Saturday, August 11, 2007

Welcome to the Indiepublic Blog Ring!

About the Ring:

This blog ring was created so that members of indiepublic could show support for the site and each other while we network and promote our love of indie art and design.



How a Blog Ring Works:

A blog ring is a (hopefully!) continually growing circle, with a small banner or code connecting each individual blog to the next in the line. The great thing about blog rings is that they are easy - you sign up for one, become approved, and paste the code on your blog. Then you are instantly hooked into a community that shares your interests and allows you to network. It also helps to give your blog, and essentially you, more exposure online.

Our blog ring is powered by Ring Surf, and you are connected to two blogs via the code - one through the "previous" link and one through the "next" link. Your blog is also listed on the Ring Surf homepage for our blog ring, and right here in our blogroll.



Join the Ring:

Want to join? Here are a few guidelines to go by:

1.) First, please make sure that you're a member of indiepublic.com. It's a free networking site devoted to independent art and design... and it's growing exponentially every day.

2.) Have a blog that you use for your business, your art, or artsy lifestyle. The blog doesn't have to be on indiepublic, nor does it have to be completely devoted to indiepublic, just as long as it relates to art and design in some way (such as your Etsy business).

3.) Click here to join.

4.) A page with the ring's code will appear after your submission is completed. Go ahead and post the code right away. Paste the it in a visible spot on your sidebar menu - make sure it's somewhere static. This is for two reasons: We want the code to be visible to your visitors at all times, regardless of which page of your blog they are on; and I found out that the ring won't let me approve you if it can't find the code on your blog. Bottom line: if it's not visible, I literally cannot approve your submission.



Etc:

Please give me up to a few days to approve your submission. I don't intend for it to take that long, but I'm wearing many hats (like so many other people out there!) and do need to sleep every so often. :) Plus, sometimes life intervenes into my best laid plans, and I can't help it when that happens.

Even though the code pops up right after you submit your blog, it isn't active right away. I manually have to approve every submission before the code on your blog will work, so it's really important to make sure that code is on your blog. I try to get as many done at one time, but my computer likes to throw tantrums and Ring Surf tends to run slow, so if there's a gap in time between your submission and it being approved, that's why. I've been posting a comment on each blog to let you know that the code is active and you're now fully linked into the ring.

Any questions? Just let me know! Welcome aboard!

7 comments:

Barb McMahon and Alan Mailloux said...

Hi, I tried to paste the code from the website to my blog - it didn't work. Any tips?

Brandi Hussey said...

Hi Barb! I also left this on your blog, but in case you come back here first.

I'm sorry the code is giving you some trouble. Here's what I did to put it onto the Indiepublic Blog:

1) Once you're signed into Blogger, go to the Template Tab. Make sure you're under the "Page Elements" subcategory.

2) Click "Add a Page Element" and choose the "HTML/Javascript" Option.

3) Paste the code into the box. If you'd like it centered, type in < center > without the spaces before the code.

4) Click Save, then move the box wherever you want it on your sidebar.

A few people have been having problems with the code and Blogger - I have no idea why, and suddenly it will work. I'm looking into it, making sure the code isn't flawed. See if that works, and if not, please let me know!

Thank you!
Brandi

JACQUELINE said...

hi brandi! i lost my code-can i get it back so i can post it in my blog? thank you!!! jacqueline

Tamara Landre said...

Hi There,
Could you encourage your ring members to use the small ring navigation section (next, previous, etc.) in their sidebars? I love this blogring, but if there's no nav, I have to go back to the previous one (or go back several) in order to continue in the ring. Thanks!

Brandi Hussey said...

hi tamara.

the ring code itself was designed to include a previous and next button. when i approve people, i look for it; if it's not there, i can't approve them till it is. so, when they sign up, it's there. if you've found a blog that doesn't include the code, some people have it in different places, like the bottom of their blog.

Tamara Landre said...

thanks for the reply, brandi.

Sarah said...

Hi! I tried to join but I haven't heard from you yet!
:)