Dude, Where's My Blog? (and some Blogplugs, too)

Hey folks,

I wanted to let you know that we're aware of the issues with the People Connection Blogs
page. Right now, it isn't displaying your Journals. Both the Journals
and the People Connection teams are working on fixing this glitch.

In the meantime, you can always access (and manage) your Journals by going to the following URL:

http://journals.aol.com/screenname

Replace
"screenname" with your screen name and you'll be able to manage your
blogs from there. Thanks for your patience as we fix the blogs page.
--

Alas, it's Friday and I've got some great blogplugs for everyone to enjoy:

* Krissy celebrated that her husband was discharged from the hospital yesterday. 

* Specialadyfink is in the Christmas spirit with a Christmas story told on her blog with pictures and all.

* Sugar advises against giving pets as gifts for the holidays and she has a poem, too.

* Beth reflected on the traits from her parents and had some thoughts about characteristics we inherent from our parents. 

* Barbara introduced her little sister into J-Land. (Her sister's blog is here.)

* Ceilisundancer wrote about what she did on Thanksgiving, the pursuit of the perfect Christmas cards and wished peace for everyone even during war.

* Donna let us know about her traditions this past Thanksgiving, a few pictures and she earned a $100 gift card from her employer.
---

Thanks folks, I think I've got some
unique Journalers in there. That concludes this week's blogplugs. Don't
forget, you can browse all the blogplugs on Technorati any time!

Have relaxing weekend folks! (I know I need it...)

~ Joseph and Malika

Tags: blogplugs, aol journals, featured, tagging

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi folks,

From the Journals team, we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

May
you always have much for which to be thankful. Wishing you every joy
that is Thanksgiving. Hope you have a great time with your friends and
family and with lots of goodies!

A reminder that we'll skip
Blogplugs this Friday, because of the holiday. (But that's no excuse
for not tagging your favorite entries with blogplugs!)

I
was trying to find some Thankgiving-related pictures, but remembered
that our Journals users are pretty creative. Here are a few pictures
that stood out:

"Thankful" by Sugar Shack:

"Give Thanks" from Cab's Creations:

"It's Turkey Time!" by Sugar Shack (again!):

Have a safe and enjoyable (and long) weekend. Feel free to spam share your Thanksgiving blog entries in our comments!

Thanks,                                         
---Malika and Joseph

Tags: AOL Journals, Thanksgiving

Journals Chat unavailable for 30 mins on Monday, Nov. 19th, 2007 at 10 AM EST

Hi folks,

The AIM Chat team will be installing updates to production, this morning - 
Monday, Nov. 19th 2007 at 10 AM EST. 

A 30 minute outage is expected. During the installation, "Journals Chat" will not be available.

Sorry for the inconvenience and late notice.  See you in the chat room once the installation completes :-)

Thanks,

---Malika

Tags: Journals Chat, AIM chat

Friday Blogplugs

Hey folks,

Earlier this week, the Journals team installed the R14 release
which added some pretty nice features, including the ability for
multiple writers to share a Journal. We'll show you how to use this
feature, look forward to it later this week.

It's Friday and I've got some fresh blogplugs for everyone to enjoy:

* Jimmy taunts me with his Miami sunshine, at a comfortable 72F. (Today's high temperature was 46F.)

* Beth has shares six pictures of a gathering of birds and a few sunsets.

* Specialadyfink shared her opinion about the option to add writers to her Journal. She later followed up and created a Journal that everyone can contribute to.

* Ellie said goodbye to her son, who headed out for military duty and finishes with a nice story written from a soldier's daughter.

* Krissy affirms that orange cranberry sauce is an instant Thanksgiving hit.

* Sugar warns
not to put out a kitchen fire with water. She includes a link to a video explaining why. Holiday cooking is right around the corner, this video makes a very
timely arrival.
---

That concludes this week's blogplugs. Don't forget, you can browse all the blogplugs on Technorati any time!

Have safe weekend folks!

~ Joseph

Tags: blogplugs, aol journals, featured, tagging

Journals R14 Release tonight, Midnight EST (9PM PST)

Hi folks,

Great news, the Journals R14 release will be installed tonight.

We have added new features and made a few changes :

• Shared Journals - You
  can now have your buddies add entries to your Public or Private
  Journal. You control who can view/write to your Journal. Look for
  the Add/Manage Writers
  link on the Main page or the Edit Journal
  page. With this shared blogging feature, you can create miniature
  communities
  (such as blog on weight loss or a fantasy football). Writers can add
  pictures/videos/polls just like the owner. This feature has been asked
  for quite a bit, and it's finally here!
  

• Journals Chat - We have created a
  chat room for J-Landers. Click on the Journals Chat
  link
  on the Main page to enter the chat room. In
  addition to text chat, the chat room supports audio and video chat.
  (Right now, the link will only appear on US, Canada and Latino
  Journals.)

• Entry Pagination -
  Ability to paginate entries from main page and
  other pages without having to go to the Archives page. If you have more
  than 10 entries on your blog, you will see the
  "Older Entries" or "Newer Entries" link at the bottom of your page.
  This feature will allow your readers to more easily navigate your older
  entries.
  

• Other changes
  
  
• New Search header with an additional option to search the Web.
  
  
• New colors for buttons -- green, blue and tan/orange.
  
