Blogs..... what do we say?

[6mmfan]

I still blog occasionally but largely as a record for my own use of things I have done rather than content for an audience.

Me too. Its great to keep track of what I have done and it helps to remind of what I was intending!

[white knight]

I tend to create blogs for separate project or groups of related themes. That means some can go a long time without updates while that project is in the freezer. I don't really do it so much for the exposure, but like many others, as a log for myself, to find everything regarding to a given project in a structured, organized place.

I still post the same contents to the forum as I don't want to lure people away to the blog. But it serves a different goal.

And I posted project information on a forum in the past that then disappeared which I wish I still had, so I'm not putting my eggs in one basket anymore.

Just a handful of my blogs (there are more, I fear):

http://whiteknightminiatureimperium.blogspot.com

http://motu-wargames.blogspot.com/

http://zorro28mm.blogspot.com/

http://bd-wars.blogspot.com/

http://victorianhorrorfigures.blogspot.com/[/img]]

http://swashbucklingsessions.blogspot.com/

https://weirdworldwar2.blogspot.com/

http://80spulp.blogspot.com/

https://americancitiesofgold.blogspot.com/

[bluewillow]

I still blog, mostly for my own record,  very little of late as I have been renovating a lot before our tourist season starts ....... hardly been painting either as I have been dog tired.

It biggest advantage is I use it to host my photos to link to forums!

https://stormandconquest.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Matt

[duc de limbourg]

I blog simply to keep track of things we do. Sometimes we get feedback but mostly not.
I also put some info at the blog I find about the Dutch army of the French revolution.
In fact I don't like Facebook etc.

[War Monkey]

I have posted earlier. I agree with everyone about a blog as a record of our work and they make for great references too. I have posted old blog post photos for ideas and inspiration. I also post a lot of photos of my current projects on here, sure I provide a link to my, blog but for the most part most of the if not all of my blog photos are posted in my post on here.

[MaleGriffin]

WoW! Great blogs! I need to see about setting up my own!

[Charlie_]

I've recently started a blog, and it's focused on just one project (a late 15th century one).

http://fullharness.blogspot.com

The reason I wanted to do this is to have a one-stop place to showcase my project in its entirity, which means showcasing my finished units, work in progress things with info on conversions etc, and all my historical research on the subject. So if someone asks "where can I see your stuff?" I can point them to the blog and say "It's all there".

With this in mind I've put quite a lot of effort to make the blog itself look good and be easy to navigate, with a nifty dropdown menu.... I've twisted the blog format a bit to get just what I want.

It's very nice to know people read it and follow my progress. I've just had it up for a few months now so only have a small number of subscribers, and it would be nice for that number to grow, hopefully it will over time. Comments are always gratefully received, it's nice to know when people are enjoying what you're doing!

I use facebook simply as a way to post the pics of the latest finished unit and hopefully direct people to the blog.
The facebook format does annoy me in many ways, but it is admittedly handy when you post something to get an instant continuous update of how many people 'like' it. Even when you get barely any comments, knowing that "153 people liked this post" or whatever is nice - getting feedback or acknowledgement on forums does rely solely on people putting the effort in to reply to your thread.

[tikitang]

I have attempted several blogs, but sooner or later all my ideas disintegrate and my projects collapse, then I feel this compulsive need to delete the blog and pretend it never existed.

After the fourth time this happened, I decided to give up blogging for good.

[eilif]

3 more thoughts.

1. Another use for Blogs is as a clearinghouse for selling things on forums.   I've been maintaining a sale page for Wargames and one for Model trains on my Model Train blog for a while now.   A picture hostings service is good, but a blog page is such an easy place to post pics and prices and then modify add or remove them as necessary.  Especially when one posts things for sale across multiple forums.

2. I may have said this earlier, but just recently I again found myself enjoying diving into the old pages of my wargame club's blog and revisiting old battles and projects.  It's like a virtual scrap/photobook, and I probably go back and dig into it a few times a year.

3. I was at TMX 2 weekends ago and I had someone come up to our mech attack table and comment on how he'd seen the buildings I was using years ago on my blog.  So I guess I made an impression on someone!

[Borderguy190]

I still blog, though not as frequently as I would like. Mine is a cornucopia of articles. From hobby thoughts to narrative gaming, a log of our DnD campaign in narrative form, how-tos, and a record of what i am up to, I write about whatever is on my mind. I have a couple "blog buddies" that I've met over the years and its the main way we interact, following and commenting on each other's projects and random thoughts.

[mikedemana]

My Lead Legionaries blog has been going for a number of years, now. It took over from a classic web page when I reached my storage limit. I like how blogger has the topics sidebars so that folks who want to follow my French & Indian War stuff can just click on that and not have to wade through my more recent Saga or Sunday night wargaming posts.

Of course, I am a frustrated writer with a Journalism degree so you'd expect me to want to write, I suppose... 

Feel free to have a look (link in signature)!

Mike Demana

[ced1106]

My own favorite are the Chicago Skirmish Wargamers, mostly because they have game sessions of games I'm thinking of playing.

I end up on blogs when looking for painting tutorials and photo-heavy battle reports of the livelier miniature skirmish games, such as Song of Blades and Heroes.

Static display photos are fine, but I paint to play, and it's interesting seeing different manufacturer's miniatures and terrain side-by-side.

Myself, I'm lazy so just post on forums, such as Reaper's. Currently posting some Song of Blade and Hero playtests of Juegorama's miniatures.

[eilif]

My own favorite are the Chicago Skirmish Wargamers, mostly because they have game sessions of games I'm thinking of playing.

Thanks so much, that's high praise and it's great to hear folks enjoy our posts.

[tomrommel1]

As you can see here: https://wargamesgazette.com/ , my blog is still active alas not as frequently updated as it used to be.

[6milPhil]

I think you're right in saying how much FB has taken over from other web based mediums. The problem with FB is posts just disappear faster than yesterday's newspapers. So if you want a reasonable archive of everything you post, you've either got to have a website, or a blog. You can then use FB, Insta, Twitter, etc to share a blog link, and the traffic it should generate might make up for how soon the link post disappears off the page.

I considered going back to blogging, 6milphil.wordpress.com, but the time involved has become untenable when compared to making, painting, or playing something. I still use it as an archive, largely for photos, typically in social media when I have a blog post or picture which would usefully answer someone's question.

I wrote a post about linking to blogs which might prove interesting, it applies to all social media even though it was written for here; https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=46055.0