Posting Questions

When can I post my link here?
The Weekly Editions are posted late Wednesday evenings (CST). They are posted at my earliest convenience, usually after 7pm CST. You’ll have to keep checking for publication, or the easier way is to add the feed to your feedreader and keep an eye open for when comments are open for the week. You could also add the blogroll to your blog, and watch for that little yellow exclamation point to appear next to the Hub at the top of the roll.

Can you add me to the list?
No, we can’t. If you’re participating, it’s up to you to go visit, and leave your comment letting people know where to find you. That includes announcing your participation here at the Hub.

Blogroll Questions

How do I get on the blogroll?
In order to get on the blogroll, you need to be a Thursday Thirteen regular, and you need to have the blogroll displayed on your blog. You can view the details & submit your blog here: Join the Blogroll

Why doesn’t my blog ever have that yellow exclamation point?
The blogroll is a blogrolling.com blogroll. If blogs do not indicate that they want update notifications they will not appear as updated to blogrolling.com (ping address: http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/). (In blogger, this is under the publishing options. In Wordpress, it’s under Options/Writing.) If you don’t have that feature available, then you should manually ping an update service (like weblogs.com), or go to blogrolling.com directly to ping your blog. It’s also likely that if you are not being pinged, you are not being actively searched by search engines or technorati, either.

I’m not on the blogroll, can I still participate?
Absolutely! Joining the blogroll is an optional perk to Thirteeners. You do not have to be on it in order to join in on Thursdays.

Do I have to display the blogroll on my blog?
Yes. This is a recipricol blogroll - we blogroll you, you blogroll us. You do not have to have the blogroll on your main sidebar, you can put it on a separate page or entry - and you must have that page (within your own blog) linked on your main sidebar. If neither criteria is met and you are among our random blogroll checks, you will find your blog deleted from the roll.

What is a blogroll?
The Thursday Thirteen blogroll consists of links to bloggers who have joined in on the TT bandwagon. The yellow & black exclamation point will appear on the blogroll when blogrolling.com has received an updating ping from that blog - so during the week you can check back with the people you’re meeting as they update their blogs throughout the week.

Can I link to Technorati or ThursdayThirteen.com instead of having the whole blogroll?
No. To be listed on the blogroll, you have to have the blogroll displayed within your blog. If it isn’t, you’ll be removed.

I’ve been removed from the blogroll. Why?
if you’ve participated in TT just a couple of times and more than a month has passed, you’ll be removed from the blogroll. This will happen only if your blog is active and it appears you’ve just stopped participating. If you have been removed and you feel it is an oversight on our part, please resubmit your blogroll to be added and we will review and process your request.

What is the Technorati Tag for?
The Technorati Tag is an important part of the Thursday Thirteen meme, because Technorati is the major blog search engine on the internet. The popular tag listing on the main tag page prominently displays the popularity of our meme every Thursday - and sometimes through the weekend. This helps the community grow! It’s a good thing.

Do I have to be on the blogroll to participate?
You do not have to be on the blogroll - joining the blogroll is optional. Displaying the blogroll once you’ve joined it is not optional.

Meme Questions

What is the Thursday Thirteen?
Thursday Thirteen is a blog meme with one purpose - to get to know bloggers better. Thirteen is the magic number - because Thursday Thirty is too many!

Every Thursday, bloggers jot down thirteen things about their week, Thirteen secrets they’ve never shared before, Thirteen random things about themselves or their lives that give the reader a better idea of who they are. Then the fun begins, you go bloghopping! Find other Thursday Thirteeners, spend some quality time getting to know your fellow bloggers, interact with them through their lists and invite them to yours!

Is there a theme every week?
Nope! Your Thirteen Things can be about whatever you want. Just remember, most of your fellow Thirteeners expect to learn more about who you are or what you’ve been up to that week! If you do a themed list, you may want to keep that in mind.

I don’t get many visitors, am I doing something wrong?
There are some things that work for Thursday Thirteen, and there are some that don’t. We notice an increase in visitors when much bloghopping takes place! Are you going out to meet other Thirteeners? Are you using the code correctly so that people can find you? Are you on the blogroll? The average Thirteener who links back to everyone who visits, uses the code, encourages people to participate by linking back to the code and having the technorati tag displayed will get between 20-100 visitors to their 13. It’s a lot of work, yes! But it’s worth it - we’ve all made some beautiful friends through this meme!

How do I get started (participating)?
All you need to do is grab the code, paste it into your next blog entry (the text area should accept the code, but if you have problems just ask!), think up 13 things, and publish! Then you can check back here for that weekly edition to see who is participating, and start hopping! Visit Thirteeners on the list, interact with them through their Thirteen things, and invite them to yours by linking within their comments!

Do I have to leave comments everywhere?
No, you don’t! “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Visiting a blog purely to leave a link is more like spamming, and we do not condone it. We encourage interaction - take the time to read those Thirteen things and leave a thoughtful comment for that blogger! You’ll make their day, and you’ll also make a new friend. That’s not a bad thing! If there is a Thirteener abusing the meme by spamming comments, please let us know and we will address it as best we can.

What if I miss a week?
Well, that’s just fine by us! We all have lives outside of the blogosphere, so just drop by here and let us know in the weekly editions when you do participate, and we’ll be sure to check in!

How do I use the header graphics?
Header graphics available to the community are free for you to use and/or hotlink. Hotlinking means using the image source, here at ThursdayThirteen.com, and simply inserting it as an image on your blog instead of finding a place to download and upload the graphic you want to use. You are welcome to do either, and no credit to anyone is required.

I still don’t get it?
Thursday Thirteen is a community of folks who go around visiting and linking others, and leaving links. You’ll see that with the code in place and your participation, your blog traffic will increase, people have the opportunity to get to know you - and what they see on your Thirteens will most likely determine whether or not your blog becomes a regular stop for your visitors.

Spamming links is bad. We do NOT encourage it! Misuse of the Technorati Tag is also bad. Frankly, it’s just downright rude. People join in with good intentions and we rely heavily on the honor system. Please don’t screw that up.

The Thursday Thirteen is popular because it works. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met myself that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. It. Works. Don’t cheat the system, and it won’t cheat you.

Any questions? Just ask!

Technorati Tags: Thursday Thirteen, blog meme, bloghopping