We Like to Write - A New Online Community for Professional and Amateur Writers & Bloggers

I've set up a new social networking site for professional and amateur bloggers and writers. We Like to Write is an online community, with a forum, chat-room, groups, on-site magazine, and many more functions. All bloggers and writers are welcome to sign up and use the site, entirely free of charge.

The last week has certainly been a hectic one. I've been working hard setting up the latest in a series of websites and blogs - this time an online community, where my readers can get to know each other and promote their blogs and articles. I've also set up a premier membership for those who wish to be registered as available for freelance writing and blogging work, for whom I will take enquiries from potential employers, and promote heavily on the We Like to Write website.

The forum, chat-room, uploads (photos and videos) and groups are not visible to non-members, which affords some degree of privacy to members. However, there is nothing to prevent prospective employees signing up and taking a look around, so the forum will be moderated to ensure a professional atmosphere is retained. I'd like the forum, chat-room and groups to be welcoming places for writers and bloggers of all skill levels, and will be policing the board myself to prevent any unreasonable behaviour. Trolls are not invited!

The on-site magazine can be viewed by members and non-members alike, but only premier members may contribute articles and blogs. Authors may place Google Adsense ads, Chikita ads, and Amazon Associates links on 500 word articles, with the potential to earn 100% of the revenue or commission generated from the ads. Application for premier membership consists of a written test and monthly subscription fee of $1.50, although the service is free for three months to all successful applicants signing up before 21st June, and can be cancelled at any time. Each magazine article or blog is moderated by the site manager, and may also contain up to three self-serving links per 500 words. This means premier members are able to promote residual earnings articles and their own blogs and websites to all site visitors, in addition to building valuable back-links. Referral links are also permitted.

Premier members also have access to a private group and discussion forum, a private chat-room, and are featured in a prominent position on the home page. They are also promoted on the Find a Writer page, where potential employees are able to make booking enquiries through the site manager.

So, I'd like to welcome all professional and amateur writers and bloggers to join me at the We Like to Write online community. I will endeavour to make it a useful and pleasant experience for all members. If you have any questions or suggestions please get in touch via the comment box below this post, or through the We like to Write site itself.

Basic Blogger Tips: How to Create Text Links That Open in a New Browser Window

Bloggers often find it necessary or helpful to add links to other pages or sites to their blog posts. This article explains how to create text links that open in a new browser window, meaning your reader won't leave your blog if they click on the link.

All too often bloggers lose first-time readers as a direct result of placing helpful links in blog posts. The key to successful blogging is to keep visitors on your blog long enough to convince them to subscribe, which may not happen if the first post they come across leads them somewhere else, which in turn leads them somewhere else, and...well, you get the picture...

The best way to avoid this problem is to edit the html code of the link created with the blogger text editor to redirect link to open in a new window.

How to Create Text Links That Open in a New Browser Window

• Create your link as usual, with the blogger text-editor (in compose mode, highlight the word or words you wish to turn into a link, press 'Link,' and enter the URL or email address you wish to link to). 
• Click 'Edit HTML' above the text editor, next to 'Compose.'
• Find the HTML code for your link, which will look something like the text in the following image (click to enlarge).

• Add the following code snippet directly after the URL's end-quote, and before the arrow-brackets: target="new" - as shown in the following example.

• Publish your blog post and check your link - it will now open in a new window, meaning your traffic won't be diverted away from your blog. The RSS link below is a working example.

If you found this tip helpful you may want to sign up for our RSS subscription, or read the following similar articles, providing additional tips and tricks for Blogger blogs.

Basic Blogger Tips: Creating a Successful Blog - Rome Wasn't Built in a Day!

With reports that over 20,000 blogs are started daily it's easy to see why many fail to win significant numbers of readers. In  fact, the vast majority are abandoned within the first six months, as bloggers become disillusioned with the results they see - usually as a result of their own unrealistic expectations regarding blogging.

Upon recognition that your blog is but a tiny grain of sand in an infinitely expanding ocean, you may feel as though you face an impossible task that simply isn't worth the effort it requires. But before you go ahead and give up, consider that Rome wasn't built in a day, and that all enduring structures are built slowly, and purposefully, with keen attention to detail. Also remember that the foundations are the most important feature of any building project. The same is true of your blog.

Creating a Successful Blog

If you speak to any successful professional blogger you'll soon discover they all have pretty much the same advice when it comes to building an enduring blog - patience, and perseverance. That's not to say that quality content, SEO techniques and design are unimportant - quite the opposite: they're detrimental - but understanding the time and effort required to build a successful blog is an important aspect of the process.

