Wednesday, March 17, 2010

But I like to share my toys!

Guard your own site from hoster smack-downs by being accessible. Maybe you've done everything right, sourcing images from Flickr's CC-licensed pool and Wikimedia Commons, but someone uploaded art he or she didn't own. Make sure a copyright holder could contact you without having to take heavy-handed action.

Receive an alert whenever someone leaves a message, no matter how old the post: Settings>Comments>Comment Notification Email down the bottom.

Leave some email avenue open. Yes, some junky offers for fat-burning products and Nigerian net scams will probably wriggle through as a result. That's why I rely on Hotmail and gmail more than my vanity domain popmail accounts; I'd rather Microsoft and Google finesse the spam filters...

A few ways to remain contractible:
1. Amanda's approach: link through to a professional portfolio site complete with an email, unlisted phone number and PO Box. As a journalist, I want folks to reach me easily with assignments, story tips and press-trip offers.
2. Mike's tecchie approach: web form.
3. Contain the address in an image, which spambots can't crawl. This can be annoying for users, though, who have to retype the characters.
4. Write it out, omitting the "@" to foil the spiders. For example: frogwad (at) hotmail.com. This can pop easily into the "About Me" box, editable under Layout>Page Elements. To keep this text short, consider linking to a Google Profile: My Account>Create a Public Profile> Add Links towards the bottom of the page.

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