Diane + Technology = Recipe for Disaster ~ Diane's Vintage Zest!

Diane + Technology = Recipe for Disaster

Well, I am officially inducted into the world of bloggers...

I lost a ton of my pictures from my flash drive (along with personal photos for the past few months) and unfortunately the pictures for the post I scheduled for today were included.  Sigh...  I'm just crossing my fingers that the computer people can recover my data.  My version of Andie's Chicken Parmesan Burgers will be here another day, hopefully sooner rather than later.  :)

In the meantime, view this burger from Umamicatessen that I ate once upon a time...


Two other technology-related items that I wanted to share with you all is about the Pimp My Blog Giveaway I shared on Saturday and a couple of tips for moving to Bloglovin', which I've noticed that all of my Google followers have yet to do.  I don't want to lose you!


Update: The giveaway is over, and thank you to all who voted!
Pimp My Blog Giveaway
1. Vote for me here!
2. Tell other people to vote for me here!
3. Await my new blog makeover (assuming you did steps #1 & 2 enough times).
4. Ooh and aah over the amazing changes that Cindy made.  :)



Bloglovin' Reader Tips
First of all, there are a few items that I thought I should point you all towards on Bloglovin', should you choose this as your new reader.  And for those of you with a blog, make sure to read the next section for tips to claim your blog.


When I went to Bloglovin' to transfer my subscriptions (which is super easy from Google as soon as you sign up), I noticed that there are a few features.  First of all, you can group your posts into category!  This is great for me when I just want to scroll through recipes, or when I'm in a sewing mood, etc.


Also, there is the option to make certain blogs private.  This is useful, like in the case of Pinterest's secret boards, if you don't want to reveal certain life events (weddings or babies) or even guilty pleasures to the whole world!

Also in the settings, you can link to a Facebook account, which provides your profile with a picture instead of the default heart icon.  You may choose to read posts in the bloglovin' frame, which makes it easier to scroll to the next post, or open up posts in the original website.

Next, create a profile!  Mine is very minimal, but it has my name and blog address and brief description.  Share whatever you would like, but there is another reason why it is good.



Other people can see you!  Unlike Google Friend Connect, where blog owners can see all of their followers and their profiles, this is all I can see.  Thus, Erin, Michelle, Nancy, On the Mend, Frances, and Rachel are entered for my giveaway (and future ones!), but my 7 other Bloglovin' followers are not!  Help me to help you win.  :)

By the way, e-mail/Feedburner folks and current Google followers are still in the running!

Lastly, if you have a iPad, iPhone or Android phone, remember to download the corresponding app.  It's sooo easy for reading on the go.  I know that I'm going to be using it during my Europe trip!




Bloglovin' Blogger Tips

First of all, claim your blog!

After you sign up, go to the upper right corner and choose My Blog from the drop down menu.


Then, hit the Claim Blog button and enter your address!

Now, click on your blog and enter the code as shown into a new blog post.  Simple!


Make sure to add a brief description and name your blog appropriately, so that potential new readers know what you are all about and can find you easily.

Now here's where my tips kick in.


Problem #1
There's a possibility that you have multiple feeds.  Check out Tatertots and Jello (whom I love!), but they have a problem.  Followers all over the place!  What to do?  E-mail support, and they'll remove the duplicate blogs lickety split, like in my case.


This will make it easier for followers because we don't have to guess which of these is the "real" feed and make sure that you don't lose followers on feeds that aren't updated regularly.

Update: Jen contacted them right away after following my directions to get it fixed and they already have 12 feeds down to 3 within an hour!  Thanks Jen for the update.  :)



Problem #2

Next, there's a possibility that you find your blog, but it has a different country domain name.  Sorry if this isn't the right terminology, but I'm not super-techie as we all know.  :)


I follow iHeart Organizing, but the website looks as if it is found in Finland due to the .fi at the end of the address.  At first, mine had a .se ending, and I didn't want people to assume that it was a blog entirely in Swedish!  This may not be too important for larger blogs, but for us smaller blogs, we want to make sure people don't skip over us while blog hopping.  :)

Same as above, just e-mail support, and they'll change the domain name to your preferred extension.


There are a few other quirks here and there that may change with Bloglovin' over time, especially given the amount of increased traffic that they're experiencing.  I hope this helps some of you!

And remember to vote for me!

