Background for non-bloggers: WordPress is the organization with software that offers free template, blog site set up and hosting. There are others besides WordPress but I don’t have any experience with them.
If you are a blogger you have to love WordPress. It’s free unless you want fancy stuff. Even the fancy stuff isn’t all that expensive.
Ever since there was an ad for yogurt dripping down someone’s cleavage, I maintain an ad-free blog. It doesn’t cost that much and at least I know what’s on my blog.
Not that I have anything against cleavages. In fact, I would love to have one but Amazon doesn’t sell them and Mother Nature didn’t think I needed one.
WP provides so much information. I only wish I understood it all. There are the statistics of how many folks visit your blog and which country they are from.
Once I had 5 countries visit but there were only 4 views logged. Does that mean someone was on the border? Or maybe they were conflicted? Runaways? Immigrants? Hostages?
I love the improvements they have done in the past year and a half. There is a place in the upper right hand side where I can see all the new comments and likes for my posts. It also includes responses to comments I have made on other blogs. Pretty cool.
So why do my reply comments disappear just like socks in a dryer? Of course that only happens after I have typed and proofed. Is this a passive-aggressive form of censorship? There is a black hole out there with free-floating comments and odd socks!
They have a wonderful “reader tab” for bloggers where you can access the blogs to which you subscribe. The only thing is they don’t all appear there – even all the WordPress blogs. Every once in a while it will drop someone you are following so you need to keep an eye on the email notices too.
It dropped Miss Four Eyes. I think it has something against naked bloggers.
Back in the old days, spammers were caught religiously in the filter. I am finding that today smart spammers create legitimate blogs. They try to post advertising on your blog through comments and it doesn’t get caught because their URL is legit. Gotta watch out for those.
When I started, I didn’t know how to include photos and artwork. My blog mentor said it made the posts more interesting if you included illustrations.
I had no idea! This is very important, at least for statistics.
Quite a while back I did a post on airline travel. (If you are curious, you can read it here and see what the fuss is about.) Ok, it was very whiney but I included clip art of an airplane. In fact here it is.
This post gets viewed constantly. Every day constantly. Some days it’s between 10 and 20 hits. My curiosity got the best of me and I looked at the stats more carefully. When people Google airplane clip art, my blog is one of the choices. Who knew? I checked it out myself.
I wonder if they are disappointed. Do they read the post or just copy the artwork?
Another popular one is the silly frog lying on its back but that one doesn’t get near as many hits as the airplane.
One of the newer additions (on the reader) is a sidebar for suggested sites to visit. WP selects Freshly Pressed posts which are supposed to be the best of the best. I hate to say this because I was Freshly Pressed but most of the time, the FP posts are not interesting to me. This new sidebar includes bloggers that my readers follow or WP thinks I would like. I have met some new friends there. I like that.
Oh yes, occasionally it will quadruple space my post. Can’t figure out why except perhaps the mouse running the show slows up on his treadmill.
Every once in a while, it does something crazy but that’s to be expected. After all, it’s technology, not magic!
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
You raised some excellent points. I did have one blogger who appeared to be a source of spam. When I went to make a comment, I was somehow bounced back to my blog. I quickly dropped her from my ‘follows.’
Kate the numbers are intriguing. But what’s not known would be more important. Why are they drawn to a particular story, and, yet, leave no comment? Why does WP say there are no views on the videos I post? Yet, readers tell me they’ve seen them and made comments on them. (That’s not a great marketing move if WP wants to sell this feature.)
LikeLike
For the “no comment” people I find that non-bloggers are a lot less likely to comment than bloggers. People who use smart phones often don’t take the time to comment either. Maybe it takes more time. I have a dumb phone so I am not sure why. I don’t think WP includes hits to YouTube because I have found the same thing you did. The problem is you never know if anyone enjoys those links unless they comment on it.
LikeLike
You’re right. Every one is in a hurry. I do this too often, too, on Facebook. But a little exchange is wonderful and always appreciated. 🙂
LikeLike
Good read. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks!
LikeLike
Technology is actually better than magic: it exists 😉
Purrs
LikeLike
Really? Are you sure about that? I think they are both a mystery!
LikeLike
I love WP . . . so glad I chose it for my blog. Even with the occasional glitch, twitch, or invisible pitch, it’s a great place to blog, full of great bloggers. Include yourself in that crowd.
LikeLike
Awww shucks! Thanks! Right back at ya!
LikeLike
The map is my favorite! And now I know I need to better name pictures for google search- thanks Kate!
LikeLike
The map is cool. I am terrible at naming my photos. I guess the airplane was named as part of the credit to the originator. I will do better in the future too.
LikeLike
Cleavage is over-rated it’s just a food trap for crumbs 😉
I love WordPress and it is a wonderful platform! I have debated about self hosting but I just find there are too many benefits to using this site.
LikeLike
Yeah, I can catch crumbs in my crotch — the way the guys do it! I am too dumb to self-host.
LikeLike
Giggles. I don’t think I have the patience to self-host, I’m not sure if I want ad revenue, and backing up everything…The thought of it all at this point and time – I-Karumba!
LikeLike
Ah, the mystery of it all. I’m like you in a sea of more questions than answers, but it’s a wonderful platform and some day I may understand more than I do today.
LikeLike
This is really interesting, Kate. If we label and tag our pictures, with any luck, they too will draw people to our blogs. Why didn’t I think of that? Great post!
LikeLike
I love the way you said this: “comments disappear just like socks in a dryer” – exactly – just as annoying.
The Reader dropping subscribed blogs is disturbing. Emails are cumbersome, but it does help you keep up with blogs.
Stats and Fresh Pressed? Now those are a mystery.
But if you keep a sense of humor, WP is a pretty nice place to wander. Great inhabitants!
LikeLike
Yes, you do need a sense of humor and it helps if you are not overly controlling…at least about your blog. Thanks for stoppying by.
LikeLike
I have never paid a penny for WordPress, so I don’t like to complain. But I don’t see what ads other people may be looking at when they come to my page – so I have no idea what they might be doing behind my back.
LikeLike
I never saw them either. It was the cleavage one that everyone told me about that made me turn on the no-ad thingie. I know there was a Ford ad too but I never saw either.
LikeLike
Just checked your blog and there wasn’t any ad on it.
LikeLike
For the price you can’t beat it!
LikeLike
I’ve been blogging for a long time and I’ve used Blogger, Typepad and WordPress.com. I prefer WP because it offers so many free features. That being said, it sometimes does some really wonky things when I go to publish posts. Plus I’ve never figured out the logic behind the stats, so I added Site Meter to get a better, slightly different, understanding of who visits me and for how long. And as for Freshly Pressed, it seems about as arbitrary as spring weather. Still, for the price, imho you can’t beat WP.
LikeLike
I too have had phantom readers. Stats say no one showed up but I have several likes and two new subscribers. o.0 Rather spooky…
… along with the few posts which I believe to mundane, yet get constant traffic… but what a fun ride this blogging world is…
LikeLike
Yes! I don’t get overly entrenched in statistics so it doesn’t matter to me. I am always delighted with a like or a comment!
LikeLike
*gasp* Reader dropped me?! But why?! Does WordPress not love me anymore? *dramatic sobbing*
I need to figure out why that’s happening. Another blogger told me the same thing. Is it really the naked thing? The Reader is very judgmental in that case
LikeLike
You aren’t the only one and it’s been relatively recent. I would think the naked thing would get you freshly pressed!
LikeLike