Sebastien appeared to be a feline of the sort who repaid such indignities by sneaking back later and pissing in a man’s bed.
Blogging advice wanted
Submitted by Van on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 23:17.
Hi everyone. I hope I'm posting a totally non-story-related forum topic in the right place.
Basically, I've just started a decent RKC (I had a joke one with my brother, but basically it was just about making the womanizer king impregnate random peasants) and am thinking of making a blog about it. Of course, it won't be anything nearly as spectacular as Lothere.
However, I will admit to being a blogging virgin. The closest thing to blogging I've done is writing notes on facebook, mostly in the form of lame questionnaires I stole from random people. So I don't even know what sites are good for hosting that sort of thing or anything.
I've noticed that a lot of you have your own blogs. What sort of advice would you give to someone who wanted to start one? Just whatever comes to mind, I'm not sure about what I specifically want to know--I guess just everything I can learn.
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Oooo another Sims blog!
Submitted by PenelopetheFox on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 07:47.Oooo another Sims blog! *Celebratory bunny dance for new blog* I hope that some part of this lengthy rant will help you to get started putting your blog on the internets:
Choosing a Blog Host
Most sims blogs are hosted on WordPress, LiveJournal or Blogger. Lothere uses WordPress. They have site templates that you can use for free or if you're good at coding, you might wish to pay extra to edit the code. I think the language is CSS?
LiveJournal I know has a great simming community. You can join groups and get your blog a lot of exposure that way. I don't know anything about the technical aspects of putting up an LJ blog but like I said, it has a huge community.
I'm on Blogger. There are few sims blogs on Blogger (from what I can tell) and as such, it feels a little isolated. On the plus side, you can edit the HTML on your site for free, giving you more control. And on the minus side, Blogger has an automatic coding system that is WAY out of whack. So when you do your posts, you can't just use the compose mode. You have to enter coding under the "Edit HTML" tab. Otherwise, strange consequences can emerge. And they will emerge.
Then of course, there is the Exchange which I know nothing about.
Choosing a Host for your Photos
If you choose LJ, I believe that they have their own photo upload function. Otherwise, you may need to upload your pictures to a separate site.
Flicker is good. I think it gives you 2 or 3 GB of space (far more than you'll ever need) and they allow nude pictures.
I mainly use PhotoBucket. The reason for this is that I've found the album layout to be more conducive to a Sims blog. You can see around 20 pictures at once and each picture is labeled with its own HTML code. However PhotoBucket gives you 1GB of space and 25GB of monthly bandwidth (which is less than Flicker). Unless your blog becomes EXTREMELY popular, you'll probably never go over the monthly bandwidth and unless you have a crazy amount of pictures, you'll probably never use more than 1GB of album space. But this is all personal preference, whatever you feel fits your needs best, etc etc. Oh and another thing about PhotoBucket is that they're censor-happy.
Drafting Chapters
I imagine that everyone has a different system that works for them. I draft my chapters in MS Word (complete with tags), then copy/paste them into the blog. This way, I have my own copy that I can keep and back-up just in case Blogger decides to be poopy. But being poopy isn't the exclusive domain of Blogger. No matter what host you choose, you may run into issues.
The other advantage of doing this is that I can work on my chapters when I'm traveling and not connected to the internet. I label each paragraph with a number that corresponds to the photo that appears on top of the paragraph. No idea what other sorts of systems other people have for this!
Picture Taking
I don't know about other people but I have a few basic picture pet peeves when reading other people's journals. I'm more focused on the writing than the pictures but I do get put-off by careless photos (NOT that I'm assuming that you would do any of this but it is probably good to keep in mind).
1) The walls should always be up! If you need part of the wall down to get a particular shot, that's fine but the reader should not be able to see into the next room or out onto the lawn or what-have-you because a wall is missing. It completely takes you out of the story and to top it off, it isn't aesthetically pleasing.
2) Avoid buymode pictures. They leave a grid on the ground and people will notice.
