Last week we introduced Linky Followers to our friends here At The Picket Fence. If you missed the post explaining the premise behind Linky Followers you can read our Linky Followers introduction post which will give you more details on the thought behind this new follower tool. As a quick recap, Brent (the owner of the popular Linky Tools) was asked to help create a product that mimics the concept of Google Friend Connect.
You might be asking why someone would need a replacement for GFC (Google Friend Connect). Google announced that as of March 1st, it would be deactivating the GFC widget off of all non blogspot (Blogger) blogs. This would be any blogs that are self hosted (you pay for it) WordPress blogs, WordPress.com blogs, Typepad blogs and many other smaller platforms that are out there. They also recently announced the close of Picnik (a free photo editing website that many of us use) 
This has quite an uproar in the blogging community! Many blogs that have remained very loyal and happy with Blogger as a platform are now in the process of switching to WordPress blogs. Why?
Well there are many reasons, and I won’t go into them in this post, but many believe that Google will eventually phase out GFC for their blogging platform as well. Google owns Blogger, in case you weren’t aware of that and if they believe that a program of theirs is not lucrative to the company as a whole, they will not keep it no matter how much we want them to (i.e. Picnik)
The next question become WHY would Google do this with the popularity of the product. Let me introduce you to Google+.
Google+ is Google’s latest and greatest social media idea. It was created to compete against Facebook. Google is transferring all of it’s products onto Google+. Picnik will be leaving us in April to be replaced with Google Photos, Chrome is on the scene and it has become very difficult to use Google products without using Chrome as your browser (this is because Internet Explorer is Chrome’s number one competition) In a nutshell Google wants you to use Google+ for all of your Google needs, and there is a very real possibility that Google Friend Connect will be absorbed into Google+.
Google+ is Google’s latest and greatest social media idea. It was created to compete against Facebook. Google is transferring all of it’s products onto Google+. Picnik will be leaving us in April to be replaced with Google Photos, Chrome is on the scene and it has become very difficult to use Google products without using Chrome as your browser (this is because Internet Explorer is Chrome’s number one competition) In a nutshell Google wants you to use Google+ for all of your Google needs, and there is a very real possibility that Google Friend Connect will be absorbed into Google+.
So, what if you don’t want to learn or keep up with ANOTHER social media program like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest? Maybe you are wary of Google in general or have a non blogspot blog. That is where Linky Followers and other options come into play. Here’s a rundown of the following options and some pros and cons of each.
Part 1
Google Friend Connect
Positive
-
Well established and Familiar
-
Easy for those with a blogspot (Blogger) blog to use
-
Will place all blogs you follow on a dashboard and update new posts
Negative
-
Is going away for all non blogspot blogs (LARGEST ISSUE)
-
COULD go away for ALL blogs in the near future
-
No way to categorize blogs making it difficult if you follow hundreds of blogs to find your favorites
RSS or Email Subscriptions
Positive
-
Ease of use for reader
-
Readers are easy to access from smart phones, ipads, etc.
Negative
-
Potential to receive HUNDREDS of emails everyday into email if you follow lots of blogs, cluttering up inbox
-
Readers NEVER actually visit your blog page which effects statistical data regarding page views, etc. Often Sponsors and Advertisers do not take into consideration these followers in your stats because email and rss subscribers never see your sidebar sponsor spots, ads ,ad campaigns (like Blog Her etc.) unless you include them in a post. (BIG ISSUE FOR MONOTENIZED BLOGS)
-
There is no option to categorize the blogs you follow to keep track of them. You must scroll through hundreds of posts to find your favorites or those you check on everyday
Linky Followers
Positive
-
Widget has similar look and feel of GFC
-
Simple and easy way to follow not tied to any other major platform like Google or Facebook (they will never sell or use your data in anyway)
-
A concise way to see all of the blogs you follow, all of your follower and their blogs as well as keep track of blogs who do not use Linky Followers at all.
