Following the comments on your own blog is easy. Just as easy is it when people offer a way to subscribe to comments. Not everyone does or can though. All those who are on a hosting service like WordPress.com are limited to what features they can offer and this is one of the limitations.

Since I have a poor recollection and also comment here, there and everywhere the result was that I kept forgetting to check back to see if someone commented on my comment, answered my question or otherwise added something valuable to the conversation.

With coComment that happens no more. At least I am hopeful that it won’t as it serves up all the my comments and what I commented on in one location. As long as I remember checking that (and remember turning the coComment extension on again after occasionally turning it off) then everything will be fine.

You can even make rss feeds of your comments, which I use to integrate them into my orbinaut website. You can also choose to include others comments in which case it can serve as a reminder of when to check back to see the new comments.

The way you make sure that your comments are tracked is through the extension or the bookmarklet. coComment works with these browsers: Firefox 1.0 and 1.5, Safari 2.0 and Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0. I find the extension most useful as you don’t have to remember bookmarking the conversation before commenting if using that option.

The reason that I sometimes have had to turn it off recently was that the extension slowed everything down. Having recognized the problems and apologized for them does it seem that coComment now have the issues in grip and that it can be left on without limiting my browsing.

You can choose to integrate it directly on your blog (as Alister Cameron have), but I have chosen not to do that. Most, if not everyone, using it will already be using the extension or bookmarklet, which renders integration superfluous and for those who don’t use it does it confuse more than anything else I think.

Since coComment is already compatible with most blogging and social networking sites and tools is it a great way to keep track of practically everything you are commenting on when surfing. You can see a complete list of the compatible platforms here.

The service is not yet perfect, but it is obvious that the people involved want it to be. They strive for constant improvements, are listening very carefully to their community and are not afraid of admitting mistakes or correcting errors. Hence am I sure the already great service will become even better.

Evaluating your own blog and revisiting your initial thoughts about it something I can recommend to anyone who have been blogging for a while. I was already in the process when reading Chris Garrett asking What is Your Blog About Really? and Lorelle’s challenge to Blog about the path your blog took to get to now, but both certainly helped fuel my desire to take a closer look at not only this blog, but also my entire approach to blogging.

Looking back am I not unhappy with the themes and subjects that I have covered so far. In fact will you see more on several of them. There is however so many pieces missing that would help understand how I think about the core concepts and why I write about what I do as well as why I write as I do. As I crafted the new design I even added a small section to the right top corner telling you what this site is about or rather what it is supposed to be about:

Circular Communication flows in two directions and is woven in a second layer thus communicating about communication. Rooted in systems theory what you witness when visiting is theory meeting practice in a community based on learning and teaching.

Writing it and constantly having it before me helped me realize that change is necessary and a stronger focus is needed. Having already stayed away from the most off topic subjects should this not be too hard to change. It will in fact be more about adding than about cutting away I believe.

Speaking of adding have I collected a vast number of ideas about blogging as well as links to great resources on blogging since I started blogging myself. Combining the desire not to let that go to waste with my way of thinking about blogging, communication and community I decided that I would try starting a new initiative. A blog where the main purpose is to help bloggers and (thinking circularly) helping bloggers helping bloggers. This is not supposed to be merely another blog about blogging or meta blogging as it is sometimes referred to. Hopefully will it with time develop into a resource as well as a collective that although based on information, but which is about much more than that. A dream would be to see it turn into a collective experience. Perhaps even a genuine blogging community.

It is thus both a separation in terms of content and an extension in terms of purpose. Topic Factory is just as much as Circular Communication about contributing to and contributions about connecting and collaborating. The main difference is the center around which it all turns. Consequently will the two blogs share some themes and subjects while they what the rest of the content and how they deal with it are concerned will be very different indeed. Hence is this what I imagine that the Topic Factory will be about:

In essence Topic Factory is circularity applied to the Blogosphere. It is blogging about blogging and helping bloggers helping bloggers. It is a tribute to connecting and collaborating in an effort to highlight the best and help improve the rest.

