BlogCatalog is always on the look out for new features that can get your blog more traffic as well as enhance the value of your blog to visitors, so that they keep on coming back.

We found a tool that we think you’ll really like. BlogCatalog has partnered with JargonFish, a company that offers a free, customizable widget that when added to your blog will increase your blog’s traffic and provide your readers with a convenient way to find blogs from other BlogCatalog members.

So how does JargonFish work?

Once on your blog, the JargonFish widget highlights keywords that you select. When a visitor click on those highlighted keywords, a small JargonFish window is launched providing the visitor with a variety of helpful resources related to that keyword including related blog posts from BlogCatalog members, as well as some other leading content providers, including Digg and Technorati.

What does this mean?

This means that you will be receiving traffic from other members who add the JargonFish tool as well as providing your blog readers with more reasons to visit your site.

To see the JargonFish widget in action and add it to your blog visit http://www.blogcatalog.com/jargonfish/

If you like what you see, visit http://www.jargonfish.com/builder/signup.htm?sourceId=5 where you can further customize the JargonFish tool.

Hey guys, I wanted to introduce you to the newest widget in the BlogCatalog family, the Newsfeed widget. Basically, it’s tied into the information you have shared with the blogcatalog community to share with the readers of your blog. Now, your fans get a chance to see your favorite websites, stumbles, twitters, and blogcatalog activities!

Available in a variety of colors, the widget is a fun and dynamic addition to any blog because while you are being active online the widget is constantly changing for your readers giving them the opportunity to catch your latest suggestions and updates. It also gives users the opportunity to add your feed to their RSS reader so they can follow your favorite stories and videos at their convenience.

This is a great way to promote your posts and your friends posts, so take some time and check out the NewsFeed widget here: http://www.blogcatalog.com/account.widget.php?type=feed

Also, we have finally updated the profile page with their own personal activity feeds. Now you can check out your favorite members feeds from their profile, if you like what you see you can add them as a friend to place them in your dashboards newsfeed.

The Dashboard’s news feed gives a chance for you and your friends stories going viral. As soon as BlogCatalog sees that you have a new post, we put it in your followers feeds so they can check it out right away. Also, if they digg or stumble the post then THEIR friends can see your posts, and if those friends digg or stumble the post then THEIR friends will see it… and so on… and so on… So not only is it a great way to get the latest news, blog posts, and entertainment but it gives you a chance to promote your favorite webpages to the people following you and vice versa!

Oh and for those of you looking for the ever so popular Neighborhood posts you can now find them in the right hand column below the Favorite Discussions, or even better, for a larger view you can see them in your dashboard here: http://www.blogcatalog.com/dashboard/neighborhoods/

We had a member-driven idea. And we think you’ll love it.

What would happen if your newest post was Dugg and all your friends at BlogCatalog knew about it? And then what would happen if they Dugg it too, letting all of their friends know it. That would be pretty powerful, right?

In the next couple of days, BlogCatalog is launching a social Dashboard beta, a new feature that displays your latest activities across many social networks — Digg, Flickr, Last.fm, Twitter, YouTube, and many others. That means automatic cross-networking and promotion right from your personal profile page. It also means that the your post updates, Twitter comments, Digg submissions, and other activities will appear on the Dashboard of all your BlogCatalog friends, and maybe their friends too. This is the kind of networking that can make posts go viral. And that’s just for starters.

Our Dashboard will help you keep up on the activities of your friends. It’s almost like having the ultimate social network feed reader made up of your friends. In fact, everyone here at the BlogCatalog team thinks you’ll love it. It will help you streamline networking and stay up to date with friends across the Web. When they upload a new Flickr photo or submit a new article to Digg, you will know and you can then share it with your friends.

Use it promote your activities. Use it to keep up on friends.

We also think the Dashboard will strengthen the BlogCatalog community for you. It helps make profile pages much more dynamic, giving people a reason to visit them again and again. It’s what some bloggers told us they wanted.

