News – VeganMoFo

Feed Corrections + how to install an OPML file

September 4, 2014 Katie Comments 5 comments

Here is the list of people whose blogs were not imported properly into Feedly, because the RSS address was wrong or because Feedly itself has issues. We miss you, Google Reader.

http://rhiannonveganmelbourne.blogspot.com.au
http://imogenmichel.blogspot.com
http://www.misskitchenwitch.com/blog
http://kimbelina.ca/blog
http://stopandsmelltheveggies.blogspot.com
http://www.bakeeatlovetreats.co.uk/blog
http://mobettavegan.blogspot.com
http://infinitesandwich.blogspot.com
http://www.veganknyquol.blogspot.com
http://bigmikeeats.blogspot.com
http://www.welshgirleats.com
http://pandawithcookie.com

And by request, here is a terrible collage of how to import an OPML file and add individual blogs in feedly! I forgot to add this at the beginning, but make sure your ‘main folder’ in feedly is empty. If you are neurotic and already have your other feeds sorted into a dozen different categories like me, this will not be an issue.

1. In the left hand bar, click ‘add content’.
2. At the bottom, click on the orange thumbnail that says ‘OPML’.
3. Hit browse, and select the OPML file that you already downloaded and click ‘import’. The screen will take a minute to change, don’t panic or refresh!
4. The page will turn into your different feed categories, and you will see that the ‘main folder’ is filling up with new feeds. Exciting! Let it do that for a minute, there’s a tiny blue bar at the top of the main folder so you’ll know when it’s done.
5. When it’s done, click the little pencil over the main folder and rename it to VeganMoFo or VeganMoFo2014 or Skittle-dee-skittle-dat, it’s your folder.
6. To add the people above or any other blog you want, go back to ‘add content’ from the first step and paste the blog address in the search bar.
7. Hit the little green button and a menu will pop out of the left side and ask you if you want to put said blog in a category, so check the box for VeganMoFo/Skittle-dee and put it in. Done!

A MoFo Preview in Themes…

August 23, 2014 veganinbrighton Comments 18 comments

Our inbox has been flooded with your sign ups and everyone here at MoFo HQ has loved seeing your ideas, plans and themes roll in as the month’s gone on. You only have five days left to sign up so if you’re still debating over whether to throw yourself into MoFo now’s the time to throw caution to the wind and jump right in. To make it super easy for you here’s the link to the sign up sheet again!

It was getting impossible to narrow down my favourite themes for this post, I’m excited about everything! Here they all are, come back to the site on September 1st to see who’s doing what.

A – Z Ingredients
Adventures in Vegan Eating
Around the World in 20 Recipes
Baby Bump Cravings
Bella Vegan Italia
Bento Boxes
Burgers
Canning & Preserving
Carbs & Rec – Veganizing Pawnee One Plate at a Time
Celebrating Summer!
Community
Cookbook Challenge
Cookies
Cooking For One
Cooking With Isa
CSA & Farmer’s Market Finds
Daily Eats
Desserts
Dining in NYC
Dining with Disney Movies
Dinner and a Movie
Eat to Live
Eating Vegan on a Budget
Fermentation
Finnish Coffee Table
Food from Buffy / Angel
Fork Food Shaming
French Food
Gravy
Halloween
Harry Potter
Healthy & Delicious
How This Kid Gets Protein
Fighting Inflamation
Ice Cream
International Cheese & Chocolate Month
International House of Pancakes Turned Muffins
Intervention of a Food Hoarder
Japanese Inspired
Jewish and Middle Eastern Recipes Veganized
Legumes
Louisiana Locavore – Eating Locally for 30 Days in Northwest Louisiana
Lunchboxes
Mister Rogers Neighbourhood & Childhood Nostalgia
Music For Your Mouth
New Foods
Oktoberfest
Packed Lunch
Pizza
Return of the Mac
Roadtrip Across America
Salads
Sci-fi, Fantasy and Curry
Smoothies
Southwestern Cuisine
Tea
Thai Food & Travel
The End of the World
The Food of Wales
The Letter S
The World in My Kitchen
Travel
Urban City Vegan Eats
Vegan Challenge
Vegan Cheese
Vegan Crafting
Vegan Eats For Fuelling Your Body
Veganising Not-So-Vegan Cookbooks
Vegan Faux Show
Vegan Food Diary
Vegan Wedding
Will My Kids Eat It?
10 For 30: A Month of Top 10 Lists

It’s Time to Share Your Own #VeganMoFo2014 Press Release!

