Google have introduced a new interface for blogs such as mine, users are having a lot of trouble with it. I'm using the old interface for now, but that will disappear in about a month. I intentionally chose an appearance for my blog that was very simple just in case that would happen and it has. Colours may no longer display the same, fonts may no longer match previous posts, who knows, everything is up in the air.
For bloggers, creating a new post and generally navigating around the new layout is proving very difficult for some, with some features no longer available or just not working, and that's if they can even find them. That's the feedback I'm hearing from those who use the new interface.
If this blog becomes inactive, you'll know why. If the new interface is unworkable, I'll probably move to WordPress or something not as good as the old Blogger. My blog is read widely, all over the world, but Google don't care about us, it looks like they just want to get rid of us. So, this could be goodbye. Bye for now.
Showing posts with label Blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogger. Show all posts
July 29, 2020
July 27, 2018
Readership
The following are the countries that have been reading my blog over the last month, ranked in order of number of visits:
United States
China
Russia
Germany
New Zealand
France
Czechia
United Kingdom
Brazil
Australia
No interesting places make the list. Places such as Sweden, Morocco. Canada, Vietnam, Mexico used to be regulars. I wonder what happened to them?
United States
China
Russia
Germany
New Zealand
France
Czechia
United Kingdom
Brazil
Australia
No interesting places make the list. Places such as Sweden, Morocco. Canada, Vietnam, Mexico used to be regulars. I wonder what happened to them?
November 08, 2017
Readers
From time to time I report the breadth of this blog in terms of readership. The top countries for the past month were (in order):
France
Russia
United States
New Zealand
Canada
Australia
UK
Ireland
Ukraine
Brazil
Good to see Brazil and Australia beginning to read my thoughts and considered opinions. Welcome aboard. The USA has been deposed from the top spot, probably because I haven't been talking about US this and that so much.
My second novel The Crushing Son has begun to sell in both the physical and digital form. Yay. It's not a bad read, give it a try. Please buy the paperback, I make more that way. Amazon has an interesting business model, they appear to still favour the physical product of bound books over their own Kindle. I don't understand why but they're probably right given they're taking over the sale of books worldwide.
For my next novel I'm considering bleeding one or two chapters onto Wattpad, what do you think?
France
Russia
United States
New Zealand
Canada
Australia
UK
Ireland
Ukraine
Brazil
Good to see Brazil and Australia beginning to read my thoughts and considered opinions. Welcome aboard. The USA has been deposed from the top spot, probably because I haven't been talking about US this and that so much.
My second novel The Crushing Son has begun to sell in both the physical and digital form. Yay. It's not a bad read, give it a try. Please buy the paperback, I make more that way. Amazon has an interesting business model, they appear to still favour the physical product of bound books over their own Kindle. I don't understand why but they're probably right given they're taking over the sale of books worldwide.
For my next novel I'm considering bleeding one or two chapters onto Wattpad, what do you think?
April 03, 2017
Most read posts from the last month
Why would anyone be interested in reading about which of my posts gets read the most? Actually quite a few as a blog post on that very subject makes my top 10 list from last month. Here are the most read posts in order from March, a strange mixture I have to say:
1. Did Prince Charles and Camilla Have a Child (this is an oldie but a goodie, regularly top since I first posted on the topic.)
2. The Retirement Income Problem (oldies and their money, a real vote grabber, politicians take not)
3. Labour Panic
4. Innovative Payroll Service and it's a Charity
5. Most Read Posts - Last Month
6. Controversy at the Academy Awards
7. Adrian Orr is worth it
8. John Key
9. Dance Moms
10. Was Super Bowl 51 Rigged?
My page on The Brothers BBC TV series from the seventies is also a perennial favorite, even though I don't link to it any more. Here it is in case you're interested, they really need to come out with another drama like this: http://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/p/the-brothers-bbc-tv.html
1. Did Prince Charles and Camilla Have a Child (this is an oldie but a goodie, regularly top since I first posted on the topic.)
2. The Retirement Income Problem (oldies and their money, a real vote grabber, politicians take not)
3. Labour Panic
4. Innovative Payroll Service and it's a Charity
5. Most Read Posts - Last Month
6. Controversy at the Academy Awards
7. Adrian Orr is worth it
8. John Key
9. Dance Moms
10. Was Super Bowl 51 Rigged?
My page on The Brothers BBC TV series from the seventies is also a perennial favorite, even though I don't link to it any more. Here it is in case you're interested, they really need to come out with another drama like this: http://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/p/the-brothers-bbc-tv.html
March 05, 2017
Most Read Posts - Last Month
I have thousands of readers worldwide, but which posts get read is a hit and miss affair. The following are my most successful posts from the last 30 days:
1. Did Prince Charles and Camilla Have a Child?
2. Was Super Bowl 51 Rigged?
3. Trump's Big Fail
4. Three or more Essential Reads for Investors
5. New Zealand Shopping for Aircraft
6. Market Report UK
7. My 3 Rules for Stock Market Investment
8. Innovative Water Export Scheme
9. Adrian Orr is worth it
10. Dance Moms.
That last one is more recent and it's chugging along nicely so it will rise. No-one cares too much about the NBA being rigged, it must not be news or something.