It is said that any blog will take a minimum of six months to a year to develop a reasonable page rank in it's particular niche. This is true even if you are posting quality content several times per week or more, so there are no short-cuts here, and patience is ultimately the key.

If you're planning to set up a blog and fill it with content under the assumption it will receive instant recognition from search engines, and an immediate surge of visitors, you are sorely mistaken; creating a successful blog requires motivation and commitment over a long period of time.

This means your topic-choice must be one you are willing and able to expand upon for years to come, or your blog will die an early death, quickly becoming redundant - along with millions of others.

In short, if you want to build an enduring, successful blog you are going to have to put in a lot of effort, on a regular basis, over a long period of time. If you're not prepared to do this you may as well give up at the first hurdle. Blogging isn't easy, but it's not exactly hard, once you know what you're doing. However, if you lack the patience, perseverance, commitment and motivation necessary, you may as well not waste your time.

Basic Blogger Tips: Why You Should NEVER Delete Redundant Blog Posts

Often regular bloggers find obsolete or redundant posts on their blog, and delete them to tidy the appearance. Today's Blogger tip explains why blog posts should never be fully deleted, and what you should do instead.

We all know what it's like. You publish a blog post when you're tired, upset, angry, drunk - or otherwise unable to judge the relevance or usefulness of the post - or you find an old post that is now completely irrelevant, or - worse still - totally inaccurate.

So, what do you do? You delete it, right?

No... This is a wrong move, and here's why: when you delete a blog post the url (web-page address) remains live, or active, and any search engine results or links posted elsewhere, by yourself or your readers, will pull up an error page.

This doesn't sound too bad, but actually it is. Search engines don't take kindly to error pages, and will rank your blog poorly if there are too many of them. Some search engines will fail to index a blog at all, if there are too many of these error pages.

So, what should you do instead? There are two options; one is to update or edit the post, making it relevant/accurate, or changing it to something entirely different. The other is to remove the content and replace it with a polite message explaining the page is no longer available. You needn't go into why, and a simple sentence or two will do. For example:

 "Unfortunately this page is no longer available. We apologise for any inconvenience."

In addition to the message, you could use also add links to similar posts, or those you believe will be relevant or interesting to any readers who've found their way to the post you've removed, which reduces your chances of losing readers. It also seems more professional than a blank page.

Whichever method you choose, you should remember to edit the labels or keywords, in addition to the blog post itself, as you don't want the search engines to register keyword spamming - that is, use of irrelevant keywords).

How to Add a PayPal Donate Button to a Blogger Blog

If your Blogger blog provides helpful information or free products, such as templates or web-tools, you may wish to install a PayPal donate button, to enable your readers to donate a small amount of money if they've found the information or products particularly useful or beneficial. 

Adding a PayPal donate button is completely free, but you will need to sign up for a PayPal account to do so. There are a few countries not yet served by PayPal; if you reside in one of these countries you will be unable to use this service.

How to Add a PayPal Donate Button to a Blogger Blog

• Log in to your PayPal account (if you don't have one visit the PayPal website and sign up).
• Click on the 'Merchant Services' tab.
• Scroll down and find the 'Donations' link in the right-hand sidebar.
• Click 'Donations,' which will re-direct you to another page, called Website Payments Standard Donations. In the sectioned titled 'Step One' you will find another 'Donations' link.
• Clink the second 'Donations' link, which will take you to the page where you can create and customise your PayPal donations button.
• Choose your settings (ensure you choose a button that will fit where it is intended - you can choose a small button if your sidebars are too narrow to accommodate the larger one) and enter your payment details into the field provided. You can upload an image of your choice for the button itself, or use the default PayPal donations button.
• Save the PayPal button and click 'Create Button.'
• Copy the HTML code provided.
• Log into your Blogger dashboard and click 'Layout' (if using Blogger draft click 'Design').
• Click 'Add Gadget' and choose 'HTML/Java Script.'
• Paste the HTML code into the box (title is optional) and press save.
• Position your button by dragging and dropping in the Layout or Design area of your Blogger dashboard.

 You can now accept donations from your blog readers securely through PayPal, using the 'PayPal Donations' button.

* Important note: PayPal will charge you a fee for each donation transaction. The fee will depend on the amount received, but there is a set charge in addition to a percentage; this means low-level donations will result in disproportionally high charges.

Here is an example of the PayPal Donate button.