3) Camera mod! To me, this is even more essential than a lighting mod. If you don't already have one, then here's a good one for storytelling:
http://nene.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=97642
Read the directions carefully when installing and be sure to do a back-up.
4) If you're using the game's camera function to snap pictures, put the photo settings on "high". You may also wish to take the biggest size of photo available. If you do this and resize to make the pictures smaller, you should come out with clearer, prettier pictures.
But anyway, when starting your blog, just go for it. It's a learning process and a hobby so don't pressure yourself about whether or not it's perfect to start off. Good luck! Can't wait to see it launched!
Wow Penelope that was
Submitted by Lothere on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 08:55.Wow Penelope that was excellent advice. Better than I could have done.
I don't know much about turn-key blog hosts like Blogger or WordPress since I have my own Web server out on the Internets. Same with image hosts.
To clarify what Penelope said, I don't actually have my story on WordPress (http://wordpress.com), but rather run my blog using the WordPress software (http://wordpress.org). That means I have full control of templates and everything else, including the ability to date my posts into the past, which ordinary WordPress.com or Blogger sites can't give you. The software is free, but you have to spend money to get a place to host it. This can be done for as cheaply as $8 per month or so if you get shared hosting, but if you don't know anything about making Websites then it's better to stick to the likes of Blogger and WordPress where all you have to do is provide the content, and you can't break anything, and it's completely free.
I also don't read many other Sims stories so I can't give much advice on What Not To Do. Over the years I have become pretty unforgiving about what I can handle in pictures -- I don't want to see plumb bobs (use the cheat "plumbbobtoggle") and I don't want to see thought bubbles ("showheadlines off"). For that matter, I don't want to see the sky, but I realize most people don't want to go through all the fussy trouble of laying down ceiling tiles all over the place. Even stuff like green clouds of odiferous gas escaping from baby diapers turns me off. Anything that makes me remember that it's a computer game.
But you don't need to go as far as that to please normal people, I am sure. Keep in mind that I do not play at all so there is no food to spoil and babies never have the time to poop before I exit the lot after taking pictures (usually without saving). If you are really playing an RKC then you do what you have to do.
I agree with Penelope that you should compose your story off-line and just paste the text into the blog. I do mine with a simple text editor like Notepad (OK actually Kate at the moment, or TextPad when on Windows), but Word is good if you're familiar with that. Just remember that if you want to have formatting like italics you need to use the HTML tags and not the italics formatting in Word. Otherwise when you copy-paste into the browser, you will lose the formatting.
There's another option, though I'm not sure how many other Sims bloggers use it. There are a few offline blog editors out there, such as Windows Live Writer, that let you edit your blog posts offline, using formatting toolbars like in Word instead of HTML tags, in an environment that looks like your actual blog template, and let you publish to your blog directly from the program. I.e. no separate copy&paste step, and they may let you paste images directly into the text and automatically upload them for you, I am not sure. And they let you save your drafts to your local hard drive.
I don't know anything about these programs except that they exist, but as long as you're just getting started and learning about blogging, it might be more user-friendly to go that route, once you get your blog set up on one of the blog sites. But maybe someone here has used one of them before and can give advice.
Wow, thanks so much, both of
Submitted by Van on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 18:10.Wow, thanks so much, both of you. Such long, good responses... thanks!
Yeah, I've seen a few blogs, and I agree with you on those pet peeves. Unfortunately, "showheadlines off" doesn't work for me since I only have the base game, but I'll try the plumbbobtoggle one. I've taken a few practice shots, and I've gotten pretty good at hiding it, but getting rid of it entirely certainly would free up more camera angles.
So far, I am planning on actually playing, but I don't know how long that will actually last. I've become somewhat dependent on the InSimenator's motives adjuster, and it seems like a pain in the ass to make them cook dinner or use the toilet now, plus I'm just so impatient I'll probably get tired after one rotation and age everyone in the neighborhood like, fifteen days.
I'll look into some offline blog editing programs, but I'm guessing you have to pay for Windows Live Writer, which I can't do right now between not working and having to put everything toward tuition for next year anyway.
