When Was The Last Time You Thanked Those Who Made Your Blog?
While the issue of sponsored WordPress Themes is still a hot topic, I’d like to address the issue of giving credit where credit is due.
I think a link in the footer of a WordPress Theme to the Theme designer is appropriate. By displaying it, you thank the designer and give them link credit for using the Theme. I like to think of it as a big thank you and virtual hug.
Have you hugged and thanked any of the other contributors to your blog lately?
Here is a list of those who may have helped you to create and develop your blog along the way that might need a little link love and recognition, as well as a thank you, for helping your blog become your blog.
- Your blogging program
- Your blogging program customer support or support volunteers
- Your blogging program’s development staff or team
- The web designer(s)
- The web designer tweaker(s)
- Plugin or Add-on Authors
- Clip art sources
- Photo sources
- Font sources
- Content sources
- Your web browser(s)
- Online validation services
- Online site testing services
- Web traffic analysis services
- Social bookmarking services
- Social networking services
- W3.org for setting the web standards you use daily
- Advertisers
- Search engines
- Pinging services
- Feed services
- Feed aggregators
- News aggregators
- Those you blockquote and quote from
- Sources of inspiration
- Sources of motivation
- Your web host
- Those who link to you
- Those on your blogroll
- Those you steal good ideas from
- Those you emulate
- Your family (who have no idea what a blog is)
- Your friends (who tolerate your blog talk)
- Your co-workers (who wish you’d stop talking blogging)
- Your feed reader
- Your news sources
- Technorati for tags
- Those who made you a favorite on Technorati
- The developers of PHP
- The developers of Apache or your web operating system
- The developers of MySQL
- Your feed subscribers
- Your guest posters
- Your Twitter friends
- Blogging friends who introduce you to new blogging friends
- Fellow bloggers whose ear you bend
- Bloggers you read
- Bloggers you read but never comment on
- The brilliant minds who invented spell check
- The friends who remind you to use spell check
- Friends who tell you when you boo boo on your blog
- Your visitors
- Your readers
- Your readers, even those who do not comment
- Your commenters
I’m sure I missed a few as there are so many who give so much to make a blog work. Bet you didn’t realized that it took so many. It’s a cast of thousands.
Lorelle VanFossen blogs about blogging and WordPress on Lorelle on WordPress.
I always leave the designer’s link at the footer intact. As well as the person’s whose Flickr photo I use as my header image (I asked his permission to use his picture first). And I recently wrote an email to thank the designer whose theme I am using for coming up with a 3-column version JUST when I was looking for it. It was like, “You could read my mind!” :)
Great point Lorelle — we’re often the beneficiaries of open source work, and we don’t often publicly thank everyone who made if possible to use such great software at such an affordable price (free).
I wonder if we should put together a day where we give communal thanks like this?
Cheers
tony.
You’re kidding right??
A day of thanks? Hmm. Well, the CSS Naked Day was a big “exposed” thank you to web designers. I don’t know what a big open source web hug would look like. ;-) But I’m game for anything that brings deserving attention to the many who work so hard to allow us to blog for free, or little or no money.
I’d be in favor of setting up a scholarship fund or some money raising activity that helped students in web design, blog development, and other social networking educational programs…now, you got me thinking. There are some people I might have to talk to about making this idea a reality. Wonder if anyone else is doing something similar?