Stormy the Weather Gnome talks about A to Z Themes!

Hi. My name is Stormy the Weather Gnome and I'm being used.

For the last two years the host of The Waiting is the Hardest Part has been using me as her theme for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

She never asked me.

She never consulted me.

She never even mentioned it.

I just thought I was at a photo shoot.

Anyways, jokes on her, because I'm much more popular than she will ever be.

Since I starred in the challenge...

I've been a guest poster on other blogs.
I've been quoted on the bathroom wall.
I've been requested to start my own Facebook page.
I've been told to stay away from the gate at the White House.

I am popular!

So, I'm guessing you want to know what my point is.

My point, besides the one on top of my hat, is that sometimes having a clearly defined theme can be the best option for your A to Z April Challenge.

Readers will know what to expect of you and come back ... willingly!

Are you thinking about a theme for this April?

Road Trip Pit Stop Oil Check

Hi guys! It's time to cruise into the mechanic for an oil check to be sure we're moving forward in the best shape possible. Wouldn't want to stall out on the way along the A-to-Z Highway!

The holidays have been a busy time for all of us, whether because of gatherings with friends and family, time spent shopping and preparing feasts, children vacationing from school, finals, or even work deadlines before the end of the year. So if your visits to your A-to-Z friends slowed, there's no shame in it. Get that engine check, make sure your spark plugs are in working order, and continue along at whatever pace your speedometer is comfortable with.

If you need to take an extended pit stop, grab some eats at a greasy spoon, nab a night in a motel, that's okay, too. We hope to see you on the road when you're able! Above all, have fun and stop to enjoy the tourist traps.

In the meantime, I'll continue cruising along with my fantastic Road Trip partners, Tina, of Life is Good, and Nicole, of The Madlab Post. I couldn't ask for two better ladies to Road Trip with.

Honk if you're still taking part in the A-to-Z Road Trip!

~Shannon, The Warrior Muse

Blogger and Word Platforms are Not Compatible

By M. J. Joachim 

All those glitches! If only we had known! A simple notice from Blogger in the “Create a Post” or “Edit Post” window would have been nice! 

Suffice to say, Blogger and Word are not compatible. “Word and any other word processing program contains a lot of hidden formatting that isn’t compliant with the Blogger platform,” states Mishka Blogger, a top contributor on the Blogger Product forum. 

Types of Problems Created by Pasting from Word into Blogger 

• Dashboard Functionality 

• Post Disappearance 

• Removal from People’s Blog Rolls 

• Email Subscriptions Delayed or Not Received 

• Template and Design Glitches 

…and probably quite a few more!

Fixing the Problems and Glitches

1. Creating a New Post 
2. Paste from Word.
3. Select All. 
4. Click on the (Tx) button, located on the right side of the tool bar. 
5. Reformat post, using Blogger tools provided. 

Fixing Past Published Posts 

1. Edit your post. 
2. Select all. 
3. Click on the (Tx) button, located on the right side of the tool bar. 
4. Reformat post, using Blogger tools provided. 

Note, “If the format removal tool (Tx) doesn’t fix the issue, then you will have to copy all the text out of the post, into a plain text editor, and then once you are sure it is completely unformatted, you can paste it back in from the plain text editor,” explains Mishka. 

It is probably a good idea to check your sidebars, headers, pages and anywhere else you might have pasted from Word on your blog. While it is a painstaking and tedious process to remove all Word formatting, only to reformat using Blogger tools, it will make your blog much better in the long run. 

All those page views, all those adsense pennies, all those blog rolls not getting updates, all those emails not getting received… 

It’s a given, Google should have done a better job of communicating with its Blogger users! At least we know now. 

Thank you for visiting and commenting on A – Z Blog today! We look forward to seeing you again real soon! 

The A – Z Blogging Team 

©2014 All Rights Reserved 
Photo credit: Open Icon Library, Public Domain 

Google + and Google Profiles

By M. J. Joachim

There’s almost nothing worse than receiving a comment from someone whose blog you can’t find, so you can return the favor. Since Google launched its Google + feature, this happens quite a lot to me, especially since a lot of blogger profiles switched to Google + pages.

Google +

Google + is a lot like Facebook. It’s the status room, where you share what’s on your mind, interesting links (yours and others), and photos etc. It’s also the chat room, where you can engage in conversations with people.

It’s easy to link individual blog posts there, but this is not the place to permanently link your blogs, so people know where to find you, especially if you’re sharing other links from all over the web, and updating your status from time to time.

Google Profiles

Google Profiles are where you share permanent information – everything from your birthday, marital status, education history and permanent links to your blogs, websites, what have you.

People get to your Google Profile by clicking on your Google +. Once on your Google +, they have the option to click on your “About” section, which is where your blog links and other information is shared.

So be sure and fill out your Google Profile, complete with all your blog links, so people can easily find your blog, and thus be able to comment on it! You never know, it might be you who needs to return the favor if they do.

Thank you for visiting and commenting on A – Z Blog today! We look forward to seeing you again real soon!

The A – Z Blogging Team

©2014 All Rights Reserved

Photo credit: Google, Google + (does not meet threshold of originality - Wikicommons), Public Domain

Internet Nation – d’Verse Open Link Night

By M. J. Joachim

Linking up with d’Verse Open Link Night.

Blog away, blog away
That’s what we do
Sharing a thought
Inspiration too


Never you mind
Of your passion or station
That’s how we roll
In this Internet Nation

Captured by blog hops
Oh, so much fun
Posts overflowing
We’re never quite done

Like laundry and dishes
They keep coming back
Addicting and challenging
As we build up our stack

Thank you for visiting and commenting on the A – Z Blog today! We look forward to seeing you again real soon!

The A – Z Blog Team

©2014 All Rights Reserved

Photo Credit: Jeff Ogden, Internet Users by Language Pie Chart (April 2012), CCA – Share Alike 3.0