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[OT] My New Blog

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

Thursday, May 24, 2007
17 years ago2,865 views

I started a little blog at http://mysoftwarerecommendations.blogspot.com and I was wondering if you'd like to tip over and tell me what you think and suggest some stuff I should do or change because I'm new to this. Also suggest some articles to xuanjames[put at-character here]gmail.com .

Also I was wondering is it against Adsense ToS to display other ads (from other companies) on the same site and if you could suggest some alternatives.

Thank You =>

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Also I know its a long url so if you could suggest a good free place to get domains I would be glad. I don't mind changing my blog name so if you know a good name that would not be too long for a domain please tell me here or at my email address.

Zim [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Pretty blog
I suggest you to enable comments from non-blogger users... I don't have a blogger account to post...

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Oh, ok, working on it ;)

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Interesting topic, looks good... agree the URL is a bit too long, and the word "recommendations" can also easily be misspelled (reccomendations, reccommendations, recomendations, reccomendations, to name just 4 misspellings!). Something like TryThisApp.com might be easier to remember.

Hong Xiaowan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

[put at-character here]James Xuan

I can offer free hosting with wordpress preinstalled. With a full ftp account.
Change your dns to ns10.vodahost.com and ns9.vodahost.com, ns10 is the first.

This hosting not in China, may little slowly in China.

Haochi [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Is Blogger accessible in China?

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

TryThisApp sounds good but I am broke : (so I can't get a .com domain. Do you know any free ones? BTW Philipp, I could only spell recommendations because Firefox told me reccommendations was wrong!

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

I'll pitch in a buck to buy the domain.... Can I hear 8 more people? :)

James? Have a paypal account?

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

~
**
/
Are you serious? Thank you for the offer but I can't accept that. Domains are cheap, I'm just a scab who doesn't want to waste money*. Plus I don't have a paypal account. Thanks though.

*By money I mean beer-money

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Well officelive (microsoft) gives a free domain... maybe you could hack it to be a redirect.... or just "blog" there

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

MyAppPick.com is also available (and free with Officelive basic)

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Sorry... not trying to spam.. but if you pick up myAppPick you'll probably want MyAppPicks too (also available)

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

A little hard to spell but ...
AppSynopsis.com
and it's most common misspelling
AppSinopsis.com
are available....

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

okay... this one is really corny... but brandable :)

AppySnappy.com

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

AppSplat.com
SplatApp.com
AppBlaster.com
AppBlab.com
AppFlap.com
ClapApp.com
ReviewApps.com

... I could go on and on (as you can tell) :)

Travis Harris [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

BestAppSpot.com
osAppSpot.com
XuanApps.com (spelling issues)
TomsApps.com (Play on Tom's Hardware)
RoyalApps.com
KingApps.com
AppBling.com
l33tApps.com (okay that might be too much, but will definitly do well among the geek culture)

...

Don't be shocked if more come ;o)

stefan2904 [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

(use fon.gs?)

your "External Links"-descriptions are nearly unreadable. grey on white.

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Ok stephan, should I use a darker grey or what do you suggest.

Thanks for the tip :)

stefan2904 [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

(stefan with f please ;)

maybe. or just black.
PS: the current color is ok.

Martin Porcheron [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Welcome to blogging. I keep starting and giving up every so often, the most important thing you can do is engage with your users and don't forget about them.

Some things I spotted:. Sorry if it seems negative, it isn't meant to be. I think your idea is fantastic and I hope you pursue it.
* The name can be easily misspelt (that's already being mentioned). Also try saving up for a .com domain, I never thought it would make a difference – but it did. It also gives your blog a more professional feel. Of course, if you do eventually get the domain – you can use Blogger Custom Domains for free so that you don't have to migrate to another hosting service.
* Your picture of Pidgin from the Pidgin website is stretched to much and takes up too much space of the page.
* Instead of talking about Greasemonkey then linking it at the end of the article in the form "Greasemonkey: Here", try embedding the links in the paragraph, eg, the first time you mention greasemonkey, make it a link to to the greasemonkey website.
* Somebody looks ambitious with the adverts. Getting the right balance is important. Too little and no one seems them, too many, your blog gets called blog-spam and everyone ignores it. Also worth noting, if there are too many adverts distracting a user, they will not pay attention to any of them. You need one or two to stick out, not a whole sidebar of them.
* I believe under Google AdSense ToS you can call them Sponsored Links or Advertisements. I'm sure Google wouldn't mind the title Related links (since that is what they are), but just to let you know.
* No copyright/license notice, probably would be a good idea to add one.

Good luck with your blog.

Martin Porcheron [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Btw, just to modify a point I made a bit. I did not mean you had too many adverts as such, just that they are all next to each other and that to me, it has a negative impact.

If on the other hand you placed a add half way through a story or at the top of the page by itself, that would be ok.

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

[put at-character here]Martin

I can't put ads halfway through the article because you can't use javascript in the posts. Take a look here http://blogoscoped.com/forum/96508.html
Thanks again everyone!

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

D'oh! Office live requires a credit card which I don't have. So I'll have to start saving up. : (

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

http://www.domainlagoon.com/?ref=27925

I'm getting a free domain here. I have to get points by doing surveys and stuff. By clicking on the above link you will get referred. If you hate me dont click it go to http://domainlagoon.com instead.

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

Its now Tiny URL-ed here for the mean time http://tInyurl.com/2scrq3

[removed a space – Ionut]

stefan2904 [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

use http://fon.gs :p

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

http://fon.gs/for-stefan29-something

stefan2904 [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

something = 04 = april!
:))

[Blog not found?]

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

i know a typo in the address.

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

I love all the Google Pack ads that promote Firefox + Google Toolbar because you're not in the US.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9750/clipboard01nh5.gif

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

17 years ago #

I'm in Ireland and saw the above only once. I usually see the Pack ad

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