Bit of a crisis: I have been dabbling with creating an RSS feed of a private discussion group I'm in, and somehow Feedster has found it and indexed it. The rest of the list members are in an uproar and I really need to remove the data from Feedster, but I don't see how to do that. Help!!

Dave, I've bumped into a new service that claims to pay you for simply adding specific links to your weblog entries, which seems like a darn easy way to make some money as a blogger. The service is called Blogitive and I'm just wondering if it's legit or not?

I have a blog, www.globalcctvhub.com and I have set up tags to link through Technorati.

The problem is none of my tags register on Technorati, I have asked them for help, but many weeks later still have recieved no response.

Should I adjust the blog I write for my company so it appears correctly when accessed via RSS readers? Is there a standard format in which the layout and content is delivered to RSS readers that I can use to ensure that my blog appears the way I want?

I'm a bit baffled, to be honest. I'm getting comments left on my weblog that kinda/sorta seem like they're relevant, but don't entirely make sense and aren't relevant to the actual discussion, though they're more or less on topic. Is it the work of some semi-incoherent blogosphere denizen, or is it actually some sort of subtle comment spam?

I have a blog on blogspot.com (also known as Blogger) and I have noticed that many people have gotten rid of the navigational toolbar at the top of the page when one views their blog. I would like to do the same. How can I get rid of it? You can view the blog but please don't publish the address on your website. Thank a billion! Trevor

I hate to sound like a groupie or something, but I love your site, Dave, and I'd love to be able to include a little box somewhere on my own site that featured your latest entries! Is this doable, and if so, how do I do it?

I'm thinking about creating a new weblog ezine where I'd invite a bunch of bloggers to contribute their best articles to my site for republication. I've looked around and found a bunch of different multi-author blogs, but my big concern is managing the editorial quality: I don't want everything to be under the control of the authors, I want to be a "managing editor" for the site. How do existing sites manage this?

I have set up a blog using WordPress and it works well, though, unfortunately, it doesn't write itself. :-)

My question is two-fold. First, what do you use to set up your weblog, or what service do you use? And, second, is there any way to keep *##@ texas hold-em spammers from leaving comments without shutting off the comment feature? I haven't taken the time to research the support since I've been too lazy to dig, but it would be great if you had some solution.

I've been running my new weblog -- blog.getyouhealthy.com -- for a few months now and as far as I can tell Google still hasn't stopped by to visit my site or index me. I've heard about something called a "sandbox" but I don't know what that is and whether I'm in it. If I am, how do I get out of it? If not, why else might I be missing from Google?

I really like how you have your weblog Ask Dave Taylor split into a question on the home page and an answer on the subsequent permanent page for that entry. I want to do something like that for my own weblog too, with the first paragraph or two on the home page and the rest of the article 'continued' on a subsequent page. I'm using SixApart's TypePad, however. is that doable?

This may seem like a basic question, Dave, but I've been reading lots of weblogs and I'm pretty motivated to get started with one of my own. But I don't want a diary and don't think anyone else cares about what movies I like or what restaurants I frequent, I want to write about topics of relevance to my customers so I can grow my business. Finally, I like classes much more than just reading Web sites. Suggestions?

My weblog is now showing up on Feedster, but it has a dumb "i" icon rather than my logo or something else cool and eye-catching. I want to change it, but I have to claim my blog? What's that all about and how do I do it?

Hi Dave, can you help me? I have a website and am partnering with a business blogger (Michael Pollock) on a new venture. But I also want to start my own blog.

I know a lot about text ads and pay per click and SEO and blogging and stuff and want to include "monetizing" links in my blog. BUT I am not tech oriented and don't have time to become proficient. What would you suggest as a blog platform? If I get a hosted type like TypePad it looks like I'd have to get the Pro version to monetize with text ads etc. but I've also been reading about TypePad's problems. Wouldn't have a clue how to use WordPress. Am I gonna have to learn code to have a flexible unique blog of my own? Thanks for any insight/advice!

I've been using NewsGator Online based on your recommendation, and so far I really like it. Except I subscribed to an RSS feed from a site and I really don't like what the author has to say and would like to delete or unsubscribe from that feed. How do I do that in NewsGator Online?

