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Happy New Year and a big welcome to our new bloggers on Kerrera (our first) and Iona (our first for a while).

Sorry that our moderation service has been patchy over the holidays but we are back on track from today.

In case - for new bloggers - your wondering who we are - Blog Blog is written from Glasgow and we are the point of contact for queries, the arbiters of blogging disputes and the bringers of news on the whole project.

If - like me - you are full of good intentions and New Years resolutions ("I will stop all my vices and blog every day!") you might like to remember Murphy's Law as witnessed in this link sent in to us:

Mike

Americans are going nuts for blogging acording to this report, with 32 million getting hooked in 2004, according to new research.

The survey, conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, showed that blog readership has shot up by 58% in the last year.



Closer to home I see a new Jura website has been launched which allows visitors to take a virtual tour of Jura - the new site includes over 900 photographs with Gaelic place-names and English translations for every place on the island.

The Gaelic Landscape of Jura project has been coordinated by the Feolin Study centre and follows the Jura 365 Landscape Photographic Exhibition from earlier this year.

Visit the new website at Nice.

What makes a good blog?

There are no hard and fast rules on this, you'll find your own way. Short regular updates seem to work better than long-winded and infrequent ones. Daily is good but don't get in a seat. If you've nothing to say wait until you do.

Be yourself. Write about what interests you and that will come over in your writing.
Take care. Like any sort of writing, if your blog is riddled with typos and spelling errors it will turn people away.

Some people treat their blogs as a diary, some have specific themes, some have loads of links to other sites, while others have none.

Two last things. Photos are a great bonus, add them in if you can - any questions just emails us and we'll help. Also, tell us something about yourself, who are you? What are you like?

Are there any rules?

Yes. There's a set of House Rules you're asked to obey. Basically you're asked to keep your contributions civil and tasteful. You're not allowed to swear, link to another website that might be considered offensive, and you've got to be based on one of the listed islands.

Money-making also isn't allowed. You can't use Island Blogging for advertising, commercial activities or fund-raising.

Once you've signed up you've agreed to abide by these rules and it's assumed you've read them.

Other than that, it's pretty much up to you.

Anyone else got any thoughts on what makes a good blog?

This from the news: "A new weather alert is being issued with storm force winds and snow forecast to hit the Western Isles and other parts of Scotland.

North and western areas could see winds gusting up to 70mph overnight on Monday with up to 10cms of snow in places.
Central Scotland is also likely to be affected by drifing snow affecting roads, especially on higher grounds.

The warnings come a week after the same parts of Scotland were battered by hurricane force winds.

Northern Constabulary said it was offering precautionary advice to people on the Western Isles based on information received from Stornoway Coastguard. The severe weather warning applies until Tuesday."

Family and friends will gather today at St Mary's Church at Griminish on Benbecula to pay their respects to Archie and Murdina MacPherson, and their children, Andrew, seven, and Hannah, five, who died in last Tuesday's storm when they were trying to flee their home on South Uist. Mrs MacPherson's father Calum Campbell was also killed.

I'm sure everybody - especially on the islands - will give a thought to the remaining family and friends.

It's a timely reminder of the terrible power of the weather, and I don't think the storms are over for the winter yet.

What do Island Bloggers and others think of this new initiative being put forward in the Yorkshire Dales?

Under a proposed scheme new-build homes would be available only to local people or those working in the area. Could somthing similar crack the shortage of affordable housing in Argyll and the Western Highlands?

The councillor behind the plans said people who had lived in the national park for three years would be considered "local" and would be eligible to buy new homes in the park.

Iona Blogs are like buses, you wait for ages for one and then two come along at the same time...

A big welcome to 'I do like to be beside the sea' (great photos) and Mainland Islander from the Sacred Isle.

A couple of points for new bloggers.

1)There's a quirk to posting blogs that you can't have more than 250 words in any single post. So if you have a longer piece of writing you have to split it up into two (see for example The Curious Crab on Life, Water, Respect 4 Sheep etc).

You can cut and paste your words into Word before and use 'Tools' then word count to check your word number if your not sure.

No such limits on comments (strange I know).

2) Worth taking a quick look at the

Thanks & Welcome!

We're updating the islands individual pages - prior to the site's re-launch.

One of the things we want to do is get better links through to existing island sites. So we're looking for your suggestions for additions.

These can't be directly commercial but if there's a community run site you want added, or anything that isn't trying to promote a business, then drop us a line and let us know: islandblogging@bbc.co.uk

Mike & Richard

Further to the Eagle-Eyed Pondhead's comment:

Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife
Fri 28 Jan, 8:30 pm - 9:00 pm

is from Mull...the blurb says

"Travel with Bill Oddie to the island of Mull as he dodges downpours and midges in his search for some truly stunning Scottish wildlife. Find out how drawing helps you look more closely at seals, get otter watching tips from the UK's top wildlife cameraman John Aitchison, and hunt for treasure on a deserted beach."