PRblogs.org had to undergo an upgrade due to the strain on the server.
In some cases, this has caused some themes to be reset. I apologize for any problems you may have encountered. The upgrade was necessary to keep the site running.
If your theme has been reset to the default theme, please go to “Presentation” in your Admin area. Choose the old theme you were using. If that does not resolve the problem, please write to me at PRblogs Support.
The kind folks at Edublogs.org have been working on our server problems over the weekend. I’ll update here if there will be any other changes coming soon.
Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for any inconvenience this upgrade may have caused.
PRblogs.org has now been upgraded to the latest version of WPMU 1.3. Many thanks to James Farmer!
You’ll notice that there are some new themes to choose from, and the whole site has an improved process to combat s.p.a.m., too.
There is now an Avatar function. Just upload a photo of yourself, or any fun image. It may not incorporate with your chosen theme, but it will show up in the top blogs plugin and other areas where we identify all blogs.
Check out the Plugins section for new options, too. One of particular interest may be the “Manage Me” plugin. It allows you to easily manage large numbers of posts and comments. Great for deleting unwanted s.p.a.m. that the great unwashed seem to want to share with us all. Finally, you’ll see a new announcement section at the top of each Admin page. We’ll share notes with you along the way about the PRblogs.org site.
Look around, you’ll find a nice new site to use for your blogging pleasure.
Good news and many thanks to James Farmer of Edublogs.org.
In our most recent upgrade, there was a quirk causing some random characters to appear in some blogs. I believe this has now been fixed. Check your blogs. Please report back here with a comment if you find anything to the contrary.
Many thanks to James Farmer of edublogs.org for his tireless work over the past few weeks.
A complete revamp of the PRblogs.org software platform is essentially finished. I’m still looking around to find any possible quirks that may have arisen. Please feel free to comment with any problems you may encounter. The Flickr plugin is a little goofy right now, for instance. We’ll get it.
Also, we have our own PRblogs Forums coming up. Thanks, James. That will allow us to better communicate our FAQs and report any bugs. I’ll alert you when that comes on-line.
Frequent users have likely experienced sluggish service and downtime at various times over the past few days, especially. I apologize for the interruptions in service. We are growing and experiencing those unfortunate growing pains. I believe this upgrade solves those problems.
Also, we can’t forget that PRblogs.org is a free service. Still, we want to bring you the best service. Your patience is appreciated.
PRblogs.org is hosted, along with almost 65,000 other blogs, at edublogs.org. James has been our benefactor all this time. We are very lucky and grateful to have his assistance. I hope to have further news in the coming days about other positive movement for PRblogs.org, too.
PRblogs.org, like edublogs.org, is free to all. No ads. James has recently launched Edublogs Premium, an even more robust and affordable enterprise option for edublogging. Check that out if you are interested in something for your school or enterprise, for example.
There are new tools for posting videos, audio, photos and more. Podcasting is now possible at PRblogs.org.
Here is one example of how video may be posted to your PRblogs.org site. This is the Singapore version of the Dove Real Beauty Self-Esteem Fund video. I use it because it is also using the new divShare Wordpress Plugin. It is the new plugin that enables PRblogs.org to accomplish complete podcasting (video and audio) capabilities.
DivShare is “a free file hosting service for everyone. No registration required!”
They claim - and I have no reason to doubt them :) - the following:
It’s easy:
1. Upload a file
2. Get your download link
3. Spread the word!
Features:
So, please go check out your blog - or get a new one. We welcome all public relations and marketing communications students, faculty and practitioners to our community. Check the RSS Feed for PRblogs.org community posts, too.
New, and about time, I have the feeds for the overall PRblogs.org community.
The following feeds will provide the latest 20 posts and 20 comments generated throughout PRblogs.org. I may expand that to 30 or 40. Let me know what you think.
The Comments feed will reveal much of the spam traffic we’ve been getting. It will take time, but I’m going through and engaging Spam Karma on all sites. Have to do that until I can find a way to have it automatically engage on all new blogs. We’ll get it all cleaned up.
If you are using Firefox, for example, you may just click on the links and see the post links and a brief excerpt.
PRblogs.org is dedicated to providing free blogs to all public relations and marcom (marketing communications) students, educators and practitioners that wish to explore blogging.
We welcome all public relations/marketing students, educators and practitioners to PRblogs.org.
Lately, we have experienced a large surge in what would best be described as blogs with the aim of promoting a business venture online, that are not PR firms or practices. I want to reiterate that these blogs without a PR / marcom specific focus are not the purpose and focus of PRblogs.org.
There are plenty of free blogging sites that seem to allow these sorts of blogs. We are not one of them. Please note, I differentiate between these blogs - legitimate efforts to promote a business, any business or product/service - and the following version of SPLOGs. However, we don’t want either in PRblogs.org. Just because your blog may have been deactivated, that does not mean I’m accusing you of creating SPLOGs. But, your blog did not meet the mission statement for our community. So, it was deactivated.
We do want people that are writing about their PR/marcom firms, PR/marcom practices or students and educators writing about the discipline of public relations and marketing communications. That is the very specific focus of PRblogs.org.
Further, anything posted at PRblogs.org that is clearly a SPLOG, or spam blog, will be deactivated.
This should not be an adversarial experience for any of us. Lately, I’ve received some pretty vulgar and threatening emails from individuals that have posted such blogs as I’ve described above. So, I’m restating our mission and purpose in the hope that people visiting our community will read the stated purposes and abide by our community standards.
If you are a public relations/marcom student, educator and/or practitioner, please sign up using the form in the sidebar. We are happy to provide a free blog for your endeavors. All PRblogs are ad free. There are no fees. Our site offers easy to use software. It is hosted. There is no need to download anything.
"The practice of public relations is fluid, and ever changing such that through the years, we've seen pitches go from faxes to emails to now RSS," said Jeremy Pepper, founder, POP! PR Jots.
"The latest trend is blogging and wikis, and in this new era of consumer generated media, the incoming account coordinators need to know how to use these tools - and PRblogs.org is one such forum where Auburn students, and others, can show future employers that they understand the change in PR and are ready to be part of it."
Jeremy Pepper - Director, Social Media Strategist, Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Neville Hobson writes, "What better way to help students of PR and those just entering the profession to get some practical experience and knowledge of blogging than by providing them with their own blog, for free? Robert French at Auburn University has done just that with PRblogs.org, a free blog hosting service for anyone in the profession, whether a student or a practitioner. Not only do you get your own blog but you also become part of a growing community."
Neville Hobson, ABC, is a communicator, blogger and podcaster, one of the leading European early adopters and influencers in social media communication for business. He blogs at NevilleHobson.com with commentary and opinion on business, communication and technology, and co-presentsFor Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report (www.forimmediaterelease.biz), a twice-weekly business podcast at the intersection of online communication, business and technology, which he began in January 2005.