August 22, 2014 jess sconé Comments 1 comment

If you’re reading this, I bet you’re gearing up for VeganMoFo 2014! It makes sense. Since we’re here, you’re over there, and I’m right inside this here blog with a fuzzy marketing comm. degree to dust off, I’d like to help ya spread the word about our big month ahead!

Because seriously, outreach is KEY and we all know it can be quite a productive month, you & your piece of the internet deserve a little time in the spotlight!

First, let’s share some of my recent eats from Beyond Sushi, because you’ve got some legit reading ahead.

Here’s what to do:

Think & go Google search: What are the local media avenues in my community (state, country, district, town, county, area, favorite blogs, online news sources, etc.)? Is there an alt weekly? Is there a monthly, city-wide cultural magazine and/or website? Where do you see local food & dining news? For example, in Portland, OR, I’d send this to Eater PDX (and there are a ton of Eater sites out there!), Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, Oregonian FoodDay, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland Monthly Magazine and a bunch of my favorite culinary-focused blogs. Plus, the huge local vegetarian outreach group, Northwest Veg, other vegan-friendly events that have caught my eye, and maybe, The Kitchn, Serious Eats, and so on. If you’ve been involved with media outlets/events, who are your contacts? Do you have friends that work in PR? Are they relevant and could they help get the word out? Do they like vegan cookies? Is there a VegFest? Basically, find out their contact email/fax (right?! You can totally send faxes for free online these days in case you actually want to do that). Take note that there is typically a contact specifically *for* press releases and calendar info with the bigger outlets. Go cover your ground and spread the word!
Download a personalized or general copy of the official VeganMoFo press release (I’ll get to this below!), generously assembled by VeganMoFo’s own Amey of Vegan Eats & Treats (Thanks again, Amey!!).
Save the (ideally revised) press release as a PDF with a clearly marked file name, for example “Media Alert: VeganMo, The Vegan Month of Food Writing Returns September 2014“
Next, copy/paste the press release content into the actual email message from title down. I like to do this, it doubles your chances of being read. At the top, if I know who it’s going to well, I’ll often include a little note in a different font and color and sign it, like “Hey Jojo, I’d love for you to take a look at this news! I’ve got a whole month of xxx in store and daily updates! Let me know if you would like more information or photos for a story” (or something a little less lame then that, but I hope you get the point).
Make sure you’ve attached a copy of the press release PDF (or Word Doc or whatever you prefer, but this is getting crazy talk) to the email itself.
Press send and let that baby fly, preferably one at a time, but one big blind BCC can do in a pinch (but don’t tell my Writing for Marketing teacher at Emerson that I actually said that).

And here’s how to do it! There are two versions of our shiny, official press release all ready to go below:

OPTION 1) We’ve got the official press release ready to be personalized linked right here and copied below. It is super important to make sure you personalize all the red bits! If not, you look like a noob, and no writer potentially ready to put your name in lights and spread the word about veganism is gonna let that fly.

OPTION 2) Okay, if you don’t want to personalize it and are just thinking this is far too annoying to open and add some text to (I feel ya), but you’ve got some contacts and simply want to help, please know that A) We still heart you! and B) Go for it and pass the info from this link right here along, using the instructions above.

Thank you!!!!

Now, let’s get back to pondering thematics and/or bloggy and social media whims, as you please.

P.S. And tell my teacher I didn’t go on hiatus to NYC and posted this 30 days ago, sheesh.

The Return of the MoFies!

