... Go!

Happy New Year everybody. Actually its 5 to 3 in the morning here so pardon the sloppy typing! I'm half a dozen chapters into my first (official) book for the challenge. Lord of the Rings. Yes it's a reread - but one of my categories is Tolkienana (not sure if I invented that word) and for the first time in years, I didn't read LotR last year so it looked like a fine starting point. As well as an easy one, I'm half a dozen chapters in and a quarter of a dozen sheets to the wind! But I know this book like the back of my hand and it's an old friend, so I'll just snuggle off to bed now. All the best and good reading.

Ready, Set, .....

A little over five and a half hour to go until 2009 here on the east coast of Australia. Heh, heh, I get about 16 hour head start! I could have knocked off two thin books before you guys start. Mind you, I gave myself a one book penalty for starting early, so I need the legal head start.

ETA: Head start based on US east coast. Is anybody else getting a geographical jump?

Category Stats!

For those of you who enjoy stats, Detailmuse took on the daunting task of tallying our common categories. The Top Ten:

Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction (45)
Classics (33)
Nonfiction (33)
Award Winners (31)
Children's & YA (31)
Reading Globally (31)
Recommended (31)
Historical fiction (30)
Grab bag (29)
Biography (28)

You can read the full thread here (message #93). Thanks so much Detailmuse!

The Global Challenge

I got a message from LT member cathcartes wanting to know about starting the challenge for French members of Library Thing. I think that's great! The more people who sign up, the more fun it will be! So if you are a member of a foreign language version of LT or if you want to mention the contest on your blog or any other site you visit regularly, please feel free! 

Links to Your Individual List on LT

Hello all! If you don't see your List as a link on the right side of this page and you want it to appear there, leave me a msg on my LT page and I'll add it. I was automatically adding them but then I got sidetracked somewhere and I know I've missed at least one person. My apologies.

How to use a TickerFactory Counter

One of our members asked me to post a tutorial on how to use a TickerFactory counter like the one I have on my book list. My first response was to laugh because I consider myself tech-challenged. But I sincerely appreciate the compliment and I'll try to live up to it. If I confuse you or if I am unclear, please leave your question in the comment section. If anybody has helpful tips please feel free to jump in and share. Here we go:

I'm sure there are other counter widgets out there. I used TickerFactory.com because I saw someone else using it. Now, the site is primarily geared towards ovulation and pregnancy (I'm warning you so you don't think you're in the wrong place when you get there). You'll see a listing of templates: pregnancy, birthday, weight loss, savings, etc. I've seen other LT people use the exercise ticker. I've used the savings ticker. Click on one of the templates.


The next screen will give you a selection of what they call "ticker rulers", the bar that your counter moves along from point A to point B. There's a dozen pages of ticker rulers to choose from. Check them out and then select the one you like. Click Next.



Now you'll see what is called a 'slider', the indicator of your current position in the count. There's several pages of these as well. Once you've selected one click Next.



TF will now ask you to Configure your ticker. It asks you select a Password/Pin so that only you can change the ticker. Your target savings is the number of books you've set for your goal, for example, 81. The current savings is how many books you've read, and since I haven't started yet, I've used o. Now, in the spot called Personal Message you can type a description like "999 challenge" or "books read", whatever you want. Once you have the information typed in, click Save.



You should now see your ticker. Look it over and make sure it's what you want. If not, go back and change your ruler, slider or info as appropriate. There are two options on this page. Size: Large or Small (whichever you want). Background: Light or Dark. LT is a light colored website so you'll want to choose Light. If you're using the ticker on a different website then you can choose Dark and it will alter the ticker so that it shows up correctly on a dark page.



Scroll on down and you will see the HTML code for your ticker. Copy and Paste it into your profile, thread, blog, etc. Click Save. There you are.


Now.... here's what you do when you've finished a book or two (or sixty-seven) and you want your ticker to reflect that. Click on your ticker. The TickerFactory website will load and you will be back at the Configure your ticker page. Type in your Password/Pin and Click on Edit/Update Data.



Change the 0 to the current number of books, in this example 3, and click Save. Your ticker will now be updated and you can pull up the profile, thread, etc that it's displayed on to double-check it.





So the moral of the story is don't forget your password! And enjoy your ticker.

Welcome!

I've left the blog pretty much blank on purpose. We can change the colors and text, add functionality and widgets, etc. Leave a comment with your suggestions!

If you'd like to write a post, leave your email address in a private msg on my LT page and I will add you as an author.

edited to add: right now I have it set so that commenters cannot be anonymous. I can change this if the majority wants it changed.