How to make sure your blog posts are picked up

If you think your blog posts with EFF15 tags or keywords are not being included in the aggregation pages, you should make sure you have your RSS feeds included in Pubsub's RSS list, that your tags are at the top of your posts, and that you are pinging Technorati each time you post.

If your blog isn't already included in one of the blog-tracking services, you will need to add it. See below for specific instructions for each service.

PubSub

To be included in PubSub's aggregation of blog posts, visit PubSub's Add a Weblog Feed page to give them your RSS feed URL. That link can often be found where your blog has a little orange box with an "XML" on it. Press the link, copy the URL, and paste it into PubSub's page.

Also, remember to use the EFF15 tag at the top of your post, in case your entire post is not sent through your RSS feed.

Technorati

To be included in Technorati's aggregation of blog posts, visit Technorati's Ping page to give them your RSS feed URL. That link can often be found where your blog has a little orange box with an "XML" on it. Press the link, copy the URL, and paste it into Technorati's page.

You can also use Technorati's XML-RPC interface to automate this process and ping from within your weblog software. Enter http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping into your weblog tool's configuration for Pings and Notifications. Check Technorati's ping configuration page for instructions on specific blog software.

 

EFF15 badges for your blog

Use these badges to show your support for EFF and the EFF15 blog-a-thon!

You are welcome to link directly to the images using the HTML provided, or right click and "save as" to save the badge locally and upload it to your own server.

NOTE: Using a badge in a post may not tag the post for inclusion in the blog-a-thon! Use the EFF15 tag HTML at left to be sure your posts get picked up.

	<a href="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15" rel="tag"><img src="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15/badges/blog_for_freedom.png" alt="EFF15" width="120" height="99" border="0" style="border: 1px solid #333333;"></a>
	<a href="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15" rel="tag"><img src="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15/badges/blog_for_freedom_tiny.png" alt="EFF15" width="116" height="11" border="0"></a>
	<a href="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15" rel="tag"><img src="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15/badges/blog_for_freedom_tiny2.png" alt="EFF15" width="82" height="33" border="0"></a>
	<a href="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15" rel="tag"><img src="http://www.eff.org/bloggers/eff15/badges/blogathon_simple.png" alt="EFF15" width="105" height="40" border="0"></a>

 

Problems? Questions?
Email blogathon@eff.org

Update: Blog-a-thon winners have been chosen! Visit EFF's blog, DeepLinks, to find out more. August 10, 2005

For the past 15 years, EFF has been fighting to preserve the constitutional right to freedom of expression on the Internet. In the last few years, we've seen an explosion of expression as new web publishing tools emerged, providing countless netizens with their own personal First Amendment machines. This month is our 15th anniversary and to celebrate, we're putting these publishing tools front and center. We're holding a weeklong EFF15 Blog-a-thon where you're invited to blog about your personal experiences fighting for freedom online — a project that will celebrate new publishing tools, attract new EFF members, and mark our 15th all at once.

We want to hear about your "click moment" — the very first step you to took to stand up for your digital rights -- whether it was blogging about an issue you care about, participating in a demonstration, writing your representatives, or getting involved with EFF. As a thank you, we've enlisted an independent panel of judges to choose from among your posts for "Most Inspirational," "Most Humorous," and "Best Overall." At the end of the Blog-a-thon, we'll announce the names of the three bloggers with the best posts on our website and in our weekly newsletter, EFFector. We'll also publish the three best posts on our site and send the authors a blogging "kit" as an extra thank you: an EFF bloggers' rights T-shirt, special EFF-branded blogger pajama pants, a pound of coffee, and a pair of fuzzy slippers.

How it works

Any time between July 19-August 2 , create a post and "tag" it as part of the Blog-a-thon. To tag your post, you need to include the following HTML as part of your post:

<!-- tag start -->
Blog-a-thon tag:
<a href="http://eff.org/bloggers/eff15" rel="tag">EFF15</a>
<!--tag end -->

We also invite you to tag your post by including the HTML for the Blog-a-thon blog badges at right; the HTML for the badges includes the Blog-a-thon tag and keyword, "EFF15."

Your post can be about anything that represents your personal first step in connecting to the fight for freedom, and it can be in any format you choose: video, photos, audio blog, podcast, good old-fashioned text. Here are a few possible themes:

Why I decided to:

Fight for my right to be anonymous online
Fight for my right to free speech and expression
Fight for my right to fair use and a vibrant public domain
Fight for my freedom to read in private
Fight for my freedom from government surveillance
Fight for my freedom to tinker
Fight for my freedom to learn about technology and share the findings

We've enlisted the help of two blog-tracking services to create special EFF15 Blog-a-thon aggregators, so anyone on the Internet can tune in to read your post and check out how many other bloggers out there are standing up for online freedom. The aggregators are here:

Technorati EFF15 tagged posts and RSS feed:
http://www.technorati.com/tag/eff15

PubSub's EFF15 page:
http://atom.pubsub.com/2c/51/48990a2f28dbbb6f19383623ea.xml

On August 2, we'll officially end the Blog-a-thon and give our panel of judges one week to choose the best posts in the following categories:
Most Inspirational, Most Humorous, and Best Overall.

Our distinguished judges are:

» Susan Crawford, who blogs at Susan Crawford Blog
» Mike Godwin, who blogs at Godwin's Law
» Xeni Jardin, who blogs at BoingBoing
» JD Lasica, who blogs at New Media Musings and Darknet
» Ernest Miller, who blogs at Importance of..., Copyfight, and Lawmeme

On August 9, we will announce the names of the three best bloggers and publish their posts on our website. We'll put the announcement in our weekly newsletter, EFFector. And as an extra thank you, we'll send the authors a blogging "kit": an EFF bloggers' rights T-shirt, special EFF-branded blogger pajama pants, a pound of coffee, and a pair of fuzzy slippers.