Looking at our visitor statistics, we note that roughly 40% of our readers are first timers. A good portion of these new readers come through Google or Yahoo searches, or from the many placements of our RSS syndication links on bluegrass sites all over the web.

With these numbers in mind, and in response to questions we receive by email, we have decided to post from time to time with information to help new readers take full advantage of the integration and navigational features we use on The Bluegrass Blog. Of course, new readers are always encouraged to visit our New Reader FAQ page, where most any questions that may arise are answered in one place.

Today, we want to talk briefly about Tags - what they are, and how to use them. Tags are like shortcut links to other posts on The Bluegrass Blog that deal with the topic named by the tag. They are typically included just under the post title, one line beneath the post author and date. If you examine the image of a recent post below, you’ll see the tag line, with tags highlighted.

That particular post discussed a YouTube video that featured Jethro Burns performing a talking blues tribute to prominent mandolin players, joined on stage by Red Rector and Bill Monroe. Each of the tags shown (Bill Monroe, Jethro Burns, mandolin, Red Rector, YouTube) would link when clicked in an actual post to all articles we have published about either Bill Monroe, Jethro Burns, mandolin, Red Rector or YouTube.

You’ll notice that this current post has as its tag, About The Bluegrass Blog, and clicking it will display a list of other posts we have tagged that contain information similar to what we have posted here.

We hope that our readers, whether you are new or one of our treasured regulars, will take advantage of tags to find more information of interest here on The Bluegrass Blog.

We just finished the first round of upgrades to the blog. We modifed some code to make things more effecient and easier to use. Most of the changes are unseen and you won’t even notice them, but there is one major enhancement that you might notice.

Those that have posted in our user contribution section known as The B will notice some modifications to the post writing screen. The interface now sports the upgraded visual editor as well as a tab labeled “Code” for those that would prefer to write html code directly. Spell checking is now available as well. Just click on the spell check icon and it will check your draft for errors.

The other big change is the way submissions are handled. Now when you are writing a draft you can save it and come back later to work on it. You’ll see it listed at the top of the page as “Your Drafts:” and can simply click on the post title to begin editing it again. Once completed, the “Submit” button now more effeciently tags the draft as submitted and it will be taken out of your drafts list and forwarded to John and I for approval. This is a huge advancement over the previous system which, I’ll admit, was somewhat confusing.

If you have never posted in The B before, all that is required is a simple registration and you can then submit your own news/opinion items for inclusion in The B.

Join today and help us blog about bluegrass!

This is something new that we’re real excited about. I’ve been delving into rss and javascript and come up with a handy little way for you to paste one line of code into your own website and display the 10 latest headlines from The Bluegrass Blog in a stylish box that reflects the design of this site. Here is an example of what it looks like.

This little thing is pretty flexible and will resize itself to fill whatever space you give it. You’ll want to enclose it inside a tag of some kind that has a fixed width applied to it. A table, div, span, or even p tag will work. If you don’t constrain this thing with a width, it becomes a monster and will fill the whole page. The example to the right is constrained inside a div tag that has a width set to 200 pixels.

John has built a nice page with further explanation of how to implement it. That page contains examples of the Syndibox, that’s my name for it, sized in different ways, along with the code necessary to include it on your page.

Visit the SyndiBox page here.

I’ll just add that if it’s a blog you are running, you can probably just drop the script right into your sidebar and it’ll resize itself to the width of your sidebar.

Avatars are those small icons that are used to identify users in online discussions, or in more complex form, in many online games. If you frequent such sites, you may have seen them before, though the word, or its use in this setting, may not be familiar.

The term is borrowed from Hindu philosophy, and is taken from the word Avatāra, a Sanskrit term meaning “descent,” used to refer to the various incarnations on earth of divine beings.

Gravatar.com is a site that regulates gravatars (globally recognized avatars), icons that can be used to identify a user with the same image on different bulletin boards and discussion sites. We chose to use Gravatar.com when we launched The B, our user-driven section of The Bluegrass Blog, because it was so widely used, and integrated their system into ours.

Unfortunately, just at the time when we launched The B - and enabled commenting on all posts - Gravatar.com stopped accepting new submissions to allow them to update their system. What had been initially promised as a process of a few weeks dragged into months, but everything is back up and running now, and we urge our registered users to submit a gravatar.

Every registered user here at The Bluegrass Blog is automatically assigned our default gravatar, shown here to the right. It is a simple thing to upload your own custom icon via gravatar.com, and once your icon is approved (obscene, profane or pornographic images are not allowed), it will appear alongside any posts you make on The B, and any comments you add there, or to posts on the front page of The Bluegrass Blog.