-
Blogs can be categorized! (Huge plus if you follow hundreds of blogs)
-
Blogs can be viewed directly in Linky Followers without ever leaving their site but will still record a page view on that blog helping their statistics
-
User can pull up Linky Followers directory and follow multiple blogs right from their with a click of the mouse
Negative
-
Blog posts must be manually updated to remain at the top of a followers blog reader (this is because it costs an exorbitant amount to set up a system to continually scan thousands of blogs every second and update a post automatically. Only platforms like Google and Facebook have the ability to do this as of now)
-
Must go to another site to see blogs you follow (like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc you must go to that site to see your account and to use it.) But once you are at Linky Followers you can stay right there to view all of the blogs you follow. (I will show you how to do this!)
-
You will have to start over again with followers (let’s face it we’ve all worked hard to build up our GFC followers and many will have no choice to start over and we might all have to at some point)
So, those are the pros and cons we see of the Follower Tools we have used. Now let me show you HOW to use Linky Followers so you have a better understanding of it.
Part 2
(are you still with me?? haha!)
First you will need to visit Linky Followers by going directly to the website or by clicking on the Follow Me option on our widget.
You will need to register a new account with Linky Followers. You will see this screen.
Then you will be asked to register your blog if you have one, if not you can check the do not have blog.
Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email to your email address. Click on the link and it will return you to Linky Followers and you will need to sign in.
Once you have signed in successfully, you will see the following screen automatically. Below I have added arrows and text to explain what each area on the pop up welcome screen is for.
If you would like to grab your widget code right away to place on your blog, copy and paste the code in the box outlined in orange on your blog. If you do not know how to do this you can find instruction for placing code on your blog in our Blogging 101 Series.
Please grab the appropriate code for your particular blogging platform as noted on the screen shot. You can also change how many thumbnails appear in your widget right within the code. The default is 64 (ours is set to 100, you can set it to 1,000 if you’d like but it would be one BIG WIDGET!)
If you are not ready at this point to add your widget code to your blog, don’t worry you will see it again and it’s always available.
Once you are signed in successfully, we suggest you immediately add your thumbnail image, this is the image that will show up in people’s follower widget.
See the red arrows above, click on (edit) under the generic thumbnail image to add your personal image.
Below is the screen where you will add your own file from your computer.
Once you have chosen a file the file name will appear and then you will select (upload file).
Here is my thumbnail file uploaded into the photo editing option. Here you can crop your photo to see how it will appear, select Crop and Save when you are ready to finalize your photo.
Notice on the screen below, you can now see the generic photo has been replaced with my photo. If you choose not to upload a photo right away, a generic image will be used for your profile.
Below is a screen shot of Your Dashboard. Beside each arrow below I explain what the individual tabs represent.
First select (Manage Your Stuff). Here is where you will create your profile, set up your blog and preferences. You have two options. Manage Your Profile and Account and Manage Your Blogs. First we are going to manage our profile.
The screen below is where you manage your profile. On this screen you will create your thumbnail message (what people see if they hover over your thumbnail with their mouse), it will show your Full Name, Password, Groups you want to show on your Dashboard Scroller and your profile information.
You can create a profile message that will be seen by other users that can include hyperlinks, email address, etc. You can see above that we hyperlinked At The Picket Fence (which is why it appears in blue)
Once you have SAVED your settings in Manage Your Profile return to Manage Your Stuff and select MANAGE YOUR BLOGS. This is where you manage the blogs YOU own!
Each arrow below has text next to it describing what each function does in Manage Your Blogs.
Here you can see the widget codes available to you anytime you need them!
If you click on the EDIT button under Widgets for this blog (see above screen) You will open the options to customize your widget.
Below you can see the options you have to customize the widget (follower box) on your blog(s). See arrows and text below for detailed description of each option, including adding a featured follower, change order of thumbnail appearance, etc.…oh and look there’s your widget code again! yeah! Once you have customized your widget for your blog, select UPDATE.
Now click on the Edit blog or Update post by your blog name as seen in the screen shot below.
This will expand the area where you can manually update your most recent post, change the description of your blog that appears under you name in people’s readers and enter the direct url to the post you want to update. This is not necessary but the most recently updated posts show up at the top of people’s readers. Be sure to UPDATE when you are finished.