1. Did Prince Charles and Camilla Have a Child?
2. Was Super Bowl 51 Rigged?
3. Trump's Big Fail
4. Three or more Essential Reads for Investors
5. New Zealand Shopping for Aircraft
6. Market Report UK
7. My 3 Rules for Stock Market Investment
8. Innovative Water Export Scheme
9. Adrian Orr is worth it
10. Dance Moms.
That last one is more recent and it's chugging along nicely so it will rise. No-one cares too much about the NBA being rigged, it must not be news or something.
February 08, 2017
Win Great Prizes
The first contest is underway. You can win a paperback copy of my second novel by answering the two questions correctly on the prizes link here:
http://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/p/win-prizes.html
The deadline for entries is Feb 10th 2017. Get both answers right and you win. One book for each person with a correct entry, no duplicate entries thank you.
The book cover looks like this...
http://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/p/win-prizes.html
The deadline for entries is Feb 10th 2017. Get both answers right and you win. One book for each person with a correct entry, no duplicate entries thank you.
The book cover looks like this...
December 30, 2016
Promotion to start 2017
Through an Amazon promotion I am making my two novels free as a Kindle read on the 1st and 2nd of January 2017. You can download and read an electronic version of these two great reads on those dates.
Physical paperback copies are available from CreateSpace. I have a high conversion rate from Kindle to the physical book, meaning many who begin reading the books on Kindle or on their computer, like the books so much they go and buy them in print.
>>Click Here for My Latest Book<<
The Crushing Son is set in the quarrying industry on the Gold Coast, Australia. The title is a play on words; the rival families work crushing rock, one of the sons crushes the father over time, and the oppressive heat crushes the spirit.
>>Click Here for my First Novel<<
Pitched at the young adult reader level, Basketball Obsession is set in the only town in New Zealand where basketball reigns instead of rugby. That town is Nelson, and we follow the fortunes of a team with obvious talent but little cohesion at the start. Pete is the team's power forward and he holds the team together as they advance to nationals and a shot at glory.
Physical paperback copies are available from CreateSpace. I have a high conversion rate from Kindle to the physical book, meaning many who begin reading the books on Kindle or on their computer, like the books so much they go and buy them in print.
>>Click Here for My Latest Book<<
The Crushing Son is set in the quarrying industry on the Gold Coast, Australia. The title is a play on words; the rival families work crushing rock, one of the sons crushes the father over time, and the oppressive heat crushes the spirit.
>>Click Here for my First Novel<<
Pitched at the young adult reader level, Basketball Obsession is set in the only town in New Zealand where basketball reigns instead of rugby. That town is Nelson, and we follow the fortunes of a team with obvious talent but little cohesion at the start. Pete is the team's power forward and he holds the team together as they advance to nationals and a shot at glory.
December 15, 2016
Blog changes in 2017
Thank you to all my readers, you've all helped contribute to making this blog highly successful. I don't want to blow my own trumpet or anything, but right now I could be the most read New Zealand based blogger worldwide. I've got tens of thousands of readers, starting with the greatest number in the USA, then New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Canada, Indonesia, Australia and Ireland - in that order.
Just recently I've started gaining readers in Portugal, Poland, Spain, Latvia, Iraq and Morocco.
In the early days, people read about new trucks for the New Zealand army the most, but then I reported on the Australian who claims to be the first son of Prince Charles and his current wife Camilla. It went ballistic and my blog was reported in the overseas press.
But then something happened; people also started reading my Snob's Guide on moving to New Zealand (for those Americans thinking about this since Donald Trump has been elected) and about New Zealand and my plans for making it better. Those blog posts took over from the ones about the army trucks and Prince Charles. We are talking a lot of page views each day and rising.
I'm going to continue writing in a similar vein through 2017. I'll try to keep things somewhat eclectic, not just the same old same old. I plan on writing a third book, non-fiction, a Snob's Guide to Everything New Zealand and anything else interesting, and I'll keep you all updated on when it's due for publication. It shouldn't take all that long, I'll just rant at my middle child and then write these rants down soon after.
Forum
I plan on starting a forum. Any advice about which forum provider is best is much appreciated, I don't want to make a bad choice as it'll be hard to switch and keep the data once up and running. It'll be a free forum, with a link to it at the top of the blog alongside the other links.
The other thing to consider is the structure of the forum, the categories to use, making navigation easy. If you have a preference please let me know. There is a contact form >>> to the right which sends straight to my gmail. I check it several times a day.
Prizes
As an innovation I may offer prizes to readers (guess what the prizes will be...anyone?). These prizes may not be easy to win, and could involve hard quizzes on history, politics, economics, sport and general wingnuttery.
Contributors
At the moment only I write for this blog. But if you think you're up to it and can write a thousand words of cogent argument about something sensible (and if not sensible then it must be funny) then send it to me and if acceptable then I'll publish it with you getting credit. There will be no payment, but you do get credit. Think comment pieces, any original research or investigative work would be better placed in the forum.
