New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Hi Ladies!

Before we get to the link up- we have a few housekeeping items.

1.  SITS Girls Twitter Party is coming up on Monday!  New to Twitter? This is a great chance to figure things out!

2.  We are accepting submissions for shops to spotlight during Merry SITSmas.  Info is here.

3.  When leaving comments on other SITS Girls blogs- its a great idea to leave something relevant to the post.  “Visiting from SITS!” isn’t a full comment….and, is not going to encourage someone to comment back.

Let’s say you visit a blog and read a post about Twilight.  A comment like:

“Loved your thoughts on Twilight.  I, too, devoured all four books and neglected
laundry for a week.  Looking forwarding to seeing “New Moon”, hope it is better
than the Twlight movie.  Came by from SITS!”

would be more appropriate and appreciated.  Having said that, we are not now, nor do we have any interest in being the comment police.  If you are unhappy with a comment, delete it.  It’s that easy.

Now, on to the Contest Link Up!

1.  Link the exact page of your contest, NOT just your blog.

2. Use the contest description, not your name.

3.  Go forth and spread comment love.

Want to subscribe to SITS and get an email each time we post? Just click here.
And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Welcome to the weekly blogging tip and comment game! This week I’m talking about the pros and cons of moving from Blogger to Wordpress.

Since SITS changed blogging platforms from Blogger to Wordpress last week, I’ve received lots of tweets and emails asking, “Why?” Today I present to you the Top 10 Reasons to Move to Wordpress:

1. Plugins. There are hundreds of thousands of plugins (similar to gadgets/widgets) that enhance Wordpress. They are free and do all kinds of fun and useful things. You have already seen the “Comment Luv” and “TwitterLink” plugins in the comments here at SITS. There are plugins that share your content on social networking sites,  track clicks on outbound links, display a welcome message and ask visitors to subscribe to your blog, automatically tweet your posts, show the weather in your sidebar… ah, so much fun. If someone would give me a full time job testing plugins, I’d be in heaven. Plugins rock.
2. Thousands of theme options. You can find tons of beautiful free themes (designs) for your Wordpress blog. Just upload and activate.
3. Commenting is easier and better. Is anyone else really annoyed by the Blogger commenting system? There’s a pop-up window (sometimes two), then after you enter your comment you get that “are you sure you want to navigate away from this page?” alert. ARGH. With Wordpress, just enter your name, email, URL and comment. And you’ve got a link directly to your blog – not your Google/Blogger profile. Not to mention all the cool plugins you can install to give your commenters extra link love.
4. Static Pages. For permanent, important information such as advertising, policies, “about” or “contact” pages, you can set up “pages” on Wordpress, which are different than “posts.” Pages are easily linked in a navigation bar or sidebar widget instead of being buried in your post archives, so they are easier to access and edit. They also have simpler/more professional URLs.
5. Professionalism. If you have a product, store, or service, Wordpress is the way to go. You have more options in terms of organizing and categorizing your posts, pages and other content, as well as more options for your home page display. Wordpress can be set to show a featured post/image or a static page for your home page instead of a “list of posts.”
6. Spam control. Forget about that “captcha” word verification. Wordpress comes with the fantastic Akismet plugin to control your spam. You have full control over what type of comments are held in moderation — comments with more than 3 links, comments that include certain words (gambling, sex, etc), or comments from specific IP addresses.
7. SEO. You can install a theme that is specifically designed for search engine optimization (SEO) and/or there are many plugins that also help you specify title tags, meta tags and other options that will help your blog rank higher and be seen by more people. On Wordpress’s dashboard there is a section that lists every blog that has linked to you recently. It’s a great “at-a-glance” way to quickly see who is talking about your blog.
8. It’s not hard and you won’t lose your permalinks or posts. Creating a post is no harder in Wordpress than in Blogger. You do need a little bit of tech knowledge to buy a domain and web hosting, but most people have no problem.  You might need some assistance importing your Blogger blog to Wordpress and making sure all your permalinks still work. If you have a HUGE blog with TONS of comments, there is a chance you might lose some comments. But most blogs import all posts and comments smoothly.
   
9. Superior Support. Because Wordpress is so popular and used by many professional bloggers, designers and programmers, the support forums are incredible. Wordpress’s tutorials are also excellent.
10. Full control and statistics. OK, this is really two things. Yes, you can gets stats from sites like Sitemeter and Google Analytics, but Wordpress offers you a complete stat package built in. And you don’t ever have to worry about Google deleting your blog. You own it. Wordpress also makes it really easy to backup all your posts and data.

The cons? Well, there is a cost. You need to buy a domain name ($10/yr) and hosting (~$9/month). And if you are completely techno-phobic, you may need to hire a designer if you want a highly customized design (although this is also true with Blogger).

I hope I’ve given you some insight as to the power of Wordpress. Let me know if you have any questions!

