I greatly underestimated how much time blogging sucks down.

When I started Daylight Atheism, that was one of my major worries as well. In fact, it's one of the reasons I put off starting it as long as I did: I feared it would demand more productivity from me than I could supply.

But one thing I do find is that you get better at it with practice - the writing goes faster when you've had more experience in how to organize your thoughts. After two years (almost three now, actually!), I feel I've found a happy medium in terms of how much effort I put into the site and what I get out of it in return.

For RiddleOfSteel:

One thing it might be interesting to know, is also some of the tech recommendations. I recall there were some slow response times a while back. I am currently looking into orgs to host a web site, and there is a lot to consider in terms of support, storage space, data throughput and overage charges.

Searching for a web host is a bewildering endeavor: you can choose any one you wish, and you'll find countless people praising it to high heaven and countless others condemning it as horrendous, uncaring, anti-customer, and so on.

The most important thing I learned from that site slowness fiasco is that traffic matters. Most web hosts offer shared hosting packages, and those are fine for the majority of sites. But when your traffic begins to grow, there comes a point where shared hosting will no longer be sufficient to support the resource demands of your site, and you'll have to consider upgrading. (NB: I've used WordPress since the beginning and can't speak to the efficiency of other hosting platforms.)

Leum: We're glad to have you anyway. ;) I always enjoy reading your comments.

Whoops - my bad! You do have a search button down at the bottom and I just didn't notice it. The whole time I sat there thinking, "There's no search button here," and a search button actually was there! But before every shred of evidence I had pointed to the non-existence of the search button, but now I'm like, "Duh, how could you not have see that?" Indeed, perspective is everything and hindsight often 20/20.

So, in regards to the search button on Ebonmuse's site, I've been converted. I was an atheist, but I have seen and felt, and now I believe.

(Now it's time to use the darn thing and find what says Ebonmuse about the PE/QS (Problem of Evil / Question of Suffering).

One thing it might be interesting to know, is also some of the tech recommendations. I recall there were some slow response times a while back. I am currently looking into orgs to host a web site, and there is a lot to consider in terms of support, storage space, data throughput and overage charges. And there is use of custom or packaged code. I guess with a successful site you always have to think about the future expansion.

You're right, figuring out what theme and angle you want are very important and I admire your choice on the matter: the positive aspects of atheism, a vastly underappreciated field.

I agree that flashiness isn't always helpful, especially if it interferes with reading the blog. Few things anger me more about a site than illegible font set to a black background - I've found that I tend to like a white background decorated with a little blue the most.

Actually, there's one thing that angers me more - not updating the site regularly. Ideally, there should be something new every 2-3 days. And if a week passes without any new content at all, I stop visiting the site. I've seen blogs with a month or longer between posts and I don't see how they could possibly manage that without losing almost all their readership. Apology posts aren't helpful - I don't need a post about why you're not posting - I need new posts! In addition to blogs, webcomics do that move all the time and it's very aggravating.

The thing I most like about the blogs that I frequent is that they consistently put up posts that expose me to exciting or interesting information. They don't have to be novel-length essays worthy of a Pulitzer, they can be just a couple paragraphs about atheism or science - just enough to grab my attention and make a good point.

Leum,

And if there isn't an easily findable search button (naming no names), you're just annoying your devoted follo--er, readers.

Ha! LOL LOL LOL... I have lamented that same fact here often. For example yesterday, while looking for a post on PE/QS (Problem of Evil, or Question of Suffering)..

Design your site to be open and accessible. I don't think that flashy graphics or whiz-bang themes make a site popular - in fact, they can often be a distraction and an annoyance - but it is important to design your site so that readers can easily navigate it and find what they're looking for. Many's the time I've searched a blog for that one post I vaguely remember and want to cite, but couldn't find it!

Quoted for truth! Seriously, if you don't have good archives, you don't have a good blog. And if there isn't an easily findable search button (naming no names), you're just annoying your devoted follo--er, readers.