System Time: 09:07 25 Jul 2008 - 11 Players Online

Claim Blog

What Are Claimed Blogs?

A Claimed blog is a blog that you own in the real world. It could be your personal blog, a team blog, or in some instances even a company blog.

Why Claim My Blog?

Well, because as an owner you receive a number of benefits:

• 1,000 free shares.
• The ability to execute a Leveraged Buy-Out
• The ability to Issue Shares
• The ability to split or reverse split the stock.
• The ability to write Press Releases.
• Immunity from Hostile Takeover and Restructure Artefact uses.

How To Claim A Blog

To claim your blog, follow this guide, and be sure to note the special sections for specific blog hosts/systems (e.g., MySpace, LiveJournal). If you want to have your blog removed from the game, scroll down to the last section.

To claim your blog you need to display an image button with a link to BlogShares on your blog's homepage. Follow these steps to obtain the code that you need to add to your blog and complete the claim process:

• Make sure that your blog is in the BlogShares System.
  • Use the Quick Search tool on the right side of any page to search for your blog by title, keyword, or full URL.
  • If your blog is found, move on to the next section to begin your claim.
  • If your blog isn't returned in the search, add it to the system by putting your blog's title and URL in the appropriate boxes and clicking on the Request Site Addition button. Allow time for your blog to be added to the system before continuing the claim process. It may take a day or two.

• Once your blog is in the system, go to its Blog Listing in BlogShares, and click on the "Claim Blog" link on the right-side menu. This link is toward the bottom of the right column.

• When you click the link, you'll receive a claim code (HTML) in an email message from BlogShares, and you’ll see information similar to what is shown in the following image (where the title and URL are appropriate for your blog):

• Copy the code from the email message or your Web browser and insert it in your blog code (e.g., in the sidebar, in the footer, and so on). BlogShares rules require that you maintain the claim code visibly on your blog at all times. Place the code provided in a static (permanent) place on your blog. Please be certain to read the full text of the rules. If you remove the code the spiders will eventually declaim your blog and put it back under public ownership.
  • See the notes below on where to place the code in specific blog host/systems.
  • This code inserts a link and image that is identified by a BlogShares spider when it parses your blog and, if found, will ratify your claim. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to a week, depending on the status of the BlogShares claim spider and other site-related issues.
  • There are two possible images that can be displayed:
    • - http://blogshares.com/images/bslisted.gif
    • (default) - http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.gif

• Check back on your blog claim in a few days (allow up to a week) to see if the claim has been processed. Look for these indications:
  • Check Your Profile. Your blog will probably be indicated as your Home Page in the profile table. Note that you can change the blog that displays in the Preferences page (see link in the Member's Area on the right side of any site page). A player can view all of his/her claimed blogs by clicking the [Your Blogs] link on the right-side menu in the Members Area.
  • Check your Shares portfolio. Once a claim has been identified by BlogShares you will be marked as the blog's owner and will receive the 1000 reserved shares in your blog. You may sell or hold these shares as you choose but regardless of how many shares you have remaining you will be considered to own the blog. The initial shares are considered a reward for making the blog. It's like being the CEO and founder of a company with some shares you can sell to diversify your share portfolio.
  • If it does not appear within a week or two, please post to the technical support forum.

Host Specific Claims

BlogShares rules require you to display the claim code visibly on your blog at all times. Many blog hosts and systems limit the ways that a user can post code on the homepage however. Follow these instructions for work-arounds for specific systems:

MSN Spaces In order to post the claim code on your MSN Spaces page, follow these steps:

• 1.) Click the customise link on the top right
• 2.) Make sure the custom list is added in the modules
• 3.) Add an item in the custom list - use the URL within the HTML snippet from BlogShares
• 4.)The URL code is:

http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fspaces.msn.com%2Fmembers%2FYOURSPACESNAME%2F&user=XXXXX

• 5.) Save it and it will appear on the homepage

For the URL code, you just change the areas that say YOURSPACESNAME and XXXXX. XXXXX is your Blogshares user ID number.

Thanks go to byngmeister1 and Island Dave for the work-around for this host.

LiveJournal

There are several different ways to place the claim code on your LiveJournal page. Each way depends upon which style you use. However, there is are some aspects that are common for each of these style workarounds. You must make sure that a Webpage URL has been entered in the Personal Information that displays on the user profile page. Also, you must enter the following style-specific code into the customization page for your journal.