I have been blogging for a while and now want to take the next step and actually include images in my weblog entries. The problem is, my weblog host doesn't offer image hosting. A friend told me I should use Flickr to host my images, but I don't see how that works. Can you help me out? Thanks.

I've been experimenting with different advertisements on my weblog, including Google AdSense, and now I'd like to try using Pheedo, which I have heard from some folk does quite well. Can you talk me through the steps, please?

I was listening to your teleseminar on blogging and was intriguied by something you said: you mentioned that you use Google News to keep track of specific industry news with custom searches. How do you do that?

Help! I have a blogger.com weblog and recently I've been overrun by blog spam. Surely there's a way to minimize this problem? I've seen lots of sites that have "challenges", ranging from hard-to-read words to mathematical equations, but I have no idea how to accomplish this in blogger.

I notice once in a while in my RSS aggregator that I am getting feeds that are sometimes 2 months old. Why would the aggregator be lagging on such stale news.

I'm interested in setting up an internal blog for my small business but am not sure how to limit access to just those on the inside. What is the best way to create a blog that can only be read and commented on by a select group of readers?

Dave, I use two different versions of MovableType for my weblogs, one on each of two different servers, and am wondering what your best recommendations are in terms of limiting my comment spam? One is 3.17 and the other is the latest 3.2 release.

Hi, first of all, can you make my blog public? Also, can you walk me through how to publish e-mail to my blog? Keep in mind, I do not know my blog's address. I can access it through 'my journal', please help me. Thanks, Kimi.

I think I have my weblog set up properly, but someone recently emailed me saying that I haven't set it up for "RSS autodiscovery". But I have an RSS feed and I even have a little 'xml' button that links to the "index.xml" file that contains the RSS. So what am I missing?

I've been trying to figure out all the mysterious jargon of the blogosphere, and one that's got me stumped is blogroll. Dave, what's a blogroll?

Dave, I have noticed on other people's blogs that they have these nice permalinks that lead people to individual pages, one for each entry. But Blogger doesn't always seem to generate these separate weblog entry pages for me. Is there some way to fix this?

I've just heard from some friends that MSN Search now lets me look through RSS feeds to find information, in addition to its regular search capabilities? Very cool, but how do I do it?

Dave, I have read alot about RSS and XML feeds, and I daily use a RSS aggregator to subscribe to and read some feeds of interest to me.

My question is: Is there a security risk in using RSS feeds? I don't believe that my anti-virus programs scan my RSS, and I am not familiar enough with how the XML feeds work to know if it could pose any kind of security risk, i.e., viruses, spyware, hostile computer takeovers, etc.

Dave, I have an executive placement, coaching and consulting business in the Chicago market. In an effort to market and brand myself better I have launched a blog, but I'm unclear what I need to do to get more traffic and exposure to my blog. What do you suggest?

I'm running the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 beta and while I'm impressed with all its new features, I have no clue how to work with RSS feeds (Microsoft calls them 'webfeeds', of course) in the browser. Help?

I've been running Mac OS X Tiger for a while now, and when I encounter Web sites that have RSS feeds available, I've noticed that a blue "RSS" graphic appears in the address bar, but I haven't figured out how to actually subscribe to RSS feeds and use Safari as an RSS / syndication reader.

I teach high school journalism in an independent school and I am considering offering blogging as an option. What are the dangers?

Dave, I've been blogging for a while now - partially thanks to your inspiration with this great site of yours! - and would like to include one of those neat FeedBurner graphics on my site so I can track RSS subscriptions. How do I do it?

After having attended one of your great Blog Smart workshops, I've taken the plunge and am now starting a weblog of my own. What I'm not sure of, however, is how much to write in each entry. I've seen some weblogs that have one-liners, lots of them, and others, like your Intuitive Life that has much longer articles. What's your recommendation?

Dave, I've been working with Google's Blogger service for a while, running a weblog, but looking at your site and various others makes me want to have everything appear on my own domain, not theirs. So, how do I do it? Lots of people I've talked to say that it's not possible with Blogger, but I can't believe it.

