Blog Reviews - Willowby Woods

Blog Title: Willowby Woods a witch’s forest of piffle, poetry and painting
Blog URL: http://www.willowbywoods.com/
Former Blog URL: http://witchwoman.wordpress.com/
Blogger: Crystal Raven
Blog's Date of migration: August 12, 2008
Blogger's Profile: http://willowbywoods.com/about-2
"This site is about my daily life as a witch, mother, wife, poet and artist. I will also touch upon minimalism, home organization and time management. "
Subject Profile: Development and Growth Art
Tags:Book of Shadows Hedge Witch Series Piffle Poems Theory Tidbits
Tag Cloud @ Blogcatalog:

book of shadows
bs
children
family
hedge
witch series
life
personal development
piffle
sabbat
Spirituality
the artist's way
the hedge witch series
tidbits
winter solstice
witchiness

Strength: Good design. Netmechanic analysis gives five star to each: a) Link Check and b) HTML Check & Repair. Overall technically (above, right side) there are no major issues, going by this automated roundup.
The tags or Categories are well organized and user-friendly. More subject-wise tags tell you what the blog is all about: Tags: poetry Mental Illness witchcraft pagan fine art persona;

Layout is cool and the content is well spread in first and second columns (and a third column hangs).
Navigation is easy and presents no problem

Weakness: No major weaknesses to report. Minor issues include: a) the third column can be used to add content--instead of leaving it blank; and b) there is no direct link to archives (The heading: Dusty old Tomes, leads you to comment section, not to the old posts).

What do others say about this blog [This blog is currently rated a 5.00 out of a possible 5 based on 4 comments. ]:

• Mylissa: I really like your blog. Very interesting!
• rani: Wonderful blog, from which we can all learn a lot. Thanks.
• Cassandra: great personal and insightful blog. she is true to herself and i love that!
• Ruben Ricart: Great Blog! I have the same theme for one of my blogs.
• The Review Guy- Clear, crisp, simple, smooth. All words I would use to describe your blog layout. I love simplicity.
• Blog Review DailyNot only is the author a witch, she is also a pretty good poet… Witch Woman is a blog that is interesting and scary at the same time…
• KatYou have an amazing way of putting the facts down, without sugar coating them and making them touch the hearts of the reader.
• MelindaI love your site! I find your writing so inviting–and I love the way you explain your beliefs in such a matter - of - fact way that is easy to understand. I love your blog–and think you are a great addition to the blogging world.

Recommendation: Good job. The content is focused. The design is cool, the site is not overloaded. This site is of interest to all those who wish to look at life with an alternative perspective. The author synchronizes mental illness, creativity and practical approaches that work and work well.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

On the same shelf of Spirituality on the Web, see more in my book:



Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society.

Blog Reviews - this time this space

Blog Title: This time this space: Personal development, growth & relationships
Blog URL: http://thistimethisspace.com/
Blogger: timethief
Blog's Date of birth: April 23rd, 2007
Blogger's Profile: http://thistimethisspace.com/about/
Blog profile: http://thistimethisspace.com/about/
Subject Profile: thistimethisspace personal development, growth & relationships blog contains information and techniques I use for transforming and improving my life.
Tags:
Aromatherapy Beauty Tips Blogging Children Climate Change Conscious Living Cooking Creative Visualization Depression Dreaming Essential Oils Featured Articles Fibromyalgia Goal Setting Health Humor Imagery Inspiration Internet Relationships love massage Meditation Personal Development Personality Poetry and Quotes Politics Psychology Rants and Opinions Recipes Relationships Relaxation Techniques Self Help Sensuality Sexuality Sleep Social networking Spirituality Time Management Uncategorized Vegetarian Diet and Recipes Wisdom womens issues wordpress.com wordpress.org Yoga

Tag Cloud @ Blogcatalog:

blogging
children
communication
conscious living
election 08
featured articles
health
Imagery
internet relationships
personal development
Psychology
relationships
self help
sexuality
Spirituality

