batBack

What's a blog "toolkit"?

A blog toolkit is a toolbox for your blog. You can put some tools in there you think are useful, and people visiting can also put some tools in there. Anybody that has a web browser can use the toolbox when they visit your blog.

What's cool about batBack?

That the toolbox and all the tools are fully customizable. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to use batBack. It's the same toolbox for all blog engines and users no matter what browser they have. Is that enough? How about it's all free? How about getting a detailed analysis of your blog articles from your readers instead of vague comments? Being able to find the best articles on a daily basis on a particular topic? Instantly searching Google for similar articles to the one you're reading? Being able to email your friends about a cool article without having an email program -- from anywhere you are? How about being able to take the features of GreaseMonkey and run them no matter what browser the user has? If that's not enough, just standby, because there's more coming!

How is batBack better than some of the other blog helper sites, like Technorati, or SiteMeter?

It's not. Those sites (and others) are great tools. Tools help you get your job done. But just as important as tools is haivng a place to put them. For instance, I'm writing a personal batBack widget right now that lets me do article tagging -- from the toolbox I can tag articles for the popular tagging engines. A friend is thinking about writing a widget to search E-bay for items mentioned in articles. When I select a tool for my blog, every reader that comes by my blog, whether they are registered for batBack or not, gets to use those tools. Likewise, when I select a personal widget for my toolkit, I take it with me to every batBack blog I visit. batBack doesn't supercede these other tools, it empowers you to use them and take them with you wherever you go. It makes them more useful.

Why do you want my personal information?

We don't. We ask for identifying information in order to keep you separate from all the other users. When you vote or use the system, there are times when your name appears. You get to use a nickname if you want, but something has to appear to show your identity. We also need to contact you from time to time -- your account is messed up, your blog is not working, we've upgraded the system, etc. If you sign up and then never use batBack, we'd like to email you and ask you why -- to make sure we didn't do anything wrong. The demographic information we get for two reasons: 1) to verify who you are in case you lose your password, and 2) to anonymously associate your demographic information with advertisements -- no identifying information is given out. We don't give out your email or name to anyone, and we respect your privacy. If there was some way to make it work without gathering any information, we'd gladly do it. But the realities of the modern world mean that even for free services there has to be some sort of trade-off. We're sorry we need that information, but we need it just the same. So there. You can read our privacy policy and service terms on the other pages. We basically copied them from Google, so if you use Google and are happy with the way it works, you shouldn't have a problem with batBack either.

How can it be free??

Because we want your eyeballs. If we can give you 60% of a screen that has stuff you like, you will put up with 40% of advertisements. Or some ratio like that. So we're just taking the web to the next level -- you make the widgets, we deploy them and handle the database work in return for the advertising space. People get free stuff, and they have to put up with the ads they would see anyway. Everybody wins.

Is it going to make my blog look ugly?

The default batBack installation puts a rating bar next to each article title and a "open toolbox" button next to the bottom of each article. We've tried to make them both as small and unobtrusive as possible. Now if you decide to add widgets -- like one of the Sidebars or some of the other stuff in the works, that's your decision. You can add and remove them from your batBack preferences screen at any time. Most you can also configure in some way to look differently. How much stuff you have or what your blog looks like is entirely up to you.

How can I use batBack to get more readers?

Several ways. First, you can get detailed feedback from voters on your articles. You can view this as a graph on our graphing page. Over time, this should show you both the topics and the style of writing your readers prefer. (The number one rule of getting readers is having good content!) Secondly, you can get the word out about articles you have written. If you have the batBack Sidebar, whenever you vote on an article a link to your blog appears on all the other batBack blogs. This means free link-backs and free publicity for you. Most users vote on their own articles and visit a couple other blogs and vote each morning. It lets people know what you are writing about. Third, you can look for hot topics across all the batBack blogs. Looking for the funniest story yesterday in the news? batBack has it for you. How about the most interesting? Or the story people disagreed with most? Looking at the hot lists from the day before is a great way to start off your morning blogging routine. (note the hotlist functionality is due by May) Finally, we hope to provide you with a catalog of batBack widgets over time. Neat stuff to entertain your readers while they visit.

Our mission is to help you connect to each other and take your blogging experience to the next level. If you've got some ideas about how we can help you get more readers, please let us know.

I'm having trouble installing batBack. Can I get help?

Absolutely. batBack is tested for each site that registers, so if you are having problems please email the batBack administrator for help.

I have (blogger/SquareSpace/Xanga/SourceForge/CS/Typepad/Wordpress/etc) Will it work for me?

You betcha. Any structured HTML site that has templates will work with batBack. Even sites where the templates are output through programming, like PHP or .NET sites. If you are able to add a simple line of Javascript to your web pages, we handle the rest.

My blog is having problems. Can I get help?

Sure. Just not from us. We make sure batBack works, and make sure it works on all types of blogs and browsers. If you are having more problems with your blog, you'll need some sort of technical help we can't provide. Sorry about that.

Can I make my own batBack widgets and sell them or give them away?

Give them away, for sure. Sell them, fuggettaboutit. Everything in batBack has to be free for the bloggers. We're here to help bloggers make their blogs better and get more readers. Trying to price and sell widgets is just too much for folks. Maybe one day we'll change our mind. Maybe not.

What if I don't want to use batBack any more?

It takes one minute to install it, and one minute to uninstall it. Just take out the one line of Javascript you put in there, and it's uninstalled.

What happens when I sign up??

To sign-up, you complete a form that asks you some stuff about you and your blog (if you have one). We visit your blog, and validate your information. Then we set up a configuration file on our server that lets batBack work with your blog. We give you a special identification number and email you a piece of JavaScript that you need to paste into your blogging template. That's it! If you need any additional features, you just go to your preferences page and choose what you'd like to have.

How do I know batBack is working?

When batBack loads, the rating bars next to each article shows Xs. Once batBack is retrieving information, the Xs change to colored bars. If you have the batBack Sidebar installed, every so often you will see the hot aritlces and voters change (as well as the advertisement.) If a couple of hours pass and you don't think batBack is working, email the system Administrator. Note that it is not unusual for batBack to hang for a minute or two. As a growing company, we expect to have some growing pains!

How do I run ad Ad on batBack?

To run an ad on batBack, you need three things: 1) An image (or animated gif) that is 120x120 or 120x360 pixels, 2) A link to a site that users will go to when they click the image, and 3) a tooltip you would like to pop-up when the mouse hovers over the image.

Once you have that, email the Administrator for a price quote on advertising. We sell ads in 1,000 view lots. If you like the price, select how many lots you want and submit your information and payment. Note we have pay-per-view advertising, not pay-per-click.

Can I have the source code for batBack?

Nope. You can use the service all you want for free, but the programming that makes it work is proprietary. If you'd like to come to work for batBack or if you're interested in investing in batBack -- that's probably the best way to see how it all works.