"Hillary Clinton says it takes a village to raise a child. I've seen the village; and I don't want it raising my child." - unknown

Works for Me Wednesday: Junk Blog

>> Wednesday, June 24, 2009

One of my favorite blogging tools is my "junk blog." My junk blog is a behind the scenes blog that I set up for several uses. First, it serves as a test blog to make sure things like template changes, widgets, color changes, or any other coding or posting changes are working correctly before I make the changes to my real blog.


I also like to use my junk blog to jot down post ideas. Sometimes I may have a half-formed thought that I'd like to expound on later or just a general idea for a post. I'll jot these down on my junk blog (maybe "administrative blog" sounds better) and save as drafts. That way, I don't have to worry about accidentally hitting publish before I'm ready. (Um, yeah, I've done that.)


I always put the Homeschool Showcase together on my administrative blog first. This allows me to get the skeleton post ready and, later, go back and add details such as additional commentary or photos.


I've got my administrative blog set up so that it doesn't produce a feed, it isn't listed in a directory and it can be read by invitation only. That way, no one has to see my "behind the scenes" mess, and I've got a place to jot my ideas and test changes with messing up my real blog. It works for me.


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16 comments:

Muthering Heights and Other Senseless Sensibility June 23, 2009 11:59 PM  

I love my test blog for the same reasons!

Amanda June 24, 2009 12:43 AM  

I like this!

Kitchen Stewardship June 24, 2009 2:07 AM  

This has been on my to-do list...

Do you set up all the aesthetics just like your blog? When you want to post a draft on your real blog, is it just a cut and paste deal then? Thanks!

Alea June 24, 2009 3:05 AM  

LOL, my junk blog became my real blog! I wanted my mom to start blogging, so I set up a blog to try to figure out what I was doing to encourage and teach her. Over 100 posts and thousands of public mistakes later, I am plugging away. I think I might set up a new "junk blog" so that I can try to use something other than a blogspot template. Thanks for the idea!

mub June 24, 2009 6:13 AM  

I really like this idea, especially when fiddling with layouts!

Jolanthe June 24, 2009 7:09 AM  

I'm with you - I do the same thing! Great minds think alike...or something like that, right?

Jolanthe

Melissa June 24, 2009 7:21 AM  

This is a great idea. I was nervous when I was playing around with templates. And when I type a post, I'm always triple-checking whether I'm clicking Publish or Save. :)

Bridget June 24, 2009 8:54 AM  

That is a cool idea!

JamericanSpice June 24, 2009 1:44 PM  

I just discovered the test blog by reading something like this and I do like it. It's a saver

Kirstin June 24, 2009 1:48 PM  

I like that idea. I'm always nervous about things like that.

Kris June 24, 2009 3:56 PM  

@ Kitchen Stewardship -- Um, yes and no. I generally have all of my blog button widgets, for example, but not the followers widget or my blog roll. Mostly, I keep on my junk blog things that could be lost in a template change. Things that are hosted on Blogger, like followers, I don't worry about. So, most of the stuff is there, but it doesn't look like it does on my real blog. I don't worry about how it's laid out.

Also, I don't add all the real coding to my junk blog template -- such as Mr. Linky or stat trackers.

On my posts, I usually do lay everything out like I want it, then, go into HTML mode and copy and paste.

amyswandering June 24, 2009 4:18 PM  

This is a great idea, thanks!!

Heather June 24, 2009 4:52 PM  

I think this is something I should do!! (I am doing the TOS Crew this fall & this may just save me!!)I really am afraid to do anything that will mess up what I already have:)

Rana June 24, 2009 6:24 PM  

What a great idea. Thanks for the post.

Storm June 24, 2009 9:58 PM  

Neat idea.

Jane In The Jungle June 24, 2009 10:31 PM  

That is a great idea!!

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