community.

With my sincerest thanks,

Bryan

Submitted by Bryan on Mon, 02/11/2008 - 23:49.

BryanC

Posts: 1500
Joined: 2005-01-26

Because Books is the

Because Books is the default category it get used more than it should when users either don't realize they should pick a category or simply forget - as I have done on occasion!

After reading your request I opened up Books and scrolled through looking for my entries and yes, I found a couple that shouldn't have been there!

At first I thought that maybe not having a default and not accepting an entry until a category was selected might be one approach to preventing this situation. Then, however, I realized this might be very bad for users making use of external blog writing tools (such as Windows Live Writer). For example, WLW allows the selection of a category but does not enforce one; instead, using the host's default.

One possibility might be to add another category such as General, Miscellaneous, etc. and making it the default. After all, the present list isn't all inclusive by any means!

As Komata would say "Just a thought!"

Cheers!

Bryan C
Alligator Lines "The Eclectic Line of the South"

http://ALines.home.att.net

Tue, 02/12/2008 - 10:28

Bryan

Posts: 4239
Joined: 2004-02-29

If "General" was the

If "General" was the default, then they'd mostly be in General... it still comes back to folks taking the time to select the most appropriate categories... and that is plural... you can select multiple categories if your Blog entry touches on several subjects. (hold down the Ctrl key whilst selecting).. selecting categories for your Blog post aids the search process.

Bryan

Tue, 02/12/2008 - 18:20

siderod

Posts: 2436
Joined: 2004-06-05

I just went through to be

I just went through to be sure that none of my Blogs made it into the book section by accident. I see that most of those posts are Keiths...thats most surprising.

Siderod (II)
Andrew Reid
* * *
nScale.net Forum Moderator

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 11:12

Jimmi

Posts: 870
Joined: 2006-12-18

You know what Andrew? I

You know what Andrew? I think maybe some of Keith's cliffhangers may qualify as books.

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made. Jean Giraudoux

Jim

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 12:35

Komata

Posts: 1269
Joined: 2005-05-12

A request of Bloggers in nScale.net Blogger land

Gentlemen, please, you're too kind . .

But, spurred on by Andrew's comments (thanks friend. . .) I have studiously checked every one of my 'blogs and changed a few as necessary.

However, having done that, I have to agree with BryanC's observation - a 'Miscellaneous' or 'General'-type option may be a good idea.

At the moment there is nowhere to put 'railway-related tales', 'ramblings' or true-happenings' except under 'Books' - 'Prototype Research' doesn't really seem to cover these areas.

No idea for a title for any such sections - but, on further reflection, I now wonder if 'Miscellaneous' or 'Genera'l may be just a little too vague and if such a section could become overloaded with too many entries, returning us back to 'square one' - the present situation?

Over to the 'experts in such thing's for their considerations. . .

Komata

"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . "

Komata

"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . " ___________________________________________

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 16:22

BryanC

Posts: 1500
Joined: 2005-01-26

Well, Bryan's comment is

Well, Bryan's comment is absolutely correct. It doesn't really matter what you name it, the default category will always get a lot of stuff that shouldn't really be there. It really is up to the blogger to choose the correct category!

However, I am not sure that Books is a good name for the default. As Keith suggests and I alluded to, the list of categories could be expanded to everyone's benefit. Many of Keith's (and others) stories really do belong in the Books category but that is also the default so a lot of other stuff ends up there. Which is why I believe that Books should be a chosen category; not the default.

So long as there is a default, it will always receive entries that do not belong there - human nature to not know, care or simply forget! Which is why a more generic title is in order for the default category - IMHO!

Cheers!

Bryan C
Alligator Lines "The Eclectic Line of the South"

http://ALines.home.att.net

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 16:34

Michael

Posts: 514
Joined: 2007-09-04

Perhaps a category called

Perhaps a category called "blogs"...

(I fear a solution this simple may tear a hole in the universe)

Michael
www.modelrailroader.ca

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 16:56

BryanC

Posts: 1500
Joined: 2005-01-26

Three cheers for Michael!

What a great idea! Simple, straight forward and accomplishes the task!

Cheers!

Bryan C
Alligator Lines "The Eclectic Line of the South"

http://ALines.home.att.net

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 17:10

absnut

Posts: 659
Joined: 2004-01-12

Murphy's Law #?

Murphy's Law number something-or-other....

"Nothing is as easy as it looks!"

Dick,

Usually, when all is said and done, there's a lot more said than done!

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 17:15

Bryan

Posts: 4239
Joined: 2004-02-29

And it's not that your Blog

And it's not that your Blog entries are "filed" in the selected category (they're all in your Blog), it's just a flag for the search engine to pick up on a topic covered in your content.

"Books" is the default because it's at the top of the list, not because it's a chosen default.

Bryan

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 19:59

Bryan

Posts: 4239
Joined: 2004-02-29

By the way, combined,

By the way, combined, Komata's Blog entries do make a book... a Best Seller no less.

Bryan

Wed, 02/13/2008 - 20:32

A request of Bloggers in nScale.net Blogger land.

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