If you’re female, aged 35-60yrs old, match the above criteria are willing to tell your story to a national publication, please email me at sophie.hoyland@natmags.co.uk with a brief outline of your story along with a photo of yourself by Monday 12th May.  If your story is used you must be willing to be photographed.
Thanks, Sophie

“When I started blogging about the new-build buying process I was quite sceptical. But, after five months, I’m definitely converted.

I had to keep an accurate online diary of what was happening, whom I spoke to, what they said, and when they said it.

This proved to be especially useful when I was forced to go back to Crest several times to explain that the numerous delays in the buying process were down to deadlines that they had missed.

It made it possible for other people who had been through similar experiences to pass on their recommendations and helpful suggestions. A blog generally lets people add comments to each entry, or email me with their comments. They all proved invaluable.

Finally, the simple act of writing down the frustrations and the problems was a very cathartic experience. They say that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do. Setting aside an hour or so every few days to jot down what was going on definitely helped dissipate some of the stress that was building up.”

You can create a blog in a couple of minutes here.

You then need to find a suitable photograph. The photo needs to be cropped to a specific size. It should be no more than 325px wide and exactly 220px tall. If you have problems with this mail it to me and I can crop and resize it for you.

Now upload your picture using the standard Wordpress image upload function on the Write Post page; just below your Publish button. Once your photo is uploaded, you’ll need the file path for the photo’s location. This will look something like this:

http://newhomeblogs.co.uk/weblog7/files/2008/03/house.jpg

You can get this by clicking on the Edit link next to the filename after the image is uploaded. This will reveal the URL, which you need to copy. I will add screenshots later, but if you are lost drop me a line and I will do it for you.

You are nearly done, well done if you have made it this far.

Scroll to the bottom of your Write Post page, you’ll see an area near the bottom called “Custom Fields.” (You may have to click on the white + sign to the far right to expand the custom fields area).  In the field marked “Key,” you’ll need to enter: home_feature_photo. In the field marked “Value,” you’ll need to enter the file path for your image. Then just click the “Add Custom Field” button. Finally, continue with your post, and when you’re ready, click the Publish button.

Your image will appear in 2 places. First, it will appear in the Featured Articles box (for that article) on your home page. And it will also appear on the single post page for that article; aligned to the right of the content. See this Redrow Homes post for an example.

If you choose not to enter a photo for one or more of your featured articles, the theme will function properly without it; it just won’t look as nice.

1. Visit this link to get a blog. (Choose a blog name carefully as this cannot be changed. It is a good idea to use the name of your housebuilder as this will help your blog rank well in Google and the other search engines. The title can be changed at anytime)

2. Once you have activated your blog and logged in, you will need to write something. Click on “Manage” then click on “Manage Pages” and edit the “About” page. Once you have finished click on publish. You don’t need to worry about pages again unless you really want to get stuck into blogging.

3. Now for your first post, but first you will need to delete the default post first. Click on “Manage” then click on “Manage Posts” and click on the”delete” link. Next you need to go to”Write” on the main menu and click on “Post”. This is where you will spend most of your time.  Just give your post a title, write the content, add a tag, choose a category (This is important as the categories are used in the menus on your site) and finally hit the “Publish” button.  Well done you have just written your first blog post!

4.  More coming soon.

We have suffered the same repeated botched repair attempts for every fault with our donwstairs concrete floors being screeded a total of 7 times before an outside contractor finally fixed the entire botttom floor (eigth repair) as all the concrete was also so badly unlevel that floor coverings couldnt be laid. We still have carpet and vinyl waiting in the store warehouses (after a year 3 months they arent too happy either).

I will be using this blog to share the new home experience with you in all of its financially crippling glory. Together we will go through the ups (”…darling, I think we need a 42 inch TV for our new lounge…”) and the downs (”…a granite worktop costs how much?”), the highs (”…maybe even 50 inches, I’m sure it would fit…”) and the lows (”…just for a worktop, are you sure?”), as well as the joy (”…42 inches of pure plasma pleasure – I’m so happy!”) and the tears (”…it’s a piece of rock for god’s sake – how can a piece of rock cost so much?”).

I hope to cover snagging issues, moving in, settling in, buying things, installing things, breaking things, fixing things – basically, anything and everything related to buying and living in a new home. I hope you can join me for the ride.

“One of the best examples of a small business blogging I’ve seen. And from a UK company. It looks like the Brits are finally getting their act together.”