top six mistakes bloggers make

1. they disable right click or create pop-ups everytime someone right-clicks:
i dont know why. maybe its because they thought that the rightclick menu looks fugly. well, once upon a time i thought like that too! well, its a DISGUSTING habit.

for one, most blogs are those kind in which when you click on a link, it doesnt open a new window, but instead redirects you to another address in the same window. by disabling right-click, you disable the "open (link) in new window" option as well. so everytime when someone clicks on something interesting on your blog, you are bringing him/her away from the blog. unless your blog has enough appeal to bring readers to go BACK, they won't. either way, its irritating 'cause nobody wants to have to press the BACK button all the time.

unless, of course, you are the kind that installed a counter to show EVERY PAGE RELOAD, and you are just using this cheap way to increase your stats. i have nothing to say to losers like you.

2. they disable "select"
i'll just put this in simple words. if you are the kind of person who puts things like The Angel Quiz (below) or other stuff that has to be copied and pasted from blog to blog, its very irritating that everytime someone is tagged as "the next person who has to do THIS!" they have to go to your blogger Source and find that chunk of words. or, if they did not know about the Source option in the first place, they won't do it at all. nobody's gonna take the trouble to retype everything, dear.

3. when someone tags them, they reply on their own tagboard or in a blogpost.
*cough* i hate to break this to you, but do you realise that probably more than half of the visitors of your blog are not regular visitors? they are the kind of people that comes once everytime they are in the mood to surf around. the same goes for people that tag.

i understand that you like to reply on your own tagboard because the tagboard will make more sense in that way. replies to tags on this board will seem like unrelated tags on another board, and will not make any sense at all. also, you wanna show that you DO reply to your tags.

well, im gonna explain to you why you should change this. first, what you should do is GO TO the other person's blog and reply the tag, for the following reasons.

i) he will return. many bloghoppers forget about the blogs that they have visited even if they have tagged. tagging at hisblog (with your link included) will not only seem polite and nice, but also remind him of your existence. seeing your tag there will invite him to visit your blog AGAIN, and possibly to TAG. :)

ii) it will add to your social network. you might not have linked EVERYBODY that had tagged on your blog. making it a point to reply on a tagger's blog will show that you CARED TO MAKE A VISIT. if you guys get chummy enough, you might even consider adding him to your list of links. and i assure you that you'll be rewarded with a link on HIS blog too. :)

iii) it gives you exposure. simply. tagging on your friend's blog with YOUR LINK will invite her other tagger's to take a look at your blog too.

iv) its just the communication. he might return -- but only in a gazillion years later. and by that time the reply to his tag might probably be gone. so let him know you replied, at the same time leaving the impression that you cared to reply.

now are you convinced?

4) broadcasting their password-protected blogs
now now.. its not only the problem about putting up a password and wanting your own privacy. its about the fact that you people go around broadcasting your blog, and then when people finally visit it they realise that they need a password to enter.

dear boys and girls, if the blog is really open for public reading, pls just quit that.
if it isnt, well you shouldnt be broadcasting it at all. for one thing, you'll just make people pissed. its like going around telling ppl "Ooh look this is my blog BUT YOU CANT VISIT IT 'CAUSE THE CONTENTS ARE A SECRET. it's my dirty little secret and i enjoy keeping it and you can't ever go in if you tried. HAHA, I HAVE A SECRET AND YOU DONT!"

=.= you get my point.
for another thing, i should actually wake you up to reality and tell you in the face that its a piece of cake getting your password. in fact, its less than that. every averagely computer savvy person will be able to tell you how to get the password from that kind of pop-up-type-in-the-password thing.

so in the end everything just backfires on you. you broadcast your passwordprotected blog, flaunt the "secrecy" in the visitors' face, the end up getting everything revealed anyway because he figured out ur password. he will be getting the last laugh when he discovers that there's actually nothing special in your blog anyway. they'll just go "chey!", dust their butt, and leave.

if you really want to keep a secret blog, do these:
only give the add to a selected number of friends

and

a) in blogger
- set the blog to be non-displayed in your blogger profile
- in settings, set the blog to not-listed
- put up the password anyway. there are still ppl around who have no idea how to go around that thing.

alternatively,
b) put up a code that the average surfer can't break through. i'll wait to see someone with THAT.
c) just choose some other host! blogger doesnt offer password protection, but other hosts do. now THAT'll work. :)

5) delete that old blog and create your 87th new blog
just because. its stupid. it was what i did, anyway. i wanted to "erase all the memories" so i deleted the whole blog. and before i realised what i had done, it was too late. in one day's time, someone had created a blog with THE EXACT SAME NAME. what was worse -- she had a name that was very similar to mine, she was my age, and she bore a few similarities to me in typing. =.= i was so scared that people would think that was me, because her blogskin was horrible and she kept on going on lovey dovey with her boyfriend on her tagboard.

piang. reputation tarnished.

now let me bring you back. deleting your blog will not only disorientate your readers. as i said, not all your readers come back on a regular basis. they might return a few months later to be met with the ERROR page. it is only polite to list TO WHERE you have moved to, and request for a relink. you dont want all your friends losing you, do you. alternatively, if you have decicded to retreat from blogsphere, it is also only kind to put up large words stating "i will no longer be blogging. pls remove me from your links." at least your visitors have a clue, see?

anyway, in the first place its a bad habit to keep changing blogs. we understand sometimes you want a "fresh new start", but seriously 10 new starts every month is not funny.

6) leaving unwanted blogs undeleted.
seriously, the irresponsibility. its just like email accounts among other things.

things like this noir.blogspot.com. they leave it unattended, does nothing with it even though they are totally OUT of the scene, and just stubbornly hogs the place.

need i say more? i WANTED that blog-add... :(