Discussion Board, Google Plus One & Other News

It's been quite hectic here over the past two weeks and as a result, I haven't been able to do a blog post. Here's an insight of what's been happening...


Mirage Discussion Board

I have this week taken the difficult decision to close down the Mirage Discussion Board. Setup in October of last year, the board was aimed at providing help and support for online business owners and affiliate marketers. In addition to providing help and support, you could also post articles as well as advertise your online business.

Unfortunately over the past few months, the board has become a magnet for spammers to post their content which caused a considerable amount of work to moderate. Out of the 1000+ visitors the board was receiving per day, it was found that 99% of posts moderated were spam based. Given this and after trying everything to prevent such activity, I had no alternative but to close down the board.

On a positive note, I will be setting up a Facebook page and group in the next few days so that small business owners and affiliate marketers can continue to interact with one another. Stay tuned for more information on this.


Google +1 Button

I am pleased to announce that the Google +1 button is now installed on the blog and can be found at the bottom of each blog post and on the toolbar below. The +1 button makes it easy for you to recommend any of my blog posts to your friends and contacts exactly when your advice is most useful - on Google search.

The +1 is often used as a digital shorthand for "this is pretty cool." It's also a way for friends, contacts and the rest of the world to find great things on Google search. Google launched the +1 button back in March as a way to help share web content and make search more personal and relevant. For more information about the +1 button, you can watch this short video.

If you like my posts, try it out and let me know what you think.


Other News

1. Bloggers Network: Given all the wonderful and talented bloggers who have helped Bloggers Network grow into a strong blogging community, I am pleased to announce a new addition to the group: the Bloggers Network fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/BloggersNetwork

This fan page will not replace the group, in fact, it's primarily aim is to promote the group and will be used as a supplementary and support page for the ever expanding group. In addition to having another place for bloggers to post their blog links to gain exposure for their blogs, they can use the Discussion Board to create and discuss blogging topics without the worry of over-posting etc.

The Bloggers Network group is and will always be the main focus point for discussion, networking and for bloggers to grow their readership. The page is just an addition to the wonderful and strong blogging community my members have created. Enjoy and thank you for your continued support!

2. Twimates: I've recently been receiving anonymous comments on the blog post Twimates And Their Illegal Tactics stating how wonderful and trustworthy this service is. With the comments being anonymous, it doesn't take a genius to work out who's posting them :)

Again, beware of this online service given how they used illegal tactics such as hacking into the Twiends site, spam and phishing techniques to try to obtain new members. You can read more on this on the post: Twimates And Their Illegal Tactics.

3. New Domain: Now that the Discussion Board is closed and given the problems I had with my blog, Facebook and the co.cc domain back in February and March (see Related Articles below), I have now decided it's the right time to change the domain for one of my other sites (miragebbs.co.cc) to miragebbs.com. This new domain is currently parked until the transfer from the old domain is complete.

As I mentioned before in a previous post and because I don't want you going through the same experience as I have, try to avoid free domains such as co.cc at all costs. Free domains are subject to abuse by spammers, which in return are easily blocked from social networking sites such as Facebook. May I suggest that if you decide to obtain a domain for your blog or website, that you purchase one from services such as Go Daddy for example.


Finally, we've had some wonderful weather here in the UK last weekend so I couldn't resist going for a long bike ride. I've taken some more scenic pictures while I was on my travels and posted them on Facebook. You can view these under the album: Bike Ride Photo Collection. Enjoy :)

Related Articles:
Twimates And Their Illegal Tactics
Social SEO Is Coming With Google Plus One
Move To The New Domain Now Complete
Derek's Home & Business Blog Is Moving
Facebook Website Blocking Update
Has Facebook Blocked Your Website?
Mirage Discussion Board Open For Business


As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on Facebook or subscribe to our feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog

You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509 and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
http://www.facebook.com/DereksHomeandBusinessBlog

Until my next post, enjoy the rest of the week!

Move To The New Domain Now Complete

I am pleased to announce that the transition to the new domain (http://www.derekjones.co) is now complete and the 301 Redirect is now operational on the old domain. Blog posts have also been updated (where applicable) to include links to the new domain.

