Apologies for not writing my blogathon post (yet)

Dear Dorian, Becky and fellow bloggers:

I want to apologize with all of you for not writing my post on Charade for the Best Hitchcock Films Hitchcock Never Made Blogathon. It was scheduled for the last day of the blogathon but I couldn't find the time to sit, study and write something new about this film. 

As I explained to Dorian, I plan to write the post anyway, so it can be linked to the blogathon page for future visitors. I hope that can be soon.

Again, I'm really sorry this happened. 

Live Q&A with John Voight's daughter (that Angelina girl)

No, seriously, want to ask something to Angeline Jolie? Want to win a poster of her Golden Globe- nominated directorial debut, In The Land of Blood and Honey? 

Well, the guys at PartnersHub contacted me and offered all these plus a poster for myself. So, just leave a comment in this post and cross your fingers :) If you know more people that would be interested in participating in this experience, well, don't keep this info to yourself.

All the details about the Q&A in the app below and further instructions in this post:

>> Q&A event is finished.

PS: The winner of the poster was Sebastián Cofré, the only one who left a comment. Congrats!

Why I uninstalled Disqus from Blogger

UPDATE

After posting this entry I was contacted by Disqus via Twitter & Blogger. They offered me help, because the duplication was something that shouldn't occur:

"The duplication error only occurred during a specific time period which is why you can't reproduce it. We're looking into a more automated way to remove duplicate comments for forums so you don't have to go through and manually remove them. We'll be in touch again once we know more about that. "

17 days after this e-mail they informed me that they had removed the duplicated comments. I asked them if I could remove Disqus just by removing the widget and the answer was positive:

"Nothing will happen to your Disqus account -- if you'd like to remove the widget you will just need to find the Disqus widget in your Blogger layout editor, open it, and then click "Remove" along the bottom, and your Blogger comment box will be restored.

Sorry for any hassles, we do plan on some major integration improvements with Blogger so keep us in mind :-)."

THE ORIGINAL POST

Last night I opened Disqus widget and clicked "remove". I didn't even know if that was the official way to get rid of the system (because they don't have proper information about it), but after some serious issues I just had to do it.

I'll describe my experience with Disqus because I know that the Blogger comment form is terribly basic and a lot of people will tempted to change it.

First, the good things. Disqus nails it with its:

• Overall clean interface 
• "Reply" button that forms threads inside the flow of comments
• Cool system to show "Reactions" or who shared your post over Twitter or other sites.
• System to display attachments like pictures or videos linked in the comments.
• Option to save a copy of your comments in your Blogger dashboard and also an option to Import/Export your comments.
• Help reply timing: if you have a problem with Disqus and write to the staff during working days, they answer you really quick.

Now the things that make you want to kill yourself:

1. It doesn't fetch all your Blogger comments:

I was really happy with Disqus until I noticed some weird things. Before it loaded I could see the original Blogger form and noticed that it said, for example, "10 comments". Then when Disqus officially showed up, it said "9 comments"!! I checked my Blogger dashboard and noticed that there were some comments correctly added there but not in Disqus and therefore not in my site.

I wrote to the staff, and after following some steps like checking the "Spam" folder they informed me that:

Perhaps these were made from a phone or other mobile device? Blogger doesn't yet allow Disqus to work on their mobile templates, so that would be one way to get comments on Blogger and not Disqus. If you do an import from Blogger again that'll bring them in. Blogger will also be adding Disqus support soon, so they say. 

Why didn't they inform me about this tiny issue before installing the system? Well, I know why.

2. Importing comments can be tiring:

So each time I noticed there were some comments that weren't correctly published I had to go to my Disqus account and re-import all the comments again. Sometimes this didn't take more that a few minutes, in other occasions it did.

This meant that if someone left a comment he/she had to wait for me to notice the problem (because if Disqus doesn't save it, you obviously don't get a notification via e-mail) and then for the import.

Importing comments on a daily basis was something I didn't have to do with my old Blogger comment form. 

3. Disqus comment form is not really easy to get:

I remember when I first saw Disqus in other sites I thought I had to create an account to comment or use my social media accounts. And that's what a lot of my readers thought too when I installed it in my blog. Some of my readers told me that they preferred to send me e-mails commenting a post than using Disqus; others took part of their time to create an account; others didn't see that they could leave their url when posting as guests (the option font was too tiny), etc.

So, extra task: I had to invent new ways to clarify all these issues, like adding a description box on the top of my site, creating posts, etc. I think that they should modify the design: leaving a comment using just an e-mail and an username should be the main option, embedded under the form and not in a pop up window, because this leads to confusion. If you want to use your other accounts then you should click a button like "Use an account".

