When you add images to your blog posts, where do you upload them? Do you store them on an image host like TinyPic.com, or do you prefer to keep them on your own server somewhere?
There are advantages to both methods, and of course, disadvantages.
As of this writing, I put most of my images on TinyPic, though I’ve lately been a little worried about that. What if TinyPic decides to delete them? What if something happens and they lose a bunch of data? I happens. It would be lot of work to re-upload images and edit all of my posts, but it would be “safer.” Though on the other hand, I’d be storing more files on my server, and transferring more bytes as well…
I’m still undecided, but what’s your preferred method?
Earlier this month, I asked whether it was a good idea to start a weekly column on Webmaster-Source for newcomers to blogging.
It looks like it will be happening. 92% of the voters said they were for the new column, and only 8% were against it. Again, not many people voted, but that could still possibly be attributed to the poll’s not showing in the RSS feed. (I think the Democracy Polls plugin can do that, so I’ll try it next…)
I think the addition of the new column would benefit everyone, so I’m going to go ahead with it in the near future. It would benefit new bloggers, obviously, but it would also help-out more experienced webmaster in a few ways too. I plan to accept guest posts for the column, so you’ll have a chance to promote your blog, and, you never know, it can be helpful to review the basics once in awhile.
I’m not going to launch this quite yet, but I will be in the near future.
I’ve been considering starting a weekly column here at Webmaster-Source, and accepting guest posts for it, as well as long-term guest writers. Generally, I tend to write for intermediate to advanced bloggers, and newcomers to the field are neglected a little.
My idea is to, pretty much every Tuesday, have a post targeted at beginning bloggers. Is this a good idea? Let’s put it to a vote.
I would like to keep WSC’s reader base fairly broad, which means publishing some more posts for beginners, but I don’t want to make any decisions you may not like. I don’t want to become another blog trying to teach beginners from the ground-u (I very much prefer writing at my current level), but I do think a weekly tutorial/tip/etc for newbies is a good idea.
Last month, I asked what type of domain you have. Only twelve people voted, which seems rather small compared to some previous polls. Thinking about this, I realized a bit of a problem with the polling service I’ve been using: RSS readers generally don’t display JavaScript. I should probably use WP-Polls, or something of the sort, so the poll will show-up in the feed.
Now, moving-on to the poll results.
17% (2 votes) say they have a keyword-filled domain with a .com TLD (like Webmaster-Source.com).
17% (2 votes) say they have a short, brandable name like Yahoo.com.
17% (2 votes) say they have a Del.icio.us-style domain, making use of country-level TLDs and subdomains to end-up with an easy to remember domain.
17% (2 votes) say they have a misspelled domain, like Flickr.com.
25% (3 votes) say that they have a domain with an alternate TLD, like .net, .org, or .biz.
Your domains are arguably the most important part of your website. Without domains, well, let’s just say that search engines would be even more essential then they already are (you’d have to type IP addresses otherwise).
What type of domain do you have? Do you have a descriptive, keyword-laden domain? A misspelled domain like “Flickr.com”? Do you use a .com TLD, or do you use an alternate one? Answer the poll.
Don’t have a domain? Get one. They’re only $6/year. Before you go out and register a domain, be sure to read about naming your site and picking a domain.
48% (10 votes) said they preferred full feeds. This is something that most of you would expect. People tend to demand full feeds quite often.
10% (2 votes) said they like summarized feeds. Out of the total 21 votes, I was quite surprised that even that many like summarized feeds. You don’t often hear people saying that. Also, when I used FeedDemon for a week, I really did prefer the full feeds.
29% (6 votes) voted for “I don’t care, I use Firefox Live Bookmarks or MyNT.” It’s nice to see that plenty of people like to read RSS feeds the way I prefer. It really is an efficient way to check your feeds. My experiment with FeedDemon did, however, show that the MyNT experience (which is similar to Live Bookmarks) could do with some improvement. And improvement it shall get.
Three of those who voted (14%) are real wise-guys. “Lightly toasted”?
I used to use Firefox’s Live Bookmarks. It was a great way to read RSS feeds, or it was until my feed collection got too big. Now I use MyNT, which works in a similar manner. When you read feeds in MyNT, you middle-click items to open the post in a new tab (like using Live Bookmarks). That’s how I read my RSS feeds.
There are masses of RSS-users who like to read entire blog posts in their reader, though some like summaries better.
So… What group are you in? Are you a full-feed-fanatic, a Live Bookmarks/MyNT maniac, or do you prefer summaries?
How do you use voting-based social bookmarking sites (like Digg, Reddit, Design Float)? Do you just subscribe to RSS feeds, and see what others like? Do you just vote occasionally?
I’ve been wondering about this lately, as well as complaining about the way that Digg is mainly about who you know. Complaints aside, Digg (and other social bookmarking sites) are a great way to find interesting things online (and have your posts be found as well).
Vote in the poll below, or feel free to leave a more detailed response in the comments.
Update: By “social bookmarking sites,” I am referring to sites like Digg and Reddit. Maybe “social news sites” would be a better term. Del.icio.us, a service that focuses on actually bookmarking things, doesn’t really fit-in with the poll.
By the way, I mainly “lurk.” I subscribe to the sites’ RSS feeds and read entries. If I really like something, I may login and vote, but not always. I tend to not do much submitting, since the first thing I think to do (when I find something interesting online) is to link to it.
Last month, I asked 
Back in January, I asked 