Dave, not to ask a ridiculously obvious question, but what is a blog? And what's the future of blogs and blogging?

Hi Dave. From reading your earlier postings, I see that you too have been approved by Google for their new AdSense for Feeds program. What I don't get, however, is how to actually add their adverts in my RSS feed. I'm running Movable Type: can you help me figure this out?

First off, what is an RSS feed? I think I understand it, but I'm not sure. Also, how do I subscribe to an RSS feed and why would I want to?

Hi Dave! I'm trying to figure out how to change the publication date of articles already available in my Movable Type blog and can't quite identify what I need to do so that it works properly. Can you help me out?

Hi Dave. Like you, I'm a blogger, and sometimes I bump into other bloggers who have written about one of my postings, but somehow I haven't gotten my trackbacks to work on my site. I don't care too much about trackbacks, but tell me, how do you keep track of other bloggers citing your material on their sites?

Dave, I see that Google's just released AdSense for RSS and it seems like a great idea (though I'm a bit leery, based on your article about the dangers of RSS advertising) but it seems that there are some oddities in the Terms of Service. Have you read it? What are your thoughts?

Dave, I know that the NOFOLLOW attribute was introduced to prevent PageRank bleed through blog comment spam, but now that my site is automatically creating those NOFOLLOW links, I'm afraid that the search engines might assign some negative karma to the "linked to" domain, which would be my own. Is that something I should be worrying about? Thanks, Steve.

Dave, I've been hearing in the search engine optimization community about programs called "blog and ping" utilities. Supposedly, they are a real boon to getting top search engine ranking. What are they, how do they work, and what's your opinion of whether they're worth using?

Dave, after reading the latest issue of BusinessWeek, your Intuitive Life Business Blog and a bunch of other sources, I'm ready. I want to learn how to create, design and maintain a blog that's interesting, engaging, and helps me promote my business online.

The problem is, while I can find lots of classes and seminars about why to blog, there just isn't anything about how to blog. Any suggestions for me?

Dave, I've been reading all sorts of stuff on different weblogs about "character blogs", but I'm still not clear on what they are and whether they're a good thing or not. What's your opinion?

Over on the International Association of Online Communications weblog, Steve O'Keefe asks an interesting question this week: What are the pros and cons of author blogs? His response; "Yes, if the expense of maintaining the blog can be spread over multiple books or author projects. No, as a single-title project produced by publishers. Just as book companion sites aren’t worth maintaining unless they’re attached to an author, imprint or brand, single-title book blogs are seldom a good idea."

Dave, I use the RSS feeds on my personalized MyYahoo! page and sometimes it can't find the feed, even if I put in the exact URL. I especially have problems with RDF feeds. When I click on them, it looks like it wants to download something and I know that's not what I need for an aggregator. How do the RDF feeds work? I have several blogs that I like to read that have RDF feeds and I don't know how to incorporate them into my RSS feeds. Thanks for your help!

Is it possible to have a URL that if you reference it in a Movable Type weblog entry, will actually cause Movable Type to crash rather than add the article to your weblog? And if so, how do you get around that problem?

Dave, I keep hearing about RSS, XML and RSS feeds. I just barely have a clue what they are, but when people then start talking about RSS aggregators, what are they talking about and why would I want one? Do you use an aggregator, and if so, which one?

I'm just starting to move into the world of weblogs (oh, sorry, blogging. Or should I say "joining the blogosphere"? :-) and I've opted to horn in on a friend's Movable Type installation. I'm pretty computer savvy, but boy, this is one complex app. Any tips on how to wrap my head around it and be able to focus on my articles rather than the tool?

Dave, I was reading this evening that there's a new HTML attribute in town called "nofollow" and that it's supposed to prevent weblog spam somehow? Can you explain what it's about and how it can possibly help prevent spam appearing in Weblogs?

Dave, I've been looking at a lot of different weblogs in the last few weeks and notice that while some list "Trackback" or "Pingback" right on their index page, others have that information on individual entry pages, and yet others seem to have either hidden or completely removed trackbacks altogether. What are trackbacks and "trackback pings" and why would I want them on my blog?