Your custom gravatar can be a small image of yourself, your favorite musical instrument, your pet, or a graphic of your own design.

There is no fee to register and submit a gravatar, and we hope that our readers and commenters will visit Gravatar.com and do so soon.

There are two detailed festival reports recently posted in The B.

The first comes from a user who goes by Lynyrd Banjovy, describing the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration in Kentucky. The other is from Ted Lehmann, and it’s about the Farmpark Bluegrass Festival in Denton, NC.

Find both posts in The B, where any of our registered users can submit a post to be considered for publication.

A look at the stats from yesterday and this morning shows just how truly international the interest in bluegrass music is - at least based on our readership.

Here’s a visitor map showing where our most recent 2500 readers are located.

A great many of the folks who have stopped by to visit with us this week in the IBMA Exhibit Hall have asked variants of this same question: “What is The B?“ or “How can I post something in The B?”

It seems that a recap is in order.

In a nutshell, The B is a section of The Bluegrass Blog where our readers get to select the topics. You are also encouraged to comment - both on the posts in The B, and any subsequent reader comments. You must be registered to contribute, but registration is quick, painless and costs you nothing.

Submissions to The B are moderated, so they don’t appear immediately, only after Brance or I have a chance to look them over. We want to ensure that the contributions are germane to the interests of our readers, and be able to prevent any spam or indelicate material from getting through.

Brance posted in some detail about all this a few weeks ago, so a read through of that post may answer a lot of questions about The B, and how you can be a part of it.

Please join in!

The B. It’s here. Let me tell you about it.

The Bluegrass Blog will continue to be your source for bluegrass news. John and I will bring you the news daily here on The Bluegrass Blog as always. But while you’re here you might as well check out what other bluegrassers have to say about things. Instead of trying to keep up with a bunch of sites, just come in and sit down. You’re a Bluegrasser. You belong here.

The B is a new addition to The Bluegrass Blog that will allow you to read what others are saying, and contribute yourself. You see, The B is YOUR blog. That’s right, you get to blog in The B. If you are a registered user here at The Bluegrass Blog you can just login and start blogging. When you write a new post and submit it, John and I will read it over, add keyword tags as needed, and then publish it - unless we feel that it is not germane to bluegrass or acoustic music, or would be offensive to our readers.

Once we publish your post, it’ll show up in The B, with your picture next to it if you’ve registered for a gravatar. Other people will then be able to comment on what you wrote, and of course, you can respond to them.

We’ve also added a prominent link to The B in the header navigation at the top of every page on The Bluegrass Blog, so you should have no problems getting there. The Home link will always take you back to the front page - where you are now.

A word about comments. (more…)

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes and we’ve got something new for you today. The B is now live. Let me tell you about it.

The B is a dedicated section of The Bluegrass Blog where you can contribute. All users are now Contributors with the ability to draft posts for The B. You can write about anything you want to talk about in the bluegrass world. John and I will review all the submissions, take care of some back end stuff like adding keywords, and then publish them. If a submission is especially well written and thoughtful we may even upgrade it to the front page of The Bluegrass Blog.

All new posts from this point forward, including posts on both The Bluegrass Blog and The B, are now open to comments. Comments are no longer moderated, you can say whatever you want. There is only one rule. No obcenities. Your first comment will be moderated, to make sure you’re a real person, and after that they will be published as soon as you hit the submit button.

This is a new approach to blogging and discussion in the Bluegrass world. All you have to do is login to The Bluegrass Blog and you’ll be right where you need to be. There are some more details and instructions for drafting posts available once you login. Let’s hear what you have to say…

When we first got to Nashville on Monday afternoon, Brance and I were able to stop by the studios of XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and meet with host Kyle Cantrell. We have corresponded many times with Kyle, and enjoyed having a chance to meet face to face, and speak in person for the first time.

If you were tuned in to Bluegrass Junction on Monday afternoon, you may have heard us on XM with Kyle - a number of readers have written to say that they did. He was kind enough to play several tracks from the new Acoustic Endeavors CD, On A Farm, which he has featured a good bit on XM this year. Kyle also talked with Brance and I about The Bluegrass Blog, and prompted us to decribe the site and what we do here us to his listeners.

Thanks to Kyle and XM Nashville Executive Producer, Joyce Rizer, for their hospitality. See you guys next month at IBMA!