How Tumblr Is Different From Other Sites Based on Its Terms and Policies?

Why would I even be reading Tumblr’s (social networking site and microblogging platform) terms of service, privacy policies, guidelines, rules, and other such information anyway? Sounds like such a boring chore, huh?

Actually, it’s not that bad. But let’s start with the first question. Tumblr seemed interesting enough to me, so I considered starting a blog on Tumblr.

(Update: I've started several blogs on Tumblr and have even made some themes)

Of course, before I registered or signed up, I first wanted to know all about its TOS, policies, rules, etc, so I know what I’m agreeing to and what to expect and what will be happening.

I thought reading all this would be like reading most of the usual terms and policies wherein everything would be full of legal jargon and it would take a while before you can finish reading all of them.

Why? Because, not only will these stuff be horrendously long, it will also be utterly boring and you’ll definitely be needing a break every now and then (because who can read all this in one sitting, right?).

It’s different with Tumblr though, and it’s a good kind of different. Of course, it still took me a while to read all those stuff because there’s a lot, and I've other things to do and take care of.

But reading all those terms and rules didn’t really feel like a chore at all, and it wasn’t all that boring either.

*Notes:
- Image is by tsukkaomi (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published elsewhere on Friday, December 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM

Why Reading Tumblr's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Isn't Such a Boring Chore?

A website's (as well as programs, software, services, etc) terms of service and privacy policy is usually long, boring, and difficult to understand with all the legal jargon, so it's such a chore to read.

So when I find sites that have readable TOS and that actually make an effort to make all the legal stuff interesting and easy for their users to understand, I write about it.

How come reading all about Tumblr’s (microblogging platform and social networking site) terms of service or terms of use, privacy policy, rules, guidelines, etc isn’t such a boring chore?

What makes it so different from the usual terms and policies that you can see on other sites, programs or services?

Well, for starters, Tumblr’s terms of service and privacy policy actually have annotations.

These annotations make it easier for people to understand all the legal jargon and the like because the key points that you need to know are summarized in a way that doesn’t bore everyone to death.

This really makes it seem like Tumblr cares about its users and potential users and that it wants to make sure that everyone can easily understand all these agreements and policies and rules.

This makes them vastly different from many other sites who just list everything in a drab, boring, and dull manner and who can really come across as uncaring especially with how these websites don’t seem to care even if their users don’t understand a single word of what their TOS or policies say.

This perception is reinforced by how these sites seem to have no qualms using long and complicated words and legal jargon. Actually, Tumblr uses those kinds of words too, but it makes up for it by providing annotations.

*Notes:
- Image is by sayuko (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published elsewhere on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:35 AM

Is WordPress.com Restrictive?

Do you think that the WordPress.com blogging platform is restrictive? Does it have way too many limitations, or do you actually get lots of freedom and choices if you use this platform for your blog?

Some Facts About WordPress.Com

• You are not allowed to edit the CSS of your blog theme… unless you pay
• You are not allowed to use Google Analytics on your blog… unless you pay
• You are not allowed to use any other polling service… except PollDaddy
• You get a Gravatar account with your WordPress blog… whether you like it or not
• You don’t get customer support from WordPress… unless you pay
• You can’t turn off the infinite scroll feature for real… unless you pay
• You can’t add a copyright link to your blog… unless you pay

Some Things That You Can’t Get or Do on WordPress.Com Even if You Pay:

• You are not allowed to edit the HTML of your blog theme
• You are not allowed to upload your own theme to WordPress
• You are not allowed to add ads to your blog (unless you get WordAds, but you only get a shot at this if your blog gets lots of traffic)

Update: if you're on the WordPress.com Premium or Business plan, you get access to WordAds. If you're on a Free or Personal plan, your blog needs to have high traffic in order to get the option to apply to the WordAds program

• You are not allowed to remove the attribution credit links on your blog (the ones that say “powered by WordPress” and “theme made by [theme maker’s name here]”)
• You are not allowed to add or use Google Fonts on your blog
• You are limited in what you can do in terms of customizing your blog even with the Custom Design Upgrade, which only lets you edit the CSS of your theme (for example, you can’t import files)

Your Thoughts and Opinions

So, is the WordPress.com blogging platform restrictive? You tell me. What do you think? What are your thoughts and opinions about this? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- First image is by 27707 (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- Second image is by pixelcreatures (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- This was previously published elsewhere on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 11:33 AM
- Info presented above was true when it was written, but everything is subject to change without notice like if WordPress decides to change their rules, etc.

Sources:

• https://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/infinite-scroll/
• https://store.wordpress.com/plans/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/custom-fonts/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/code/
• https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/google-analytics-for-wordpress-com-business-sites/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/google-analytics/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/adding-new-themes/
• https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/add-copyright-to-footer
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/polls/
• http://support.polldaddy.com/using-wordpress-com-connect-to-sign-into-polldaddy-com/not-interested-in-signing-up-for-wordpress-com/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/no-ads/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/advertising/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/help-support-options/
• https://en.support.wordpress.com/live-chat/

Problems With Adding Polls to Your WordPress.Com Blog

What’s wrong with adding polls to your WordPress blog? Are you allowed to add polls to your blog? What’s there to like and dislike about this?