Now return to your Dashboard, where you will see this screen again. On your dashboard you will not only manage your stuff, but you can manage the blogs your follow, your followers, maintain a private blogroll of blogs that do not use Linky Followers. You will also notice a scrolling list of blogs you follow that you can click on.
But the most helpful tool on this page is the Blog Reader.
From your dashboard you will use the Blog Reader (it’s that big orange button) to access all blogs YOU follow. Let’s check out how this works. Click on Blog Reader and you will pull up a screen that looks like this. Below you will see a partial list of the blogs we have categorized as Favorites. You can also pull up your Everyday and General lists in here as well by selecting the GROUP you want to view.
I am using the lovely Alison at Stuff and Nonsense as an example. To see a blog in your reader select the View Blog option. As you can see below, once I select View Blog, Alison’s blog will appear below my grid. (This may open in a new tab on your browser occasionally)
But, I can’t see ALL of her blog. To do that I just need to hide the grid by clicking on the orange arrow….there she is! 😉
Once I am done reading the blog I have selected and leaving a lovely comment or browsing around, I can minimize the blog by selecting the arrow again and can move on to another blog, repeating the process.
I can view EVERY blog I follow right from Linky Followers AND it will register as a page view for them!
I can search for a specific blog I follow by entering their name in the search window, or scroll down through my list one at a time. Just be sure to click on CLEAR when you want to clear out a search and return to the full reader.
Now, let’s pay one last visit to the main page, where I want you to select the Linky Followers Blog Directory. See screen shot below.
This is a directory of ALL the blogs signed up with Linky Followers and it is growing by the day!
Below you can see a screen shot of ALL of the blogs that use Linky Follower (whether they have the widget added to their blogs yet or not) You can scroll down through the blogs and if you see one you want to follow just select FOLLOW ME. (At this time you can also add them into a specific category or move them around in categories at a later date.)
This will automatically add you as a follower to their blog in their thumbnail widget (if they have one) and it will add their blog to your blog reader. If you are already following a blog it will change the FOLLOW ME to FOLLOWING.
The Directory also has it’s own Blog Reader. See screen shot above. By selecting this you can view a blog you might like to follow within Linky Followers. If you like what you see than hit Follow Me…wait that rhymes doesn’t it? 😉
Most recently updated posts will always appear at the top of the directory! A great reason to keep your post updated in Linky Followers!
WOW! Are you still with me, has this cleared up some of your questions about Linky Followers? I sure hope so! So, is Linky Followers for you?
Well, only you can answer that question. Maybe you’ve already joined and were just waiting for information on how to use it. Maybe you joined in the middle of this tutorial so you could follow along. Maybe you are waiting to see if it’s right for you and your blog..that’s okay! We all need to make the best decisions for our own blogs, since they are an extension of ourselves.
Remember, this is just a TOOL to use as needed.
Some need a hammer and some might need a nail gun to do the job, pick the best tool for your needs!
I would suggest considering at least joining Linky Followers and adding your blog even if you haven’t decided on adding the widget to your blog page. This will allow people to find you and add your blog to their readers even if you choose not to use it to follow other blogs. That way if GFC does disappear someday, you will have an account already established in Linky Followers with followers in place.
Do you have anymore questions for me? Any thoughts (yikes I might have opened the floodgates with that. haha!), is your head spinning? or did this help? Let me know what you think!
Signing off for now..but I’ll keep track of the comments and reply here ASAP! Thanks as always for following us…At The Picket Fence.
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Technorati Tags: Google,Linky Followers
Wow, this is perfect! You’ve written that so well and I’m going to point anyone that has any questions about the new Linky to this!!
Wow thanks for the tutorial. I’m sure I’ll be referring back to this again & again. It’s rough learning a new program, but it looks like this one will be very useful!
OK, I’m going to have to read and reread this in fits and spurts. I had finally set this up yesterday (I had trouble… OF COURSE). Now I’m trying to figure out the rest of it.
