Blogger's Geneameme

Lovely Jill of Geniaus dreamt up a geneameme for all of us Geneabloggers - particularly because it is National Family History Month here in Australia.

She asks a few questions and here are my answers:

What are the titles and URLs of your genealogy blog/s?
Family Tree Frog 

Baiting the Hooks by MattieB on Flickr

Do you have a wonderful "Cousin Bait" blog story? A link to a previous blog post might answer this question. 
I wish I could say "Yes" but not through my blog so far.  At least not to my knowledge.  One cousin found a letter from my mother left at the sexton's office at Rookwood Cemetery in connection with her parent's grave.  That cousin bait worked well.  I think other cousins have found me through Ancestry and other websites, now defunct I think, like First Families and Rootsweb.

Why did you start blogging? Is there someone who inspired you to start blogging?
I was a bit hesitant about blogging at first.  I have another blog .  Since I began this blog it has fallen somewhat into disuse.  It was a bit all over the place with no real focus, whereas I feel more comfortable with this one.  Lots of people inspired me to start blogging - my crazy friend  (who has nothing to do with family history) and Pauline were probably the greatest inspiration

How did you decide on your blog/s title/s?
Believe it or not I spent hours deciding my title.  I wanted something with Family Tree in it and I wanted something that symbolized my approach to family history as well as a bit of a link to where the blog comes from.  I do jump around a bit in my research and the tree frog is a bit of a traveler which I thought represented my ancestors too. See my first post for more info

Do you ever blog from mobile devices? What are they?
No I don't I must confess.  I spend so long composing and researching my posts, it's best done from a desktop.

Megaphone by Igor Klisov

How do you let others know when you have published a new post?
I share it on Google+ and if there is a relevant Facebook page, I'll post about it there too.  If I am feeling extra proud I might tweet it too.  If it connects with a Geneabloggers meme it gets caught up in the feed too.

How long have you been blogging?
Since 2008 - wow - five years!

What widgets or elements do you consider essential on a genealogy blog? 
I like to see some kind of ancestor chart or list of surnames.  I particularly like a search window. I love to be able to "follow" people easily by pressing a follow button.

Audience chairs by A Svensson

What is the purpose of your blog/s? Who is your intended audience?
If I could convert everyone to family history of course, I would.  In the real world however I am hoping that other family historians might be interested in how I did my research and share in the joy of my findings.  The kids aren't interested really, but one day they might be and this is a bit of a legacy for them. Ultimately it's a research base if I ever get off my bottom and write that book.

Which of your posts are you particularly proud of?
This one on my great-great-aunt Harriet with whom I am slightly obsessed....

How do you keep up with your blog reading?
Blogger has a great feed which you can read when you log in to look at your blogs.  I'm not really into RSS I must confess.  I was into Google Reader a little bit but then that seems to have vanished into dust and I haven't got into the swing of anything else.

What platform do you use for publishing your blog/s?
Blogger and Word Press

What new features would you like to see in your blogging software?
Um.....I don't know...

Which of your posts has been the most popular with readers?
Not quite sure why but this one (675 page views) and this one (351 page views)

I understand the latter being popular because a retail company promoted my blog post on their blog I think.

Are you a sole blogger or do you contribute to a shared blog?
I do contribute to a shared blog but it's about the Booker prize 

Transformative Blogging by Ryan Bretag

How do you compose your blog posts?
I know there are people out there who schedule blog posts and compose them in Word but I confess to doing it on the run.  It takes a long time and is probably ham-fisted and rather clumsy but it's the way I've always done it.  On reflection and looking at the flow-chart above I realise now that I usually blog in response to other's prompts or memes, think long and hard, research, write and then comment.  Yes, it is a cycle.

Do you have any blogs that are not genealogy related? If you wish please share their titles and URLs.
LPlate Librarian
Luvvie's Musings

Have you listed your blog/s at Geneabloggers?
Yes

Which resources have helped you with your blogging?

In alphabetical order:

Ancestry, 
Archives Outside,
Brisbane City Archives
British History Online
Facebook
Family Search Research Wiki 
 Find a Grave, 
Find My Past, 
Flickr
Geneabloggers, 
Genuki 
Index to Qld BDM,  
Inside History
Judy Webster
Library of Congress, 
Moreton Bay Region Libraries Family HIstory and Genealogy Links
the National Archives, 
Origins 
Pharos Tutors
Photographers of Great Britain and Ireland 1840-1940, 
Picture Gold Coast, 
Picture Queensland,
QFHS, 
Queensland State Archives
Ryerson Index,  
Scotland's People 
Sepia Saturday, 
Trove, 


Other bloggers too numerous to mention but special mention should be made of the following: 
Julie at Angler's Rest and the fabulous Inside History blog which captures all their Facebook chats on a Thursday night.

Lots of books too numerous to mention but I should mention Digital Imaging Essentials by Geoffrey Rasmussen - I purchased the e-version and also The Big Genealogy Blog Book by Amy Coffin 

and
My FlipPal! available from Gould Books 


What advice would you give to a new Geneablogger?
Just do it.  The more you do it the better you get.  

and of course...