With that in mind I hope to welcome you there as well as here and would love to hear what you think about it. If you are interested in helping me can you either comment or send me a message through the contact form. You can read more about the Topic Factory on its about page to see which themes and subjects I would like it to cover etc. As you will see do they cover a broad spectrum and everyone who have a genuine and valuable contribution to make are welcome. Perhaps you have a blog that covers other subjects and seek an outlet for your thoughts on blogging or you actually always wanted to write about it, but don’t have a blog yourself. You could also be looking for somewhere to guest blog on occasion or simply find the concept so appealing that you would like to lend a writing hand. Either way should you get in touch if you are interested in making a contribution to my humble effort of trying to make the Blogosphere an even better and rewarding place to be than it already is.

My old design was a tweaked version of an altered version of a rather old theme. It had lots of code in it that I didn’t quite understand even after looking at every file more times. I had figured out how to make the simplistic looking blog I wanted though. It contained everything I wanted so I was happy.

Then I realized that it wasn’t really making the most of the space. There was tons of space on the sides and somehow everything important was stuck at the bottom. Why would anyone scroll to the very bottom when they don’t have to? Answer is that they don’t. I don’t either.

So how do you get everything to the top? You can’t obviously, but by using the sides better and compromising a little on how prominent each blog post present itself you can get close. Close enough in fact for me to say I have accomplished pretty much what I set out to do. Not that I am finished tweaking mind you.

Apart from the left column that changes depending on where you are on the site between home page, single post, archive, page etc. is (almost) everything static. That means that regardless where you enter or where you go can you always access the links in the columns as well as the tag cloud below.

If you are an explorer like me that like clicking around to discover the yet unseen and unread this is a dream come true. If you are a minimalist afraid of being distracted is it probably more like having a nightmare. Speaking of nightmare am I not that happy with the logo. I wanted more circularity built in, but had to give it up and settle for what you see.

From any page should you now be able to get to anything in no more than two steps. The tags, the archives and the categories are the main examples. Searching for something also bring back excerpted results enabling you to reach the exact post in your second step.

There are plenty of one step travels too. Besides the most recent articles residing in the left column of the home page (and under “recent” in the other column when you are on any other page), can you check the most popular, the recommended etc. You can also check the latest comments and even get on the list in one step if you so desire.

The “asides” are basically announcements or other shorter posts (like this one). They reside only in the sidebar while the page links now reside in the menu bar where you probably would look for them to begin with. Subscribing can still be done using your browsers address bar, but now you can also use one of the subscribe links in the right column. You don’t even have to have a feed reader, as you also can get new postings delivered per email.

The design I ended up with is what I call a mashup between two themes. Basically is it Hello Wiki on the top and bottom and Silhouette in between. Only have I integrated a whole number of plugins, design elements and hacks from the old design (putting track backs below the comments for example) and more to make it unique and all mine.

A venture like this makes you realize what a wonderful and extraordinary community we bloggers (and especially us WordPress bloggers?) act in. There is practically nothing you will not find in terms of design, functionality, advice and help. A big thanks for that! I try doing my part as well.

Redesigning was hard work over a couple of days (with some planning going ahead of that), but since I have more sites now using variations of this design was it all in all worth it. I hope you think so too and would love to get your feedback on what works and what doesn’t. I am probably my own most frequent visitor and worst critic, but even I do not see or experience everything.

In Two Months of Celebrating Blogging and WordPress you can read about the background for the celebration as well as how it is planned. Typical of Lorelle will she rather celebrate her friends and the subjects she writes about than herself. It is a great opportunity to check out every corner of her site though. If you can even find the corners for mere content! As you will find is Lorelle one of the most productive bloggers and her body of work is (almost) overwhelming.

Since Lorelle asked me to guest blog based on what I have written on this site will my contributions to the party cover one or more of the same topics that I cover here. I may try to adapt my style to her blog to fit in though. You know how it is when you are invited to a party. People actually want to see you for who you are. At least when it is a good party. You do however also want to present yourself well and fit in. As I see it is guest blogging no different.

My first guest post was just published: Why A Link Post Should Be Like Mingling at a Party. It is basically about speed linking versus slow linking. I would love to hear what you think about it. You can post here or at Lorelle’s, but please leave your comments so we can all benefit from them. If you never commented before or feel insecure about it check out the 10 Tips That Will Make Anyone a Better Commenter to see how you make the most of it both for yourself and everyone else.

