"Views from the Choir Loft" / A Blog on Sacred Music
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    If anyone has any ideas how we can alert others to the existence of this new Blog:

    http://www.ccwatershed.org/loft/

    . . . I would be most grateful for suggestions!
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,471
    The two biggest generators of traffic to my blog have been posts here at the forum, and guest posts at the Chant Cafe. And you're already doing that...

    My other traffic sources have been:
    -guest posts at other blogs. I know PrayTell and GSGP are of a bit different philosophy, but if you can figure out some topics that would appeal to them, they might post it, or link to you.
    -comments. I've written direct responses to posts on other blogs, and then posted about it in the comments. That's actually how I first got Jeffrey Tucker to notice me, back before the Cafe, when he was posting at NLM.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Why would you want Jeffrey to "notice you" in the first place, Adam? You're already the John Adams of liturgy!
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Ben
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,471
    I had to start somewhere.
    This piece in 2010 was my first direct response to one of JT's at NLM, and I left notice of it in the combox there (now vanished). The comments on my post show that it is what got both yourself (melo Charl.) and Don Roy onto my readership.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Oh Adam, you flatter so! You must have had your beer goggles on, Don and I are so easy to attract. ;-)
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    When I had a blog, I made sure that I had content, content, content. At least 3 updates a week. People (if they're like me) will happen upon a blog, read and enjoy it, but if we check back once and see the same thing as last time, we're not coming back.

    One way for easy content is to have regular posting on the same topic. I would post, usually on Friday, the music for the coming weekend. Then, invariably on Monday, I would reflect on the music, what went well, what didn't, anything interesting at Mass. Jerry Galipeau has had, for years now, "New Translation Thursday", in which he would share his thoughts, worries, etc. about RM3. It helps motivate one to write more.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,471
    An additional note to the above, for Jeff O.

    It seems to me that you are already at least somewhat well known in the Catholic Music blagosphere, especially in the more traddie-leaning places like here, the Cafe, and NLM.

    I would suggest, then, that the strongest need for growth in readership/attention for you would be non-trad music and lit blogs (PT, GSGP) and Catholic blogs of general (not music/liturgy) interest.

    I daresay my own "crossover" work is an example of how to get traditional-minded ideas into airtime with the less-traditional audiences. (Although, you likely have less "in-common" with that crowd than I do.)

    But the real need (and I'm not sure how you go about this) is getting general-interest Catholic audiences to notice and engage with all things musical and liturgical. I hope it would not be presumptuous to suppose that both Jeffrey Tucker and Fr. Christopher Smith (among others) could provide some advice and potentially some doorways in that direction.
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    thanks!!
  • TCJ
    Posts: 986
    You could advertise it (or have someone do it) on Catholic forums.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,471
    One more thing- make sure there is an easy and obvious way to subscribe via RSS and/or email.
    Thanked by 5Jahaza Gavin Aristotle Esguerra Ben CHGiffen
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    Dear Adam,

    I have not a clue what "RSS" is, but I have heard of it. Care to explain? Thanks!
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Don't have the time to explain it right now, but I would love an RSS feed as well! Hopefully someone else can...
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    What is RSS?

    RSS is a data format that summarizes the content of a series of web items into a single file with a fixed web address (URL).

    An RSS feed can represent the multiple posts in a blog, or the multiple audio files in a podcast, for example. It may represent all the posts, or just the most recent ones (e.g., the last 50 items).

    What's it good for?

    With RSS, a user can bring together multiple blogs in a single reader-program, called an "aggregator". Such a program lets the user enter the RSS address for each blog, and it tells the user which sites have updates.

    Some smartphones come with the Google Reader app built in, for example. If you sign up at the Google Reader website, and enter the RSS feed URLs you want to follow, you can monitor a collection of blogs and/or podcasts, either with the smartphone app or at the Reader website.

    How is an RSS feed made for a blog?

    Most blog software tools or podcasting tools come with a built-in capability to generate an RSS file.

    RSS at ccwatershed:

    There is already an RSS feed for the blog at ccwatershed:
    http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/feed

    Since the various "blogs" at ccwatershed are structured as multiple topic categories with one single "blog", there is only one feed.

    Can it be made even better?

    Yes, RSS feeds are more convenient for readers if they contain the full text of the blog article. This allows the aggregator app to display the article directly instead of requiring the user to click a link and open a browser for each article.

    Thanked by 2Adam Wood CHGiffen
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Great blog, JMO, bookmarked it immediately.
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    this is bizarre to ask, but ... can somebody take a screen shot of the CCW "RSS feed" in action? I'd love to see it! Sorry I still don't understand it!

    ;-D
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    Click to see this full-size:
    image
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    And here's how it looks on a phone:
    image
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    OK, please pardon my idiotic question: why not simply VISIT the blog ?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    Because of this feature:
    image

    The list of blogs on the left shows me which ones have new material and which ones don't: the blogs/podcasts with new items are highlighted in bold type.

