I had an e-mail from a cat person who said:
I hope you are not going to be upset or offended if I say that I must unsubscribe from your blog, because I simply receive too many posts in my email box from you. Most of the cat blogs I follow have one or two (or less than that) posts a week, which I find just about enough because I do follow so many, and hence get so many email notifications. Getting one or more posts a day from any one blog is just too much, I think.
I do enjoy your babies very much, and will pop in every now and then to see what they are up to, but I hope you understand where I’m coming from…
That caught Andy’s attention. “Yes, I’ve thought that of late, too. He spends so much time on that laptop, he barely spends time with us kitty boys. Dougy’s been acting up a lot lately, too, whining and yowling about this and that and everything.”
Andy grew quiet. I knew he was feeling neglected, too, though he prefers to be left alone when he, um, prefers to be left alone. Poor Dougy is exhausted with all the expectations of always being cute.
Andy thinks I should reduce my postings, too.
[What do you think?]
As usual, I’m late. I think it’s up to you and the guys when you post. Most computers come with a delete key if someone doesn’t have enough time to read occasionally. 😉 I only have email notification for the blogs I know I don’t want to miss. I look in on the others occasionally. (I’d listen to Dougy, though. He seems to get a little grumpy once in a while.)
I delete a lot of emails for that reason. Of course, I think the reason the person objected to so many (daily) emails from me is updates also send out an email, so perfectionist that I am, the person was getting those plus the initial one. Anyway, the consensus was that I continue the way I want, and that rfeader can come around when it suits him/her. I still read his/her posts, which are less frequent, and have no hard feelings about him/her unfollowing me. This blog isn’t one I do for money or to acquire the most followers. I know that there are a hardcore few who come around and sometimes comment, and I enjoy that feedback!
Jou manier van werken bevalt me best en is het te druk dan haal ik het nadien in.Niets moet toch echt.
Hoe waar!
Ierder doet wat hij wil.Het is niet opdat je een volger bent dat je alle berichten moet lezen of commentaar geven.Heb je tijd genoeg lees je allesnweinig tijd een like..Doe dus wat je zelf goed vindt
Hoe waar! Een beetje gezond verstand en tijdmanagement zijn wat nodig is.
I say, do what makes you happy. Of course, by now this is probably an old post (sorry–that tells you what life’s been like lately) so my opinion’s irrelevant anyway.
Not really. I appreciate the feed back!
Just do what you feel like. I enjoy your posts but you have to enjoy writing them too. It’s a reason why I’ve decreased the number of posts I write. At some point it seemed that it was all that I was doing :). So I make sure that I have spent enough time with the dogs that I’m writing about before I start writing another post.
I reserve the right to skip a day once in awhile! I was getting to the place where I spent way too much time on the computer and the kitty boys were letting me know they were displeased by acting up.
I often play catch up with people’s blogs, but I am glad to see those daily posts from you, so I know you and the boys are OK.
Thank Lavinia! I feel the same with those I follow, too!
LOL! I have enough on my hands managing my own blog much less offering unsolicited blogging advice to others. It sort of makes me sad when people try to make WordPress blogging more like Facebook.
Keep up the great work, Doug!
Thanks, Buffalo Tom! I have no issue with the person who emailed that note, and I know how overwhelming emails can get if you have many you follow. I just turned the notifications by email off. I go to the Reader to catch up on my fellow bloggers’ posts.
I have lost hundreds over the years because of the same issue! My own sisters! I lost seven the other day.
However ,I have never received a letter from any of them explaining. They were polite enough.
I had a small loss. Of course, I haven’t checked totals yet today!
You have the right to blog whenever you want. That letter was really stupid, if she doesn´t want to read, it´s her problem, not yours.
I have enjoyed to read your blog and see lovely photos of yours cats.
Please, continue blogging every day as usual.
Kosmo and mom Kristiina,
from faraway Finland.
Näyttää siltä, että nyt on paljon. On päiviä, joita en tunne, mutta useimmat päivät saan postin ulos. Valitettavasti päivä, jona sain sähköpostin, olin vahingossa aikataulussa kaksi virkaa samana päivänä. Se oli liian monta lukijalle!
No harm done!
No! Do not reduce. I want daily Andy and Dougy
It seems to be the consensus!
Colin from colinandray blog had the same issue about feeling every day was too much. He needed more time for other things, so cut down to weekly. He is back up to 2 or 3 a week, which is easier for me to keep up with. Personally, I get enough material from my crew to blog every day, but purposely keep it to no more than every other day at the most (unless something very unusual happens). I feel like people would get tired of it if I had something every day. I think it is what you feel comfortable with, and everyone else can read them as often as they want, right?
