Following blogs not hosted in wordpress

Posted on by mboki_m

Yesterday I had three titles to write about, this one being one of those. I am glad that I started with the topic which raised questions that this topic will answer.

We need to connect with bloggers that belong to other communities or are self hosted because in the end we are all in one big family. Thanks to Steve with his blog The Vivid Expanse and Margaret famously known for the Very Bangled for their comments which brought about this matter.

For a blog like mine which is hosted by WordPress we have a feeder/stream known as Reader, we get the chance to see works of our fellow bloggers where we can like a post, comment or follow a blog. This is a good feature but in a way it’s like we are fenced in, we only get to see what is inside. How about other blogs outside WordPress? Now we must understand WordPress allows us to follow other blogs but the process is not as simple.

Task: Following a non WordPress blog
follow_1

  • follow_likeIf you have read a post from such a blog and at the end of the post you find the like button like the one on the left here, the first step is to like the post. Click Like
  • After clicking like you will see the like button changed to Liked and your avatar will be there with word ‘Follow this Blog?’
  • Now you can follow by clicking on those words and you will see the change follow_4as the image shows.

That is the first way, alternatively

  • In you Reader, click edit on the ‘Blogs I Follow’
  • followers_editThen you will have the list of all the blogs you follow. On top below the words ‘Edit Blogs | Follow‘ there is a place to write the URL of the blog you want to follow. So go to the blog you want to follow and copy the address from the address bar, paste as shown here belowfollow_2
  • Click Follow.

Mission accomplished, I hope this will help us connect with more bloggers although I should warn you the experience will be a bit different. You should make sure you visit the list of those you follow and click the blogs you need to get their updates, non WordPress blogs’ post might not be displayed on the Reader.

We will keep working on those challenges and share our experiences on how to overcome them. Happy blogging good people!

19 thoughts on “Following blogs not hosted in wordpress”

    1. Thank you!
      It is a lot harder for you Steve because you have to make an extra effort to interact with others.
      Here we have a big support, I can’t image how it could have been if I started right away with a self hosted blog.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      4. I was thinking of upgrading at some point, I will have to host another one after having enough experience in here (with a different hosting plan)

        Like

      7. The good thing about wp is that it is a large community, so you fellow bloggers will be your base and from them you can expand.
        For example some of my followers share my posts on twitter, facebook etc where I get new audience.
        Tell me about your experience because you have been here for quite a while

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Well, the only link I have to the WP you know is through the Jetpack suite of plugins. Having this plugin installed means that I can log in through a separate wp account and activate the wp bar for myself, and other functions that wp.com users take for granted. I can follow other blogs and see them in my reader, I can like, and others can also see me appear in their wp reader as well if they follow me through it. The downside is that a wp.com user will not see the wp bar with a ‘follow’ button on my blog. This confuses some people, but if someone is truly interested, they will find a way to follow. I make it as easy as possible with clear links to the mailing list. So, there is a link through Jetpack. But that’s really where it ends. All other non core functionality I get through third party plugins, which means that I can install some very cool stuff unavailable to wp.com bloggers. So, there is good and bad about it. Do you think it is simply the WP follow bar that makes it easier for bloggers to access each other on wp.com?

        Liked by 1 person

      9. I think the Reader is the most important because people can see your post and comment which is a good way to start connecting. Follow button is important but as you have mentioned it wont stop someone who is interested. I do not see your posts in my reader, I don’t know about others.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. The problem is that self hosted blog posts do not appear in the wp reader at all, unless they user manually enters the RSS feed. It’s a problem, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s a way for wp.com to encourage people to use and pay them instead. Apart from the freedom of self hosting, the other big reason I wanted to do it is because I wanted my photos hosted on Australian servers. Legally and technically, if my photos are hosted overseas, I lose some rights to them.

        Liked by 1 person

      11. So sorry, you did the right thing. I will find a way and post about it.
        Alternatively you can have a wp blog which you will be putting links to everything you post on your au hosted blog

        Liked by 1 person

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