RESPONSE TO JAMES

Dear James,

It is with the deepest regret that I have received, and now accept, your resignation. As the founder and spirit behind Blogpower you will be much missed.

I should clarify that the decision to put you on temporary moderated status in the mailing list was agreed by all three administrators. The reasons why we felt this was necessary have been well rehearsed and I will not repeat them here.

Thank you on behalf of everyone for all that you have done for Blogpower. Please come back and see us sometimes. We wish you every happiness in the future.

Yours sincerely,
Welshcakes Limoncello, Shades, jmb.

(Post edited to show today's date, rather than 1st May)

Mailing List

New Blogpower joiners (and a few older ones) are reminded to join the mailing list.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/blogpower/

As it is a closed list, please identify yourself when you enroll.

If "Unusuallybritish" is reading this, please check your email.

I've moved!

Shades of Grey is now at http://iangrey.org

Any hosting provider that tells you they are One Click Wordpress installation ready are talking out of their firmament. One click to a donkey blog, maybe.

It was hard work but I'm happy with the results without becoming a Theme Obsessive.

Admins, please update your references where appropriate. The Blogger one will stay in situ- they are hosting 250 Meg of images there and I'd rather write new posts than spend my life re-homing the old ones.

Communicating more effectively

I'm not a great fan of conveying information amongst groups through the medium of blog comments. Being a "pull" technology it requires conscious effort to visit and it is far too easy to miss stuff along the way, especially if fragmented over several blog entries. Online forums are better, but are still "pull" based.

Instead, I'd like to propose a "push" technology- a web based/accessible mailing list, specifically the Yahoogroups offering which I have been comfortable with for many years as admin for various lists.

It is fairly flexible, with regular email based posting/distribution but also offering web access and digest/announcement only options. The list home site would be a handy place to store files, photos and useful data.

I don't see it replacing the Blogpower blog, but being more of a place slightly out of the public gaze where we can discuss policy, admin and issues in a more coherent manner (never missing a message).

It is actually open for business already- you can vote with your feet by signing up at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/blogpower/?yguid=204079188. Joining approval is turned off so you are straight in rather than having to wait for me to work out who you are and approve you.

If you wish to retain anonymity and don't have a suitable private email then I'd suggest use of a Hotmail type account. You don't need to register with YahooGroups but it adds a lot more functionality if you do.

I can also invite or enrol people manually on request, as well as attend to personal settings (e.g. daily digest, individual messages, announcements only, no email). If you'd like me to do this for you, drop me a line at ian dot grey at iangrey dot org dot uk.

I'm also happy to give admin rights to others as appropriate.

Ian Grey (First volunteer keeper of the mailing list).