Now, off to recreate at least some of the pictures for my upcoming posts.  :(





36 comments:

  1. Hi Diane!
    Did you try Recuva?
    Last week it happened to me too to loose ALL the pics I had already cut, watermarked, settled brightness/colours etc for my bib tutorial and ... PUFF! there was nothing more, in any place in my pc... I asked to UncleGoogle, he told me to download and run Recuva and... that's it! 14 of 17 of mi pics were recovered and on my desktop... again!
    PS: I've voted for your "pimp my blog" thing ;)
    MammaNene

    SergerPepper.blogspot.it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, the pictures were stored on my flash drive, which got bent and was unrecognizable. However, the guys at the local computer shop got a hold of the data, which will probably cost a pretty penny! Eek!

      Delete
    2. Wow!
      How did you do to curve it? I hope you don't have to spend too much :(

      Delete
    3. Well, I bought it to a local shop that took apart the entire thing to get to the memory chip. I also bought two new flash drives, so it was a total for $90 for everything. It was more than I wanted to spend, but it taught me to back up earlier rather than later, and I'm just happy that I could get everything back, especially the personal photos. Weekly back-ups from now on!

      Delete
  2. Thanks so much for this post! I'm in the process of signing up for Bloglovin' since I heard about the whole Google reader disappearing thing, and these are super handy tips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure! Don't forget about the phone/iPad apps too. It's pretty handy for blog reading on the go. :)

      Delete
  3. Thank you for the great info. I didn't know any of it. I need to pin this and read and absorb.

    We may have met by chance..but we become friends by choice.
    http://simpleesue.com/top-tip-for-today-10-household-uses-for-milk/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great info since a lot of us are not familiar with Bloglovin'. I need to go claim my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so excited to organize my blog reading with Bloglovin'. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I love it! Adding you today, as I found you through Mo' Betta!
    Laurie
    Lulu and Daisy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks so much for this post!! Fantastic tips ;) I'm your newest follower.
    Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are very welcome and thanks for introducing yourself! :)

      Delete
  7. These are wonderful tips, thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course! Happy to be of a bit of help. :)

      Delete
  8. Great tips! I've been wondering about bloglovin'!

    WWW.domesticblisssquared.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great! I wasn't sure if I would be sharing anything new, so thanks for letting me know. :)

      Delete
  9. I visiting from T&J's Linky. I hope you can stop by my blog and leave a comment and Link Up!
    ~ Megin of VMG206
    www.vmg206.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. great tips! I'm in the process of using blog lovin more... just transferred all my feeds over... now to encourage people to follow me there :o) Would love for you to stop over and check out my blog sometime! www.nap-timecreations.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good! I never used Google Reader, so hopefully Bloglovin' is just as easy. :)

      Delete
  11. Thanks for the tips! I love bloglovin! Claiming my blog was one of the first things I did..so important!
    Selene @ Restoration Beauty

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are some great tips! I am a big fan of bloglovin! Thanks for sharing at our Give Me the Goods Monday party!

    We hope to have you back again next Monday to share again and don't forget to stop by Sunday to see who the features were. :)

    ~Chelsea @ Married Filing Jointly

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just found bloglovin a little while ago. It's such a great site! Thanks for the tips, I will have to utilize it more :) Krista @ http://ahandfulofeverything.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great tips!!
    would love it if you could share this on my linky party ~ serenity Saturday

    Natasha @ www.serenityyou.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for letting me know I do have multiple feeds :) Brand new follower can't wait to read more.

    Sarah x

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for the tips and intro. I do need to find a new way for my followers to find me with Friend Connect closing.
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for the tips on bloglovin'.
    Thanks so much for linking up at Real Family Fun.
    KC

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the tips! I had downloaded a Feedly app to switch to, but was not finding it user friendly. I like bloglovin'! Much easier to navigate!

    Thanks
    Sarah

    http://lifewithleahy.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. These are great tips! I had no idea bout that stuff about bloglolin. Thanks! And Thanks for linking up with Falling for Friday!

    Shelby
    http://brandonandshelby.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for sharing this on The Creative HomeAcre Hop!
    Hope you have time to link up again this week!
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/03/the-creative-homeacre-hop-9.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm now following you on bloglovin! It took me awhile, because I'm not importing and doing it all manually instead. But I'm following now.
    Sorry to hear about your flashdrive. I lost lots of personal pictures a little over a year ago (and they couldn't be recovered). =(
    ~Kim
    www.2justByou.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Came across your blog while searching for info on Bloglovin' claim procedures- thanks for the little tutorial! New followers can come from the most unlikely places- I love your blog, and would never have found it otherwise :)

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear your comments! And putting in your two cents is always free. :)

.