Can You Add Polls to Your WordPress.Com Blog?

Yes, you can. What’s the catch? The catch is that you can only add polls using PollDaddy. This is a polling service owned by Automattic, the same company who owns WordPress.

What’s Wrong With PollDaddy?

Dunno. Nothing, maybe. Those who use this polling service will be able to tell what its strengths and weaknesses are. This isn’t the issue though.

What Is the Problem With Adding Polls to Your WordPress.Com Blog?

The problem is how you’re stuck with PollDaddy. If you want to add polls to your blog, you have to use PollDaddy. You’re forced to use PollDaddy. You don’t have a choice.

Want polls on WordPress.com? Use PollDaddy or have no polls at all. But what if you don’t want to use this particular polling service?

After all, this isn’t the only polling service out there. There are many more sites that allow you to add polls to your blogs or websites like Opinion Stage.

What if You Already Have an Account on Another Polling Service?

Some polling services make it possible for you to use their polls on various platforms, so you don’t have to sign up to so many different services.

For example, you can use Opinion Stage on Tumblr, Google Blogger, WordPress.org, and more.

So, if you already have an account on another polling service, wouldn’t you want to use that on all of your sites and blogs so you don’t have to create yet another account for the same service?

On WordPress though, you’re forced to use PollDaddy whether you like it or not or just go without polls because they don’t care if you have another account elsewhere or not.

Your Thoughts and Opinions

What do you think about this? Do you use PollDaddy? Do you like it? Do you use Opinion Stage? Do you like it?

Do you think WordPress should give people a choice in terms of what polling service they can use on their WordPress.com blogs?

Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- First image is by Alan Klim (CC:BY) from flickr
- Second image is by pixelcreatures (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- This was previously published elsewhere on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 11:32 AM

5 Things to Dislike About the Latest WordPress Update Version 4.1

What’s not to like about the latest WordPress update version 4.1? Is something wrong with it?

Things to Like About the WordPress Update

One thing I like about the WordPress update is how it never drastically changes the appearance of the dashboard, so the Daily Two Cents* and Writegde* dashboards still look pretty much like how I remember them before the version 4.1 update.

I like that because I’m used to what the dashboard looks like. I’ve learned to like its appearance so it would just feel and seem wrong if it suddenly changes without warning.

*Writing sites that used to pay per view, but have since changed their payment model, unfortunately, where you can earn some passive or residual income by posting articles

Gigantic Text

Now, one of the things I don’t like about the latest WordPress update is how the text on the text post editor is way too big.

Before the update, the text was kind of small (fortunately, it’s still readable), and I definitely would have wanted it to be bigger, but not this big.

This time, the font size is just too much. It’s so huge that it borders on ridiculous.

Text Post Editor and Preview

What you see is definitely not what you get thanks to the version 4.1 WordPress update.

Whenever I preview the articles I write on the Writege and Daily Two Cents text post editor, it always looks different from how it’s presented in the editor.

On the text post editor, you can see the gigantic font size, but, when you preview your post, it goes back to a smaller font.

As such, just because it looks like you have such a huge paragraph on the editor, it doesn’t mean that that’s the case when you preview your article.

Adding Images

Thanks to the discrepancy between the text post editor and the preview, it’s very difficult to fix the images that you add to your article.

On the editor, the picture might look huge and it might look like it’s aligned with only a few paragraphs, but, when you look at the preview, you’ll see that it looks very different.

So you will need to use trial and error when you move things around so you can find the perfect placement and positions for your photos.

Word Count

On Writedge and Daily Two Cents, there is a live word count that is located at the end of the text post editor textbox.

Before the WordPress update to version 4.1, this live word count used to stay in a fixed position so that, even if you scroll up on the editor to get to the top of the page, you can still see your word count.

This is very useful because you can see right away if you still need to add more words or if you’re already past the minimum word count.

After the update, the live word count is no longer in a fixed position so you can only see it when you scroll down to the end of the text post editor.

What are your thoughts on the WordPress version 4.1 update? Do you like it or not?

*Notes:
- First image is by 27707 (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- Second image is by StockSnap (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- This was previously published elsewhere on Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 11:31 AM
- YouTube video features the Writedge and Daily Two Cents WordPress dashboard

A Complete Guide to Using the Niume Post Editor

I wrote this post as a guide or tutorial on how to use the Niume post editor while also mentioning its quirks and the things you might need or want to know about it. However, with Niume's latest update, a lot of things have changed. So, here is the new and updated guide to using the Niume post editor.

Edited to add: Niume is a writing site where you can earn a bit of passive income by publishing articles. Unfortunately, not only has the site stopped paying, it has also shut down without warning.

Adding Images to Your Niume Post

There are two kinds of images that you can add to your Niume post:

1. The background or cover pic - this one shows up on top of your article before the post title. You can only have one of this kind of pic.

2. The pic inside the post itself. This can show up anywhere inside your article as long as it's below the post title. You can have several photos like this.

