Blog vs Trip Journal: Part 3 – Guests and Messaging
Blogs commonly allow guests to post comments related to a single posting. Most commonly, the comment is posted, an email is dispatched to the blogger, and the blogger can then decide to delete. In this way, RV.net authors – myself included – have received quality info from the public on the subject of our informative blogs. Different blogging platforms allow for different levels of control over these comments.
Since Trip Journals are primarily a personal record of your own trip, guest comments are treated differently. Rather than including factual comments on each posting, visitors to your Trip Journal can elect to leave you a personal message through a ‘Leave a Message’ link. Often these messages have nothing whatsoever to do with your individual postings:
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Messaging the Trip Journaler |
This is like sending a personal email to someone, but with the added advantages that: (a) other visitors may see it; and (b) the message retains the connection to your trip.
Since messages to your Trip Journal tend to be private, there are two control measures put in place. First, the traveler is always given the options to add the message to their Guestbook, delete it, or just store it. There is no storage limit and your private inbox messages – in addition to messages added to your Guestbook – will form part of your post-trip archive.
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To Guestbook or Not To Guestbook? That is the question .. |
Second, before leaving the message the guest is always warned that the traveler may decide to post this message in their Guestbook.
Dan Parlow
Personal Travel Websites by RV.Net ; Online Travel Journals by MyTripJournal.com ; Explore Good Sam Club Trip Journals ; Woodalls Trip Journals ; Travel Journals by Trailer Life Directory ; Traveling USA Travel Blogs
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Helpful; however, can you recommend a website template on starting an online trip journal? I’d like to start one and know that there must be a template for us newbies to get started. I like the ones where you can add pictures. Some of the trip journals/blogs I see are really boring with no pictures. Thanks for your help.