Good morning, everyone - and Happy Independence Day to all my U.S. friends!


Well, after a few hours of work (designing, adding content, etc), I'm very happy to announce that a new Community Blog is now up and running.    The blog tutorials will have to be re-written as the files are on my old hard drive, but have patience; they will be posted - and they'll even include screenshots.  I'm hoping this second attempt will be more successful than the first one was...

One of the biggest reasons for the new blog is so that new and existing bloggers here will get some exposure.  The Featured Journals list still needs work (it's now showing advertising blogs as "features", as well as blogs that were deleted and now lead to Bravenet pages) - and besides, we're a community; we need to take some responsibility for ourselves, don't you think?  Why should it all be left up to Bravenet?  If we aren't willing to do the work to reach people, then we either need to try harder, or walk away. Bravenet shouldn't have to babysit us; we're not children  (Well, most of you aren't; if there are kids who frequent the Tree, I don't know about it).

Now, of course there are people who do try really hard, but who still don't get much exposure.  To those people, some advice that was given to me when I was having this problem is to maybe change your content, and/or visit others more often; in my experience, this has been proven to be successful. 

I want to thank Hazel, Leah, Nick, and Clarisse for dropping by and sharing their opinions on this issue.  I especially want to thank Courtnie, who works in Bravenet's Content Development division, for taking the time to come by and let us know the problem is being worked on.  Hearing from Bravenet staff means a lot not just to me, but to anyone who's written about issues with Bravenet.  I really feel that the way we present problems either encourages or discourages the staff from coming by to comment...

Well, have a great day and a great weekend, everyone.  Drop by the new blog, if you get a chance, and leave me a tag or a comment - and if you have any content suggestions, please be sure to include them, too. I can't promise that every suggestion can or will be implemented, but I still want to hear them.  

Since posting about the issues with the Journal Community page, this morning (see this post - link opens a new window/tab), I haven't been able to stop thinking about bringing back the old blog I mentioned.  I do have some ideas which would be fairly easy to implement right away, but rather than put them on the table, I'd really like to hear from you, the Bravenet community, about what you would want to find on a community-oriented blog.

With that in mind, I'm inviting you to use the Comment section here to share your suggestions.  Also, please try to remember that I am just one person, so if you don't see a reply at your blog, chances are very high that I've replied to you here to maintain the flow of discussion, and because it's quicker and more efficient.

Let's help Bravenet help us to help them. In a community as large as this one, I'm sure we can come together in a way that will benefit all of us, including Bravenet staff.  After all, this site isn't in the top three blogging sites for nothing...