From your post, Penelope, I think either Blogger or LJ would suit my purposes, as would Flicker and Photobucket. I'll maybe try visiting those sites a little more in the next few days, just to see what formats I prefer and just how censor-happy Photobucket is (not planning on any nude pictures currently, but you never know). I don't think I'll end up needing much bandwidth.
I already made the mistake of taking a buy mode picture when I was taking a few test ones. I didn't notice it until after I ran it through a photo-editing program, unfortunately (although I blame it on my being distracted because that particular picture was my first experiment with the reaction tester). I've probably made the walls up mistake at some point too.
And yes, composing the story offline seems much more practical and convenient than writing it online.
Anyway, again, thank you both so much. I really appreciate it
I think probably the most
Submitted by Verity on Mon, 10/20/2008 - 23:00.I think probably the most essential cheats you can know if you don't already are move_objects on (lets you move anything as you please... you can turn it on again by changing on to off... funny that ) and boolprop snapobjectstogrid false (which lets you put them off the grid... so as close to each other as you like and you can do really tricky things with different actions... change false to true to turn it off). I stared longingly at Lothere's pictures for so long wondering how she got her sims so close together until I finally actually asked. So if you didn't already know that (maybe you did... it seems my knowledge of sims cheats is woeful. As in I just learnt two knew cheats from reading these comments... yes I have been dodging the plumbobs and textboxes all this time ).
Wrt to the website you chose. I am pretty terrible a this but luckily I have computer boyf to help. Wordpress is totally wonderful. I really love it. But it definitely isn't as easy for a newbie to use as something like blogger (my first sims website which seems quite terrible in retrospect... which seems to have finally been removed or at least I can't remember how to find it ). Also you need to pay someone to host it. Once wordpress is up and running it is pretty fine but I remember the setup being quite difficult (once again computer boyf to the rescue).
I think you can find most of the awesome storytelling hacks in Lothere's "where to get?" section on the main page.
I know what you mean about the motives adjustor... when I rarely actually play the game I use it ALL the time! It seems like such a pest making them go to the toilet all the time. I don't know how people actually get promotions and stuff with out that green plumbob.
Hmmm... can't think of anything else right now. I will think about it today and write again if I do.
Good luck! I'm looking forward to checking out your blog when it is up and running.
Teehee.. 'computer boyf' It
Submitted by Sofie on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 12:01.Teehee.. 'computer boyf' It sounds like he's a SIM or something..
Thanks Verity! I knew about
Submitted by Van on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 15:23.Thanks Verity!
I knew about moveObjects, but I'd never heard of the grid one before. I will make a point to use it--that will be a great help with pictures
I've been playing around that other boolprop cheat, the one with the reaction tester and things like that, but it hasn't been working too great for me so far, unfortunately. Only two sims can use the reaction tester at a time on mine (although granted, my game is the crazy bugged pirate copy that eats picture folders, doesn't give teenagers the memory of learning how to study, and gives every sim in the neighborhood the same maternity clothes). Oh well. I have a better feeling about this new boolprop cheat.
I still haven't picked a host yet, but right now, I'm leaning toward Blogger. It'll probably be up soon, since I've taken all the pictures for the first post and have began to write it--it's hard writing to match pictures!
So yeah, thanks so much. Maybe if I find I like blogging I'll move to something like Wordpress, but Blogger should serve me well for now.
Well, I'm proud to say that
Submitted by Van on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 22:21.Well, I'm proud to say that my first post is now up!
Unfortunately, Blogger kind of made my font go all funky, and my knowledge of HTML is too superficial to fix it, but oh well, at least it's posted.
Awesome! Will you post a
Submitted by Carmen on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 13:09.Awesome! Will you post a link? I'd love to read it!
Sure, although bear in mind
Submitted by Van on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 14:50.Sure, although bear in mind the writing may not exactly be stellar, since it's still in the introductory phase. Only one post is up so far, but I'm hoping to get the second one up later tonight.
http://kingdomofnaroni.blogspot.com/