Protecting Your Blog

Yesterday I was reading a post from one of the blogs I follow, 2338 W. Washington Blvd.  In her latest post "Pondering about Blog Posts," Margel captured so many of the reasons I enjoy blogging.  At one point, she mentioned the "panic" she experienced when she thought she had lost a post she had spent three hours writing.  I can so identify.

Although this is not a solution for the loss Margel was discussing, it made me think of the times I've read about people accidentally deleting their entire blog.  That was always one of my worries -- because if anybody can do this, I can.  I commented on Margel's blog that I have found a partial solution.  We all get annoying pop-up ads and I had seen one repeatedly for Blog2Print. I decided to check out the site, because I have a cousin who has repeatedly asked me if I could print out my blog -- something I've had no desire to do.

Another one of my favorite bloggers, Nancy of My Ancestors and Me read my comment and suggested I do a post on this topic.  I steer away from advertising and try to limit my posts to my family history, but I'm following up on Nancy's suggestion -- because I feel very strongly about preserving my work.

When you go to the website, you type in the URL for your blog, and depending on the size of your blog, the whole thing is uploaded in a few minutes.  It then takes you to a page where you can click on any posts you want to include.  This is a great feature because I could just select two families and choose all posts related to them.   You then can choose the cover, title, add pictures, write a dedication, etc.  The nice thing is that you don't have to do it all at once.  It will save a book you have in process.

Another option, and I'd pay attention to this one, is that you can have the pages printed exactly as you set them up, or you can let the software rearrange your pictures to save space.  You can preview it both ways.  I chose the option to print it the way I set it up.  Here is a sample page:

It will give you the price, and like all of these sites, you can wait because they are bound to have a sale soon.  I was impatient and ordered this one right away.  From the day I submitted the book to the day I received it was FOUR days -- despite their claim that I'd have it in a couple of weeks.  I chose standard shipping.

The book was so beautiful and the pictures of such high quality that I ordered a second book, focusing on other family lines. This time they were running a sale discounting the book by 15%.  Again, it arrived four days from when I ordered it.

As you can see, each blog post is separated by a title in enlarged text and in a different color. Last night I took my two books to the Board meeting for our local Genealogical Society. They could not believe the quality. If I were ever going to "monetize" this blog, it would be to promote this company. (I'm not there yet). When my family members saw the books, they immediately wanted to order copies for themselves. My siblings are even talking about buying copies for their children as Christmas presents.

So thank you, Nancy, for the suggestion. Should any of you have other ideas on how to preserve your blog so you can sleep better, let me know. If you try out this option, I'd love to know if it worked for you.

On a completely separate note, I want to join the rest of my family in welcoming 7 lb. 11 oz. Benjamin Matthew Jones to the family.  He is my great-nephew.  My thoughts are with his parents and older sister.  Benjamin has no idea what a wonderful family he was born into.  We welcome him with joy.

Great Aunt Kath