    And when I'm dealing with a particular blog, I can see the list of blog entries, skip some, and read others, without clicking to view them all. The posts I've already read are in plain type, and the new items are in bold type.

    This is especially convenient on phones: to have the device go and connect to the various websites, pull in the RSS feed files, and show me which sites have updates. All that happens automatically when I launch the app.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    Ah ... thanks!
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    If you visit the blog, you have to type the address into your browser and go there.

    That's fine for one or two blogs, but if you would like to follow 15 blogs, that becomes more tedious. Instead, you can put each blog's feed into a feed reader, and view all of the recent articles from each one by going to one site. That way, every morning (or whatever), you go to the feed reader and boom: every new article since last time you logged on appears for you to read.

    For example, I have Fr. Z, Southern Orders, NLM, Badger Catholic, Standing on my Head, Rorate Caeli, PrayTell (yes, I feel like I should follow the happenings there), Te Deum, Chonak's blog, my parish blog, my blog (I do a fair amount of delay posting, so it's nice to see what's actually going up when), Chant Cafe, Eye of the Tiber, and my web server health report all coming into one location via RSS feeds where I can read the new articles from each, and it will keep track of which ones I've looked at already. I don't frequently do this, but I could also easily look through them on my phone.

    It's really quite convenient once you get it going.
    Thanked by 1Paul_Onnonhoaraton
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Ben, you pie-eyed prodigy, owning up to bookmarking PrayTell puts you in the company of a gentleman and a scoundrel. You, me and Tucker. Wait, something's wrong with that, hmmm.
    Oh, and we also add the Fourth Mouseketeer, MJO, "Paul Erudite" (meant to be pronounced as the protaganist of DUNE.
    Thanked by 1noel jones, aago
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    Thanks for that explanation, Ben!
  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    Ben's really in his 30's writing code for a major high-tech firm. He just uses that picture from when he was a kid. (actually, that's what you get when you exempt your child from the idiot-based school system! voila - instant adult!)
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen noel jones, aago
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,973
    Actually, I have thought for some time that Ben secretly works for the CIA, and is plotting to take over the world. ;-)
    Thanked by 2tomboysuze CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,187
    I live about 240 miles from Ben and have never met him, yet. But, even from this great distance, I can almost hear him hard at work in the vineyard of sacred music and liturgy.
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    C'mon, Charles, you can't just blow all my planning and make it public like that. Don't worry, I know where you live.

    And the rest of you, nothing to see here...if Charles disappears, don't look at me.

    Really though, you guys are all too kind.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,973
    LOL. Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

    All kidding aside, the quality of your work is impressive.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • JennyH
    Posts: 106
    Ben, I stopped reading the PrayTell blog a long time ago, mainly because I got tired of being censored by the moderator. They claim to only delete what is "nasty or off-topic or egregiously uninformed" [sic]. However, this rule only applies to "conservative" commentors. For instance, comments encouraging people to "hock a loogie" at Pope Benedict's picture are still there, despite pleas over a period of years that they be censored.
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    "and my web server health report"


    :-D
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Jenny, don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of PT, I just have it in my reader to occasionally skim the articles and keep my finger on the pulse of what's happening over there...

    That's an interesting website you link to though...
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 781
    ^ Interesting that it hasn't been updated in 2 years. I've seen it before, and always felt like it borders on slanderous. (or actually is.)
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • JennyH
    Posts: 106
    @marajoy, to my knowledge the blog creator is not listed, but I do agree with the statements made about censorship. And I find the treatment of Pope Benedict reprehensible.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    ...
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    Folks, thank you for all these comments and suggestions.

    I am not a moderator, and I know forum discussions tend to go off on "tangents," but if we could more or less keep to the subject of Views from the Choir Loft that would be fantastic. Thanks!
    Thanked by 1chonak
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    Jeff, is there any chance your web guy could enhance the RSS feed as I suggested to include the full text of postings? It really would make the feed much more user-friendly. Feel free to have him contact me if it would help.
  • Paul_OnnonhoaratonPaul_Onnonhoaraton
    Posts: 434
    Hello, Chonak. We have no web master since 2010. We are looking to hire one part time. We are looking for a person who knows PYTHON/DJANGO. That is a requirement. Perhaps somebody here knows somebody? THanks!
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,209
    "knows Python/Django" narrows your possibilities way down.

    "knows content management systems and can work with Python/Django" gives you more possibilities.

  • TCJ
    Posts: 986
    If you could fund my schooling in PYTHON/DJANGO and wait a couple years while I master it, then I might know someone by that time. But as of now...

    Seriously though, I'm not computer savvy. Wish I was.
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