I’ve been at this blogging lark for a few months now and really haven’t had a huge amount of time in which to explore the ins and outs of WordPress’ bells and whistles.
Our lovely blogpal Jodi Stone posted about the things she had learnt over the last year and one of them was about Categories – click here to view the post. This was incredibly useful to me because I’ve always found myself a bit bewildered and confused when it came to the point of Categories versus Tags and, indeed, what these things were in the first place. I like to think that I’m no idiot, but I really couldn’t fully understand the explanations given by WordPress. Perhaps I’m not so much an idiot as inexperienced in this medium – I seem to have lolloped rather than hurtled into the 21st Century (I still have a flip phone, which is SOOOOO uncool according to my 16 year old godson who goes through iPhones as though they were tissues). Anyway, I left Jodi with the question as to the differences between Categories and Tags, and she fired an immediate response… impressive! I then found a bit more help (the first WordPress help which I actually understood because it gave a simple example) here. Now that I ‘get it’ (sort of), I’ve gone through and Categorised/tagged all my posts. I’m feeling very smart, thanks to Jodi and WordPress. 🙂
I have been thinking a lot about the blogs that I enjoy reading and wondering what it is that I like about them. Some of them capture my attention through a dry sense of humour, others use the English language so beautifully, others have the most wonderful images, and many have helpful and interesting content. None of these are mutually exclusive reasons as several blogs achieve all of the above. As a blog, Fabulous Flo aspires to be like many of the blogs I read. I just find that I’m a little lazy and once I’ve written a post I want to get it up there, perhaps not taking enough time or care to make sure that I’ve found just the right phrase, or (urgh) not even just proof reading a post thoroughly enough. I frequently find myself correcting small typos after a post is published. I think the most annoying thing for me is that I ‘could do better’. I am haunted by old school reports. I will endeavour to ‘do better’ but I refuse to be one of the blogs that tries too hard to be popular. Humbug. So, to those of you I follow and read obsessively, thank you for your great example. I learn a lot from you. And one day I might even put what I’ve learned into practice.
And so (finally) to the subject of the blog. Miss Fabulous and her adventures this week.
It’s been an important week with the release of the shaved one. Flo has been quite excited to get a clean break at a lick of Fergus without the barrier in the way. Fergus really doesn’t mind and has tolerated it rather well; she’s also enjoying the attention. It does get a bit much though, even for a patient, attention-seeking cat. I think Flo is especially pleased that she can now get her head into Fergus’ open cage (where the litter tray, food and water remain) and drink all the water. She’d eat the food too if she didn’t know better, or I wasn’t always in the room foiling her cunning plan accompanying her. Mwahahahahaha!
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fabulous flo 
Thanks for the shout out and I’m very happy that my explanation was useful.
Sometimes I write my blogpost in the morning (at work) but I don’t publish it until much later, by using this technique it gives me the opportunity to roll things around in my mind and reword exactly the way I want it.
It is also what I use my follow-up Friday posts for, just in case I need a revision. 🙂
I’m glad that Flo is nice to the cat, S&D alternate depending on their moods.
I think your follow up Friday is a great idea, but I can’t
stealreuse all your ideas!Awww! looks like they missed each other 😦 Glad they are able to have some time without the bars of the crate between them. I know that Indiana couldn’t stand it when she wasn’t allowed to touch Davinia. Indiana would curl up next to the crate to try and get close.
Thanks for linking up with the Pet Bloggers Blog Hop.
We’re both happy she’s out!
Thanks for hosting a great blog hop. 🙂
awww, F & F look lovely together. one day, maybe Georgia will get a cat. probably the day after we see a flying pig.
i wish i was on WP but i’m on blogger and too chicken to migrate. stuck.
The grass is always greener; I think it seems to be a bit easier to network on Blogger… but I’m happy where I am. GLP enjoys chasing cats doesn’t she? So does Flo, but between George and Fergus, George is more appealing prey. Plus he sets himself up for it.
Hello GLP – It’s easy to migrate, honest, I did it. I have saved my Blogger blog too, and imported all the old posts as well. It is not difficult.
