If you are like me, you were given a password but your brain can’t fathom it and so you set your computer to remember it. Easy right. Dangerous I promise.  You have to change it to something you’ll always remember. I’ll tell you why.

Many of us stick with the random password we’re given when we start a new blog and since it’s an impossible string of numbers and letters, we choose the easy option and tell the computer to ‘remember me’. This can be fatal if you are traveling need to upload a post from an internet café or someone else’s computer which happens if there’s some breaking news you need to relay when you computer is back at the office. You don’t have to wait just because you don’t remember your password.

 This is important guys because it can be maddening to your readers when stand them up, you don’t show up, don’t post for a while. Don’t underestimate how annoyed and rebellious your readers will get if you change your posting frequency or abandon your blog for a few weeks. And for you it means starting from scratch and building up the readership all over again when you get back. Why bother when there’s an easy solution?  Just change your password to something you will always remember.

To change your password to something you will remember log in as normal, login as usual, go to Manage and Password options, type in your new password twice in the boxes and upload the changes. Hey Presto it’s done! Now you will have no problem posting from anywhere.

For those with a wildlifedirect.org blog, if you can’t remember your wildlifedirect password and can’t login – just email us on partnerships@wildlifedirect.org and we will immediately change your password for you from our end.

Bloggers are a weird community of people but the statistics show that we can’t ignore them. More than 15% of Americans are blogging or reading blogs, - in South Korea 40% of the population has a personal blog!

So, we have no choice to make a difference in wildlife conservation we have to blog. The more that I have gone into it, the more I realize that there are some unstated rules that govern blogging etiquette… here’s a few things you should be aware of or risk being an blog outcast

1. Get personal and bare it all Effective blogs require a certain amount of frankness. It’s exciting to hear and feel emotions, to hear strong opinions, and to hear a different perspective. But its boring when your opinion is middle of the fence, or when you talk in third person. Always be honest about who is writing – don’t mislead your readers, EVER.

2. Update regularly and frequently Your content will get stale unless you refresh the blog at least two to three times a week, if not more often. Tell your story in bits so that we are drawn in and forced to log in and read the next stage in some unfolding drama.

3. Interact with your community Find ways to encourage visitors to post comments and join the conversation. Thank your readers, listen to opinions and answer questions.

4. Don’t be offended by comments Sometimes comments can be a bit nasty – an inspired reaction is indeed a good indicator of how good your blog is. But hold back, don’t get offensive at any point just enjoy the conversation and wait for things to cool down. It always does….

You’ll find more interesting and useful tips on blogging etiquette here and here and here