Zumwalt Poems Online

In visiting various WordPress sites, I am enormously impressed by the diversity and general quality of content out there. It is a particular pleasure to read so many original and colorful poems.

After spending some additional time quietly but rapidly exploring (no posts, no likes, etc.) it seemed that it would be nice if there was a “sampler” available of the best posts of the various WordPress sites. I found pages like WordPress’s own Blogs of the Day and various “Best Blog” sites, but I couldn’t find any true sampler blogs. I have decided to launch a WordPress blog dedicated to showcasing the very best post of anyone interested in participating.

The approach is, at least on the surface, pretty simple.

Anyone interested choses exactly one post from their site they wish to have represented on the new CHOICE POSTS  blog. They may chose the post they think is their best, that their readers like the best, that best represents the nature of their blog, etc.

They then email the HTML, Text and any associated images of their representative post to choiceposts@gmail.com plus the link for that post plus four additional links and associated names of four other posts they would like to have referenced. This allows the site administrator to re-assemble this post to match (or at least be similar to) what is on the original site.

It is very important that the Category of the Post is specified such as one of the categories found on the WordPress Tag Page. This will allow readers of CHOICE POSTS to easily browse along their lines of interest and help match readers to blog sites.

In addition, author should submit any additional information they wish to be included about their site and/or themselves which will be included in the post. Author name (real or not real) can also be included. For example, after administration team assembles information provided on email, the resulting post in choiceposts.wordpress.com could look something like:

Poet_Don’t_Knowit is the author of the site “POETRY ON THE RUN”

Poem of the Approaching Autumn (Link1)

I love fall
It whispers in my ear
Like paint drying.

Additional Posts from “POETRY ON THE RUN”
 Poem of Spring (Link2)
 Poem of Winter (Link3)
 Poem of Summer (Link4)
 Poem of Fall (Link5)

[Category: Poems]

(Added 9/26: For very understandable reasons, some participants may wish to just provide link of their “best post” since the look of their site is different than what is at choiceposts.wordpress.com. In this case they just need to provide introductory text about their site and/or themselves and the link of the “best post” and up to four other links to other posts on their WordPress site.)

The CHOICE POSTS admin team will initially post a few of these a week, pretty much trying to post in the order of submissions received until a backlog develops. At that point, some process will be used to select only a portion of the posts submitted — either random selection, selection based on quality, variety and other characteristics or a hybrid approach.

Someone who has had a entry posted on CHOICE POSTS may later feel they wish another post to represent their site. If this happens, and enough time has passed (six months), then they can email a new submission for posting to CHOICE POSTS, indicating whether they want the earlier submission kept or deleted.

All posts and links must be from WordPress sites.  Some constraint is needed and this just makes administratipon easier.  The universe of WordPress itself  is pretty big and way too big for this one project.  In addition, I feel some loyality to WordPress from the short time (3 months) that I have been here.  I like the ease of use, the ability to connect to other users, the sense of community and the flexibility and convenience.

Submitted content should be suited for general audiences with the CHOICE POSTS Admin Team selecting Posts they think acceptable for a “G” or “PG” audience.

Speaking of ratings, please do not rate this post since the “star” ratings are automatically leveraged to identify the best liked poems on the site.

I will leave this post here for a few days before posting the next Zumwalt Poem. Since I will put a similar post out on the CHOICE POSTS  blog, I may delete the version of the post here once enough people have read it.

I want to take a moment to thank all that visit this site, particularly those that take the time to comment, “like” or rate the various Zumwalt poems. It is a pleasure for me to posts these poems, and an even greater pleasure to know that others can read, are reading them and, in many cases, enjoying them.

Best,

zumpoems.com Administrator

Comments on: "WordPress Sampler (choiceposts.wordpress.com)" (13)

    • Thanks! This is outside my normal duties as this site administrator, but I had this idea and it seemed like a good one. Hopefully it won’t be more than a few hours of work a month, but I think it’s one of those things that makes sense to do.

      Like

  1. Great idea for a blog. I look forward to reading more posts and also sending some work of my own 🙂

    Like

    • That would be great. I haven’t yet had the first volunteer. For the first few people there may not be much traffic at the choiceposts.wordpress.com site, but their posts will help jumpstart the idea amd will they will get to post again later on if they wish.

      Like

  2. I’ll have to read the instructions over tomorrow when my brain is working, but I like how you act on your ideas for stuff like this. 🙂

    Like

  3. nice idea – i’ve honestly never taken the time to really browse through the wordpress universe…think it’s overwhelmingly big…

    Like

  4. claudia,

    Thanks! So far no takers for this offer. At some point will post the next Zumwalt poem and just leave choiceposts.com to have someone stumble upon it. I think once we get the first 2 or 3 posts, it will pick up some momentum and interest. But I know there are better ways to highlight other people’s blogs — this just seemed an easy way — and if it got off the ground — a convenient place to shop for content matching one’s areas of interest.

    Like

  5. I thought I commented on this post already…But, either way, you’ve been tagged…details pending. Keep up the great work by the way.

    Like

  6. Just swinging by to say thank you for the visits to my blog today….I JUST started importing from the blogger platform, so, if you believe in things such as divine intervention, your comments could not have come at a more appropriate time. As for the first volunteer…I’m up for it. Have to do another read of how I should proceed, but wanted to make sure I got my thank you’s out there!

    Like

  7. It sounds like a collective. And thats a pretty great idea. Look forward to seeing it develop.

    Also I should come here more than I do.

    Like

  8. tashtoo and skyraftwander,

    Thanks much!

    tashtoo,

    Thanks so much for volunteering! Look forward to receiving your information at the choiceposts at gmail dot com. 🙂

    Like

Leave a comment