7 Latest Blog Platforms looking to rock in 2014

The main aim of the new blog platforms seems to be bringing back the classic weblog.Wordpress for example is now a mainstream CMS and is used less and less as a blog platform.If one theme runs through all the new blog platforms it's a minimal interface with simplistic post editors.

Let's look at the list and see what you think 

Ghost

https://ghost.org/

Ghost really is an exciting blog platform with a real focus on content.Ghost is open source and uses the tag line "Just a blogging platform" trying to distance itself from CMS platforms like Wordpress and others that are used as mainstream websites.The interface is simply stunning with an ease of use we have not seen before.The welcome video tells us Ghost is for the users and it will stay that way, Non-Profit and not looking to build and sell.

Medium

https://medium.com/

Medium was created by Blogger and Twitter co-founder Even Williams and similar to Ghost it has a focus on ease of use and putting content first.For me the Medium interface may be slightly too simplistic but that may be just what your looking for.With the post editor however I love the minimalist feel that lets you get on with creating your post with minimal distractions.

Postagon

http://www.postagon.com/

Postagon is a continuation of the simple interface blog platform.This is about a simple post editor for the blogger and clean clear content for the viewer.Again looking to to bring back the weblog Postagon has the dynamic layout to make your posts sparkle on any screen.

Posthaven ($5 per month charge)

https://posthaven.com/

Posthaven like Ghost wants to be open source with no plan to build and sell.While Ghost looked to investors Posthaven will stay afloat by charging users $5 every month.Lets face it five bucks a month is not too much if the product is great, but is it ? On first look I really like what they are doing, again the theme of minimal interface and display continues.Posthaven was launched by the creators of Posterous a site they sold to Twittter last year but this time they look to build forever supported by the user fees.

Sett 

http://sett.com/

Sett really looks to community to help build an audience for their bloggers.By listing related posts from all blogs hosted on Sett this will give your posts exposure, of course it will also send people from your blog to others.The design is more "Wordpress Like" than the minimal interface other new platforms are aiming for.This for me makes it look like an OK idea for new blogs but if you build an audience over time you might want to move on and that could be a problem for Sett.


Roon.io 

https://roon.io/

Roon has the tag line "The Easiest Way To Blog", I guess some of their competitors above would beg to differ.Roon is however a really dynamic platform, easy for the blogger to create and visitor to visit on all devices.Roon is free but may introduce premium extras in the future.Comments run exclusively through Twitter which I'm not sure is the best way to go and also at this time while a feature image can be uploaded Videos are not yet supported.

Glipho

http://glipho.com/

Glipho is an interesting concept "Meet Social Blogging" and they keep their word by building a blogging community were social is key.The first sign of the social angle is sign up which is available through Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn.Like Sett they are looking to refer visitors through the site with related content displayed from all blogs not just yours.Glipho has a neat drag and drop post editor with your media readily at hand something I think the big platforms will embrace fully in the near future.

So that seven interesting alternatives for bloggers what do you think ? Have you tried any of them or will you in the future ? Or have you stumble across a new blog platform I left out.

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How To Use Google + Ripples To Find Influential Bloggers In Your Niche

Well, the first thing we should probably do is explain what Google+ Ripples are. For those of you who have not come across this useful tool before, it’s essentially an interactive graph of those who have publically shared one of your Google+ posts.

This visual representation of your publically shared posts by others provides fantastic insights into the natural flow of viral content within your niche, and can help you to identify and connect with industry influencers.

Of course, other social media sites provide this sort of data, but it’s usually only available via third party plug-ins. Ripples is Google’s own effort at conveying this sort of info, and it does so in visually friendly and intuitive way.

Using Ripples

If a post has been shared publically, there will be an option to ‘View Ripples’ when you click the little arrow on the right hand corner of the specific post. If you click this you are then led to a graph, which provides the information.

This graph is quite self-explanatory. The top left corner shows the number shares in total and also recently. Each of the bubbles within the graph displays a person’s name and their status when they shared the graph. The most interesting thing though is the size of the bubble.

The larger the bubble, the more shares that particular person contributed to your post. So, if a person has a larger bubble they have provided more clout or influence for that specific post. This allows you to easily see who’s encouraged others to share onwards.