Can I use up your valuable space to just WHINE? This is so annoying. No matter how you slice it, it comes up as LESS FUN to blog and keep up with blogs when you have 4,723 different ways to organize them. That’s because it doesn’t matter what I choose, I have to follow someone in the manner that they choose.
I want to pull my hair out by the dark roots.
Great tutorial. I’m referring everyone over to you for any questions on this. You are so good.
Oh my….this seems like a lot of stuff for a blog…..will have to work on it a piece at a time. Thanks for sharing.
I really want to convert over, but I need to find the time. How long did you play with it before you felt comfortable using it? I need to devote a chunck of time to this!
Lisa, This really is an easy process! it took me about 10 minutes to figure everything out and practice adding in my categories for my followed blogs. Start out with baby steps and just start out by signing up and then begin following a few people that you know are already using Linky Followers. It really is no more difficult to use than any reader. It has a few more features than Google Reader, with the exception of automatically updating blog posts. It’s a small price to pay for this service. I’ve found some great new blogs to follow by checking the blog directory. and I’ve never had to leave LF to do it! 🙂 Sue
Thanks for the well written explanation. I have joined and have spent the morning trying to figure out Google+. I have also read that not only is Google phasing out GFC but will change Blogger to Google blogs. Considering switching over bog to another platform is a daunting thought – so much time is spent building your blog!
I am going to explore Linky more today – thanks for all you’ve done and to Brent Riggs!
Hope you have a great day!
Kathy
Thanks so much for putting together such a great tips!
Wow! You’ve done a great job explaining all of this! Thanks for doing all this work and putting it all together. Will blog about it this week and send people over to you!
Thank you so much for this in depth tutorial…. I will be CERTAINLY going over it a Few times more… 🙂 I also had the same question as Michelle above… Every time I click to Follow I have to sign in to linky will this be something we always have to do…??
Hi Angelina, I know Brent has it to time out after 20 minutes, but I noticed today it was staying logged in so maybe he fixed it or changed the settings. I’ll keep an eye on this.
Heather
I know big changes are coming in the Google world (they’ve sent me plenty of notices saying as much), but I’m hanging on to the old as long as I can. I don’t handle change very well. Thanks for the info, though. Great job.
Thank you so much for all your help! I must go to Blogging 101 to learn how to place code, then I’ll put the Linky Gadget on my blog. I wish Google would stop making all these changes, it’s really hard for Newbies to keep up!
Thank God for you, making things a lot easier! I’m certainly following you!
This is awesome! Thank you for compiling all of this. I will be referencing back. It’s time for a bloggy facelift to EKat’s Kitchen.
Heather, thanks a million for explaining everything, which you did very well, I might add! I have a WordPress blog (only because my step-sons said that’s what I should do) so I’ll be losing my GFC followers soon. I’m so relieved that this has been created because I just have not figured out google+ yet.
Thank you, this is awesome!
Debbie
Thanks so much for this tutorial. It’s probably good to start this now – who knows how long it will take me to get through this. I’ll need additional nail gun supplies for this : )!!!
Thanks so much,
Joanne
What a fantastic review (pros,cons,how to use). It’s unfortunate that Google isn’t that recpetive to feedback. I’m not on WordPress but I can’t say that I haven’t thought about it.
After working so hard to establish a follower base this almost feels like starting over.
Oh well, at least I’m learning.
Thank you so much Heather! This is a great tutorial for everyone. I’ve moved to Linky and I’m liking it, and now thanks to you I know how to use it! I’d love to link to your tutorial on my blog if you wouldn’t mind…. it will help a lot of followers!
Thanks Susan
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am wondering, do you have to manually login with your password and i.d. every time you want to follow someone on Linky Followers? With GFC you can follow someone with the click of a couple buttons as long as your signed in to Google.
Thank you!
Thank you SO much for the in-depth tutorial – I’m totally going to cheat and post a link to this post on my blog – I added the Linky Follower widget this weekend and just haven’t had the energy to explain what it is yet!
