Why Blog on The Bliss Experiment?

We want this site to be an interactive community where many voices are heard, not just Sean's. No one has a monopoly on truth and many, many people have important voices that are worth hearing.

Blogs are multimedia online journals that include writing, pictures, videos, links, and more. It's sort of like your own personal online diary and place to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

If you've been thinking about starting a blog but wasn't sure how or where to do it, this might be the right place for you. Or perhaps you already have one but it isn't being seen by others very much.

Of course, this site is dedicated to spiritual exploration, personal transformation, and of course bliss and it's related practices. So the only thing that we ask is that if you want to blog here, these topics should be your primary interest. Notice, I didn't say, "your only interest." It's okay to blog a wide range of things here as long as the main focus remains generally in a thematic topic area that fits the spirit and principals of this site.

How often should I post?

You can post as much or as little as you like. There are no requirements. In fact, because this site includes many other voices, it can be a perfect place for you even if you intend to only occasionally post something. Because there is so much other activity on the site, unlike if you had your own solo blog, sparse posting won't feel barren, empty, or just hanging there. The truth is that most blogs get abandoned after just a few posts. This way, you don't have the pressure of having to keep adding new content if you don't want. Moreover, the combined traffic from the community participation ensures that your posts are likely to be seen by a larger audience than if you posted them on their own, stand-alone site.

Feel free to post every day or just once a month--or less. It's up to you.

How to start your blog:

STEP 1 - Register as a member of theblissexperiment.com if you haven't already. You can do this from any page of the site (look at the top, upper right corner or there should be a sign-up box below the navigation bar on most pages).

STEP 2 - Go to your profile page (My Page) and click "My Blog". 

STEP 3 - Click "Add New Blog Post" in the top right hand corner. 

STEP 4 - Give your blog entry a title and add some text. You can use the icons (seen in the screenshot below) to format your text, add pictures, add links and attach files to your blog entry.

STEP 5 - Choose when you want to publish your blog entry (either right away or at some future date) and set who can view your blog entry.

STEP 6 - If you now click on the "My Page" tab to get to your profile and then click "My Blog", you'll see the title your first blog entry! You can edit it at any time and to the right you'll see the "Monthly Archives" box - where all of your blog entries will be stored in date order!

Additional instructions and tips:

How Do I Add Pictures to My Blog Entries?

When you are adding a new blog entry you'll see a series of icons just above the text entry box that look like this:

Add pictures to blog

Click the picture icon (circled in red) and you can choose to either upload a picture from your computer or paste the URL of picture you've already uploaded. If you're not sure about pasting URL's see the question below "How do I let other members know about my blog and new blog entries?".

Can I Add Videos to My Blog Entries?

Yes, and it's very easy! You can add a video from say YouTube or Vimeo (or any video sharing site).

Using YouTube as an example,  simply go to YouTube and find the video you want. To the right you'll see a box with some embed code in. Simply copy and paste this into your blog entry and automatically... the video will appear!

Most video platforms also include 'embed' codes. Simply follow the same procedure.

How do I Let Other Members Know About My Blog and New Blog Entries?

Click the 'Share/Send to Friends' link at the bottom of your post, and use the tools there to automatically send a link to your blog to all of your friends, your e-mail address book, etc.

How do I Add Links to My Blog Entries?

When you are adding a new blog entry you'll see a series of icons just above the text entry box that look like this:

Add pictures to blog

Click the link icon (circled in red) and a box will pop up asking you to enter the address (URL) of the page or site you want to link to. The link code will now be added to your post and the mouse cursor will be flashing between the two arrows like this:

Copy link to blog

Just add some text between the arrows - whatever you want the link to say i.e. "Click here" or "Read this interesting story." Whatever you type here will be the link text that appears underlined in blue. Alternatively, you can highlight the text you want to link already in your post and then click the 'link' icon in the editor.

How does your blog post hit the main page? Sometimes your post might even be featured on the main page. The first step for eligibility is to make sure that after you've written your blog post, under "Who Can View This Post" you choose "Everyone."

Whether you hit the main page, however, is determined by us. So make it creative and keep it fresh! Self -promotion is only allowed if "Your Friends Only" is chosen under "Who Can View This Post." Interesting posts that are in keeping with the spirit of this project are more likely to be considered. It must of course be relevant to the theme of this site. It always helps to have enhancements such as a picture, video, or interesting link embedded. Of course, we can never guarantee your post will be featured on the main page.

We recommend that if you're a new member that you look around the site first, perhaps even take some time before your first post, so that you get to know the site and the kind of content featured here.