Time Off

July 29, 2008

Over the next couple of weeks, I won’t have access to the Internet often. But I’ve pre-written some posts. So please don’t be offended if I don’t respond to comments quickly.

What do you when you don’t have access to the Internet? Do you pre-write posts? Do you still enable comments, or do you switch comments off?

[?]

Comments

17 Responses to “Time Off”

Ribeezie (a.k.a. Ricardo Bueno) on July 29th, 2008 3:25 am

Cath: Not sure if you’re time off is for business or pleasure…if it’s pleasure, ENJOY! And if it’s for business, well, find a way to enjoy it :-p Hehe…

I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with pre-writing content! I think it’s great that you’ve done so and as a reader (I think others might share in my sentiment) I appreciate that you’ve kept comments open and have acknowledged the fact that you might not necessarily respond to some. It’s definitely a good thing though that you’re kept comments open; hey, we can help carry some of the discussion for ya
cathlawson on July 29th, 2008 3:59 am

Thanks Ricardo - It’s for pleasure. I’ll leave them open then. Hey - did you realise that your blog is down? I’ve tried twice to visit today but it’s not there.
Barbara Swafford on July 29th, 2008 4:06 am

Hi Catherine,

Enjoy your time off. Like Ricardo said, we’ll converse amongst ourselves while we’re wishing you were here. But don’t let that stop you from having a marvelous time.

I promise, we’ll play nice!

In answer to your question, I too, would leave the comments open.

Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Interview With Lorelle VanFossen - Part 4 - Finding Fresh Content
Vered on July 29th, 2008 4:57 am

During my recent trip to Israel and to Europe, I prepared a few posts in advance, but I only posted on days when I knew I would have internet access and would be able to interact with readers.

So I posted less (once or twice a week instead of 3/ week).

I seem to recall that Hunter Nuttal prepared posts in advance and told readers that he would respond to comments when he came back. That seemed to have worked well too.

Have fun!

Vered’s last blog post..Powerful Men, Half-Naked Women (Best Shot Monday)
Leanne Magraith on July 29th, 2008 5:02 am

I wish I had pre written posts before I launched my blog! It would be nice to have the comfort of having saving put aside just in case. I am with the others - leaving comments open is best especially with a blog like yours that has a strong community.

Leanne Magraith’s last blog post..Has Money Diminished the Value of Hard Work?
Robin on July 29th, 2008 5:52 am

Have a good time, Cath. Just leave ‘em open.

Robin’s last blog post..Is Living Like Today Might Be Your Last A Good Idea?
Davina on July 29th, 2008 6:24 am

Hi Cath.

Have a fabulous time! We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone. I’m with Leanne; I wish I had a few extra posts standing by. And, I too would leave my comments open.

Davina’s last blog post..260+3 Blog-to-Show ? How Did You Choose?
Kelly@SHE-POWER on July 29th, 2008 8:17 am

Mexico time, Cath. How exciting! I wish i could come in your suitcase. Mexico is probably my favourite country I’ve been to in my travels.

I left comments open when I went Europe and that worked fine. I think it’s great you’ve pre-written content. I just got too busy and stressed to do that before I went so hats off to you.

Have a wonderful time and as Barbara says we’ll just chat amongst ourselves.

Kelly

Kelly@SHE-POWER’s last blog post..Does Evil Lurk Inside Us All?
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach on July 29th, 2008 8:18 am

Hi Cath,

Have a great time with whatever you’re doing!

I always pre-write content - readers enjoy it, and I like having my blog continue to serve even if I’m (gasp!) enjoying myself elsewhere.

Best wishes, Barbara

Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach’s last blog post..Today’s Thought To Share - 181 Years Ago, Behold - The World’s First School Bus
Brad Shorr on July 29th, 2008 12:12 pm

Enjoy your time off, Cath! It appears there’s a groundswell to leave your comments open. Sounds good to me.

Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Zemanta - Cool Tool for Blog Posts
chris on July 29th, 2008 6:02 pm

Well, I just came back from a vacation…While I had access to the internet, I chose not to engaged on my blog so that I can focus on my vacation. Here’s what I did:

1. Since I cannot participate on the discussion, I turned off my comment section.

2. I only posted two posts early on my vacation…

3. I stop visiting my regular list of blogs I frequently visit.

Now that I’m back I found that my traffic did not suffer…Yiiiipiiiieeeee!!!!

chris’s last blog post..I’m Back
Hunter Nuttall on July 29th, 2008 6:46 pm

Vered said “I seem to recall that Hunter Nuttall prepared posts in advance and told readers that he would respond to comments when he came back. That seemed to have worked well too.”

Yes it did, but I didn’t have comment moderation enabled at the time. Now I have it so comments go into moderation unless the person has previously had a comment approved. So if I left right now, new commenters wouldn’t see their comment until I came back.

Some people might think that’s OK, and some might think you should turn off moderation when you’re away.

Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Blog Mastermind Reopens, And The Secret Of Blogging Success
Ribeezie (a.k.a. Ricardo Bueno) on July 29th, 2008 7:12 pm

Cath: thanks for pointing that out…you know what it might be is that I inserted my website link improperly (two w’s instead of three…whoops!). Also, I foolishly changed my feed address without updating my subscribers (wow! I’m on a roll, that’s 2 for 2).

Anyway, see…like Barbara said, we’re all playing nice! :-p

@Leanne: when I first started blogging, I didn’t save any posts (you know, have future posts ready). I did keep a notebook though that I wrote down various ideas on; after all, you never know when inspiration might strike! Now I’ve started to save drafts and I revisit them time and time again till I get it right. It’s good to be prepared…
Urban Panther on July 30th, 2008 12:37 am

Enjoy your time off! I pre-post blogs, keep the comments on (they are exciting to come home to) and let people know I won’t be responding for awhile. I have only done this once, so far, so I posted several old stories (pre blogging days) and a couple of new stories. It meant I didn’t have to write 6 new stories in time for my vacation. I keep hoping to write extra stories to pull out when needed, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Urban Panther’s last blog post..Please, just throw it out
Al at 7P on July 30th, 2008 5:00 pm

By the time you’re reading this you might be already away or are back already. Either way, hope you have a good break!

As for me, I haven’t had a long break for some time, at least long enough where my blog is affected. One is coming up soon for me though, so I think I’ll employ your strategy and give heads up with scheduled posts as well.

Al at 7P’s last blog post..Jump Right In!
nicole on July 31st, 2008 6:03 am

Hope you have some awesome time off

I usually don’t prepost (heck, I can barely get my daily posts up right now - thanks to the wonderful connection), I do leave my comments on though.
But I don’t have a business blog and neither do I get so many comments
Mike Goad on July 31st, 2008 7:16 pm

Fortunately, I very seldom am in a situation where I don’t have internet. Even when I’m camping miles away from the nearest town in a campground that doesn’t have electricity, I still have internet access — because we planned for it. Last year, when we were traveling, we bought a portable internet satellite system…, and our new camper has a generator. Now all I have to do is to remember how to set the satellite system up when we hit the road in September.

Hope your time off is fantastic!

Mike Goad’s last blog post..A Sunset in Kansas