I am sure some of us regularly check our dashboards for those unwanted spam comments that appear every now and then, checking if we have missed acknowledging comments on our posts, sometimes looking at where our viewers are coming from or maybe checking our stats for the day.
I am particularly concerned about the storage space since I am using a free format for my blog. For bloggers like us who don’t want to convert our blogs to premium accounts, we are only allowed 3,072 megabytes in one single blog. I’ve used up 75% of it as of the moment. Back when I started blogging ten years ago, I didn’t know much about how photos would eat up a lot of space allowed specially when you are posting hi-resolution shots like I did before. My free space rapidly filled up. Three or two years ago, I finally learned that I can reduce my photos to sizable ones in my library before adding them to my posts. I should have learned that long ago when I was still participating in the daily WordPress Photography Challenge in which you will interpret a word through your photographs. That was when I joined a more difficult challenge of writing and posting everyday back in 2011.
Yesterday, I finally reached my 2,700th post for this blog alone and I think that’s a lot of writing. That’s averaging 300 to 500 words per post. Add that to my four other somewhat inactive blogs and you’ll get the figure. There was a time I when I felt the day was not complete when I can’t blog. There was also a few months when WordPress introduced commenting on each post writing such feedbacks like wonderful, amazing, beautiful etc. I miss those yearly reviews they did before on how your blog fared throughout the year. They even introduced words everyday that you can use to write about something related to it. Though I still visit my dashboard regularly, I no longer read WordPress events and news.
I am glad of my ever looming stats. It has greatly increased through the years. Right now, I have about 586,697 total. My followers haven’t reached 4,000 yet but I am nearing there. Most of them don’t engage anyway except for a few friends who regularly visit and make comments. Some follow through e-mails only and around 90 from Twitter. I seldom link my posts at Facebook except when the topic is about politics.
I am still enamored with blogging. It’s one activity that I enjoy doing though at times I seem to lose my muse. It is a journey that I want to continue. Would love to explore and discover more blogs in the future.
What about you? How’s you blogging journey?
I just checked. I have published 2,655 posts, and supposedly have 4,446 followers. I would estimate that only around 500 of those followers actually look at my blog, as daily views vary between 250-400.
Most of the people who never fail to comment are those who have followed more or less from the start, in 2012. Other new followers become very involved very quickly, but tend to fade away.
As for the space issue, I upgraded to the ‘Personal Plan’, which gave me double the allowance of space, and removed adverts.
This is what WP says about it.
With the Personal plan:
You can personalize your website with a custom domain name
Remove all WordPress.com advertising
6 GB of storage space
Get access to high quality email and live chat support with our Happiness Engineers
The ability to upload audio files
This currently costs £48 a year, which I think is good value for my main hobby, and something I enjoy doing every day.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I don’t want to pay monthly just to blog. The free theme is okay with me. I don’t have that much daily views nowadays. My contents are not as good as yours. Let’s keep blogging!
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I’m glad to know there is a way to shrink large photo files. I must try that.
I’m glad you post often, because I look forward to reading what you’ve written.
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Thank you so much Anne. You’re one of those friends whose blog I always look forward to.
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Having good friends across the ocean is a marvelous thing. I think you are my most far-flung friend.
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That’s so true Anne. Really, the Philippines is not that far. But I am glad we were able to find each other here.
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The Philippines are impossibly far away if I won’t get on an airplane. Blogging is much easier.
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We can always get in touch here Anne and be updated through our blogs.
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Yes! It’s marvelous.
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It is 🙂
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I’m not particularly engaged with statistics, although I do like to know the number of views. Like you, I value those with whom I can exchange comments
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Isn’t it nice when you find fellow bloggers who make comments and engage? Thanks Derrick.
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🙂
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Arlene, congrats on 2,700 posts!! Way to go, that is a HUGE accomplishment! I’m getting close to 700 posts – not such a high # over 8 years of blogging (I usually just post once or twice a week except during Advent or Lent post-a-day gigs) but it’s significant to me. You inspire me to keep on going! Blessings & congratulatory blogging hugs!!! 🍾💐🤗💐🍾
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Thank you ever so much Virginia. Hugs and blessings back to you friend 🙂
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i really haven’t paid attention to my stats. i upgraded to premium for more storage and i agree with Pete, for 99USD (my case) per year is a great investment for a fun hubby. 🙂
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That’s too much here for a yearly fee Wilma. That is why I just want a free platform.
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Blogging and especially the interaction with fellow bloggers has been a good experience for me! I do pay for my blog because my photos take up so much space and I hate ads popping up. The stats I enjoy looking at most are of all the different countries my readers are from! Happy blogging, Arlene! 🙋
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Hi Sabine. Thank you. I check my dashboards for those spam mails. They are so irrelevant. Sometimes I also check what countries the viewers are coming from.
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I’ve been blogging for two years now and I’m just now getting the hang of it. As for stats I check mine but not much of a difference. I comment and engage with people some ignore a few reply. I very often invite people to my blog and describe what my blog is about but once I tell them it’s a Christian blog they turn me down. I don’t get many views but it’s ok. I believe in writing what you love and want to write and if people are interested they will read. But, I do enjoy your blog and I look forward to every post
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Don’t worry More. Eventually, you’ll have that nice stats. I have never invited anyone to follow my blog. They follow it on their on. I do think that’s a turn-off for some bloggers. As long as you enjoy writing, keep blogging.
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I enjoy your posts Arlene. I had to eventually begin to pay a yearly fee to keep blogging. I tried going back in the archives to delete some posts to free up some storage space, but it was tedious and quite easy to make mistakes when deleting the photographs. If you delete a post, you also must delete the photos in the post from your media library or they will continue to take up space. Since it was a two-step process, I decided it took too much time. I stopped blogging for a while, but I missed it, and chose to pay the yearly fee.
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Thank you Kathy. And you are right, sometimes it is really hard to clean up your media library. Having to subscribe to a paid blog is so costly here so I will just stick to the free format. I have another blog that I could update in case this one totally fills up my free space.
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I love that so many people have found your blog. You found me first, I think, and I am forever grateful for the introduction to many of your followers. We seem to inhabit a very pleasant and interactive corner of the WordPress world.
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Isn’t it nice that no matter the distance we could always get in touch?
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It still amazes me.
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🙂
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I have only recently started my blog, so congrats on your 2,700 posts! When I researched about blogging, it was all about making money. I never wanted to make money off my blog. I just want to put down ideas. Your blog was such an inspiration of someone who are just here to put down your thoughts. I love that. 🙂
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Thank you so much. I don’t have paid blogs too. I am just here to share. So glad to know you like reading my posts.
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Congrats on your blogging. Wow!!! That’s quite an accomplishment. I’ve been blogging about two years now. This is my first time visiting the actual word press site. I usually just go to my dashboard. Guess I’m a slow learner. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Oh, it is nice to see you here. Feel free to explore and see other blogger sites too.
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I’ve been blogging almost a year now and love it. It has really helped me not only let off steam, but put my thoughts on paper. After seeing other comments, I don’t feel so alone anymore!
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Blogging our way to the world, having a community of our own, nice isn’t it?
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It’s nice to have others enjoy your writing. Best of luck on your blogging journey!
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Thank you, thank you so much!
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