To be a contributor you must use your real name, no aliases. I use my real name, and finding me is pretty easy, my details are in the NZ Yellow Pages online. So write away and submit to me, if you're hard to find I may ask to ring you up to check that you exist. If things go well and you become trusted, then you may get to register as a site user and post directly. This will not be that common as I'm a stickler for correctness, spelling and such, and try to eliminate errors. So to get the right to post directly on this site, you'd have to be very clean.
I've decided not to monetise the site at this stage, advertisements are annoying. But you can buy my books, that's always welcome: https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Horlor/e/B00VQEETJW/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Anyone who contributes a piece that is published can have a link to their work too, no problem at all. Whether you provide a product or service, or you're promoting your talent or selling a book, it's all good but just remember, not too much shameless self promotion.
Why contribute? I've spent years on my little blog and have just broken through, by all means start your own blog but get ready for a long lead time. If you write and publish here, you'll get noticed much faster as you're going to be read a lot right from the word go. If you're a competitor, that is another blogger, then we may co-operate, that is we provide reciprocal pieces, together with links and credit both ways.
That's all folks, have a nice Christmas and great New Year, let's hope 2017 proves to be an interesting year. I'm sure it will.
Just recently I've started gaining readers in Portugal, Poland, Spain, Latvia, Iraq and Morocco.
In the early days, people read about new trucks for the New Zealand army the most, but then I reported on the Australian who claims to be the first son of Prince Charles and his current wife Camilla. It went ballistic and my blog was reported in the overseas press.
But then something happened; people also started reading my Snob's Guide on moving to New Zealand (for those Americans thinking about this since Donald Trump has been elected) and about New Zealand and my plans for making it better. Those blog posts took over from the ones about the army trucks and Prince Charles. We are talking a lot of page views each day and rising.
I'm going to continue writing in a similar vein through 2017. I'll try to keep things somewhat eclectic, not just the same old same old. I plan on writing a third book, non-fiction, a Snob's Guide to Everything New Zealand and anything else interesting, and I'll keep you all updated on when it's due for publication. It shouldn't take all that long, I'll just rant at my middle child and then write these rants down soon after.
Forum
I plan on starting a forum. Any advice about which forum provider is best is much appreciated, I don't want to make a bad choice as it'll be hard to switch and keep the data once up and running. It'll be a free forum, with a link to it at the top of the blog alongside the other links.
The other thing to consider is the structure of the forum, the categories to use, making navigation easy. If you have a preference please let me know. There is a contact form >>> to the right which sends straight to my gmail. I check it several times a day.
Prizes
As an innovation I may offer prizes to readers (guess what the prizes will be...anyone?). These prizes may not be easy to win, and could involve hard quizzes on history, politics, economics, sport and general wingnuttery.
Contributors
At the moment only I write for this blog. But if you think you're up to it and can write a thousand words of cogent argument about something sensible (and if not sensible then it must be funny) then send it to me and if acceptable then I'll publish it with you getting credit. There will be no payment, but you do get credit. Think comment pieces, any original research or investigative work would be better placed in the forum.
To be a contributor you must use your real name, no aliases. I use my real name, and finding me is pretty easy, my details are in the NZ Yellow Pages online. So write away and submit to me, if you're hard to find I may ask to ring you up to check that you exist. If things go well and you become trusted, then you may get to register as a site user and post directly. This will not be that common as I'm a stickler for correctness, spelling and such, and try to eliminate errors. So to get the right to post directly on this site, you'd have to be very clean.
I've decided not to monetise the site at this stage, advertisements are annoying. But you can buy my books, that's always welcome: https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Horlor/e/B00VQEETJW/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Anyone who contributes a piece that is published can have a link to their work too, no problem at all. Whether you provide a product or service, or you're promoting your talent or selling a book, it's all good but just remember, not too much shameless self promotion.
Why contribute? I've spent years on my little blog and have just broken through, by all means start your own blog but get ready for a long lead time. If you write and publish here, you'll get noticed much faster as you're going to be read a lot right from the word go. If you're a competitor, that is another blogger, then we may co-operate, that is we provide reciprocal pieces, together with links and credit both ways.
That's all folks, have a nice Christmas and great New Year, let's hope 2017 proves to be an interesting year. I'm sure it will.
May 26, 2015
New Computer HP 15
Finding IE11 browser to be much better than the rest. Very fast. One exception, when using blogger (this blog) signing in is difficult with IE11, keep getting an error code issued by blogger. Some sort of incompatibility? Same error happened when changing the html in this site's template. I'm prompted to quote an error code but won't bother reporting the issue, if blogger and Google can't keep up that's their problem, no? So I'm using the slower Opera browser to complete that task and this post.
I'm hopping between browsers, using IE11 for its speed and Opera when I have to do something without a problem. Trouble with Opera though is it appears to have a glitch and slows down as the cache fills up, while IE11 breezes along nicely.
I'm hopping between browsers, using IE11 for its speed and Opera when I have to do something without a problem. Trouble with Opera though is it appears to have a glitch and slows down as the cache fills up, while IE11 breezes along nicely.