Dave, I see some sites with and some sites without a copyright line. Do you know if someone must follow an official process before adding this line? Such as (C) 2002-2004 by Dave Taylor, etc...

Dave, I'm interested in weblogs and RSS, but only with regard to how they can be harnessed to create active information workspaces for my clients, which in turn helps reduce support burdens. Can they do that? I also have virtual colleagues: how does a Weblog help with that communications challenge? My clients aren't generally taking the time to crawl through weblogs, and I still just don't see the value of Weblogs unless you're an individual consultant or author trying to establish area expertise leadership, or you just enjoy writing and sharing while possibly creating an affiliate click-through income stream. What are your thoughts?

I liked very much your article on how to improve click thru on Google Ads in your article Double your AdSense PPC Click-Through Rate, but my problem is how do I integrate the Google ads in the middle of the article instead of the end? I suspect a code tweak of sorts is needed. On my blog I have the Google ads at the bottom, but perhaps they should be in the middle somewhere. I use WordPress and the Kubrick CSS template for my blog.

Dave, I read your HTML primer for bloggers, but I'm confused because on the sites I add comments, I have to use something called bbcode, not HTML. What is bbcode and how do I use it?

Dave, I've just started a weblog of my own and am finding that I need to learn a few HTML tags to make my entries as attractive as possible. I'd also like to learn how to link to other sites and other Weblogs, but really haven't much of a clue other than that HTML has < and > around different letters. Can you give me a quick primer?

Dave, I notice that whenever you mention any products on Amazon, your links always go straight to the recommended product (rather than their annoying intermediate landing page where they try to sell you on other products) and neatly tuck your affiliate link in too. So, do tell, what's your secret technique?

Dave, Help! My weblog is drowning in these seemingly nonsensical postings from people that have nothing to do with my discussion, yet don't actually point to any sort of existing Web site or even a valid email address. On the assumption that they're not doing it just to annoy me, why would they bother to spam my weblog with this kind of stuff?

My sister and I have been engaged in a dialog about the merits of weblogs versus traditional Web sites and it's evolved into a quite interesting discussion. She asks: "I still don't see how a blog would be better for me than a web site. I don't see why a person would want to come to my site often to see what I'm up to."

A pal of mine who is a prolific writer but not so much of a techie asked me the following question: "I've just heard that feedster added a feature where I can automatically ping them when I have new entries for my Weblog. I use Movable Type daily, but I'm darned if I know how to add a new ping host to my blog configuration. Help!"

A technical wizard pal of mine asks: "I have all sorts of challenge/response barriers to comment spam on my Movable Type weblog, but occasionally someone goes through the work of identifying themselves and still leaves some silly spam comment. I want to delete it, but right now I get the email notification of the new comment, then have to log in to the administrative interface, find the comment, and delete it by hand. Quite a hassle. Isn't there a better solution to this?"

More than once, readers have written to me, asking if it was possible to track an RSS feed from a Weblog or news site with a shell script. Sounds kinda wacky, but in fact, it's a very good use of a shell script, as the following rather extensive entry -- including source code! -- demonstrates. If you're a bit confused by the following, you might want to consider picking up a copy of my best-selling Wicked Cool Shell Scripts.

If you were lucky enough to be with me here at Gnomedex in Lake Tahoe, California, then you already know that Paypal's Dave McClure moderated a panel entitled "The Future of Online Advertising".

If you run a weblog (aka "blog") you've probably already figured out that you can add Google Adsense to all your pages and make a few bucks from visitors (though don't forget to read some of the many articles on Free Web Money that talk about ad placement, etc. Start with Improving your Adsense Click Thru).

What you might not have realized is that there's sufficient traffic in the world of Weblogs that some new networks are popping up targetted specifically to the weblog-reading crowd.

This is a kinda tricky one, but it was based on some inspiration I got when working on my Real Life Debt Weblog: could I figure out a way to incorporate weblog data into non-blog pages? The answer is, yes!

For this experiment, I decided that I'd like to have a new sentence on the intuitive systems home page that always showed the two most recent entries in my intuitive life weblog...