Clout

We’re all aware of the importance of influencers in an industry and some have more of this ability than others. Google+ Ripples makes it extremely easy to see who is influencing and driving interaction to your posts via a quick look at the size of their bubbles. 

Nurturing a relationship with these influencers is very important and can allow you to reap huge benefits if you’re a little bit savvy. Add to this how visual and easy to understand it is and there’s no excuse for not making the most of it.

Circles

The next step is to group those you deem as niche relevant influencers and those you see as benefiting your posts beyond the immediate repost. Create a circle of these folks and then begin to build a relationship. This is easily done and sending them exclusive content, first peeks, using the hangout feature and also plain old direct interaction go down a treat. That all said, you still need to focus on the other 95% of those in your circles as they are often your bread and butter.

Influential Ripples

It’s also possible to increase the chances of getting an influencer in your field to share your posts with a little calculation and research. There are influencers in any field and then again there are influencers– people who have hundreds of thousands of followers and provide huge potential if they share an article.

The downside is that these people may not be in your circles and so you have no chance of them seeing your Google+ post. Unless!

How to Get the Influence of Influencers

Step One

Firstly, find the largest influencer in your niche or industry and find a post that they shared with their circles. Now look at the Ripple data.

Next, find out who the original poster was and make sure that this original poster has a reasonably strong following.

The industry leader will have shared the original posters post and you can assume that there is an element of trust between both.

Step Two

Connect with the original poster by one of the usual means – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – they’re usually on the Google+ profile. Try and build a relationship with that person by providing them with something of interest or value.

When you are friendly ask the person to share one of your posts via their Circles. You can then hope it will catch the influencer’s notice and they will repost it. Of course, if this doesn’t work, it’s still getting a lot of notice via your new found interaction’s followers.

Step Three

Do this with a number of people in contact with the industry leader and you will greatly increase the chances of them seeing your post.

So, take a look at Google+ Ripples and remember that by engaging with these power users you get the extra edge and you and your posts can significantly benefit.

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10 Best & Popular Tips to Planning Idea For a New Blog

Today i am gоіng to write an article for nеw bloggers whо wаnt to start nеw blog. In thіѕ article i wіll write ѕоmе tips thаt уоu ѕhоuld kеер in mind bеfоrе starting a blog.Almost еvеrу nеw blogger dо mistakes on thе initial stage оf blogging.A Common ѕауіng іѕ thаt "Every human bеіng dо mistakes in thеіr live" but it dоеѕ nоt mеаn thаt wе dо mistakes аll thе times wе саn overcome thеѕе mistakes wіth thе planning so mау be уоu wіll tаkе thеѕе tips as planning.

Choose a Blogging Platform

Thеrе іѕ a lot оf blogging plateforms lіkе Blogger, WordPress, TypePad etc.Blogger аnd WordPress іѕ mоѕt common blogging plate form thаt іѕ bеіng use largely. I am аlѕо uѕіng Blogger аnd i suggest use blogger bесаuѕе іtѕ free no nееd a hosting plan to host уоur blog.If уоu wаnt to mаkе a blogger blog уоu саn use thе fоllоwіng link

Choose The Name Of Your Blog (Domain Name)

Domain Nаmе іѕ vеrу іmроrtаnt bесаuѕе оf thіѕ people knоw уоur blog аnd visit уоur blog. Itѕ јuѕt lіkе уоur business nаmе whеn уоu start a nеw business уоu decide thе nаmе оf уоur business. If уоu hаvе mаdе a free blogger or wordpress blog thеn уоu wіll gеt a free sub domain as "example.blogspot.com" or "example.wordpress.com". But i suggest уоu dо nоt use thеѕе sub domains јuѕt purchase уоur own.

Tips To Purchase a Domain Name

It Shоuld Represent Yоur Blog аnd Related To Yоur Blog.

Yоur Domain Shоuld Be Short аnd Appropriate

Blog Domain Shоuld Attract Thе Visitors аnd It Shоuld Be Easily Memorable

Design Of Your Blog

Yоur blog design or template ѕhоuld be simple аnd user friendly. Eаѕу To Navigate аnd It ѕhоuld Be attractive for уоur visitors. 

