Like so many other blogs on the Internet, Beyond the Rhetoric is powered by WordPress. It just seems like one of the best and most powerful (free) blogging platforms available, so it comes as little surprise that so many people use it. Well, back in May, I wrote about the power of the time stamp, which allows you to write something today, but schedule it to go live at a later time.
For example, this post was actually written around dinnertime on Saturday, but by the time it goes live, I’ll be in Seattle watching the Seahawks take on the St. Louis Rams. (I landed myself some free tickets, including transportation from Vancouver.) I also made extensive use of the time stamp feature when I went on a short cruise through the Mexican Riviera, because I wouldn’t have Internet access during that time. Just before I left on that trip, I time stamped a post for each of those five days. This way, the blog would continue to be updated and readers wouldn’t notice an interruption in service. So to speak.
Most of the things I write about here aren’t exactly time-sensitive. I’ve got hypnotized rabbits, cures for writer’s block, and movie reviews. Whether these posts went live at the time I wrote them or several hours later, the reader experience would be much the same.
This is obviously different than tech blogs like Mobile Magazine where time is of the essence. What’s news today isn’t news tomorrow. I have to stay on top of things, like the announcement of the Zune 2, the revealing of the iPhone, and sneak peeks at concept cars, for example. With Beyond the Rhetoric, this just isn’t the case.
Here, I typically put up two posts a day during the week and one post a day over the weekend. This brings the total weekly post-count to about 12, and as many as 10 of those are time-stamped. The rationale is that I want the posting times to be reasonably spread out. It’s better to have some consistent separation than to have three posts blasted out, only to be followed by 36 hours of “dead air.”
I don’t do much live blogging anymore. What about you? Do you make extensive use of the time stamp feature like I do, or do you actually set your posts to go live the moment you’re finished writing them?
I do both. Usually, I post them after I write them, but if I have time and know I won’t be available on certain days, then I’ll schedule posts. I try to make sure I have at least one post per day.
A couple months ago, when I was away for the weekend, I pre-wrote posts and used the time stamp so that they would appear when I was unable to post (no computer or Internet access where I was).
This is something I intend to start using soon. I have a tendency to make posts all at once and not do anything for a while.
Unless someone subscribes to my feed, my blog is a pain to try to follow.
Most of my posts are posted when they’re finished. 😛
It’d probably be easier to post if my Blog was less random and had some sort of topic…
I try to schedule posts but find myself live blogging more often than not. Part of this is because I don’t get a ton of time outside of work and time with the kids to sit down and write a handful of posts all at once to schedule.
Lately I might get a post done a few hours ahead of when I publish it but rarely have I been more than one-two posts ahead lately.
Interesting question! I write most of my posts at night, and so they can get the maximum exposure, I set them to automatically publish in the morning when most people can see them. I pretty much use the timestamp feature on almost every post.
Also, if I know I’m not going to have computer access, I’ll write a few in advance and set them to publish whenever I need them to. Timestamp is one of the greatest things about WordPress! 😀