Newbie needs help

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 5:33 am

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  Have created and published my first two posts. I must be dumb, but I can’t find out how to have others view them. Even when I search Word.Press.com for my blog, it says it isn’t found. HELP, thanks. Amy

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 5:54 am

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  @amypierce88,
  We need a link to your blog in order for us to see it.
  http:// ???
  Or link your name to your blog:
  (item #2 on this list)
  https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/7-things-to-know-before-posting-in-wordpresscom-forums?replies=1

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  kittie55 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 6:08 am

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  Thanks for being supportive of us new folks. Hopefully I will begin to get some readers. I am at http:// (email visible only to moderators and staff)

  I would really like some feedback.

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  timethief · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 6:22 am

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  YIKES! Never post an email address in an online forum in that form. There are email harvesting spam bots that will crawl it and spam your email.
  http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/eluding-email-address-spam-bots/

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 6:28 am

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  @ kittie55

  Welcome to WordPress.com! There are lots of threads in this forum about increasing your blog’s readership/popularity. Search and read! But what pops out at me is your use of tags and categories detailed below.

  You have only 2 posts up so far, and I see that you are using tags and categories, but are not using a tag cloud or a category widget. The tags at the top of your posts lead readers to the wp global tags, while the widgets will lead readers to other posts on your own blog.

  Global tags may help readers with interests similar to yours find your blog:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/global-tags/
  To be included in the global tags, note that in the above article, it says,

  Five to 10 tags (or categories, or a combination of the two) is a good number to add to each of your posts.

  ( further info about tags and cats:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/post-tags/
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/post-categories/ )

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 6:31 am

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  @timethief
  Thanks for mentioning that.
  But…
  I don’t think that is an email addy. Or not a valid one. I think she meant her site as linked to her username:

  http://kittie55.wordpress.com/

  (I forgot to point that out to the OP in my post above)

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  kittie55 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 7:33 am

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  @1tess
  Thanks for the suggestions on the tag and category clouds. Also, you are right about the address. I meant to simply show my link to my username. The email address I showed is not valid.

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 1:24 pm

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  RE: Newbie needs help
  Hopefully, this is correct

  http://amypierce88.wordpress.com/
  http://imentheos.wordpress.com

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 1:35 pm

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  RE: Newbie needs help

  However, neither of those links get ME there. By the way, I made sure the “Public” view was chosen. Unless there are more than one place that option needs to be selected, that’s correct

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 25, 2009 at 2:03 pm

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  RE: Newbie needs help GOOD NEWS – and one more question…
  Well, duh, I kept leaving off the / blackslash following “com”
  http://imentheos.wordpress.com/

  I do have one more question, though. On the blog’s Home page, the second tab, “About”, is one that I have tried to edit and use to create a page about myself. Whenever I do that and hit “publish” I receive an error message: “404, page not found, wherever did you find this link?” Is the About tab supposed to be able to be used?

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 4:34 pm

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  @amypierce88

  Your blog is very new. It could take up to 6 weeks for Google and other search engines to find it.
  You can speed the process by verifying your blog:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/

  But remember that good posts made regularly are the best way to attract readers.

  Your blog is visible here:
  http://en.wordpress.com/tag/soul-notes/
  This illustrates why using tags and categories is important. Read the links I mentioned above ( https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/newbie-needs-help-4?replies=10#post-405744 )

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 4:42 pm

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  @amypierce88
  The About page should certainly be usable.
  Have you read this or watched the video:

  Create a Page

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 25, 2009 at 4:48 pm

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  @kittie55

  You are welcome.

  If you have other specific questions, feel free to start a new thread.
  Or you could post about your blog here:
  https://en.forums.wordpress.com/forum/showcase

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 27, 2009 at 1:53 am

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  I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTFUL AND THOROUGH HELP I’M BEING GIVEN, SO THANK YOU!
  The ABOUT page issue is resolved.

  I have attempted the verification process with Google. Followed instructions and after clicking “Verify,” received the following message, which I copied and pasted below, and which I’ve delineated the various parts of as “sections”:

  SECTION 1
  Site not indexed. (Why not?)
  Top search queries
  No data available. (Why not?)
  Links to your site
  No data available. (Why not?)

  Crawl errors

  SECTION 2 (these are hyperlinks)
  HTTP
  —
  In Sitemaps
  —
  Not followed
  —
  Not found
  —
  Restricted by robots.txt
  —
  Timed out
  —
  Unreachable
  —

  More » Crawl errors
  Issues Google encountered when crawling your site.
  Web Mobile CHTML Mobile WML/XHTML
  Show URLs: HTTP – In Sitemaps – Not followed – Not found – Restricted by robots.txt – Timed out – Unreachable
  URL Detail Detected
  No data available. (Why not?)

  BTW, the “Why not” when it appears is also a hyperlink, but doesn’t connect to anything.

  Seems like they can’t find my blog, and I don’t know if this means that it will NOT be found, or that it will take time to find it. Is there something more I need to do other than continue to make regular posts?

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 27, 2009 at 4:55 pm

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  @amypierce88

  I’m glad you resolved the about page issue.

  Unfortunately, I don’t know any more than the support doc I already gave you—I didn’t have trouble so I don’t know what could go wrong.
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/

  I suggest starting another thread asking about verifying your site. Maybe another volunteer can help if they see the title.
  Here is a recent thread where some folks had trouble. But the volunteers refer to the same help page as I did:
  https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/google-webmaster-tools-verification?replies=26

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 28, 2009 at 12:34 am

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  Thank you for the suggestion. I will start another thread.
  I’m very impressed with the respectful and thoughtful replies posted here.

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Nov 28, 2009 at 12:57 am

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  @amypierce88

  So very nice to hear that. And you are most welcome!

  I hope another volunteer with more experience will be able to help!

  happy blogging~~
  Tess

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  raincoaster · Member · Nov 28, 2009 at 1:47 am

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  i don’t suppose you’ve chosen the security setting that is invisible to search engines, have you?

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  amypierce88 · Member · Nov 28, 2009 at 2:04 am

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  Raincoaster, would that it were so!

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  amypierce88 · Member · Dec 2, 2009 at 5:41 pm

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  RESOLVED all the above.

  NEW ISSUE:
  Why is it that when I added a Subscribe box widget and a Blog Stats widget, my links on the Home page disappeared? I have gone back to the Links -> Blogroll and applied them again – twice – but they do not show up.