4. It adds some extra seconds to your site loading time.

No comments.

5. Importing comments can go crazy:

This was the last straw! Last week, as usual, I noticed that there were two comments that weren't published so I tried to import them. After some hours, I checked my site and noticed that ALL THE COMMENTS I'D EVER RECEIVED WERE DUPLICATED. That meant that if I wanted to change to another system and export my comment file they would be duplicated anyway. So, again, I asked for help  to the staff. The answer, another challenge:

Unfortunately this was due to an error that we made. There's no way to remove the duplicates automatically, but if we can put together something we'll contact you. Otherwise they can be deleted manually -- we're very sorry for any hassle this has caused.

Yeah, I have the time to manually delete more than 2,000 comments! 

The good news is that I noticed that my Blogger comments dashboard correctly showed my comments, without the duplicates.

6. Getting rid of Disqus means losing information and formats

The bad news is that after removing the Disqus widget all the direct "Replies" to users I wrote using Disqus are now messed up, because Blogger displays them in chronological order (TIP: if you're using Disqus and replying to your readers, address them, like @Someone to have clearer comments in case you uninstall it). Of course, I also lost the "Likes" the readers' comments or my posts received, the "Reactions", etc.

Conclusion

After all, I guess I made the right decision, Disqus wasn't really making my blogging experience easier. I only hope the guys at Blogger can work on their comment system, to make it more functional and pretty. I modified a bit the basic form, hope you like it :)

2011 CiMBA nominations: THANK YOU :)

Source

Yep, I can't help smiling like Shirley Temple. Thanks to all the CMBA members who nominated Via Margutta 51 in three categories:

Best Film Review (Drama): The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Best Classic Movie Blog Event: If I Had to Keep 4 
Best Classic Movie Blog Design

As you see, I also have to thank the people who participated in the If I Had to Keep 4 series, the lovely guests, the people who read the entries, the supportive commentators and the people who helped me with the name :)

Congrats to my fellow nominees, I'm proud to be among bloggers I admire. Visit the CMBA to check the other nominations. 

The winners will be announced on October 17th.

Audrey woke up: some changes in my site

If you're reading this on your RSS Reader/Facebook etc...well, you'll have to check my blog to understand what I'm talking about :)

We say goodbye to the old header, "Sleeping Audrey"...

And welcome the new one..."Audrey having her hair washed".

I also made some few more changes: 

• Created a more visible/legible title and tag line, because I'm sure there are a lot of people that don't know how my blog is really called :)
• My super menu is still there, only I removed the image buttons because in some browsers they loaded too slowly. 
• Added an Amazon Search Bar, so if I've piqued your interest with my reviews you can immediately look for the title in this store...and help me with some cents :)

If you have any (any) kind of problem with my site or some suggestions, please let me know. I'm trying to improve the experience of visiting Via Margutta 51 for you and me :)

A guide to explore Via Margutta 51

[Updated on: February, 2014]

No, I'm not talking about Joe Bradley's address in Rome. I'm talking about my blog, of course. If you're new to my site or even if you've been with me for a long time, maybe I should explain what's going on here, what can you find and what can you expect.

Browse my Movie Reviews List: I usually review the old movies I see. Sometimes I review a single film so I talk a lot about it; sometimes I review a lot of movies in one post. Those are my mini reviews. I've alphabetically indexed all the reviews in one page. 

Get Fonts by Classic Stars: I love creating digital fonts based on real documents from actors. You can download them for free but donations are welcome.

Check my Movie Lists: Sometimes I make lists about my favorite films, things I love from a movie, things I don't like from a movie; maybe a list of 10 types of annoying people to watch a movie with. All the lists I've written are here.

Play Movie Games: If you click this button you'll find all the posts for the movie games When I say.... and Caption it. In the first, I tell a word and my readers write their first movie related thought. Recently I started displaying the results in a different post with pictures. The last game is pretty obvious but really fun: I post a picture, you give it a caption.

Check my personal Movie Articles: Those are post about movies that aren't reviews. The other day I talked with my grandparents about old movies and posted about it. I've highlighted characters and actors; shared some memories; written Haikus, investigated topics like Audrey's fawn etc. Those are my Articles entries and you can find more clicking this menu button. 

Sneak my Movie Findings: When I read Ginger Rogers' autobiography she mentioned that she recorded Alice in Wonderland. It was supposed to be very rare recording, but I managed to find it on Youtube. I shared it here. Sometimes I find interesting interviews or material. These kind of posts are my Movie Findings.