Cleaning up my follows freed up hours of time! The Reader now gives me a better selection of blogs I actually want to read rather than many I followed because they followed me. The total number of follows on my blog is less meaningful than the number of people who regularly read it and comment here. Those, too, tend to be the people whose blogs I comment on, too.
I so agree!!
I post everyday and figure it’s people’s decision to read or not read. I figured out how not to get notifications, so they could have too if that’s what was bothering them.
The person who commented has a personal server and may have a different problem limiting notification than those of us on WordPress who can make simple clicks on settings options. I am not experienced enough with those sorts of issues on that side.
I wouldn’t let it bother you, just do what makes you happy!
I have no problem with the reader deciding to make better use of time. I have the same problem, and appreciate the courtesy of the
reader telling me why.
I like to see your posts daily.
Virtually everyone (except one( feels that way, so I will continue to post daily as best I can! If the activities repeat, the photos and text can work to keep your interest and mine!
I for one look for your posts every day in the reader. I love the way you join the pictures and story. I think you should post as often as you feel like posting.
Thanks~! It’s looking encouraging for daily posts!
You don’t have to have blogs that you follow going to your mailbox – she could just read them online. Post as many as you like…
This is true! For that matter, one can bring up a post by googling weggieboy’s blog. Once you sort through the other blogs featuring boys yanking underwear, you’ll find the one about surviving retirement with two cats and…! Or you could bookmark it. Or follow me on Facebook where the posts pop up daily. I am Doug G. Thomas on Facebook.
Greetings Doug
Greetings back, Maureen!
I think you are the person to make the decision about how many posts you do. I am completely happy with how many I am sent to read. All three of you are doing a good job!!
Thanks! Gaily seems to be a strong consensus among readers!
I get far more notifications from MrsAngloswiss than I get from you – and I still read both blogs. And what if I am not in the mood for it or short on time? I can just NOT read them … that is ok.
There you go! That’s how I approach it for the most part, though I reduced the number of blogs that show in the Reader to just those I always open and read (yours, for example!). That should help me never miss blogs I enjoy. Before, they got lost among all the blogs I apparently followed at some time because they followed me, a practice I no longer do if I’m not genuinely interested it what the blogger posts. Though I show over 1800 follows of this blog now, I’d settle for just those who come around to chat or opine here or I do the same on their posts. This is a retirement hobby, not a push to conquer the world of cat bloggery! LOL!
I have always been blatant – I only follow back blogs which I like. I will never get why beauty bloggers, fitness bloggers, vegans or religious people do follow me. They are free to, I just don’t get it.
Me either. I suppose some of these people occasionally look at my posts, but I know there are just a few like you who count as true regulars who actually read and view my blog. I reciprocate by being a regular reading your and the other regulars’ blogs!
To quote Leo Tolstoy, “A writer is not the one who can write, but the one who cannot NOT write.” You post when you are compelled to post, and we read when we are compelled to read. Of course, The Adorables are always compelling and are practically begging to be proudly shown to the world!
Dear Doug, I think we all should do what feels comfortable and be ourselves, and anyone who is not comfortable with this concept should just go do what the monkey suggested to the lion in a famous fable: “Hey Lion, go s**** yourself!”
I can count on you to get right to the point, Dolly! LOL! Great quote from Tolstoy, too! I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comments, and it reminds me that I do this blog for my enjoyment and because I find the kitty boys extremely amusing! That others enjoy reading about them and enjoy seeing the little photo stories is a side benefit.
I can give you another quote, but it loses in translation. You see, in Russian “writing” and “urinating” is the same word, but with a stress on a different syllable. So a friend of mine, a prominent satirist, once said that writing is like urinating: you do it when you can’t hold it any longer.
And if you can’t hold your pleasure of sharing your stories and photos with your readers, and we, the readers, enjoy following “The Saga of the Adorables,” then G-dspeed to you and more wind into your sails!
LOL! That’s an interesting fact! There is a quality about writing that makes that work as a saying!
LOL
I don’t think one post a day is “too much.” Some bloggers publish two or three a day; I don’t expect to be able to read everything, and sometimes I just have to leave things until the weekend. But WordPress does give a reader the option to receive a weekly update email. This person clearly does not know how to use it, which is not your problem. The fact that s/he has to comment that you write too many posts is a bit obnoxious, in my opinion.
I hope this won’t discourage you from blogging! I enjoy reading about the boys and you!
Thank you for your encouragement! I do find some people who post more than one a day difficult to follow, yet there are a few who post photographs I especially enjoy that I forgive for over-loading me on the Reader. I cleaned out a large number of follows the other day so I get just those blogs I always read. The extraneous ones were hiding those I wanted to read, and I discovered I was missing too many new posts of those blogs. After the cull, I now spend much less (hours less!) time in the Reader because all are blogs I want to read.