Bravo *clapping wildly*!!!! You are my hero! I have set up LF on our blog. I am going to digest this post over the next couple days. I have just done a post on our blog about the changes. We are with Blogger, but can definitely see the writing on the wall. It’s only a matter of time, so we are jumping ship soon. I have linked to this post and your first one introducing LF in my post. Thank you so much for all the great info. We REALLY appreciate it.
Hi Tanya, thank you! 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂
Heather
Thank you for this!!! I just am so overwhelmed by new technology!! We own our domain, so even though we are a “blogger” that means GFC is gone for us!!
well isn’t this just my lucky day
to have you use my little ole blog
as your example
thank you thank you heather!
i am using
and liking
Linky Followers
the more I use it
and your tutorial here
is very thorough and helpful
and did I mention
that your examples were excellent???
alison
This is really a great tutorial Heather! I really like the Linky tool and it’s really seems to be catching on quickly. With Google, it’s all about control and collecting your private information.
Oh my gosh Heather…I can’t imagine how much time this post took to write. Thank you so much. I have read it once but need to read it again very slowly so I can digest everything! I still follow my favorite blogs right from my blog roll so I’ve never used Google Reader or any other method. I’m very interested in all the features Linky Followers has to offer. Thanks again…
Let me know if you have any questions Ann!
Heather
Wow, Heather. You are a genius! I echo Ann on wondering how long it took you to create this informative post for us rookies. lol! Thank you!!!! I actually just followed the directions on Linky Follower (when I first read about it over at Courtney’s) and it was very easy. Now….I have to take some time to play with all of the goodies that LF has. 🙂 Thanks again for all of your hard work, girlie! We soooo appreciate it!!
One question: Do you think that eventually we should consider moving over to WordPress or something like that? I know NOTHING about any other blogging formats, and was just wondering. I DO NOT want to lose my blog someday due to Google’s fanatical decisions.
xoxo laurie
Hi Laurie, A long time…and that’s all I’ll say about that. lol Actually it’s a lot of work, but I enjoy writing tutorials. I just hope they help.
I think that Google will always provide some type of free blogging platform. Rumor has it that it might become something like Googleblogs instead of blogspot.com. I think moving to another platform really depends on evaluating WHY you blog, where you see your blog going and the needs you might have for your blog. I think I might do a WordPress vs. Blogger post soon. We will be transferring over to WordPress at some point, mainly because of the features it offers us, but it’s a large process to transfer a blog. In fact, we will hire someone because even I don’t feel comfortable doing it. It’s a lot to think about, isn’t it?
Heather
had to read this twice ti get the flow. hahaha. thanks for putting this up!
A lot to absorb, so great you put this all together and we can come back and reference it as we go. Thank you.
~Bliss~
I had been thinking about moving over to Blogger at one point (pre Linky Followers) just to stay mainstream…but given all the changes they are making and too quickly, with devastating effects to all bloggers, I will be interested in seeing your WordPress vs Blogger posting and following along on the “how to” would be great! Thanks for this informative post about using LF. xo wendy
Fantastic tutorial! Thanx for all your hard work!!
My head is spinning but that’s OK! I will go back little by little to make this stick. Thank you! You must be very smart!!!
So I’m back a day later, and I have made a decision. I have decided to look at the end of GFC as a blessing instead of a curse. I think if a lot of folks would sign on, it will be really nice.
And maybe… maybe… my problems with blogger will no longer be messing up my day. It seems that they stem from jumping off my home page.
Of course, because I’m too stupid to keep my mouth shut I’ll say that anxiety ridden Debbie doesn’t do well with rejection, and having to start all over with the followers is bound to lead to that. Guess God is telling me it’s time to grow a skin.
Thank you for this amazing tutorial! I followed it and set up my linky followers site. I keep wondering though, if I have blogspot will GFC be going away for that too?
I’m a new Linky Follower of yours now! I wish I would have found your tutorial when I signed up on the 2nd day. I will probably go back & see where I need to tweak though.
