Some of these things I’ve fallen foul myself and some I have seen in different parts of the web.

I’m mostly referring to Christians chatting about things that they are passionate about, travelling, charity and ministry projects, and maybe in troubled areas such as the middle east.

Blogging has become Civilian journalism which has brought books, publishing, fame, recognition and more to some.

Others like me just get 30 odd views a day.   I’ve got the chance to meet up with a few people, had coffee with and the odd person come and stay over.

Do you want to be public?  
Do you want to use your full real name, just your first name or some other handle.  Would you want your employer to see this?    Are you under 18?   would articles be ok with your parents or school?

A web site like “Whois” can trace your web site to your name, address, email and phone number.  Web addresses are not to expensive but need to renewed each year.   You often have to pay a bit more to get your domain name made not able to traced, otherwise http://www.<your_blog>.com could have the means for someone to turn up and your door unexpectedly which possibly might not be pleasant.    A link to your Facebook or Twitter gives someone more info about you which could come back to bite you if someone takes offensive about something.

Check spelling, grammar and context
It is easy to not only spell something wrong but write something wrong way round which shows something in the opposite context of what you really meant.

Make sure sources of information you quote from are reliable
Conspiracy sites and other things with sensationalist themes don’t look good.

Get a friend to oversee some articles
Especially if they are sensitive, emotionally and politically charged.   An extra set of eyes will pick up anything that might cause some regret and headache later.

As a rule of thumb, these days stuff on the internet usually stays around forever.   If you delete something there are ways of looking at expired/deleted content, or someone can make a PDF or screen shot of something.

Use timed publish
Wordpress lets your write an article an automatically make it live it a certain preset time if needed.   I think this means this item could be seen by a Google search in certain circumstances before its ‘official’ publish date though.

Look to see if someone has blogged something similar to your idea
When I went to do ministry work in Israel in 2009, I looked around the web for any blogs of Christians who had gone out to live in Jerusalem and what challenges they would face.   I couldn’t find hardly anything.   Now everyone is doing it, so for Christians in the ministry field can learn and plan more of what to expect before a trip.

Use pictures
Large unbroken blocks of text aren’t readable for today’s short attention span as the internet is full of other things that people consume in less time than it takes to eat two biscuits.   Adding images makes your point that more pleasant to see.   Make sure pictures are not too big otherwise you site will open slow and large images use up more of the free allowance of cloud storage that WordPress lets you use.

Use maps
I like maps.   Google makes this easy to put chunks of maps from top end or street map view.    These are great for travel blogs.

Just don’t put pictures of your home or work place, m’kay?

Be nice and courteous.
Upset? Bad mood? maybe best to stay away from the internet and go for a walk.
Fed up, angry, lonely? You are better sharing your thoughts with a close friend instead. Pick up the phone and spill out to a friend. Maybe speak to your church group leader or pastor.

Seen some bloggers air all their personal problems online.   The internet isn’t good for that sort of thing.   Best to find someone to be a mentor and get help from one or a few close friends who are understanding.

Sort out severe disagreements by meeting up personally or by phone.
Seen friendships destroyed after some misunderstandings on the web.   The internet does not make emotions easily obvious over the web so this can easily cause something to not be understood right.

Before criticising someone, how would you feel if you met them later?
If you criticise someone in your work place, church, specific niche/line of ministry, would this be awkward?  Maybe you might see them at a trade exhibition or big worship event.    In specialist types of fields it’s a small world.

Don’t do “guilt by association”
If someone is a church or leader who works together on a project with someone dubious, they may just haven’t checked that person’s background. This should be sorted out in a quiet personal chat, rather than announce to the world someone is a bad person.

Don’t always focus on negative things
Show examples of what give you encouragement and comfort.

Don’t talk about certain things.
Like applying for visas.  These are an absolute taboo.

If you are Christian who is doing work in any other country, consider it likely government authorities do look at stuff and have automated Google searches to find certain things that want to keep an eye on.

Use links
Not everyone knows certain people, places, other blogs, organisations.   A link on something is a good way to get your audience an overview of something.

Serialise
Not sure if this is a proper word.   Spell checker says its wrong as I have not used Americanized spelling. 🙂  I’ve written my travel articles over several sessions, so the public might stumble of the middle bit, there is a numbered collection of the parts of your story/trip they can get to the first section.

Do try and meet up with people you chat with
Providing its safe, you are in a public place, you are an adult and you are not a woman on your own.    I once met up with an elderly man who was a Universalist.   He believed that all religious were good and mixing up a few elements would make a custom faith based on your own preferences.    I got a chance to tell him the gospel instead, that salvation is only through Jesus sacrifice and resurrection because he loves us.   Not sure quite what he made of that though.

Doing Christian ministry work?    use scripture.
Lots of it.   Illustrate your point with parts of the bible relevant to your theme/teaching