How to Add Pics Inside Your Niume Post?

1. Press the enter key on your keyboard while you're on the Niume post editor. This will start a new line.

2. You will then see a circular icon with a plus sign on the left side of the editor.

3. Click this icon and you will see the plus sign change to the minus sign. In addition to that, you will see two more circular icons.

4. Let's focus on the first icon, the one with the pic of a camera. If you hover your mouse on this icon, you will see the words "Add a photo".

5. Click on this icon and you will be prompted to upload a photo from your PC.

Here's an example:

Other Things You Need to Know About Adding Images to Your Niume Post:

- Accepted file types include: .PNG and .JPG

- There is no way to resize an image once it's been uploaded to Niume so if you want to change the size of your pic (such as making it bigger or smaller), you'll have to do it before adding it to your post.

- As part of Niume's rules, you're required to have at least one image or video on your post. I'm not sure how strict Niume is in implementing this rule as I've seen some posts that only contain text. Still, I suggest adding even just one pic to your article to make it more colorful.

- The only way to add photos to your post is by uploading it from your computer to Niume. Unfortunately, there's no way to add pics via their image URL.

- The first pic that shows up on your post and that was added using the camera icon will become the cover photo of your post. See the old guide (linked above) for more details.

The only thing that's different is that there is no more picture when you link to your post on Niume (either via the comments section of a post or another article).

- If you don't add a pic using the camera icon, but you add a background pic to your post (see section below for more details), this pic will become the cover photo instead.

How to Add a Background Photo to Your Niume Post?

1. On the upper right side of the post editor, to the right of the post title textbox, you will see the words "Add Cover" as well as a small mountain pic icon.

2. Click this link icon and you'll be prompted to upload a pic from your PC.

.JPG is the only accepted file type, as far as I know (it's the only one I've tried so far aside from .PNG, which is not accepted).

Other Things You Need to Know About Adding a Background Pic to Your Niume Post:

- See this post for more details on the recommended size of your background photo

- Note that you might need to resize your pic and upload it several times before you can get the proper placement. For instance, I had to do the same with the background photo of this post otherwise I'd end up with something like this:

For reference, the entire pic looks like this:

- There is no way to resize the cover image after uploading it so you will need to change or fix the size elsewhere before adding it your post.

- There's also no way to add pics by using their image URL. You need to upload the photo from your computer to Niume.

- You don't need to add a cover photo to your post especially if you already have several pics in the body of your article.

- See the old guide (linked above) for more details

How to Add Tags to Your Niume Post?

1. Choose a sphere or category for your article. You can choose from the drop-down list right below the post title in the Niume text editor.

2. As soon as you select a sphere, if you scroll down to the end of the text editor, you will see several tags that you can choose to add to your post.

3. Click on an available tag to add it to your post. If it's the wrong tag, just click on the x icon to remove it from the list.

Other Things You Need to Know About Adding Tags to Your Niume Post:

- If none of the available tags match your article, don't worry because Niume's latest update has made it possible for us to create our own tags. Just type your tag on the textbox provided.

As soon as you start typing on this textbox, the editor will automatically start searching for similar tags. You will then see a drop-down list of possible tags you can add.

If you see a tag that matches what you're looking for, just click it and it will be added to your article. If the tag you want doesn't show up, just type it fully and then press the enter key. This will make it show up as a tag for your article.

- There's a limit of 4 tags per post.

Changes to the Niume Post Editor Thanks to the Update:

- Before, we were stuck with having to use the available tags, which may not always be relevant to the article we're writing. Now, it's possible to create our own tags.

- Before, Niume had two types of links. Now, there's only one type of link. Niume removed the link cards that allowed us to showcase links similar to Twitter Cards complete with the post title, a short snippet and even a small pic from the article.

For More Information on the Following:

- Adding a sphere to your post as well as things you need to know about the Niume spheres

- Adding a title to your post as well as title tips

- Adding a video (such as from YouTube) to your post

See the old guide (linked above) for more details.

For a tutorial guide on how to add links to your posts, see this article.

For info about the Niume dashboard, see this post.

If you're having problems publishing posts on Niume, see this article.

Conclusion

All-in-all, the latest update improved the Niume rich text post editor. Being able to add or create our own tags is a very welcome change.

However, it's too bad that the link cards were removed as this was a useful and cool feature.

Overall, the text editor could still use more improvements such as giving us more formatting options like being able to resize pics after being uploaded and being able to use numbered and bulleted lists and more.

Questions? Need Help?

What about you? What do you think about the Niume rich text post editor? If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to ask.

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

Linda Kaaz said on 22/2/17
very helpful information

Jim Bauer said on 9/2/17
I always find these interesting and helpful especially considering the site really does lack tutorials.

Freya Yuki replied to Jim Bauer on 18/2/17
Thanks :-). Yeah, when I was new here, I looked everywhere for tutorials and guides, but couldn't find any so I decided to write some after figuring things out.

*Notes:
- This was previously published on Niume on 30 Jan 2017 in Interesting
- Screenshots are from my Niume account
- Second pic is by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Fourth pic is by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt