1. Not for me. I read at work and usually scroll quickly by images anyway. Although they do sometimes add to comments and discussion, like the hook horror/bullette thing.
2. Not for me. Images add a bit of spice, sure, but I wouldn’t miss it.
3. Meh. Corporations don’t usually waste money suing people, so long as you aren’t republishing the art in some form that is being directly sold, blog-advertising revenue aside. Especially since most of the corporations you are dealing with are American in origin, which would entail the mess of international copyright. The most you’ll get is a curt cease-and-desist order.
4. This is arguably more illegal, and more likely to raise crap. I would avoid. Also you end up annoying all the grognards that get angry over new art.
5. Making the effort to source images isn’t a bad idea, but the internet being what it is, it’s difficult to pull off.
6. Probably. You aren’t likely to get outright sued, and I don’t think it would affect things that much one way or the other.

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As for images, I agree with the others. I’ve had a bit of the same problem, so I eventually decided to post no images at all, thus I’m curious about what you eventually decide on.

I would only really look for photos being needed if its a long post or something that is difficult to explain without some sorta picture.

Their basic license allows exactly the kind of usage you need, although it’s not the only license images can be flagged with. I make sure to only grab the ones with the basic license, and call it good.

I just read the primer on Creative Common and I most definitively will consider releasing the content of this blog under Attribution non-commercial.

Non-commercial, does that prevent ad revenues on blog that link or copy a small part of my work? I wouldn’t want that.

(I would want to legally prevent blog bots stealing my content wholescale though)

As for derivative, I want to allow people to use my ideas and expand on them on their websites and possibly include my work (or derivatives) in freely available documents (or commercial documents if I’m contacted to discuss it).

I’m not sure I’d impose Share Alike as this sounds more like forcing the Creative Common License on others.

Any suggestions?

Nothing at the bottom of the page is important. The login link is actually meant to be out of the way, since most people don’t use it. (Me, you, and Phil, primarily. Most of the others who made accounts don’t actually comment much.)

I’m not even sure that account registration was meant to be open (it doesn’t actually get you much anyways, not even email updates or anything). We just saw, one day, that a few of you had made accounts. Half the registered accounts are spambots, as well. Which is dangerous, since they can use that to bypass captcha, meaning we need to have Akismet active for them.

I generally wouldn’t worry about the use of images unless the owner contacts you regarding the use, though on the safe side I would include Creative Commons in my search criteria. I myself do not use many images in my posts, but have been doing quite a bit thinking about the issue in general.

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As far as rearranging the site goes I can only think of one thing to say. Your current design seems mostly workable but if any of the links at the bottom of the page are important (I remember the “Login” link being hard to find at first due to this), move them up to the top. When I look at your page I tend to pay attention to whatever article I’m reading and the stuff near the top of the page. I think most other people would too.

I like the idea of the nanowrimo thing. I keep wanting to participate in that but I’m always thinking of some excuse not to.

I think the “Easier navigation” is a good idea, it’s the color scheme tweaking that scares me! It’s very pleasing to look at your site the way it is now, with the whole beige-on-brown look. I also like how the majority of space is devoted to content and not ads.

It’s your blog, so I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do- just thought I’d put in my two cents.

- Yes
- Yes. Appropriate thumbnail images can add a lot to a post. That said, no, not every post needs an image.
- If you can find good ones, sure
- That’s good too
- This is my preference, as this is both fair to the artist (by generating extra traffic for them) and useful to you. Few people will have an issue with you using a small version of their picture, when proper sourcing is done.
- Yes. Definitely.

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SeiferTims last blog post..Again with the thinking and the planning…

Now, on to your questions:

* Yep. Images are good, especially when it’s a longer post. At the same time, I don’t think you need one for every single post, and don’t sweat it if you can’t find something appropriate. It’s what you write that counts, after all – we don’t come here to see other peoples’ art, y’know.
* Nope. Less is more, and an all-text blog does have a certain appeal. If you take the images out of your posts you’ll need to tone down the sidebars and theme too though – if there’s no/fewer images in the posts, what art there is elsewhere can be distracting.
* Creative Commons images are preferrable; it’s less of a headache in the long-term. My own renders are all Creative Commons licensed and free for the taking, and if you want anything creating, just ask!
* Corporate. Ick. Books covers if you’re doing a review, sure, or something that’s directly related to the topic……… otherwise, corporate art looks so…… corporate
* Give credit where it’s due, and a page link to the original artwork is just polite – and it might even generate more traffic your way too. Which is nice.
* Probably!