There are now more than 100 of us making blocks and posting messages on a regular basis.
The reason I ask you to use SPECIFIC labels for your post is so that with one click, I can do something like ... see all the block photos that have been post this month. Which I just tried to do, because someone emailed me this week to let me know I goofed and gave them credit for blocks they did not make, so I tried to look through all the posts to figure out whose blocks I incorrectly attributed to someone else.
When I looked at the posts with the label I asked you all to use when posting a photo of your blocks–Oct 2011 Photos–only about half of them show up (so I still don't know who is currently not getting credit for the blocks they made).
Ps. Any post about the block this month should also have the label sampler 11 which would enable anyone (but most likely me) to look at all the posts about our sampler blocks (including sending and receiving them) if, for example, in January, I remember something someone said when we were making sampler blocks and want to find the post.
I honestly don't know if some of you think your idea of a label is better than the ones I ask you to use each month or if you just randomly make something up, but here's the thing ... once someone creates a label, then it starts popping up as an option for EVERYONE ELSE ... which I suppose is why some of you just randomly pick one (or a bunch) of labels from what pops up ... instead of consciously using or choosing the labels I ask everyone to use.
"Blocks received" is a classic example. People use it EVERY MONTH ... which makes it a really bad choice because you can't quickly find the blocks that were received for any specific month. Here are the two labels I asked you to use for blocks sent and received:
rails-mailed
rails-received
I sincerely ask that if you are unsure or don't remember, LEAVE THE LABELS BLANK. (If you are posting by email, you can't add labels and I am happy to add those for you.)
A lot of you make a point of thanking me for the time and energy I spend on the Block Lotto. But, almost every month, I have to wade through literally hundreds of posts to answer a question about blocks mailed or received because most of you apparently don't appreciate me and the time I spend enough to help me use my time efficiently by using the labels I ask you to use. I try to keep on top of it and correct the labels, but some months--LIKE THIS ONE--it gets out of control and I give up.
The Block Lotto only succeeds because each month, we show up, make blocks and well as we can and mail them to the winners in a timely fashion ... because of mutual respect and trust. I'm asking you to TRUST ME and understand I ask you to use these specific labels to make it possible for me to stay on top of things and prevent nights like tonight where I do little beyond wading through hundreds of your blog posts in an effort to keep things straight.
Ps. If you made 4 blocks this month and your name ISN'T in the sidebar, you'd better let me know. Several hours later, I still don't know who you are.
Sorry Sophie, I'm a guilty party. I should have checked before adding my Label... I'll remember next time.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to tell you how to arrange the labels 'cause you've been doing this a lot longer than I've been here.... but I know I get a little confused about labels and always have to go back to your sneak peak email to find out what I should be writing.
ReplyDeleteIf you use the "Show all" option for labels when writing a post, the labels are arranged alphabetically, but for the same month are all over the place. So the labels you've asked us to use this month are:
sampler11
Oct 2011 photos
sampler-sent
sampler-received
This means in the list of all available labels, the 'Oct 2011 photos' is nowhere near the others for easy reference.
Would it be possible to start all labels for a given month with the same thing so they are located together in the list? Maybe the date or something like that?
Also, it is possible to change the labels on posts as a bulk function (using edit posts) and I'd be happy to help out with cleaning some of it up if you'd like. That list of labels is very long and confusing.
No, Karen, it is NOT possible to change labels as a bulk function. You can ADD labels as a bulk function, but that doesn't remove all the variations you guys make up and that others use because they have been created by you. That is why I suggest if you can't remember the labels I set up, please leave the labels blank--because then I could add labels to those posts as a bulk function.
ReplyDeleteAs for knowing which are the labels I asked you all to use, they are ALWAYS in the right sidebar module "useful labels."
hmmm, I find the correct labels easy to use & incorrect labels are usually easy to spot as they often don't have the same format as a "good" label (or have blatant spelling errors like MIALED or POHOTS).
ReplyDeleteAlso, & I know this may not have occurred to a lot of people, the labels are not there for the easy use of the person posting any individual message. That person will locate & apply a label with each post which is twice a month, maybe three times...? The list manager though is responsible for identifying what has changed, what needs to be updated, what needs to be reviewed, etc. & will use those labels daily. It is for her the naming is designed.
I have managed many, many databases & cleaned up even more & I promise you, what is intuitive for the person entering the information often will not work for the person who has to retrieve it (imagine trying to use a county-wide phone book that was ordered by street address; that's how the phone company used to prefer to organize the numbers). As for cleaning up the label list, having to comb through the complete list, find what should not be there, locate the entries associated with those labels, & edit them EVERY TIME she needs to sort the list is a lot of extra work. Bulk functions are useful, but if you still have to use them daily (or every time Sophie wants to update the current block list which might be more than once a day) it can still get old FAST.
Hey Sophie, I guess you meant "Oct 2011 photos" not "Oct 2001". rho
ReplyDeleteI don't label since i post via email, just wanted to say that I LOVE the new way the labels are listed on the right hand side of the blog. Should be much easier for everyone now, thanks sophie!
ReplyDelete