Blog review 1

Its only a week since I decided to put the campaign on the blog, and I am delighted with the response so far.

I put a posting on OSW and TMP Napoleonic Discussion forum to advertise it. I was a little apprehensive, particularly about TMP, as there is often a heated response on that forum. And I am well aware that my hand drawn maps leave a lot to be desired, but I hoped that might encourage others to give it a try, on the principle that they could probably do better!

My other expectation was that it would be pretty well ignored. I have been inspired by other blogs I have visited, but now I realise that I had never left any message of support. So it was reasonable to expect a similar response.

To my great surprise I had a lot of interest. In just over a week there have been 230 visits to the site - which seems a lot to me. No doubt a lot of them are me going back to amend and correct. But there must also be a considerable amount of others just looking.

I am also pleasantly surprised at the number who have left comments. All were supportive and very welcome. And it has made me realise that I must do the same when I visit other blogs.

I have also been delighted at the amount of support I have received by email. I am not sure whether it is "the done thing" to mention names on a blog, but two in particular deserve mention.

Bob Cordey has given me a lot of encouragement and I am delighted with his comment that my poor efforts have encouraged him to get into Napoleonic wargaming again.

Clive Smithers has given me some much needed assistance with some technical aspects of the blog. He responded to me on OSW when I admitted that I did not know why some photographs would not enlarge when clicked on. He was very helpful, and it is not his fault that I still do not understand how to put it right.

This week has been a very steep learning curve with regard to blogging. I have realised that it is not a good idea to move photographs, as this apparently removes the ability to enlarge them. I have also realised that smaller blogs are probably better than very long ones.

As a result I have redone the 1813 blog. This had taken me all day on Thursday to put together. But three of the photographs would not enlarge, and I felt that the finished product was just too long. It has taken me all day Sunday to retype it as six blogs, one introduction and one for each campaign area. I have also taken the opportunity to write up each one in a little more detail.

Bob also mentioned that he uses labels to keep his blogs in some order. As the main reason for this blog is to provide a reference and history of the campaign, I have put labels on each post.

Its been a busy week, both typing the blog, replying to well wishers and trying to solves technical problems. I have enjoyed it much more than I expected, and it has given me a new interest in my hobby.

Thanks very much to everyone who offered encouragement or just bothered to look.