Well, it's over now and it was fun while it lasted if a little tiring. This was my second year and I will be signing up for next year's.
Things learned:
Write posts in advance
Set a specific time aside for posting
Set a specific time aside for reading and commenting on other blogs
Organise which blogs to return to to check on comments so I don't get lost trying to find them
Relax
Finding new blogs to read is one of my favourite parts of the challenge, it's great to come across ones with content you may not have expected, some with light yet fun posts, others more informative with thoughtful insights, but all so well thought out even the light-hearted ones were cleverly done. It was so interesting to find all the different themes people had, too. Last year I didn't have a theme but found it easier to stick to one topic this year.
The new category list was useful but for me not too important as I like to dive into a blog and be surprised at it's contents so I didn't always look at the codes before clicking on the title. The diversity makes things more interesting, reading the codes first could make it too easy to stick to one category. The daily challenge posts were a great help, a boost to keep going, plus reading the comments every day helps so much with feeling a part of something, a kind of joining together. It was also a good way to see things in a different way as people posted their thoughts and opinions.
I did try to comment on as many of the posts as I could but often went back to the same blogs and read several posts together before adding a comment, especially with favourite blogs. Most people had their captcha turned off but I still found it difficult to post on some blogs, especially the wordpress ones, I think a lot of people don't realise how difficult it can be to find the comment box. The same goes for people who comment who I would love to have responded to but couldn't find their blogs as I am not a member of google+ which you seem to need to be to get into some other people's blogs unless I am missing something simple, easy for me to do.
All lots of fun and will be thinking up a new theme ready for next year.