August 21, 2014 veganinbrighton Comments 1 comment

Our official VeganMoFo awards ceremony, The MoFies, is coming back this year and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever before. Why I hear you ask? Well, this year the MoFies have a sponsor! Can I get a fork yeah?!

The Raw Chocolate Co have come on board to offer every MoFie winner a bar of their award winning raw chocolate and a bag of their raw chocolate covered berries, how exciting (and delicious!) does that sound?

You get to blog your hearts out just like usual and you might even win a prize. Categories will include Best Theme, Most Adorable Companion Animal, Most Epic Post, Putting Your City on the Vegan Map and many more so get ready.

Sign ups close in just under a week on Wednesday 27th August and if you haven’t joined us yet what are you waiting for? The sign up sheet’s right here!

Community Building During Vegan MoFo

August 17, 2014 Panda With Cookie Comments 2 comments

Greetings friends! We get a lot of questions leading up to and during MoFo and thought we’d answer some in short blog posts for your edification.

Today Panda is here to address some related questions we hear a lot. How will people find my blog? No one is commenting on my blog. Why isn’t anyone reading it?

We have hundreds of bloggers signing up for Vegan MoFo every year, so it can be hard to be found and be noticed. There are some simple tricks to help get your blog into the flow of the Vegan MoFo community.

First up, make sure you are reading and commenting on other MoFo blogs. This is huge! Mollyjade on the PPK had a challenge one year to comment on x number of new-to-you blogs per day for MoFo. It’s a great way to see who else is out there in blogland and to start building connections. The more you get to know people, the more fun it is to follow along.

Second, make sure you keep on blogging! If you just put up one post and then don’t post again because you aren’t getting comments, you still won’t get comments. Communities are built over time and it can take a while for your blog name to get out there.

And last, write posts that are of interest to you. Find your own voice. If you’re writing content that is interesting to you and engaging to others, the readers will come. Not everyone is going to read your blog, but there will be some out there who will like your voice and style and will be clicking refresh waiting for your next post.

We’ve got 2 weeks to go! Happy MoFo!

Newsflash! VeganMoFo Returns September 2014.

July 14, 2014 veganinbrighton Comments 18 comments

That’s right! VeganMoFo is coming atcha’ this September. That means you have seven whole weeks to think on your themes, stock your pantry with every flour in existence, and prepare to take part in the worldwide blogging extravaganza that is Vegan Month of Food.

Whether you’re thinking of focussing on Farmer’s Market finds, writing an A – Z of Italian food, eating pasta every day for a month, trying a 30 day raw challenge or just winging it we’d love to have you on board. It’s going to be a month long vegan party which will even include the much anticipated return of our online award ceremony, the MoFies!!

~~The sign up sheet is RIGHT HERE (all caps for excited shouting!) so just have a read of the instructions on the oficial form and jump right in.~~ You can sign up anytime between now and August 27th but no later so don’t delay. (Submissions have closed fro 2014)

Everyone is welcome to join in with VeganMoFo but all content must be 100% vegan, which means no meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy or honey on your blog for the month of September.

Not 100% sure yet? Check out the FAQ’s or drop us an e-mail!

For more ideas, inspiration and information keep an eye on this blog and our social media. we have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as a dedicated room on the PPK message boards. Categorised blogger lists and feeds, shiny new 2014 logos and banners for your blogs, our 2013 favourites post and more will be coming your way soon so stay tuned.

Happy Blogging!

The next best thing to an RSS feed bundle: The VeganMoFo OPML file

September 13, 2013 jess sconé Comments 24 comments

I’d like to interrupt the regular string of vegan-tastic roundups and giveaways with some special news: this is PRACTICALLY the RSS Feed you’ve been waiting for.

Here’s the thing.

We hear ya.

We wish there was a way to publicize an RSS feed bundle like the good old days of Google Reader (which retired over the summer), but apparently that breaks the internet or something (I’m guessing) and unless anyone out there has stumbled upon another form of this we haven’t yet — and trust me, we’ve all been looking here at VeganMoFo central — there are three primary ways we suggest perusing the epic, VeganMoFo VII blogs:

1) Check the Blogrolls

Go ahead and peruse the breakdowns and categories, bookmark the ones that catch your eye and follow your favorites (whether it’s via blogger, wordpress, or whatever reader service you’re using), etc.