Great pics! Sweet!
Thanks for linking to Jodi Stone’s post. It had a lot of good information in it. Love the pics of Fergus and Flo together. So glad Fergus is doing well. Flo, you’ve got to wait until your person isn’t looking to get the cat food.
Aw, I just read Fergus’ whole sorted tale! Not the way to quickly hop thru a blog hop 🙂 Poor Fergus! Poor Fergus’ Mama! Glad to see you are almost all better! *phew*
Thanks. I am sooooo happy that she’s getting there. She’s certainly back to her old self in terms of behaviour, that’s for sure. Sigh. 🙂
Thanks for the visit over to my blog. I, too, hope that our v-e-t issues start to go as well as yours. I am thrilled that Fergus is healing and even starting to flourish. I just read over the history. Oh my, what a terrible and horrifying event. Thank goodness that Fergus is doing so well! I’ll be here pulling for all of you!
I think we’ve had our fair share of good luck, it’s your turn now, we’re passing it on. K is such a beautiful dog, we’re sending all our positive energy your way. xx
You have a great blog and write really well. I too look at other blogs and admire their design or their photography or writing and it does inspire me but I think the most important thing is to feel comfortable with your own style because that is what attracts other people to your blog.
Thanks Bassa. We love your blog too. 🙂
Love the photos of Fergus and Flo! And glad to see that Fergus is healing!
Thanks. I wish I could get my camera settings organised quicker for these ‘snaps’, but you get the idea of the relationship. They were very cute together.
What Bassas said is a good point. I look at some blogs and wonder why they have 40 or 50 comments (regardless of whether or not half of those are their own replies) when a lot of the time, I prefer the ones with less comment, that have less ‘busy’ blogs, better prose and quality pix. Probably symptomatic of life though isn’t it?
Coming from five years with blogger, and relatively new to wordpress it’s interesting to read other people’s perceptions of wp. I have a couple of criticisms of it but they will get written up later.
As for publishing and then proofing – no worries there – we always do that 😀
And sometimes you can find a blog that you admire, and decide to change yours, perhaps to emulate it. They have a good idea, good photos, good style, (semi) original posts. For me, it’s important to keep to what you are happy with. Yes, adapt your blog when you have seen a good idea but don’t change it all the time. Communities do change and are fickle. A regular commenter can disappear overnight. Blogs do too.
Sorry I’m rambling and Pippa will be most annoyed as I am signed in as him 😀 Personally I like your blog and your photos 🙂
Yup, I agree with what you say. I don’t think I’ll be changing my style of writing. I know I can produce better pieces of writing, however, they take a bit more time than I have to dedicate to the blog. I am drawn to blogs that seem to be in the same vein as mine, but am glad that I’ve also found some that are completely different and that I really enjoy checking in with. I do have to find a way to organise myself so that I can keep up with others’ posts. At the moment I’m dotting around in a laboured, time-consuming fashion. I need to look at that Google Reader whatdoyoumacallit. 🙂 I look forward to reading your comparisons between Blogger and WordPress, not that I’m going to move, just interested, especially since you’ve been blogging for a while.
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Well you’ve obviously read the comparison stuff now on Pippa’s (thought I would use my own log in for once!), and I’m going to try to continue with a short post about differences, pros and cons at the end of every dog-related post – partly to see if anyone can offer tips, but obviously also to share my experiences of the pros and cons.
I did reply to your comment on Pippa’s – and one of the things I always forget to do, is tick notify me of follow-up comments, which then means checking back to see if someone has replied. And being wordpress – most wp bloggers do reply 😀 Whether people ever read our replies is another matter!! I think I might start subscribing to follow-ups on blogs where I know the author replies.
I’ve never used Reader, I used to use Bloglines – but for me – the blogroll on blogger is the easiest way to manage checking out new posts. No emails, no nothing, just work up or down the list, that’s pretty much what I think I wrote on Pippa’s. But I’ll probably make the keeping up to new posts issue my next blogging comment, as it’s obviously a key one.
I like the ‘Comments I’ve Made’ function on WP but it only works for other WordPress blogs.