Everything You Want to Know about Blog Hopping

Welcome to The World of the Blog Hop, a place where you are challenged to use your skills as a blogger and writer to promote your knowledge on a given subject... but mainly its about having fun as flexing those grey cells!   If you have found your way here via The Tarot Blog Hop Group or  The Reiki Blog Hop Group and haven't a clue what is going on, well that is absolutely fine! It takes a little bit of time to get used to not knowing what this is all about! It’s why such things as this FAQ are created. 

So take a look through this and if there is anything your still not exactly sure of, why not comments here on the page or on the Group itself, you never know the very thing you ask could wind up in the revision and edits that this document will go through.

  Jay :-)

What is a Blog Hop?

Think of a Blog hop like a writer's circle or A Round Robin, where the collected group of writers or bloggers all write/blog on the same question/topic and link to the blogger before them and the blogger after them to create a Circle or Train.

How can I join?  You need an active blog, or you need to set one up.

Do I have to follow a special format?  YES! There are four things that make up a blog hop.

ONE: Take a look at the top and bottom of this page, the here are similar to the ones on your post for any Blog Hop. Except those links are titled PREVIOUS BLOG | MASTER LIST | NEXT BLOG

TWO: Your post MUST have something to do with the group topic or group question. Depending on how you've arrived here, all the topics in the group are either on Tarot or about Reiki.

THREE: Include the topic suggestion in the intro to your post. Take a look at this example here and you'll see what I mean.

FOUR: This format will help people navigate the Blogs easily and also keeps things simple as well. Re-visit the example above again, try visiting the previous or next post and see what I mean. Try visiting from this link Here.  

What is the next topic?  That will be discussed on the group here on Facebook or determined by the wrangler.  

What is A Wrangler and How do I become one?

The Wrangler is like the organiser of the Blop hop, they set the topic, the date and time. You can volunteer to wrangle after you have written for a few of the topics, let one of the group admins know your interested in wrangling.

When do we post?(see how to post date/schedule a blog post below)

The time and date varies and is usually set by the Wranger. Check the Pinned Post to find out what it is currently. Then, determine what the time will be in UTC, go to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/. Here’s a handy link to help you convert to the right time for where you are in the world. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html


EXAMPLE: It is 7am in Honolulu when it is 6pm in London, England PLEASE ASK FOR HELP IF YOU AREN’T SURE OF THE TIME. (I'm Chronologically Impaired, so it's not wise to ask me...)


What should I write about? Anything that involves the topic.


How do I link someone's blog to mine? If you need help with HTML coding, http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp is an excellent site.


I don't have a blog but I want to start one. Where do I go?

Some of the ones below are the best for setting up a free blog. 

Typepad: http://www.typepad.com 
Wordpress: http://www.wordpress.com 
Blogger: http://www.blogger.com 

Join in with the current hop or next one depending on when you've signed up!  


How to use Postdate?

Blogger: Google Help: Blogger Support
Typepad: Typepad Support: See Default Publishing Status
Wordpress: Wordpress Support: Schedule A Post


How do I postdate if none of those work for me?

Typically most of the Sane Hoppers set an alarm, the rest of us don't sleep or we make sure the time is set at a semi-sane hour... usually...


When can I announce my blog?

It is suggested that you wait at least a few hours, depending on how many take part in a Hop, there is normally a period where the wrangler ends up demented while we go through the hour of mad postings, which typically consist of "Your link doesn't work" and "Why does your link show a post from 2016" or other fun things like "Why does blogger not let me comment?"    

Can I link to this page from my blog?

The FAQ Page you are reading right now is visible to anyone and can be used to explain a Blog hop; you can link to it using: 

https://1331jay.blogspot.com/2018/10/everything-you-want-to-know-about-blog.html  

How do I add to this FAQ?

You can ask for additional FAQ's to be added through the Facebook group or contact me via My Site

Credits:

This document you are reading right now is based on http://www.donnaleigh.com/tarotbloghop.htm Many thanks to Arwen Lynch Poe, who transcribed on Saturday, 21 January 2012 at 05:58 a version of this document on to the Tarot Blog Hop, which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/tarotbloghop/faqs/289611234429599/ - You need to be a member of the group