Last post

I have  uploaded pictures, embedded a video, audio, changed some of the design elements on my blog blog. I also invited classmates to be authors on my blog, I made comments on at least 2 of my classmates blogs and  commented on one of my teacher's posts ..

As a final step, I have sent email to my teacher to let her know I have completed my blog.

Exercise 16, commenting, blogs, etiquette

I have commented on my teacher's blog about the importance of reader's reviews and social bookmarking.

Exercise 15, commenting, blogs, etiquette

 IDate

I have commented on Todd's and Louise Sinclar's blog. I liked the simplicity of Todd's design. Louise has such an engaging blog, I like her witing style and sense of humor.. I' ve added several comments to her site.

Exercise 14, authors, invitations

I have sent 3 open invitations to 3 potential authors to contribute to my blog. Earlier this semester I' ve removed the contributors  gadget from my template design and so far I have not been able to put it back, so I am not able to add contributors to my blog .....

Investigative Exercise 11 Recommendations

My local library is one of the branches of the City of Sydney Library Network. This library network does an excellent job using web 2.0 technologies. Their different web activities include:                                                     

• • Email Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Videos & Podcasts
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/library/
   The above list is excellent collection of web 2.0 gadgets, but somehow those posts  are not addressed to the smaller local communities of the branches. So here is a suggestion how my local library could improve on that.
  
  The population is young and the community is just forming in the Alexandria-Zetland area...The Green Square Library already does a good job in providing mums and babies some programs. Rhymetime  for babies is now on weekly at Green Square.( It is a lapsit program that combines rhymes, music, singing, board books, puppets and toys to develop early literacy skills.)
  
  The interest is obviously there from the patrons, so a collection of great parenting  blogs posted on the library's website  would definitely catch the attention of a lot of  mothers. Miscalenious Mum on http://miscmum.com/ or The Sharpest Pencil on http://sharpestpencil.wordpress.com/    are just two  great examples about the community these blogs create. 
  
  
     Here is a futher  example from the NSW State Library about how   to   collect and share blogs on different subjects and make it accessible to the public/ patrons:http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/publications/blogs.html?HomeLink=Share
  
  

Exercise 13, arrangement, design,

I've rearranged my blog's layout today : I placed ( dragged and dropped ) the "Labels" gadget onto the left side. I changed the display from the Cloud format to a List.  Previously I was drawn to the Cloud , it looked appealing and innovative, but the list arrangement  allows clearer browsing.
This is how I selected the current display of labels on my blog :

Title
Show	All Labels Selected Labels Selected labels: 31 of 31 edit
Sorting	Alphabetically By Frequency
Display	List Cloud
	Show number of posts per label

Exercise 12, colour, design

The template background I use for my blog has darker tones while the letters are  in white font so the text stands out. When browsing through other blogs I realized, that the black background for my posts looked rather gloomy, so I decided to change it from black to dark gray. 
It is not a huge change, but it made a huge difference in the overall look of my  blog....I am still using quite a dusky tone, but that simple shade change made the pages  less dramatic and the white letters are not disturbingly bright any more. I added a slide show of nature pictures to  the right side of the screen just to bring some more life and colour to it... 
 Pamela Wilson, an award-winning graphic designer and marketing consultant has very interesting tips on using certain fonts and colours for online businesses, blogs and brands: http://www.bigbrandsystem.com/typography/