Now, we would like to know what you think. Let us know after the launch. If you like it, great! If not, it’s super easy to opt out. We don’t think you will, but it really will give other members a reason to visit your profile page. They’ll be able to check for blog updates, Twitter messages, Flickr photo updates, Digg submissions, your YouTube videos and whatever else you might want to share. And by sharing with them, they might share with their friends.

We’ll be rolling out a beta version in the next few days. Please watch for it. And, let us know what you think!

You ask. We deliver. Seems simple to us!

In our ongoing effort to bring new tools and features that add value to your blogs and enhance blogging, your BlogCatalog team has recently partnered with SezWho to add its “comment rating and reputation management platform” to our network.

Now you will automatically be able to increase your exposure on all SezWho-enabled sites, expand your online network without having to join yet another social network, and have the option of adding a new BlogCatalog-SezWho widget to your blog.

Even if you don’t want SezWho features on your blog, you still benefit because your BlogCatalog avatar will appear on SezWho-enabled sites and link back to your profile page where new readers can discover your blogs.

Why SezWho?

There are several benefits to having a BlogCatalog-SezWho enabled site, but the choice is yours. Here’s how SezWho works and might work for you:

SezWho allows readers to rate each other’s comments. It adds this rating to cumulative rankings across SezWho-enabled sites. It encourages and rewards readers to provide worthwhile comments on your blog. And it provides an overall score associated with individual profiles and on individual subjects.

In other words, if you frequently comment on sites about Internet marketing, every comment you make, and every time someone votes your comment up, it increases your reputation in that subject area. Over time, you will become recognized as an expert in that area.

That helps your blog because when someone searches for “Internet marketing” (or whatever you enjoy blogging about) your avatar will be listed right alongside everyone else who comments on that subject. We think that’s cool.

How Do I Add SezWho To My Blog?

Adding the Sezwho plugin to your Wordpress or Typepad blog is easy. Just goto your Account page on BlogCatalog, click the ‘Manage’ link next to the blog you want to install SezWho on, and scroll down to the SezWho section. Once you submit your blog to SezWho you will receive further instructions on how to setup the plugin.

We’ll keep you up to date on future joint ventures with SezWho and other online service providers. And, of course, we’d really appreciate your feedback on the new joint venture.

When we started Bloggers Unite in 2007, it was our belief that the best social networks are born our of a sense of community — people who share common interests and experiences. We knew that bloggers could do good, and do good together. Our most recent challenge proved that to us more than any other challenge before it. Why? Because the lives you touched through Bloggers Unite — Acts of Kindness asked BlogCatalog members and other bloggers to take action first and then blog about it.

The results were amazing. Thousands of bloggers, some who are community members and some who are not came together under the banner that bloggers, can do good and do good together. Did these bloggers change the world? We think so.

Through acts of love, kindness, and compassion, they changed the world at home, in their neighborhoods, in their communities, and around the world. The did not just write about it, but took action to prove that we can make a difference in the world and that even the smallest acts of kindness go a long way. There were thousands of posts; and dozens of bloggers added links so they could be considered in our challenge. We read every post, watched every video, and looked at every picture. And while there were no losers, we are please to announce the following top 20 posts for this challenge. Thank you all for making this such a success. Together, we changed the world. And if you don’t believe me, see for yourself …

First Place – BlogWorld Conference Attendance, Full Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster, iPod Touch
	Listening..Learning..Living
Second Place — 1/2 Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster Mental Stimulation
	Mental Stimulation
Third Place — 1/2 Page Ad in Blogger & Podcaster
	Keep It Simple Solutions
Fourth Through Seventh Place (No Order) — 1/4 Page Ad In Blogger & Podcaster
	Life Prints
	Original Me
	Sushi for Lunch!
	My Den
Eighth Through Seventeenth Place (No Order) — USA Today Advertisement
	Ruthie’s Reason
	Local Biz Bits
	Sinigang For The Soul
	Wahm Cafe
	Sharani – Girl On A Road
	Guiding Vision
	Katalusis
	Live From Waterloo
	Jessica In Rome
	JerichoMonster

Every one of these posts and many, many more is a beautiful window into someone’s heart. Everyone here at the BlogCatalog team invites you to read through these posts and discover something wonderful about people. Your life will never be the same again. In addition to the prizes above, Copywrite, Ink. will be profiling several of the winners. — Tony

BlogCatalog user Nick, who authors ngtech.gr, has brought to our attention a recent Firefox/GreaseMonkey plugin that he has created to redefine how your BlogCatalog shoutboxes work. What does it do? Nick Says:

This Firefox Greasemonkey script adds a new easily readable/scrollable Shoutbox section above the My Blogs section in your account profile page making it easier / faster to check your messages.

