Thursday, April 7, 2011

A to Z Resources/advice

Because there are a ton of people participating (yay), and I tend to get a little over organized I created a spreadsheet to keep track of which blogs I have visited. That way I can make a point of checking out new (to me) blogs over the course of the month.

The link to the spreadsheet. - This is in Google Docs, and I've set it to shared. I didn't set editing on this, it is view only for others. Anyone who wants to should be able to download it, and either use it as a local file, or upload it into their own Google Docs. (If saving then uploading you shouldn't need Excel). Because I've been blogging on multiple devices I left my own copy in my Google Docs and am updating it via the web.

Google Docs does have a mobile option, and some phones can edit Google Docs. But with the long list of blogs in the spreadsheet I've found it tricky to use on my phone. I ended up writing down blog names on paper to be updated later.

I also put together a list of possible topics. Again this is in Google Docs, and set to view only shared. Reading a document should be easier than downloading and uploading a spreadsheet. Feel free to use any of them for the challenge, or simply let your mind wander and think of other things. No credit is needed if you do use a topic as they are only words. Though if you want to share the link, or link back to my blog so others can find said resources that's fine to.

And more of an FYI than an actual resource, but take a moment to see how you look on someones widget when you follow them. From their blog click on your icon and Blogger will pop up a little window. Hopefully you should see a link to your blog. This makes it easy for someone you followed to visit your blog.

When you comment you can link back to your blog that way. Comments do link to profiles, but it can take a bit of time to figure out which is a person's AtoZ blog when they have multiple blogs in Blogger. What I've done to help point out my A to Z blog is put "AtoZ" in my blog title for the duration of the challenge. That way it is easy to spot for other challenge participants.


Also, I created a Twitter List of AtoZ bloggers. Yes, I know there is a hashtag (#atozchallenge) which is good to use. I also like to use lists, they are a handy way to keep track of who else is participating, no matter when they last tweeted with the hashtag. If you are on Twitter and are not on my list let me know and I'll add you. (Comment here, @ me on Twitter, whatever works).

12 comments:

Kittie Howard said...

Claire, you're so efficient, so organized. Thank you for sharing the Google tips.

LA Nickers said...

You've got organization down to an art form, from A to Z!


Linda Ann

I stopped by via the A to Z Challenge for April, and I invite you to visit my blogs at:

NICKERS AND INK – poetry, humor, inspiration and more

PRACTICALLY AT HOME – inspiration, humor and how-tos for family, home and garden, and more

THE MANE POINT – a haven for horse lovers

MEME EXPRESS – daily blogging prompts for the A to Z Challenge and more

Claire Goverts said...

Kittie and Linda - Thanks. I spend most of my time at the day job with Excel and or MS Access databases. Going on 4 years there now and the organization is becoming ingrained.

Linda - Looks like you have some interesting blogs, I'll have to stop by.

RosieC said...

Awesome! Thanks for the resource and for sharing it :)

Rosie
East for Green Eyes

Martha said...

Wow! You are REALLY organized!! New follower from the A-Z Challenge :-)

~Claire~ said...

WOW! This is an awesome resource for this challenge. I am overwhelmed with trying to visit others and respond to all the comments. I think my "g" post could be "G, I wish I could be as organized as this!" :)

Barbara said...

Thank you for sharing! It's very helpful :)

Sherri Lackey said...

I'll have to look into that. Happy A-Z Blogging!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed seeing how you've organized your a-to-z challenge. Thanks for sharing it with me.

Julie Flanders said...

Wow, you really are efficient. Thank you for sharing these great resources. I'm having such a great time with the A-Z Challenge, but it is definitely a little overwhelming. This is so helpful, thanks!

Sarah Mäkelä said...

Thanks so much for the spreadsheet! I've started using it and it's really helpful. Great post!

g-girl said...

wow. you're amazing. i'm going to come to you the next time i need to do a spreadsheet-related thing!