Island Blogging

One of the ways I liked to keep in touch with how things were in The Outer Hebrides was by reading various blogs from folks living there which were published on the BBC’s Island Blogging website. There were all sorts of blogs there and it was especially interesting to read about people who had done what we will be doing soon and moved up there to begin a new life. It has been interesting following people renovate old croft houses, build extensions and generally settle down in their new lives.

A few weeks ago the news came that the BBC were to shut down the site early in 2009 (is it just a coincidence that they will be shutting it down at about the same time they have to start paying Jonathon Ross again?) and I was hugely disappointed that a sort of lifeline to the Hebridean Dream would be lost. I started to put together plans to set up a WordPress Multi User blog with my exisiting webhost so that the site could carry on but someone beat me to it. So now there is a new Island Blogging site at www.island-blogging.co.uk. It’s still in its infancy and some of the setup is not what I would have done but we must all give it a chance to grow and hope that it becomes as slick and polished and interesting as I know it can be. Since I have no influence in the running of the site I am trying to help out by writing a ‘tutorial blog’ so that anyone who signs up can find out how to get the best from the site and add add extra interest to their blogging experience.

It should be fun watching the site grow and seeing what it might turn into. Who knows what direction it might take? One thing for sure is that Island Blogging is here to stay for if the new site doesn’t last (and I am sure it will) then I am happy to pick up the reigns. By then I will be a true Island Blogger myself!

Tags: bbc, island blogging, outer hebrides