That sounds like a great addition to me. Learn more and try it out at Nick’s Georgakis Technology Homepage.

Well guys its been almost a little over a month since we first announced our very first BIG IDEA Challenge to the community and WOW did you guys deliver! Last week I had to go through and print out a copy of all the entries for myself and Tony and I was surprised and just how many of you responded. Maybe it was the chance to be a part of what we hope is becoming one of the best blogger related social networking sites EVER. Then again, maybe it was the chance to win $2,500?

So we read, and we read, and we read… until we had a stack of our favorites. Seriously, there were some really great ideas in the bunch but at the end of the day there can be only ONE winner. So now, without any further ado, I present the winner of BlogCatalog’s first ever BIG IDEA Challenge, our very own NAREN!

Naren’s email entry was different from most in that it was almost 3 pages long! When we said that there was no limit to how many ideas you could send in, Naren took it to heart. Naren’s entry, with around 47 ideas covered almost everything. Actually, many of the ideas in his document were mentioned in other entries but no other entry match the combination of quantity and usefulness of Naren’s submission. We could really tell that this wasn’t a rushed email slapped together and sent out for the sake of just submitting something, Naren actually sat and thought about what he felt BlogCatalog needed and tried his best to cover everything.

To give you an idea of what we received here are a handful of ideas from his email submission to us:

• inviting friends
• polls in profile by user
• smilies in shout box n forums
• both messages & shout box facility
• Photo Editing in profiles n avatar
• Manage invitations and send out email updates to friends
• Sharing online videos & music among users.
• Making Communities by the users on there own.
• Creating Events by users and blogcatlog team.
• BlogCatalog Toolbar.
• RSS directory.
• Sending weekly updates about user blog stats
• Sending weekly updates about user profile views and members in his Communities.
• Sending weekly updates from blog(s) which the user favorite
• Polls
• local Communities like india, usa, uk & etc..
• A special page for each profile to show there talents(with hobbies, feeds, location, contacts, friends, talents which express himself)
• Saving the post(s) the user like which displays in his profile
• Voting the post on which the user liked
• Members & Visitors list page(IN AN ORDER)
• Providing stats for user blog.
• Voting and allowing comments for blogs in BlogCatalog
• Live stats(for premium user or if not to all) for the blogs with maps, country, language because a small blogger cannot know about his stats so if BlogCatalog provides it to them its much better.
• PageRank Checker

As you can see, its quite a list, and this isn’t even half of the ideas. The entire thing was organized and separated into categories such as BlogCatalog ideas, For users, For website, for blogs, and for making money. In the end we had no choice but to award the first place prize to Naren for really taking the time to think about what could help make BC even better and going above and beyond with his entry.

Second Place was even harder, there were many GREAT GREAT GREAT entries, it was hard to decide which were the most useful and who really put thought into their entries. Some were very simple suggestions, others were full blown concepts and all were ultimately deserving of recognition. After much debate we decided to award the Second Place prize to Borzack for his concept of the BlogCatalog BlogBar.

The concept is relatively simple, and one that others mentioned also, a toolbar download for your internet browser that is centered around BlogCatalog. Now many people wrote in and suggested a stumble-upon style toolbar but Borzak took the idea and evolved it further, giving other examples of what we could do. For example:

• Login/Register button
• Search tool – BC users/blogs/neighborhoods
• BC Blog feed – users will be updated the latest entry on BC Blog
• Messages – users messages/pm/shoutout
• Online user stats / Online friends stats
• Announcement / Latest news ticker
• Add as a friend
• Join the neighborhood
• Give ratings
• Report abuse
• Tell a friend

Basically a toolbar that keeps you connected and wired to BlogCatalog so you can search, share, and interact at all times when online!