• Style: S1 Default

LASTN_WEBSITE<=
<td>
<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2F[LiveJournalUserName]%2F&user=[B$ID#]">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" border="0" width="117" height="23"/></a>
</td><td bgcolor=%%color:stronger_back%%> </td>
<=LASTN_WEBSITE

• Style: S1 Generator

LASTN_WEBSITE<=
<tr><td class="meta">[</td><td align="right" class="meta"><b>blogshares</b></td>
<td align="center" class="meta">|</td><td class="meta">
<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2F[LiveJournalUserName]%2F&user=[B$ID#]">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" border="0" width="117" height="23"/></a>
</td><td class="meta">]</td></tr>
<=LASTN_WEBSITE

• Style: S1 Punquin or Webley

LASTN_WEBSITE<=
<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2F[LiveJournalUserName]%2F&user=[B$ID#]">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" border="0" width="117" height="23"/></a><br/>
<=LASTN_WEBSITE

• Style: S1 Tabular Indent

LASTN_WEBSITE<=
<tr><td> </td><td>
<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2F[LiveJournalUserName]%2F&user=[B$ID#]">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" border="0" width="117" height="23"/></a>
</td></tr>
<=LASTN_WEBSITE

• Style: S1 Notepad

LASTN_TALK_LINKS<=
<p align="right" class="comments">
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size=1>%%readlink%%<a href="%%urlpost%%">comments</a></font><br/><br/>
<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livejournal.com%2Fusers%2F[LiveJournalUserName]%2F&user=[B$ID#]">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" border="0" width="117" height="23"/></a></p>
<=LASTN_TALK_LINKS

Major props go out to manhattan for coming up with this workaround. For more details, check out this forum thread.

MySpace

In order for the claim code to appear on your MySpace page, you have to create a blog entry and date it a year in the future. Then, place the following code in the entry:

<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.myspace.com%2FYOUR_MYSPACE_NAME&user=BSID#">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" height="23" width="117"></a>

Thanks go out to tengrrl for figuring out this workaround.

Blogger / Blogspot

In the New Blogger system, add an HTML/JavaScript Page Element, and insert the code in the new element. Place the element anywhere on your blog’s homepage.

Xanga

Edit the “Look & Feel” of your Xanga space. Scroll down to the bottom and paste your claim code in the “Website Stats” section. The claim code isn’t really a website stat information, but Xanga isn’t checking so it works. Save your changes.

Flickr

There’s no way to add the code to the photostream on Flickr. When you add your blog, point to your photostream (e.g., http://www.flickr.com/photos/tengrrl/). Add your claim code to your profile, in the “Describe Me” area. Post in this forum thread to have your blog claim completed. Your claim must be processed manually, so allow time for the task to be completed.

Twitter / Jaiku / Pownce / BeeMood

There is no way to add the code to these type of blogs. Please ask that the claim be manually applied in the technical support forum.

Claiming Co-Operative / Team Blogs

For instructions on claiming co-operative and team blogs, please visit this forum thread.

Replacing a Lost Claim Code

Changes in blog hosting systems and coding accidents sometimes result in lost claim codes. If you lose your code, you can easily create a new one by replacing the relevant details in the example below:

<a href=http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=URL&user=#####>
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" width="117" height="23">
</a>

Where "URL" is your blog URL and "#####" is your userID.

Alternately, if you have any difficulty, you can try this option, which encodes the special characters in the code:

<a href="http://blogshares.com/blogs.php?blog=http%3A%2F%2FURL&user=#####">
<img src="http://blogshares.com/images/blogshares.jpg" alt="Listed on BlogShares" width="117" height="23"/>
</a>

Again, where "URL" is your blog URL and "#####" is your userID. Note that the "http%3A%2F%2F" translates into "http://". If you have additional slashes in your blog URL, replace them with %2F as well.

Submitting an Alternate URL

Many blogs are listed in the system multiple times. The most common reasons for a blog being listed twice is the 'www' portion of a domain. For example, if your blog address is:

http://myblog.blogspot.com/

It would be wise to suggest the following as alternate url (assuming that the two addresses do in fact go to the same exact location):

http://www.myblog.blogspot.com/

More on Alt-URLs.

Submitting a Troubleshooting Request

If you have difficulty claiming your blog, follow these instructions to get help:

• Wait at least 1 week from placing the claim code on your blog.
• Post a reply in this forum thread, and be sure to include your player ID, Blog URL, and the date you put forward your initial blog claim.
• Be willing to provide any additional information the admins may need to manually process your claim.

DeListing Requests

To have your blog removed from BlogShares, you must send the request to support@blogshares.com. You will need to prove that you are the author/owner of the blog before we remove it. This may include temporarily adding a small text to a specific part of the blog, profile page, or other area worked out between you and the administrators of BlogShares.