Having built a very popular destination through continued quality posting and being present in everything he does Chris decided to expand his universe and add a forum. I can follow the logic as a blog only works really well as a platform for communication between writer and reader and less when communication among readers is the intended purpose. I am not sure that this was what Chris had in mind as he started his blog, but I am sure it is the background for him starting a forum.

If you enjoy reading his blog and the generally high quality of the comments there odds are that you will feel comfortable in the forums as well. Since you, especially when just starting out, should embrace every chance you get to rub shoulders with other bloggers and learn something you should definitely check it out. Since Chris also posts and participates may this also be your best chance of getting his qualified feedback on your blog as well as his take on your blogging questions.

These are the changes that also are reflected in the new Carnival of Circular Communication page:

Each edition is no longer limited to one theme. You can choose from a vast number of themes posted on the Carnival page. Instead of thinking of each edition as a magazine concentrated on one subject the carnival can thus now be seen as a magazine that in each edition contains articles on various subjects revolving around a common theme. Depending on the submissions will there most likely be more focus on one or more particular subjects in each edition, but still be a variety of subjects covered.

As a consequence does each edition no longer allow interpretations of a subject or theme that lies beyond the scope of this blog. If you write about blogging for example should you focus on the communicative aspects thereof and not solely focus on technical or monetary aspects that has nothing to do with communication. When considering what you could write about or what you already have written consider it with communication in mind.

The Carnival will still be published Sunday evening. The deadline is Friday at midnight. However, submitting before a given Friday does not guarantee inclusion in the following Sunday edition. Should there be too few accepted posts the edition will be carried forward and when the number of accepted submissions go beyond the cut off point they will be carried over and appear in the following edition.

You can submit as many articles on the same theme or subject as you want, but limited to one per edition. To ensure that so many blogs and bloggers as possible are featured in each edition is this rule necessary. There should be something for everyone in each edition and that is most likely the case when as many different writers as possible participate. Since you can submit to every edition if you like, do you get chances enough to be featured.

Your submission does not have to be published within the time frame of the carnival. It has to have been published within a month prior to submission though. This opens up for the possibility to submit articles written before you discovered the carnival, but also ensures that the readers aren’t only presented with older stuff that they already know. Furthermore is this a good opportunity to present a recent article that didn’t get the attention it deserves to a different audience.

Since I now also accept previously published articles do your article no longer have to contain a link to the carnival page. Helping spread the word helps everyone though so please do so even if you are not required to. You are thus encouraged to post about the carnival, mention your participation to your friends or to include the link in the already published article. You are still required to link to the edition where your post appear as soon as possible after publication.

Starting today and with deadline Friday August 3 and publication Sunday August 5 is the theme: Blogging. Having covered this sites philosophy and how I like seeing the entries being written and shared in the Carnival initiative itself did blogging seem the obvious subject to begin with. How you interpret the subject is up to you, but do keep the overall theme of Circular Communication in mind. You can thus help define blogging, write about how you blog or how people should be blogging, what blogs are good for or why you blog etc. Bordering the subject, but still within would be giving technical tips or tips about blog marketing, design, monetization etc.

Pick an angle that suits you and write in your tone of voice. Whether you make a list, tell a story or write an article on how to do something related to blogging try to bring in your own unique style. This is an opportunity to reach an audience that you may not otherwise reach and you should try to make a good first impression. If you want to take things a step further should you try experimenting a little. Personally do I like to combine things that are not usually combined or find a new angle on something that have proved its worth. Applying circular thinking where you bend your subject against itself to your writing is another welcomed possibility.

The entire process, philosophy, guidelines and so forth are all explained on the Carnival of Circular Communication page so that is where you should go next.

UPDATE: After a few days of thinking about it have I arrived at the decision to include Asides in my feed after all. Firstly does that allow a clear cut between my lengthier articles and the short asides without keeping anyone out of the loop. Who am I to decide what you want to read. Besides will that allow me to use the asides to announce things that also may interest whose subscribing. Secondly is my posting frequency even after including asides in the feed so low that I cannot imagine that it will upset anyone. Personally do I not like sites posting several times a day, but since that won’t be happening here do I think this could work out for everyone.