The polls are up and ready for the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards. Please remember these things:
- Read the terms and conditions before you vote.
- Votes are based on IP and cookies.
- You may only vote ONCE per category per person in your home. No more than 5 votes per network/IP.
- You don’t have to vote on everything at once. You can vote for one category and come back later for the rest.
- If you click on the DOT, it will vote. If you click on the BLOG NAME, you can go to the site.
- Email us at Hsbawards @ Gmail . com (remove extra spaces) if you have any questions or problems!
- Spread the word!
With the number of categories and nominees involved, there is a definite possibility of human error in the creation of the polls. Please let me know if any of the links don’t work, etc. so that I can take care of it as quickly as possible.
Regarding multiple votes from the same household:
The rules state: “You may only vote ONCE per category per person in your home. No more than 5 votes per network/IP.” Although this is what’s allowed, it may or may not work for you. Here are some observations based on personal experience and feedback from others:
- To vote more than once, use another computer in your home; once you have voted in a particular category, you will most likely see only the results and not the option to vote again while using the same computer.
- The ability to vote more than once from the same IP address appears to be greatly influenced by your computer and network.
- When I voted on my desktop computer first, I was able to cast a second vote in the same category from my laptop (wireless connection to the same modem). When I voted first from my laptop, I was not able to vote in that category from my desktop.
In simple English, not all networks are the same. Computers can be tricky. If you can’t vote more than one time at home and you have two people who want to vote, may I suggest going to the library for your second vote? Please be honest, though.
Emailing me if you can’t vote more than once is not going to help, because I cannot make your computer allow it. Just relax, have fun, and enjoy the awards.
Voting ends at midnight on November 21.
If you’re a nominee, feel free to grab this button!
Click each link below to vote for a nominee in that category:
- Best Homeschool Mom Blog
- Best Homeschool Dad Blog
- Best Blog Design
- Best Artistic Content Blog
- Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog
- Best Family or Group Blog
- Best Encourager
- Best “Live What You Believe” Homeschool Blog
- Best Unschooling or Eclectic Homeschooling Blog
- Best Geographical Blog
- Best Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog
- Best Homemaking or Recipes Blog
- Best Teen Gal Blog
- Best Teen Guy Blog
- Best Teen Group Blog
- Funniest Homeschool Blog
- Best Cyber-Buddy Blogger
- Best Curriculum or Business Blog
- Best Variety
- Best Thrifty Homeschooler
- Best SUPER-HOMESCHOOLER
- Best Nitty-Gritty Homeschool Blog
- Best NEW Homeschool Blog
- *new!* Best Homeschooling Methods Blog
{ 19 trackbacks }
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Dawn and Heather, Dianne and Lisa, for all the work you did.
I know it is greatly appreciated by very many lovely women out there!
~J
I don’t get an option to vote for “best homeschooling methods”. It looks like it may be showing results, rather than giving me a dot selection for voting. All the others appear to be fine.
Thanks for all your hard work!
For some reason, in three of the categories I’m getting vote totals as if I’ve already voted. But this is the first time I’ve visited since the voting began today, and I haven’t voted for anything yet.
I vote for Bobbie Howard
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/bubbebobbie/
Encourager
If you click “view results” at the bottom of a category where you haven’t voted, it will show the results. If you refresh the page, you will then be able to vote.
Number 24 is not working properly. It takes you right to the results. No voting button is available. If you click to review any of the blogs, it counts it as a vote for that blog. In other words, there is no way to check out the blog before being “forced” to vote for it. Refreshing doesn’t help.
I know in years past there has been a button to put on your blog that showed you had been nominated. Is there such a button this year?
Thanks so much,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Thanks so much for hosting…may the blogs be blessed!
Thank you girls, for all your hard work! I’m tickled to be nominated.