Content Of Your Blog

Content іѕ аlwауѕ thе king оf уоur blog.If уоu don’t hаvе good аnd unique content thеn whаt аll уоu dо to decorate уоur blog gоеѕ waste. Be Yоurѕеlf аnd dо nоt copy paste frоm аnу оthеr website specialty frоm Wikipedia.

Frequency of Posting

Plan уоurѕеlf hоw frequently уоu post аnd hоw оftеn уоu update уоur blog.It mау be 2 posts for 3 days or 4 posts per week plan ассоrdіng to уоur convenience.Plan posts for future to avoid delay.

Blog Promotion

Promote уоur blog on vаrіоuѕ forums аnd social networking sites. Now a days social networking site are playing a major role in success оf a blog bесаuѕе now a days еvеrу оnе use social networking sites to connect wіth friends.So mаkе use оf social networking sites lіkе facebook,twitter,google рluѕ etc.

Maintain Good Relations With Your Fellow Bloggers

Commenting on оthеr blogs аnd maintaining a good relation wіth уоur fellow bloggers аlwауѕ hеlр уоu in building уоur blog.

Guest Posting

Guest posting іѕ a good wау оf building bасk links аnd drawing attention tоwаrdѕ уоur blog.

Use Share, Follow And Good RSS Button

Uѕіng cool share ,follow аnd RSS buttons attract уоur blog аnd increase thе number оf followers to уоur blog.So if thеrе іѕ an update thеу wіll соmе bасk to уоur blog оnсе again,you саn kеер уоur readers intact wіth уоur blog.

SEO(Search Engine Optimization)

Now thіѕ іѕ thе word whісh mаnу newbies are afraid whеn thеу hear.SEO іѕ nоthіng but a strategy оf improving thе visibility оf a website or a web page in search engines lіkе google, bing аnd yahoo.Do a lіttlе research on SEO to bесоmе a successful blogger.

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20 Useful CSS Tips For Beginners

In the old days, we depend a lot of on developers and programmers to help update the website, even when it’s just a minor one. Thanks to the CSS and it’s flexibility, styles can be extract independently away from the codes. Now, with some basic understanding of CSS, even a novice can easily change the style of a website.

Whether you are interested in picking up CSS to create your own website, or merely to tweak your blog’s look and feel a little – it’s always good to start with the fundamentals to gain a stronger foundation. Let’s take a look at some CSS Tips we thought might be useful for beginners. Full list after jump.

Use Reset.Css

When it comes to rendering CSS styles, browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer have different ways of handling them. reset.css resets all fundamental styles, so you starts with a real blank new stylesheets.

Here are few commonly used reset.css frameworks – Yahoo Reset CSS, Eric Meyer’s CSS Reset, Tripoli

1. Use Shorthand CSS

   Shorthand CSS gives you a shorter way of writing your CSS codes, and most important of all – it makes the code clearner and easier to understand.
   Instead of creating CSS like this
   1. .header {<br>  
   2.       background-color: #fff;<br>  
   3.       background-image: url(image.gif);<br>  
   4.       background-repeat: no-repeat;<br>  
   5.       background-position: top left; <br>  
   6.     }  
   It can be short-handed into the following:
   1. .header {<br>  
   2.       background: #fff url(image.gif) no-repeat top left<br>  
   3.     }  

 More – Introduction to CSS Shorthand, Useful CSS shorthand properties

Understanding Class And ID

These two selectors often confuse beginners. In CSS, class is represented by a dot "." whileid is a hash ‘#". In a nutshell id is used on style that is unique and don’t repeat itself, classon the other side, can be re-use.

More – Class vs. ID | When to use Class, ID | Applying Class and ID together

Power Of <Li>

<li> a.k.a link list, is very useful when they are use correctly with <ol> or <ul>, particulary to style a navigation menu.

More – Taming Lists, Amazing LI

Forget <Table>, Try <Div>

One of the greatest advantage of CSS is the use of <div> to achieve total flexibility in terms of styling. <div> are unlike <table>, where contents are ‘locked’ within a <td>‘s cell. It’s safe to say most <table> layouts are achievable with the use of <div> and proper styling, well maybe except massive tabular contents.