Enjoy [Photo]graphs + Music: This is a series I started last year. I see a great picture and I try to find a song that captures its atmosphere. For example: Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward dancing to..."Twist and Shout". Clicking this category you'll see all the posts from this series, plus all the posts that include picture galleries.

Read my Movie Book Reviews: Obviously, books about actors or movies. I've reviewed the biographies of Jean Arthur, Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara and more.

Read awesome Guest Posts: This year I started inviting other bloggers to pick 4 items from their classic movie memorabilia, in a very successful series called If I had to keep 4. These entries and future guests post will be added here.

Read my answers in Surveys and Memes: I had fun answering a lot of these since I started the blog. You can easily form an opinion of my movie knowledge (or lack of it) by reading my answers.

Watch some ClassicMovieRIMFs: Yeah, I know. The word I invented is awful. But this means Classic Movie References in Modern Films. You know, you're watching a modern movie and all of the sudden the characters start watching an old movie...or talking about a Classic Star. Well, I chunk that part and upload it for you.

Hear some Happy Old Songs: When you start watching a lot of movies, your music knowledge also expands. You start appreciating old songs and singers. Well, from time to time I post my favorite songs and they tend to be happy.

NOTE: if you are looking for a particular post, you can always use the Search bar placed on the top of the sidebar.

Well, that's it. Hope you didn't freak out.

Attention Readers: new COMMENT SYSTEM on Via Margutta 51

 Update: My affair with Disqus is over.


Yesterday I finally made up my mind and installed a comment system called Disqus. I know some of you are familiar with the interface, which is very intuitive, but for those who are accustomed to the Blogger system, here's a brief explanation:

[Update: please notice that Blogger doesn't yet allow Disqus to work on their mobile templates, so if you're leaving a comment from a mobile you'll be using the usual Blogger form and it might take a little longer for your message to appear.]

With Disqus you can leave a comment in more ways:

a) Post as guest, adding your name or nickname, e-mail and, if you want, a link to your website. Maybe this is the most similar to the Blogger system, but is better because you can leave your direct site url.

b) Using your social network accounts. This is great, for example, if you have a Twitter account for your blog. 

c) Or creating a Disqus account to leave comments. This is very useful if you want to keep track of the comments you leave in other sites.

>> To leave a comment, simply start writing or click the comment area and the "Post as..." button will appear; then choose the comment method you prefer.

You can also "Like" or "Don't like" my post and subscribe to the rest of the replies by e-mail or RSS.

Please, if you have any doubts, just ask ;)

Via Margutta 51 is now on Twitter!

I'm still learning how to use it, but feel free to follow, I'd love to see you there too :)

If you want to add me with just one click, use the button on the sidebar or:

@viam51

If you want to share tips on interesting things to post when you have Facebook, Twitter AND Blogger/Wordpress, comments are welcome. If you want to discuss pink gorillas and mad unicorns, comments are welcome too :)

8CX9YF3XV68S

A hundred followers and a girl (VM51 is now on Facebook)

THANK YOU guys, you rock!! I didn't want to make a big fuss before, because I could lose a follower and then the whole thing would be over :) Well, I just wanted to thank all of you, everyone who decided that this blog, written by a girl who watches the movies with Spanish subtitles, was worth following :) And it's cool, because this month is the first anniversary of my blog, since I wrote my first post in English on April 2010. I really, really appreciate it.

To commemorate this, I've decided to create a Facebook page, hope you like it. My Blogger posts will be there as notes, my Youtube clips and tributes and I'll also use it to share quick Classic Movie links that don't make a Blogger post for themselves. Ideas are welcome.

So, to sum up, THANK YOU and visit Via Margutta 51 Facebook Page (or you can use my brand new Like button on the sidebar)

PS: Oh, if you have a FB Fan Page for your site, leave a comment with your url so I can 'like' it :)

LAMMY awards: For your consideration

Guys, the Large Association of Movie Blogs (LAMB) soon will be giving a recognition to the best blogs that are part of it. Seems that you have to make a little campaign to convince people to vote for you, so here's my poster:

So, if you're a LAMB, please consider my site when you're choosing your nominees :) You can nominate 3 blogs for each award, save for Best Blog, where you may nominate up to 5 sites.

PS:Let me know if you're part of the LAMB, there are like 800 registered blogs, but I'd like to pick people I actually read/follow, and I'm too lazy to browse the list.

Technical difficulties with Internet Explorer??

