CuppaTech at Your Service

This pic has nothing to do with this post.

 
Alright, I'm gonna take a moment here for a public service announcement.

I have been wanting to write a post like this for a while, but never really got around to it...

I get a lot of questions from people about bloggy stuff, and sometimes there are things I tell people, that they don't even know exist...

Let's start with my number one topic:
COMMENTS.
Did you know that the default setting on leaving a comment is anonymous?
Well, maybe not anonymous, but basically you leave a comment, and it sends me an email.
But the email comes from No-Reply@Blogger - which is so sad - and means I can't reply to your comment directly.
A good handful of commenters have already made the switch, but there are a few of you that haven't - and it makes me sad (because I love being able to reply to you!).

Here's a link to a super simple tutorial on how to fix it. 



While we're on the topic of comments, let's talk about CAPTCHA.
That is the super annoying letters that we have to type in to leave a comment.
I used to have this turned on, it seemed like a great idea to prevent spam.
BUT, guess how many legitmate spam comments I have received. ONE.
I don't know if  I'm just lucky or what, but I haven't needed CAPTCHA.
Care to turn yours off?
(You may not even know it's on!)
It makes it so much easier for your readers to leave a comment!
Here's a link (with pictures) on how to do it .
(Settings, Comments, Word Verification: OFF)

Let's move on to SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Do you have a bunch of blogs bookmarked and pop by every now and again?
There are a handful of options to keep them all organized!
My personal favorite is Google Reader.
It's kind of like an inbox for blogs, it's where I have been reading all of mine for years!
But what I didn't know, until about a year or two ago, was that if you click "FOLLOW" on Google Friend Connect (like the one on my sidebar) - the blogs you follow will automatically pop up in your Google Reader.
You can manually add them too by clicking the subscribe button on Google Reader and typing in the web address of the blog!

You can also subscribe by email - most blogs have a little box on their sidebar where you can type in your email address and every time a blogger writes a post, it will be sent to your inbox! Pretty awesome.
There are even other ways to subscribe and follow blogs - but I think that those are the two simplest.
Now you won't miss the latest and greatest!

Okay, and last but not least, will you let me know you've stopped by?
I'd love to say hello!
Especially if maybe you haven't commented before, or  in a while, it's always nice to put a name (or a face) to a blog hit. 
I promise I'll say HELLO right back, especially if you are not a "no-reply blogger".