Hi Heather, I’ve signed up for Linky followers it went through and then said I had to ck my e-mail for the activation link and I never got the e-mail. I contacted them twice and they never got back to me? Is there something else I could do? Thanks, Martina
LOVE THIS TUTORIAL!!! The blog reader was driving me crazy because I couldnt figure out to bring up the whole blog instead of the 2 inces it showed at the bottom of the screen!! Now I know!!! Thanks !
Do you have any idea how to add blogs to the Private Blog roll??? I know there has to be an easier way then I’ve been doing it! Its taking me FOREVER to get just 1 blog added.
Thanks so much for this!! I shared on facebook and twitter! I am so excited to start using this new tool!
Wow! Great tutorial! Thanks for taking the time to put it all together. I’ve added a link to this on my blog for my followers to check out if they’re interested in LF. I’m also now following you in LF!
Well, I am one that does not like change, I do not like Google+, will not use it, am disappointed about Picknik, but I love my blog. I’ll have to think about this one, although I did set up my account already.
One question I have, and perhaps you answered it and I didn’t see it, how do I IMPORT all the blogs I already follow?!?!?! Or do they have to set up in order for me to follow them?!
Yes my head is spinning! But you were a great help! I think I got it all set up! Thank you!
Stefanie
https://myblissfulhappiness.blogspot.com/
Thank you, this was so absolutely helpful, I will definitely sign up! And I will follow you, because I just found this blog!
i’m sending all my folks over here to read this…hope you dont mind…
Mercy!! I didn’t really understand the whole thing about the linky followers and all but after reading bits and pieces of this post, I am beginning to understand. Like the others, I am very appreciative of all the work that went in to helping people like me.
I will definitely go back and read this slowly and carefully. I think you’re right about joining LF now so that others can find us that may not have otherwise as well as having an established account if and when GFC disappears.
I am looking forward to reading your wordpress vs blospot post.
Thank you so much ~ Velma
Hi, Heather, thank you so much for this tutorial. I set up my Linky Follower account, set the widget and picture and added one blog to follow. I will do the rest tomorrow. (maybe) I really appreciate all of your work.
Thank you so much for this Tutorial, I have followed your instructions and now am a Linky Follower!! I did a post and linked to your post. I appreciate you so much. Di@cottage-wishes. This sure helps us newbies.
I am liking it so far – love being able to categorize blogs.
Kelly
Finally was able to finish reading this after starting the other day. Awesome tutorial Heather, thank you! Now i just need to figure out how to do the blog hop and I”m good to go. HA!
Hi there,
Thank you for this great how to / tutorial! I would just like to say that I do not have a blog and likely will not have one (not being negative just realistic) but have been following yours, among others, for almost a year. Have learned lots and have enjoyed my time immensely!!!
I’m going to take this new information a little at a time. I am one of those that gets her updates via email and kept thinking that there has to be some better way to keep up. Over this past year, I have whittled away at that first run excitement of not wanting to miss anything and adding a gagillion blogs to my email list. I still have a lot but not as many.
Having said all that because I am not a blogger my knowledge is very basic though I have picked up quite a bit of the “jargon” during this past year there is still lots to be learned. For instance, tonight I learned new words “dashboard”, “monotenized” but still have no idea what they refer to in blogging but that’s the fun of all this learning.
My thanks to Brent Riggs for thinking of those of us who do not have blogs during the sign up process. What I find more often than not is that us/we emailers are forgotten about. And since I just became aware that we weren’t included in your stats it does make sense.
I’ve only managed to get through the pros and cons. I was doing OK until I reached the Negatives 1 and 2 re Linky Followers. Now I’m even more confused than I was before. No. 3 relates to those with followers therefore would have to have a blog (I think!).
Thanks you so much again for this huge undertaking of yours. I do look forward to getting up on Linky Followers and giving you the credit you do deserve.
All the best,
Cathy
Heya are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and
set up my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make
your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Its like you learn my thoughts! You appear to grasp so much about this, such as you wrote the ebook in it or something.
I believe that you just could do with a few % to force the message house a little bit, but other than that, this is fantastic blog.
A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.
Thank you for the tutorial! I read somewhere that when you follow someone you should send them a message to let them know and ask them to follow you back. How do you do this?
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