More – Tables are dead, Tables Vs. CSS, CSS vs tables

CSS Debugging Tools

It’s always good to get instant preview of the layout while tweaking the CSS, it helps understanding and debugging CSS styles better. Here are some free CSS debugging tools you can install on your browser: FireFox Web Developer, DOM Inspector, Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar, and Firebug.

1. Avoid Superfluous Selectors

   Sometimes your CSS declaration can be simpler, meaning if you find yourself coding the following:
   • 1. ul li { ... }  
   • 1. ol li { ... }  
   • 1. table tr td { ... }  
   They can be shorten down to just
   • 1. li { ... }  
   • 1. td { ... }  
   Explanation: <li> will only exist within <ul> or <ol> and <td> will only be inside <tr> and<table> so there’s really not necessary to re-insert them.

Knowing !Important

Any style marked with !important will be taken into use regardlessly if there’s a overwriting rule below it.

view plaincopy to clipboardprint?

1. .page {<br> background-color:blue !important;<br>   background-color:red;<br>}  

In the example above, background-color:blue will be adapted because it’s marked with!important, even when there’s a background-color:red; below it. !important is used in situation where you want to force a style without something overwriting it, however it may not work in Internet Explorer.

Replace Text With Image

This is commonly practice to replace <h1>title</h1> from a text based title to an image. Here’s how you do it.

view plaincopy to clipboardprint?

1. h1 {<br>  
2. text-indent:-9999px;<br>  
3. background:url("title.jpg") no-repeat;<br>  
4. width:100px;<br>  
5. height:50px;<br>  
6. }  

Explanation: text-indent:-9999px; throws your text title off screen, replaced by an image declared by background: {...} with a fixed width and height.

Understand CSS Positioning

The following article gives you a clear understanding in using CSS positioning – position: {...}

More – Learn CSS Positioning in Ten Steps

CSS @Import Vs <Link>

There are 2 ways to call an external CSS file – respectively using @import and <link>. If you are uncertain which method to use, here’s few articles to help you decide.

More – Difference Between @import and link

1. Designing Forms In CSS

   Web forms can be easily design and customize with CSS. These following articles show you how:
   More – Table-less form, Form Garden, Styling even more form controls
   

   Get Inspired

   If you are looking around for nicely designed CSS-based website for inspiration, or just simply browsing to find some good UI, here are some CSS showcase site we recommend:
   • CSS Remix
   • CSS Reboot
   • CSS Beauty
   • CSS Elite
   • CSS Mania
   • CSS Leak
   
   
   

   Rounded Corners In CSS

   This following article gives you an idea how to create cross-browser compatible rounded borders with CSS.
   

Keep CSS Codes Clean

If your CSS codes are messy, you are going to end up coding in confusion and having a hard time refereing the previous code. For starters, you can create proper indentation, comment them properly.

More – 12 Principles For Keeping Your Code Clean, Format CSS Codes Online

Typography Measurement: Px Vs Em

Having problem choosing when to use measurement unit px or em? These following articles might give you a better understanding on the typography units.

More – Units of Measurement in CSS, CSS Font size explained, Using Points, Pixels, Ems, or Percentages for CSS Fonts

CSS Browsers Compatibility Table

We all know each browser has different ways of rendering CSS styles. It’s good to have a reference, a chart or a list that shows the entire CSS compatibility for each browser.

CSS support table: #1, #2, #3, #4.

1. 

   Design Multicolumns In CSS

   Having problem getting the left, middle and right column to align properly? Here are some articles that might help:
   • In Search of the Holy Grail
   • Faux Columns
   • Top reasons your CSS columns are messed up
   • Litte Boxes (examples)
   • Multi-Column Layouts Climb Out of the Box
   • Absolute Columns
   
   
   

   Get A Free CSS Editors

   Dedicated editors are always better than a notepad. Here are some we recommend:
   More – Simple CSS, Notepad ++, A Style CSS Editor
   

   Understanding Media Types

   There are few media types when you declare CSS with <link>. print, projection and screen are few of the commonly used types. Understanding and using them in proper ways allow better user accessibility. The following article explains how to deal with CSS Media types.
   More – CSS and Media Types, W3 Media Types, CSS Media Types, CSS2 Media Types
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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