Blog Posts Frequency: January 2009 (3)December 2008 (8)November 2008 (10)October 2008 (9)September 2008 (6)August 2008 (6)


Strength: The title truly reflects the author's idea of being in-time and this is reflected in the four themes: Health, Personal Development, Relationships, and Sexuality);
The taglines are detailed and are rightly called categories (most bloggers forget that they are classfying the information into some categories, and not just simply tagging--incidentally, tagging is the fashion of the day);
Layout is cool and the content is well spread in two columns;
About Me page tells you about the blog, and about the author;
Sidebar is decently organized with mouse-over feature; and the themes (mentioned above) are well explained.
navigation is easy and presents no problem

Weakness: There is no major issue. However, one minor technical issue bothers. The non-techy audience fails to read the full article (in each post). They don't see the idea that if they click on the title of a post, they can read the full article. Using ... (three dots) without any indication of continuity may be avoided or be replaced with a better substitute.

First post: This time ~ This space
Bottomline of the First Post: "Until we recognize that the crisis in the way we humans govern ourselves is due to viewing ourselves as being separate and apart from the environment that sustains all, no real changes will be made."
What do others say about this blog:

• darkspark: inspired writing. a happy mix of topics that readers will always find some value from.
• Stephen Wilson: What a great blog. Very peaceful, yet very open. I think it's what most people set out to do, but few realize.
• G.Sannino: I really am blown away at how well you write. I enjoyed reading your affirmation page. Sometimes we forget to do a lot of those things. The design the layout is very professional. Thanks for putting it out there.
• Kanishk Patel: Hey that is one gr8 blog and great collection of postall the post looks to be from heart
• techno: ...after reading this article u touch my heart. u r very soft but ur approaching style may be can't understand.... ok keep going. thnx... touch ur deep earn.
• Robert E. Lee: Your personal blog is wonderful. I spent more time there, than I have ever spent on a blog before. Very well researched and written. Your words draw people in and you can't stop reading.
• Scott Rose: TimeThief and her work are an asset not only to the community at Blog Catalog, but to the blogging community at large
• Alex Great: Good stuff time, I was browsing around your blog and wanted to write a comment but kept reading and reading. I like the way your blog is cross linked too.
• Sheila: When entering onto this site, I feel warmth, invited, not overwhelmed. This site gives me motivation, my own personal growth from reading information on this site.
• Many many many more fans @ BlogCatalog

Recommendation: Very useful information for all those who are interested in personality development and related themes. Prompts further study and research with its excellent documentation (each posts provides with reports, case studies, etc.)

See also some related titles @ Amazon:

Selling Your Book to Libraries -- Self-published or Privately Printed Books

Note: Its a open market and company's who promote self-publishing must be evaluated. The Idiot's guide gives you know how, the job is yours. Test the market, compare the competitors and do as-you-like-it. Read the bottom line, from the last link posted below.


"I'll make a guess that your dream is to see your book on the New York Times Bestseller list. To walk by a Borders or Barnes and Noble and know your book is stocked on the shelves. Those are great dreams and it is important to have a big vision for your book sales. But there is one market that you should not overlook - the public and school library market. Libraries have large budgets and some regional systems have buyers that purchase on behalf of 20 or more locations. " continue reading

On the same shelf:

• The real secret to a successful blog/book/business
• Book Publisher Experiments
• The book that never grew up
• BEWARE: Self-Publishing Scams ~~ Five Things to Watch Out for when Choosing a Self-publishing Company

Better by Design ~~ Reading now

Better by Design states: "Libraries are faced with rapidly shifting populations of users with differing needs, who require a range of fresh communications links that are transforming our concept of the library space. This book takes as its starting point the fact that few architects know about libraries, and fewer librarians know about architectural planning and design."



I recommend this book to all those who are interested in making the library useful and usable. We need more books that teach you best practices to be applied in any type of library in today's converging atmosphere.