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

Joni Ruhs

In light of it being the day commonly known as Christmas Eve I thought it would be appropriate to bring you a family oriented best blog. So in that spirit I am happy to present to you Joni Ruhs.

Joni is a stay-at-home mom who has, as she puts it, “lots of thoughts on lots of things.” This, thankfully, is something that works to our benefit for Joni manages to blog away the daily trials and joys of family life (as well as her own personal thoughts) with more than sufficient humor, candor, and insight. One of my own personal favorites was Joni’s musings on the issue of teaching Santa to children.

So to satisfy the family-oriented part of all of us I would encourage checking out Joni Ruhs, yet another honoree in our December Blog a day.

photo, “Merry Christmas-From Me & My Tree”, by Kate McElwee.

Poetry In Verse

Greg Landeim has been a lot of things.  A surveyor, an engineer, an analyst and an architect just to name a few.  Now, though, Greg is doing what he loves to do and has decided to share that passion with us.

Greg Landeim is a poet and his blog Poetry In Verse serves as a kind of showcase for his work.  The works themselves (as far as my limited literary skill can attest to) are very well composed and, even more importantly, enjoyable to read.  Plus, with a range of subject matter ranging from the sacred to the daily the reader’s attention is not likely to wan quickly.

What really makes me like this blog even more, though, is the author’s encouragement of commentary.  He is laying his art out before the public’s eyes and inviting the public to express themselves back.  It is really the ideals of the blogosphere in action.

So if you are looking for a shot of artistic insparation and community you might want to check out Poetry In Verse.

Fresh Fodder

Cool things for under $10.  How great is that? Updated regularly, interesting choices, short, clear text.  Pretty great stuff and very handy for this time of year, when you’re looking for things that aren’t going to kill your bank account. 

Yes, yes, I know, we’re a bit behind on our December blog a day.  It’s the party a day that’s getting to us. 

Borgy 101

Borgy 101 came up from this unlikely string of search words: dogwalkers of the world unite WordPress.   He’s an amusing guy and is good on issues as disparate as the Swedish Bikini team and great jobs you might (or might not) want to have. 

We had a bit of a glitch in our December blog a day schedule:  blame holiday parties.  Enough said. 

Natalia Antonova

Natalia Antonova was born in Kiev, went to Duke and writes like an angel. Her blog is unclassifiable, but for once that’s not a criticism. I loved it and wish I had several days to read everything she’s written. I don’t, not if I have any hope of keeping my family fed and myself employed. But in the time I spent there, this made me want to cry. This had me howling. And this photo of a gorgeous footballer from Chelsea made me wish I was British, just so maybe I’d run into him someday in the pouring rain and he’d hand me an umbrella or something.

How did I find this one? I went over to Ms. Hedonistic Pleasure Seeker, featured a few days ago, and looked around her blogroll and there Natalia was.

How do we at Best Blog on WordPress find YOU? Email us and tell us what a great blog you or someone you know has! bestblogonwordpress(at)yahoo(dot)com will work if you want us to take a look for the December Blog a Day.

White Thoughts No-One Sees

The discovery of today’s best blog came about in a slightly different manner than my usual method. This blog was actually one I stumbled upon via a pingback on our “Blog a Day” post. Apparently Kerryn thought it would be interesting to write about us instead of the other way around. So, now to the review.

White Thoughts No-One Sees is a personal blog written by a woman named Kerryn. Kerryn is an Australian who is apparently not afraid of a challenge which is evidenced in her latest post telling of her desire to “read a book that I want to hurl against the wall in a fit of pique.” In all seriousness, though, Kerryn seems to be a blogger with a knack for expressing her thoughts and reporting the events of her life with wit and wisdom.

Some andecdotes of note include (but are not limited to):

• Thoughts on the sweltering summer Australian Christmases.
• The “UnSuggester”
• Trials of being a renter and
• something about a blue fish

Overall, White Thoughts No-One Sees is a well written and personable account of the life and thoughts of this Austrailian woman of many roles.

A nice find for our December Blog-a-day.

I Eat Games

I Eat Games is a game review site — not just any games, but downloadable or cheap games. The kind of games you don’t have to shell out the big bucks for. The kind of games that are still fun to play. That smiley face over there to the left? That’s the highest rating you can get from I Eat Games.

And so, inspired by the I Eat Games rating system, we’re going to borrow it for today’s post and give this site an “extremely happy” face rating. Why?

• The about page is well written and interesting. It’s easy to figure out who writes the blog because she tells you: she’s a college girl at the University of Evansville. Other pages tell you what she’s going to do on the blog and how to get in touch with her. Why don’t more bloggers do this kind of thing?
• Her site has a light touch. It’s easy to read, and it leaves you wanting to read more.
• Interesting links. I don’t know about you, but links to good, free downloadable games make me happy.
• It’s a growing site — just few days ago she announced that she’s going to start reviewing board games every once in a while. It was fun seeing a little bit of expansion in focus.

Another wonderful December Blog!

No Dependencies No Logo

Without question, No Dependencies No Logo is one of the finest blogs on WordPress.  No Dependencies No Logo is an astonishingly simple, elegant blog, a blog that demonstrates what you can do with the tools available from WordPress.  Nils, its proprietor, is a very good writer.  He can take a subject as seemingly ordinary as cleaning his keyboard, and raise it to new heights.   You’ll find everything from meditations on good grammar to interesting discussions of good design, to movies and books on this blog.  What unifies the blog is Nils’s unique point of view and his wonderful writing.

Nils is a member of the 9Rules network, and his blog exemplifies the high standards of 9Rules.

We’re proud to feature him today on our December Blog A Day.

Salt and Pepper

Salt and Pepper is part of a thriving community of WordPress food bloggers, many from India. Giniann, who writes this blog, offers clear descriptions of delicious meals. She’s been blogging for a long time and her site has a wealth of recipes. She’s also a really fine photographer and often blogs about herbs and flowers. It’s a beautifully done site for today’s December Blog-A-Day.