I really appreciate the work you’ve done to compile these lists… That’s why I hesitate to ask why my site isn’t listed in the “Best New Homeschool Blog”. But, I would love to be considered if my nominations came is as they reported back to me. Did http://www.laurabooz.com receive the appropriate nominations? (Feel free to email me back: laura@laurabooz.com)
Thanks for the reminder to post the nominee button! It’s just been added to the post.
Laura, thank you for alerting us to this error; you are now on the poll.
Ooh, I can’t wait to look through all the nominees and find some new favorite HS blogs. Thanks for all the work you do to put this on!
On Eclectic HSing, these links are broken:
# Inside My Home School House
# Morningstar Academy
Jimmie, thanks for the heads up! It’s fixed now.
I still can’t vote for “Best Methods” blog. When I select the category, it gives me the results. I tried refreshing the screen and I still get the results. I’ve never seen the voting option screen for that category.
Rhonda, I’m really sorry. You may just have to try the library.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I tried Firefox and I can now vote in the “Best Methods” category (and the couple of others that were also giving me trouble). I was using Safari before. That might be a solution if someone else is having the same problem.
Thanks for everything! Y’all are doing a great job!
Rhonda
I can’t vote at all. It’s not showing me the dots to click on. My first time trying to vote, I saw results – no voting options.
Thanks for all the work put into this contest. I am honored to be a nominee.
I have also enjoyed visiting the other nominee’s blogs.
Please vote for my blog in the Best Homemaking or Recipe blog. My blog’s name is Born 100 Years too Soon.
I would appreciate the votes!!!
Belle
Can we have a “Best DVD Production Company for Homeschoolers Award?
Steve M.
EP
http://www.franklinsprings.com
It’s pretty sad when a site wants to win so badly that they ask their readers to cheat the system. That’s what The HomeScholar Helper has done for the Best Curriculum or Business Blog 2008 category.
Their post at http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/?p=731 says:
“If you haven’t voted yet, please vote for “The HomeScholar Helper” at the following link. If you have voted, please find another computer to vote on, perhaps the neighbors, I know they won’t mind.”
…trying to figure out if this is you, Lee, letting us know how silly your husband is… or a real concern!
So, I will explain (in case it IS a real complaint), that, as you are allowed 5 votes per household, 1 per each person old enough to use a computer, going to a neighbor’s, a friend’s, the library, or wherever is a perfectly legal and expected when a computer network or system inhibits you from doing so, as allowed by the rules stated at the onset of the Awards and this post.
I might think it is really unfair that I have 8 who do use the computer in my home, and our computer system only allows us one vote when we have 5 working online computers. We have had to go the library and other places too.
[since I just went and read the post]…. It’s pretty funny that her husband edited that in as a joke.
Thank you for letting us know.
I hope this is just your comment, Lee, letting us know how silly your husband is!
blessings, Jacque
No, I’m a different “Lee” and it was a real concern. The post didn’t say to have the different members of your household vote. It said if you already voted to go find a way to vote again.
Let me add that Lee e-mailed me and explained that it was a joke. It didn’t sound that way to me being new to her site. Perhaps it did to those who know her style better. But I’m happy to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Clarification: The HomeScholar is Lee Binz. The person with the comment above is Lee S., no relation to our family whatsoever.
Let me explain again, to Lee S and the world. I write postscripts on my wife Lee Binz’s post. I often use humor to make the posts more engaging and fun. This was completely, 100% a joke. It was not an attempt to get anyone to cheat on what is, in essence, a “just for fun” competition. If Lee S. had quoted the my comment in context you would see that it was just some good natured jesting – I even offered voters a picture of a cute puppy if they voted for our blog. We have had a number of comments from our readers who “got the joke” and it would have been nice if Lee S had sought to understand before posting a negative comment in such a public arena.
Regardless of the outcome of this award, please know that my comments are mine, not my wife’s, and this was just me being silly (as is my nature.)
Matt Binz
(PS. As far as I know, no one has reported any break-ins from rabid HomeScholar fans who demanded to use their computer….)
I think everyone has it figured out now, and Lee S. is happy to give your Lee the benefit of the doubt.