There's still a little bit of work to do but the majority of online services such as blog directories etc have been updated to the new domain. The new domain is also starting to be listed on the major search engines such as Google thanks to the 301 Redirect I've put in place. To ensure no traffic is lost, I will keep the old domain active indefinitely.

What's strange is that I've seen no drop in traffic since the transition. In fact, visitors to my blog is actually increasing which is great news. Another thing I've noticed is I no longer have to enter any Captcha (also see reCAPTCHA) when posting the new domain on Facebook. Now this got me thinking...

Had Facebook implemented the Captcha just on the co.cc domains to try to prevent spamming? If so, why did they feel the need to block ALL co.cc domains if the Captcha was in place? Since I didn't received a reply from Facebook, we will never know!

Changing the domain wasn't a preferred option as it caused a considerable amount of work, but it was better than being held to ransom by Facebook because of spammers. At least now I can only be blocked through my own actions and not through the actions of others. In fact, changing the domain is actually a blessing in disguise, although it didn't feel like it at the time :)

As I mentioned in my previous post and because I don't want you going through the same experience as I have, try to avoid free domains such as co.cc at all costs. Free domains are subject to abuse by spammers, which in return are easily blocked from social networking sites such as Facebook. May I suggest that if you decide to obtain a domain for your blog or website, that you purchase one from services such as Go Daddy for example.

Now that the transition is complete, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and for the kind comments and support I've received on here and the Bloggers Network. Your support has made this transition process as painless as possible. Thank you..!!

Just give me another few more days, then it's business as usual :)

Related articles:
Derek's Home & Business Blog Is Moving
Facebook Website Blocking Update
Has Facebook Blocked Your Website?


As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on Facebook or subscribe to our feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog

You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509 and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
http://www.facebook.com/DereksHomeandBusinessBlog

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Derek's Home & Business Blog Is Moving

Given the recent problems I've been experiencing with Facebook and with receiving no reply from their support team, I have no alternative but to change the domain for my blog. This change is going to start within the next 12hrs and be fully completed within one week.

During the transition, the blog will be offline as I implement the new domain for the blog and transfer the old domain to new servers. Hopefully, this transition should take no longer than 24-48hrs.

Once the transition has been completed, anyone who accesses blog posts on the old domain via search engines, articles, blog directories or social networks etc, will automatically be forwarded to the same post on the new domain. For the technically minded, this is done via a 301 Redirect (domain forwarding) which will ensure web users are forwarded to the new domain and the post they requested, no matter where they clicked the link on the web.

The 301 Redirect also tells search engines that the blog has permanently moved which in return, will automatically update the search results with the new domain.

If you're a follower of the blog via Google Friend Connect, NetworkedBlogs, Email or via the RSS Feed, you do not need to do anything as the changes I make on these services will automatically transfer you to follow the blog on the new domain. However, if you've bookmarked the blog via your browser, you will need to change the bookmark to point to the new domain: http://www.derekjones.co

The bulk of the work is going to be updating blog posts, blog directories and other online services to the new domain. This unfortunately is going to take some time to complete, so please be patient if I don't publish any new blog posts or I'm not on Bloggers Network as often during the coming week.

As a word of caution and because I don't want you going through the same experience as I have, please be warned when obtaining free domains such as co.cc. Free domains are subject to abuse by spammers, which in return are easily blocked from social networking sites such as Facebook. May I suggest that if you decide to obtain a domain for your blog or website, that you purchase one from services such as Go Daddy for example. Try to avoid free domains such as co.cc at all costs.

Finally, the transition should go smoothly and without any problems. However, if any problems do arise, I will let you know as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and support during this transition period.

Related articles:
Facebook Website Blocking Update
Has Facebook Blocked Your Website?


UPDATE 3:15am: Transition complete! New domain (http://www.derekjones.co) is now live and the 301 Redirect is now operational on the old domain. Blog posts have also been updated (where applicable) to include links to the new domain. Now it's time for bed :)