• New AOL Journals logo on all pages.
  
  
• New look to the Atom/RSS Feed Reader.
• Banner advertisements on France, Germany and UK AOL Journals.
  

There
may be brief outages during the install period, but we're not expecting
any significant downtime. It should only last for 30 minutes or so.

Please let us know if you see any issues or have any feedback in the comments below or write to JournalsEditor@aol.com. Thanks, everyone!

---Malika

[Update 11/15] - The Journals team brought back the disclaimer text below the advertisement on all Journals. It was an oversight during the design stage, and the team would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding. Also, UK Journalers should now have the Journals Chat link on their blogs.
~ Joseph

Tags: Journals R14 release, Entry pagination, shared blogging, aol journals, r14, chat

Friday Blogplugs

Hey folks,

This week's blogplugs are in! I'd like to feature awesome blog entries from people who aren't frequently featured here. So, if you want tell your other Journalers that for really outstanding entries, to add the tag "blogplugs" to them!

* Pharmolo let us know some stupid laws in the UK. (Whatever you do, don't die in the Houses of Parliment!)

* Sugarsweet056 informs us that November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and has a very graphic video to go along with it. She also reminded everyone that last Saturday was the end of Daylight Saving Time.

* Kathi let us know about a benefit concert for our veterans of America's  armed forces which will be held in Washington D.C. this weekend.

* Ellie took a few moments to let us know what her current events are in her life.

* Hohumzzz23 has a really boring blog, and doesn't have any blogplugs.

* Krissy reports that it's snowing in Central PA. (Already?!) 
---

That concludes this week's blogplugs. Don't forget that you can browse all the blogplugs on Technorati any time!

Have an awesome weekend folks!

~ Joseph

Tags: blogplugs

Intermittent Issues with AOL Pictures

Hi folks,

A few of you let us know about the inability to "Add Albums." We observed issues with AOL Pictures, too.

It seems to happen randomly. They had a minor problem with their servers on Tuesday and it was supposed to be fixed yesterday. Please try again and let me know if you still see issues uploading your pictures this way. 

Tomorrow is Friday, don't forget to tag your best entries with blogplugs.

Have a good evening,

---Malika

[Update 11/18] - The AOL Pictures team have fixed the problem, and now "pictures.aim.com" correctly points to "pictures.aol.com". Please let me know if you are seeing issues with "Add Album" using your AIM account. Thanks for your patience.

---Malika

Tags: AOL Journals, Status, AOL Pictures

Friday Blogplugs

Hey folks,

Sorry for the lack of blogplugs last Friday, we'll try to get them out more frequently. Today's blogplugs will be a double-dose of blogplugage:

* Sugarsweet056 wished her readers a Happy Halloween with a greeting card and also shared three Halloweeen recipes for Journalers. (It's not too late, is it?)

* Jimmy is going to his local pub (might sing a couple karaoke songs) and shared his thoughts on attorneys and politicians with a satirical picture.

* Krissy scavenged for autumn photos, and posted two of them in response to Val's scavenger hunt.

* Schoolgal040 took a sick day from work, and describes what she did.

* deshelestraci reminisces about her favorite family traditions and wants to know what are your family traditions (like holidays, cultural, or seasonal).

* Beth gave her opinion on E-mail and general communication tips, and concludes with the fact she loves e-mail.
---

That concludes this week's blogplugs. Don't forget, you can browse all the blogplugs on Technorati any time!

Have a great weekend folks!

~ Joseph

Tags: blogplugs

Following Up on Your Concerns

Hi Folks, it's Malika again.

I'm having a good day so far -- thanks for asking, Krissy. 

I'll try to address the issues expressed in the comments to my Happy Halloween entry below:

* Krissy -
We've worked with the other user who was having issues with her albums
on AOL Pictures. Joseph Manna helped her look into it and it works now!
(We reset her IE7, as described here.)

As far as the Comic Sans font not working, I tested it out on my test blog, and it seems to work for me. Please clear your cache and try again and let me know if it doesn't work for you.

Animated images aren't
supported by AOL Pictures, Flickr, nor most other image hosting sites.
When you upload pictures to your Journal, they get saved on AOL
Pictures. Animation worked if you uploaded pictures to your FTP Space
on Hometown from the AOL client available at AOL Keyword: FTP.

If you're using a Web browser to access Journals, then use the Hometown File Manager and upload your animated image files there and get the link to that picture. I have uploaded one for testing purposes, here.

Then on the Journals "Add Entry" page,  click on the "Add Image" button and go to the "URL" tab.
Copy this link and "Add Image". Save the entry and you should see the animated image.
I
know that the File Manager link on Hometown has an older look and feel.
There are some new AOL Products currently in Alpha that will be
offering this capability. We're looking for an alternate (better)
solution, and when I know, I'll let you know, too.

* astoriasand  -
Your Alerts issue was just bad timing. The Alerts team investigated the
issue, and the reason your friends did not getthe alert was because
the Alerts server was being restarted at that very time.

* rap4143 - You can add up to a maximum of 50 journal links. You have one more to go ;-)

* plittle  -
Joseph and I would like to update the About Me section some day soon!
Its been on our mind since a few days now! Thanks for pointing it out.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments! I enjoy reading your comments. Have a wonderful evening, everyone.

--Malika

Tags: issues, animation, hometown