Hi again.

Just wanted to check in with another post to answer some of the more frequent questions that have come up recently.

Tech issues:

I've noticed a number of you have had problems with categorizing your posts. Unfortunately, I don't really have the tech expertise to really dial down and get at the root of any perceived problems. But my understanding is that there is a bit of a lag between posting and having it show up in the categories, and given how much participation is going on, that can leave a small window of time for your posts to appear as one of the most recent eight posts on the main blogs navigation page.

But on that main page if you click on the sport name ("NFL" or "MLB" for example) that will take you to the listing of all the NFL or MLB posts and you're much more likely to find yours in that overall list.

But if you have individual tech questions, there are more direct means to try and get your problems addressed:

Email:

fsblogs_support@intermix.com

Fox blog:

http://blogs.foxsports.com/FOXBlog

How to get noticed:

A few people have asked how they can stand out from the crowd of thousands that have entered. The first, and easiest way, is to write consistent, standout posts (but you knew that already). Another way that isn't required, but will be looked upon favorably by some of the judges (especially me) is by participating in the "community" of the blogs. What does that mean? It means using the tools available to you by linking up some of your other favorite bloggers in the right-side navigation of your blog; commenting on other writers' posts; and, something that I especially like to see, calling out bloggers that you think are doing a good job.

Why is this? Well, I personally appreciate a person who can compliment others who are doing a good job without feeling like that makes their own work seem second-rate. It's not only a way to discover great work being done, but also a good way to get good ideas of how you can do things differently and perhaps more effectively. I know in my own job, I constantly check out what our competitors are doing, because there's a lot of great work going on out there on other sites and it's great way to see how other people attack problems similar to the ones you're facing yourself.

And in a day or so, I'm going to create a new post on this judges blog where people can respond with blogs that they're reading and enjoying themselves as another means to call out all the good work going on out there.

Now all that said, not doing any of the things mentioned above will not be considered a negative and you can certainly become a finalist based strictly on the strength of your posts. But I guess you could consider doing the things mentioned above as a type of "extra credit."

What happens next?

Some people have asked what happens to their blog after the 16 finalists are named. If you are one of the finalists, you will get special mention on the main NGS page and get assignments from me every week as we narrow the field and head toward a winner. But even if you're not a finalist, your blog will continue to live on and you can continue to build it into the home for your voice on FOXSports.com and the internet as a whole.

One of the most exciting things about this for us is that it's really only the beginning for blogs on the site. Even after the battle ends, we're working on new, exciting ways to incorporate your voices into the site and make the blogging tools even bigger and better.

That's it for now. And I hope everyone is having a grand holiday season as we head into the final week of the opening phase of the competition.

 -Tom