Even now, as I look over this stack of entries on my desk I really cant help but tell you guys how thankful we are for each and every one of these entries. Sure, maybe the money helped but it’s nice to know either way that our users aren’t scared to speak up and let us know what they want from the site and how we can improve. I know many of you have seen us online in the discussions, hanging out in the groups or dropping by your websites and we take every opinion to heart. We may not always use EVERY idea we are given but we listen to everything we can and do our best everyday to make this place YOUR home; a place for bloggers to feel comfortable, share ideas and voice opinions… a place to interact.

Its only been a few months since we became a social network, and over that time I have watched things grow from a small handful of users to this really amazing community and resource for bloggers. I am constantly in awe of how open and friendly things are in the community on a day to day basis. Sure, we might have one or two users bump heads every now and then but that’s just the nature of these types of things. In the end I look towards our discussions, when a new member stumbles in and asks a question and is welcomed not just with an answer but with a sincere hello from other BC users.

So congratulations Naren and Borzack from the BlogCatalog community, you will be getting an email from me later today with some information regarding your prizes.

For those of you who didn’t win this time, no worries I am sure this won’t be our last contest. Many of you had ideas that you will definitely be seeing in the next few months, I hope you stick around and see how they come out as we are constantly adding and tweaking… You haven’t seen anything from BC yet!

Until next time… Blog on!

Amazing. Every day we look out our little window on the world and assume it’s perfect. I did today and I am thankful for it. But the perfect day I saw isn’t true.

It’s not true.

Somewhere in the world, in places like Myanmar, entire populations are being abused. (http://adelaidegreenporridgecafe.blogspot.com/2007/09/blogging-against-abuse-people-of.html).

Or maybe it is closer. Like the boy next door. (http://thembonez.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-against-abuse-i-am-ghost.html).

Or maybe it’s you, because you never really thought about it. (http://jerichomonster.blogspot.com/2007/09/blogging-against-abuse-verbal-abuse.html).

“Despite everything, I manage to retain some hope, in part because of grassroots community-oriented action, such as BlogCatalog’s action that spurred this post for me. Thanks to Ruby for alerting me to this. It is important. We can make changes, in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us. Start small. Think big.”

Or maybe it’s tucked deep inside and hard to write about. But you do it anyway. (http://unrelentingambiguity.wordpress.com/2007/09/26/blogging-against-abuse-a-blog-for-hope/).

Or maybe you wish with all your heart that it would stay in the past and go away. (http://childpersonfromthesouth.blogspot.com/2007/09/child-abuse-from-inside-out.html).

But you courageously wrote about it anyway. And prayed for forgiveness.

Abuse. No creature it seems is free from it. (http://skdd.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/change-your-thinking/#respond).

Nor are the people who sometimes employ it. (http://socalmuchacha.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/my-contribution-to-blogcatalogs-blogging-against-abuse-day-stop-the-abuse-of-power/).

Every day. Everywhere. Every minute. And when you think about it too much, it seems pretty overwhelming to face on your own. That’s why Bloggers Unite.

All of us here at BlogCatalog are pretty proud of our members who posted against abuse today. Every story is special. Every one unique. Many are timeless. All of them touch our lives in ways that are big and small. (http://andybeard.eu/2007/09/linking-abuse-or-linking-awareness.html).

Thank you for joining us on today of all days to say enough is enough. Let’s stop abuse. Let’s make a difference. Every post will count. Oh, they count.

For every pain we shared together today, I think we shared feelings of hope. At least I did.

http://cubeville.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/bloggers-unite-to-stop-abuse/

Because in almost all these posts and videos and radio shows, I see solutions. And maybe, just maybe, it’s not so overwhelming. We can stop it. Or some of it.

To all of you, from your BlogCatalog team. Thank you. You are making a difference. I know. Because you made a difference in my life. All of our lives, today.

Hey guys, I know it’s been a while since we posted anything conversational in a while, things have been so crazy here for blogcatalog the last few weeks that I just can’t seem to find time and blog (how ironic huh?).