We all have to handle it differently. Since your blog is short and visual I don’t mind more posts. If I’m busy I will just flag it for a later time. And sometimes when it’s so busy I start feeling stress, you and the boys provide the perfect quick cure. The most important voices are Andy and Dougy. I give them the final say.
I’ve tried to keep the posts more visual and with shorter text to make the time spent viewing them manageable. Occasionally, the text is longer, for example the posts about my visit from my friend from The Netherlands and out trip to South Dakota’s Black Hills. My hope is the longer ones have sufficient interest that people will forgive me for the verbiage!
I turn off email notifications for bloggers that post multiple times a day and see them in the reader. However, you responded to someone else that you didn’t think the person was on WP. They can bookmark your site and visit when they have time. It was kind of her to notify you. Most people just go away and are never heard from again! As for your blog, you should do it as you want. Scritches to the kitties.
I like the bookmarking method myself. I agree it was kind to let me know what the reader was doing and why. It gave me a moment to consider things I needed to do to simplify my life and keep from being tied down to a laptop for hours every day. I have the three days a week on dialysis that pretty much are tied up with that, then naps because the procedure is exhausting. That leaves four days a week for the rest of life! The day before I posted this one, I was on my laptop 10 hours. Too much!
That is a lot!
Too much! That was just catching up with Reader posts, Facebook, and e-mails. That was why I cleaned up my follows and made some other changes that don’t relate to this blog.
I think how often we post is entirely up to the individual. For me, it’s only once a week but I check in several times between postings and notice that many blogs I follow are more active. I feel no obligation to read or comment on more than I can handle, so don’t know what the issue is with your follower. WordPress does a pretty good job of grouping multiple posts in the newsfeed so I don’t even feel like I’m being spammed when people post more than once per day. I say: play how you feel it!
I agree!
When your world is small
All you want are small things
To handle,you made the choice
You live with the choice
Its yours and yours a lone
Exactly! My happy place is what I share mostly: two Persian kitties live in that happy space, and I enjoy sharing them with those who have the time and desire to share them with me. If I had one follow, I’d share what I have in my happy space with him or her. I know 100% of those 1800+ follows aren’t active, and culling those I followed the other day, I discovered a huge number who hadn’t posted in a year or more or were no longer posting! I don’t think it is possible to know how many you actually have following you on this site beyond those who “like” you on the Reader or come around to comment. I am sure every one of us blogging wondered in the early days (Is anyone reading this?!” LOL! Andy just stopped by to say, “Tell Sheldon ‘meow’!” So, “Meow!” Of course, that also means, “Darn it! When are you pulling up the kitty videos?” He’s been hinting about that all evening, too.
If it makes you feel at peace for how ever long to post is also a huge plus
What… If he complains about number of post, it is his problem why he says this to you!!!!!!
Yes, e-mail traffic is amazing, I think for all of us. But I find a way, I keep following on my own blog, I go to visit my readers everyday, it’s been better way than to keep the notification mails.. And I AM NOT COMPLAIN ANY NUMBER OF POSTS… Don’t let anyone to stop you doing more posts, dear WB, I love, I enjoy and be sure I can’t get bored to see your posts… The only problem for me, I can’t write comment every time, but I try to catch everything… Forget what he wrote… Go on with your usual way….
Love to you all, have a nice day, nia
I especially enjoy your photography and comments, yet you post numerous times a day. The number of posts a day is less and issue than the content. I’ve made many changes to the blog over the years by considering what I enjoyed most about other posts. The biggest change has been positioning a photo or photo collage at the top because that way photos show in the new “improved” Reader. The second biggest change has been to try to tell a short text story along with the photos. I try to make them lightly humorous because I’ve had comments from people who told me they were sad or depressed and the little humor and the photos cheered them up. That touched me greatly. I thought I was just posting a kitty blog, not something that helped others!
You are doing great, and I love your blog, and your cats I can never get bored if you post all day long be sure and wherever you go I follow too 🙂 Thank you dear WB, and your lovely team, Have a nice day and weekend, Love, nia
Thank you, Nia! You know I am a big fan of your photography and blog! Andy just came by again, complaining that he wants to watch videos. I told him an hour ago, “Just a minute, kitty!” He told me, “No more lies!” Oops!
I think you should post what you want when you want!! I follow many people who not only post every day – but multiple times a day (You do too I imagine). I wish they would calm down a bit, but that is their style – who am I to judge? I merely explain that I am without enough time to read ALL their posts everyy day due to time constraints and they usually understand my predicament.
You post one of the few blogs that is typically text-rich and takes some time to read through that I thoroughly enjoy and don’t want to miss. It also is history that generally isn’t covered in a school history class, and I find it fascinating! (You also recommended an excellent book once that I shared with others. or I’d tell you the title…! LOL!). I was sorting through so many blogs I never read in my Reader, that I missed a lot I do like to read in the crap presentation in the way the new “improved” Reader presents previews of new postings. Yours is one I missed more often than I like. I had been trying to catch up by going to individual blog sites and working through to find those I missed, but that got exhausting and discouraging.