I don't get this, Roz, either!

Hey, guys, just a quick post to ask my readers using Internet Explorer (or even better browsers) if you're having trouble to display my site correctly. I've been trying to add Amazon widgets and Adsense ads lately (with zero earnings btw) and maybe they're causing trouble.

Please, if you have any technical issue with this blog, tell me so I can fix it. Thanks :)

Discuss & vote: AdSense or not AdSense, that is the question

What do you think about AdSense? I've been tempted to add it to my blog, but I have some doubts. 

For you as a reader, is it too distracting to see commercial links in blogs?
I know that some sites display them everywhere and there are more ads than content, but I've also noticed that lots of serious blogs show them in areas where is not really annoying, which I promise to do, in case I activate this service.

If you have installed it, did it work? Did you really earn some bucks?

So, please vote in the poll placed on the sidebar/comment, because I really want to know your opinion before I make a decision:

A sponsored survey called Movie Blogger Survey

Uhm, read over the LAMB that there's a movie survey going on, sponsored by PriceMinister, and if you post about it you automatically win a dvd (classic films to choose? Only La Dolce Vita) and the possibility to have a brand new Blue Ray player at home.

To answer the 17 question survey go here:

http://www.priceminister.co.uk/events.html

More info about this survey and the prizes can be found here:

http://www.wix.com/olivermoss/the-movie-blogger-survey

List of Movie Reviews added!

Update: You can find this list clicking in the sidebar the MOVIE REVIEWS, under the "Explore Via Margutta".

Just to let you know that under Pages (first position on the sidebar) now you can find an alphabetical list with all the reviews I've published. That way you can easily find a specific title.

Sorry, my Paint pulse is awful. 

I have Tumblr: the story

It's confirmed: I have the most dispersed behavior in all Human History. I wanted to make a post like everyday about...

...uhm...

...well, I don't remember by now (you should also know that I think I have Dory's memory problem...and I think I already told you about that).

Well the thing is I checked my blog "Stats" before writing my daily Blogger post and noticed that some readers came from a Tumblr link. I clicked the link to check the source but Tumblr asked me for user + password. I didn't give up so easy, so I created an account. But then it started to offer me tons of things to do, like posting a picture or sharing a quote. So I obeyed (I took a picture and posted one of the loveliest quotes ever by the way). My site looked kind of boring so I created a header, a background, added a description, made a logo, create another header and background because I didn't like the previous...

So here I am, like 3 hours later, with a brand new Via Margutta 51 Tumblr Site, a Blogger post about nothing that I had to write two times because I accidentally erased it (argh!), inviting you to click this link...

http://via-51.tumblr.com/ 

...and asking you to share your Tumblr experiences and opinions (do you have one? do you like any specific page? do you know anything about it? why do you hate it? why do you don't have one? what should I do now with mine?, etc).

Yes, I hate my rambling posts too.  

My "Barefoot in the Park" review on MovieFanFare!

Chris from MovieFanFare! contacted me and offered me to reprint one of my reviews on his site. I said yes, he chose the one about "Barefoot in the Park" and now it's published. I asked him to correct my grammar mistakes, so now you can read one of my pieces written in proper English :) 

http://www.moviefanfare.com/fanfare-guests/barefoot-in-the-park

Via Margutta 51 is a new proud member of the LAMB :)

Today my blog featured at The Large Association of Movie Blogs:

Post #100: Unlock a special prize and a story

 I'm celebrating the fact that I've written one hundred posts here in Via Margutta. Thanks to my followers and commentators I've been encouraged to keep posting and sharing my thoughts about classic films and performers. I've met nice people and I've practiced my English which is very important. So...I've decided to upload something that is very special to me and I really hope you'll like. But first, you have to give me a name...this is the question:

Look my header image. The line "Life & Old Movies" is handwritten.  

Which classic movie star is that handwriting from?

Comment and leave your answer. The moment I get the right name, I'll post the prize for all the readers plus I'll tell you a story that connects that star directly with me. If I noticed that you're not getting close, I'll start to update this post with some hints. Have fun!

Hints:
#1: Non-American girl. 
#2: Won more than 2 Oscars. 

With Hint #2 K.C. got it right. It's Ingrid Bergman's handwriting. Download the font and read the story.  :) 

Word verification on Via Margutta

My dear readers,

Since Mr. (or Mrs.?) Spam is visiting my blog more often than rules of courtesy allow, I've been forced to add the word verification system before commenting. I hope this doesn't bother you, and I really hope you keep commenting. 

Sincerely,

-Clara-