As you probably know by now, we just released our GROUPS feature which has been doing really well. We already have a few really amazing groups popping up and more and more are added each day. Right now it looks like they should be out of beta sometime next week, there are a few minor tweaks that I know Daniel wanted to make so keep your eyes open for that, it should be fun…

I thought I would take a moment and highlight some of my favorite groups so far and hopefully highlight some lesser known groups too…

Writers and Writing
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/writers-and-writing

This group started by MadameX has really taken off in the last few days; with over 100 members it is easily one of our most active groups. Topics range from Writing tips and ideas to Search Engine Optimization, which are really great not just for new bloggers but also more experienced bloggers. This groups is really looking for people who are serious about their writing either “professionally, or anything in between”

Blog Straight Talk
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/blog-straight-talk

Blog Straight Talk is a group started by Rich and it is one of the most detailed and informative groups I have seen so far. With only 55 members it is no where near being one of our largest groups but read through some of the discussions and you can see that the guys and gals in this group mean business! One of the more interesting discussions is The Power Of Social Media which really starts to get interesting once our favorite history lover Stoneman joins in half way down. You can see that these aren’t just yes and no answers, these guys are bringing up interesting points.

Stumble
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/stumble

Holy smokes! After BC began removing stumble and link exchanges from the general discussions a few months ago most people thought they were never going to return… FEAR NOT as crkian has created the ULTIMATE stumble group. Seriously, what better way to launch a great post than to harness the power of the community and go big with one of our largest groups!

Bloggers Unite
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/bloggers-unite

You have probably gotten our newsletter or read discussions or blogposts about the bloggers unite movement, well building upon the idea of making a difference and strengthening the community you can now join the Bloggers Unite Group. Join the group, give feedback and add your link to what will hopefully be the largest collective blogging initiative ever seen!

Lord Likely’s Lavish Lounge
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/lord-likelys-lavish-lounge

I may be slightly biased, seeing as lordlikely is probably one of my all time favorite blogcatalog members but seriously, what is going on with his group? With topics like Which is best: beards or moustaches? and Who Urinated In My Wardrobe? I have no idea what this group is so actively talking about. Bottom line is that while this might be one of our strangest group, it also looks like its one of the most fun groups to be a part of for just chatting and socializing.

Popular Science
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/popular-science

When I first saw urikalish post a group on Popular Science I had my doubts about how well it would do but YIKES was I wrong. Click through to some of the discussions like Is free will just an illusion? And you will see that the discussions are deep. I haven’t commented yet in this group but its definitely worth a read for those looking for some interesting conversation and debate. Its filled with the type of topics that make my head hurt but I just cant tear away from reading because its just so interesting!

I am Awesome!
http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/i-am-awesome

Last but not least is a shameless promotion for my very own group titled I am Awesome! – In all honesty this is probably one of the least useful groups we have on blogcatalog but hey we can’t be serious all the time right? This group is for awesome people who want to share their awesome with the rest of the world! This group is less about discussion and more about people who want to join the most awesome group in blogcatalog, and since joining the group requires approval you get the chance to see if you are awesome enough to get accepted.

Now, I have barely even skimmed the top of these groups, there are hundreds more popping up all the time and hopefully I can find some time to come on here again and talk about some more, if you have a group of your own that you think is worth mentioning, look me up and send me a shout, maybe next time I can write about your group.

Until next time guys, Blog On.

Many of our members kept asking us to create a place where they could host their own topics and discussions and we listened. We’ve created Groups to allows BlogCatalog members to make their own communities and invite other bloggers to connect, discuss, and share ideas or interests.

With Groups you can meet new people who have similar interests and help build different communities. You can have and host fun conversations or have serious educational discussions. Whatever you dream up is fine with us … it’s your Group and the only limit is your imagination.

We already know that BlogCatalog members will create some pretty amazing Groups. We asked several members, many of them your friends, to get busy and take the beta version for a test drive. They did! And they’ve been keeping us busy ever since to make Groups the very best it can be.

Visit some of our Group beta testers at http://www.blogcatalog.com/groups and then get ready to make your very own.