As much as I do not like the new Reader page, it is the only way I can keep up with the blogs I follow. Those I do not follow, I keep the email notification and gradually get back to them.
Yes, I find it easier than keeping up with emails simply because I don’t open all email notifications, but I am more likely to open something if I get a visual enticement of a photo or illustration that hints at the contents.
the mail-storm can be a challenge, I changed my preferences , so I only have the new posts in my reader…. I undserstand you blogging is a time-eater I often like the cookie monster in an oreo factory with all the posts ;O)))
I have them popping up in all three files plus the reader. I went through the ones I follow yesterday and eliminated all but those that actively post. That eliminated a lot of occasional blogs that cluttered the reader. (You, of course, still show up, as do dog and cat blogs and others I find interesting.) Shockingly, three fourths of all I followed either stopped blogging or posted less frequently than once in the last quarter. One of the best posting I follow is a monthly, so I was very careful about eliminating blogs that approached that point.
My first run through the cleaned up reader blogs took significantly less time. I mean, one I eliminated was for medical supplies in India! Others were for things on that order, clearly clutter.
I think–who cares what I think–my old tag line–you should just do what you feel like doing. You feel like making a post, then make a post. You feel like doing something else, then do something else. I never follow anyone using email–ever! I don’t use WP Reader either! There are plenty of blog feed readers anyone can use easily. When it comes to culling the herd of blogs I follow, loyalty is one aspect I factor in above frequency of postings. I hang on to the old timers.
I agree, Greg. I pretty much enjoy pet blogs first of all because I enjoy reading about what other people’s cats, dogs, and other animals (pigs, ferrets, horses, bunnies, everything) are up to.
I suggest that your friend switch off their notifications since they have so many in the email box and make a weekly visit to all her blogs and catch up with their posts that way. It is your blog and you should post as many as you like.. the problem is theirs for not managing their notifications.
I didn’t see an increase in my follows till I made an effort to post daily. It is a habit now, with occasional slip ups where a day goes by without a post, or, like the day before yesterday, when I accidentally scheduled two posts for the same day. (That was upsetting since it meant I had to make an extra post to replace the second one!)
That certainly is a good suggestion. I don’t think the person concerned is on WordPress, however, so managing those emails may be problematic without the WP options at hand.
I post five to six times a day if its any consolation on different topics and I tell those that follow not to sign up for notifications. I do a weekly round up every Sunday of the posts and many pop into that and check out the posts that interest them. enjoy it… it is your blog..
I may change to that way of viewing. I cleaned up my follows yesterday, eliminating all but three (including yours) that post more than once a day. It greatly sped up the time I spend on the reader!
Great and thanks for keeping me on… enjoy the rest of the day.. Sally
Lots and lots of bloggers post everyday ! It is his problem if he follows so many blogs that he can’t keep up with them. I enjoy your one post a day, they are always fun and interesting to read. I post three times a week because I find I need time to write poems then edit them several times over. It all depends on personal circumstances and preferences. His problem is nothing to do with you, especially as you have nearly two thousand followers.
Mine are less difficult to create than poetry. I admire your ability to write those three poems a week!
Editing my posts comes down to making the photos tell a story and create a flow through the text by positioning the photos the best way I can.
The kitty boys, of course, don’t cooperate too much, but just enough most times to help the narrative.
I appreciate your comment – I try to make my posts fun with light humor – but mostly I wish I were in New Zealand right now (where you live, for those unfamiliar with you and your blog) because where I live we set a new cold record yesterday that broke one set in 1930. It got down to -21°F/ -29.4°C! Of course, when I had to get out in at 5:30 AM, it had warmed up to -14°F/-25.6°C!
Thank you. You do very well making those daily photo stories light and entertaining. Bleeeh ! that is cold. We have had unusually high temperatures lately, going over 30 Celsius. when we usually stop at the high twenties, We are also moving on from three months of drought with these high temperatures to cloudbursts, unusually high humidity, and floods over the last week. While we are lucky not to have snow, our farmers, market gardeners, orchardists, vineyarders, forest plantations are all having problems with this weather suddenly happening at completely new times of the year. We appreciate the rain mostly, except for the poor folks living on the coast who got their villages inundated by king high tides.
Jeeez, almost 30 degrees MINUS?! I cannot even imagine what that’s like. The coldest I have ever been in was -15C back in Germany one Christmas, and I already then my eyeballs would freeze! STAY WARM, all of you!
It is bitter, flesh-aching weather! I stay inside as much as possible when the weather gets this cold.