Soon and very soon…

Well I guess all of us editors have had a bit of a busy streak lately (at least I know I have) hence the infrequent updates. Soon and very soon though I’ll be getting back into the habit of best blogging. So hold tight for a little longer. Thanks.

– Tylor

photo by Andrew Becraft

Learning From Best Bloggers

The blogs we feature here on Best Blog on WordPress are a diverse lot, as diverse as our editors, as diverse as the enormous community that makes up WordPress. And yet again and again I’ve been struck by how much Best Bloggers have in common with each other. To wrap up the year, I’d like to share some of those qualities with you:

• Best Bloggers respect their readers. They don’t take you for granted. They respond to your comments. They keep their promises or tell you why they haven’t been able to. (For example: We tried to do a Blog-A-Day every day this December. But we went to too many parties to do one EVERY single day. Still, even falling short of the goal, we gave you more great blogs this month than we have in many months this year.)

• Best Bloggers hook you. They drawn you in from the first sentence. That can happen in as many ways as there are imaginations, but it never, ever means this sort of beginning: Sorry I haven’t blogged in so long, but I’ve been busy. Or Not much to say, but I don’t have anything else to do but blog. A Best Blogger has got something to say, and they make you want to hear it.

• Best Bloggers know how to use the tools at their disposal. Mostly, that means they’re good at the language in which they blog. Their writing is clear and sharp, they can punctuate, they proofread, and they sound like the smart people they are.

• Best Bloggers are generous. They know there’s room for everyone. They know that another great blog in no way diminishes them. They link to people they admire, regardless of whether that other blog is bigger or smaller than they are.

• Best Bloggers never stop learning. They read other blogs and learn from what they discover there. They read books — books that are so well written they feel compelled to try to do the same. They’re curious. They’re not afraid to say, I don’t understand that. They try new things. Maybe they’ll learn to podcast. Or take some pictures. Or try out a new template. Find out what CSS is.

• Best Bloggers know themselves. They don’t try to be other people. They know what they love, even if it’s a little odd, and their enthusiasm and affection for their subject animates their writing.

• Best Bloggers know they’re part of a community. They contribute to forums, help new folks out, welcome people to blogging.

Every single one of you has displayed best blogging in one way or another this year. Keep at it. Even if there are more than half a million blogs on WordPress, we’ll find you, one way or another. And if you want us to take a look at your blog, or the blog of someone you generously want us to know about, then go right ahead. Send us a comment on the comments form. Nothing would give us more pleasure than finding your Best Blog and featuring it here on the site.

Happy New Year!

–BL

A Blog a Day Keeps the Winter Blues Away

WordPress is more than half a million blogs strong.  In the face of this extraordinary growth, fueled by some extraordinary bloggers, I thought I’d issue a challenge to all of you BestBlog readers and editors:  Let’s find and feature some great blogs this month.  And let’s try to get one up every day.  It’s December — in a lot of places it’s a bit dreary and the holidays can only do so much to rescue the drabness of this time of year.  (In fact, sometimes the holidays make things worse.)  Maybe seeing some new, fresh blogs will take our minds off whatever’s looking a little dark these days.

The other editors can pitch in or not, depending on their schedules, but I want to say that I’m feeling ready for something like this:  I’ve had a break, gotten through some tough things, and now seems like as good a time as any to tell the world about the many terrific people who blog on WordPress. 

Where will we find these blogs?

• tags — we’ll be checking out interesting tags and bloggers who show up under them
• the WordPress forums — the folks who hang out in the forums are doing some very good work on behalf of the WordPress community and their blogging’s pretty special too.  It’s time to feature some of them! 
• links, links, links:  we’ll be looking back at BestBlog alums and checking out who they’re reading
• blog directories:  WordPressers are out there in the world, showing up in places like BlogBurst, and BlogHer and 9Rules. 
• comments:  we’ll be looking at your comments (just like Santa’s watching to see whether you’re naughty or nice):  if you’re leaving smart, interestingly naughty or nice comments, chances are you have a great blog
• that “next” button still works!  we’ll be using it.
• random google searches:  we’ll be typing in “wordpress” and a string of words that amuse us (how about dog walkers of the world unite?) and see what comes up. 
• YOU — drop us an email (bestblogonwordpress (at) yahoo (dot) com) and direct us to your favorite passionately written, interesting, quirky, funny, maddeningly controversial, beautifully designed site.   We’ll take a look at the site.  We can’t promise to feature it, but we will promise to give it more than just a cursory glance. 

Check in later today for the first of these BestBlogs.   Who knows?  It might be you.