Now, let’s play a game! Here are the rules for the SITS Saturday Sharefest:

• Leave a comment here with a link to one of your best blog posts (or just your main URL if you prefer).
• After you leave your comment, visit the link of the person who commented BEFORE you.
• Comment on their post and be sure to say “Happy SITS Saturday Sharefest” in your comment.

Now, go leave some comments! And please visit my new blog – Mom, Reinvented. I’ve got some great giveaways going on!

SITS Girls Twitter Party this Monday- no brands, just us connecting!  Here is the info.

Want to subscribe to SITS and get an email each time we post? Just click here.
And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Today’s featured blogger is Optimistic Cynicism

Heather: She has such a sophisticated profile name.  I love the way it just rolls off the tongue. And then I read her first post and milk comes out of my nose.  So much for the moment of class and sophistication.

Tiffany:  She has some really great stories!  I, too, loved her first post but her second one had me cracking. up.  I do believe I’ve answered some similar questions in my life.

We are now accepting submissions for SITSmas giveaways- we have 15 feature giveaway spots.  Fabulous way to get your shop noticed!  Here is info!

Want to subscribe to SITS and get an email each time we post? Just click here.
And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Today’s featured blogger is Blog Baby

Tiffany: I am officially declaring Blog Baby to be our cutest blogger yet. We don’t normally feature bloggers under 18 years of age, but we couldn’t resist that face!

Heather: Pardon me a moment while I have a word with my ovaries. I’m trying to convince them that we are, in fact, done.

Want to subscribe to SITS and get an email each time we post?  Just click here.

Remember to save December 8th in your calendars. Merry SITSmas is coming!!

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Today’s featured blogger is Piecemeal People

Tiffany: Her decoupage is amazing!! This is one very talented lady. She’s also one very busy lady. Color me impressed!

Heather: She IS so busy with just moving and three kiddos. She also has a little one on the way. WHEW!!!

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Our 2nd annual “Merry SITSmas” will be happening on December 8th!

What is “Merry SITSmas”? A bloggy carnival with a prize every hour and lots and lots of comments.

And, if you have a shop or product you must check out this SITSmas opportunity!

So, mark your calendar, and start thinking about your “Merry SITSmas Card” post now… more info come!

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Today’s featured blogger is Janana Bee

Heather: I can TOTALLY relate to her “Geeks Are Underrated” post. I love geeks. I married one.

Tiffany: I liked her post about what she feeds her kids. We eat pretty healthy for the most part around here, but we have our weaknesses. We won’t talk about the missing Halloween candy.

Okay, SITSta’s, we ARE NOT panicking about this new Wordpress platform. Just breathe in…breathe out. Everything’s going to be juuuuust fine. Our move to Wordpress is for the best. Scroll down and find out why.

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

Aw, shucks. It’s so sweet how y’all missed us so much! But look – we’re back! All shiny and new.

I have to admit I was surprised to read some of the comments and tweets that expressed anxiety over the change from Blogger to Wordpress. From your perspective, things shouldn’t be that different. In fact, things will be easier. Let’s go over the changes:

• The home page. Instead of a long list of posts, we now have short excerpts. This will allow you to see more featured bloggers and make it much easier for you to go back to previous posts if you miss a few days here at SITS.
• Commenting. Yes, Blogger users will now have to enter in their name, email and URL before you comment. But you only have to click ONCE to post your comment. No more annoying pop-up windows! And your comment can now automatically show a link to your most recent blog post – you don’t have to do anything except enter your URL and let the “Comment Luv” plug-in do its work. There’s also a field in the comments to enter your Twitter name. Can you say awesome?
• Please check the SITS button on your blog.  If it’s the smaller version with the two girls, {the button with the one girl is fine} the html code in the button needs to be updated.  Here is the new code: <a border=”0″ href=”http://thesitsgirls.com/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee298/oldrallychick/secret-sauce_button.gif” />

And that’s about it. If I’m missing anything or you have any questions or think you may want to make the move to word press, please leave a comment or email me at momreinvented{at}gmail{dot}com. (That’s right, another change… I’m no longer going to be blogging as PHAT Mommy. But more on that next Saturday.)

Today’s featured blogger is A Spiritual Connection

Heather: I imagine Robbie has having this really soft, soothing voice. Her writing style is so breezy and I think she would serve us all tea if we could crowd into her kitchen and listen to her give us advice.

Tiffany: I would be up for some tea with Robbie and 3,000 SITSta’s!!

A little SITS’ll do you good.

Thursday

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday

Sunday

Saturday

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.

New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.

Today’s featured blogger is A Peek At Karen’s World

Heather: Uhmmmm…They took a giant doll out for their girl’s night out. THAT IS SO SOMETHING MY FRIENDS AND I WOULD DO!!! I love this girl!

Tiffany: I would never do anything so eccentric. It would never dawn on me to take a toy of any kind out socially. I don’t know which friends Heather is referring to.

A little SITS’ll do you good.

Tuesday

Monday

Sunday

Saturday

And, as always, when you see this:

LEAVE A COMMENT.