Here’s the gigantic list of everybody who signed up by the deadline.

2) RandoMoFo.com!

This is the random, super appreciated VeganMoFo blog generator cleverly developed by the Tates, the fine folks behind Food for Lovers. Digging what pops up? Again, bookmark, follow, and add it to your own reader or favorites folder.

3) Dum dum dum…Download the brand new OPML file.

Here’s the link. It should open in Google Drive (where we have it stored), which you can then download to your computer.

Really, this is easier than it sounds:

Click download.
Import the file into whatever reader you’re using (I’m personally liking Feedly and The Older Reader, for two quick choices…feel free to share your go-to below!)
Get ready to start reading lots and lots and lots of new blogs.

Here’s the thing: If you happen to notice a non-vegan post in the bunch or don’t like one for whatever reason, you now have the power to delete it from your feeds. You know, as if something like that would ever happen. In the past, your friendly VeganMoFo volunteer organizers did this with the official Google Bundle, but once you download this file, it’s in yours hands. The same goes if you see a blog missing — you are more than welcome and encouraged to add it to your own reader!

So, that’s that.

Please thank VeganMoFo volunteer Mary for her amazing, hard work on devouring spreadsheets and bringing that file to the masses!

The blogrolls are going up as we type!

August 31, 2013 Katie Comments 76 comments

If you look to your right (or if you click through to the blog from your reader and THEN look to your right), you will see links to the 2013 blogs by various categories BUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE THIS PAGE, PLEASE READ THESE POINTS:

1. We will have an OPML file for you to download, which works the way the google bundles did, of every blog. But we are waiting until after people can check the master list for their names, because once we have the OPML file and let you guys download it, we can’t do anything about missing blogs and it makes us sad. If you prefer this method of MoFo browsing, you may have to wait until tomorrow to get the file.

2. Mary is working hard right now at getting every list up, so if you check out a category you know you signed up for, please check back tomorrow before frantically emailing us about it because she may just have not gotten to it yet. If your blog is not up by the start of MoFo tomorrow, then let us know. As you can imagine, this involves a lot of copying/pasting/typing/methodical checking. But we know you guys are chomping at the bit so if you want to start browsing blogs to add to your reader, go ahead and start looking at the lists.

3. The big list will come last, for now we are concentrating on getting up things by category.

4. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, tweet them, or ask on facebook and someone will get back to you ASAP!

VeganMoFo On The Go

August 25, 2013 Katie Comments 5 comments

Every year, we hear people say, “Oh, i’d love to participate but i’ll be out of town for a week or two and won’t be able to post.” So here a few ways that you can keep your blog full of content, even if all you have on you is a smart phone. I have an android phone and use wordpress, so those are the apps I have experience with and will be referencing.

1. Did you know that youtube channels have their own RSS feeds? It’s entirely possible to participate in VeganMoFo without typing a single word! If you’re more of a talker than a blogger, vlogging for the month is a great option. The address for a youtube account RSS feed is: https://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/base/users/YourUserName/uploads (obviously, put your youtube username in place of ‘YourUserName’). Most smart phones take pretty good video quality, just remember to turn your phone. If you just want to supplement your normal blogging content with videos, you can just embed the video into a blog post. The youtube app on your phone has a ‘share’ feature that will send it right to your wordpress app, if you use wordpress.

You can make cooking videos, show your recent vegan grocery purchases, do a video restaurant review, product reviews, or just vlog about food in general. We’re going to have a list of blogging prompts up soon that can also be used as vlogging ideas.

2. Instagram! Via the instagram app, you have the option to share your photos directly with tumblr, but after you take a photo you can also click the three dots underneath it ‘…’ and one of the options is to copy the photo url, which you can then paste into your wordpress app. If you plan on relying on instagram for blog content, make sure you read up on some tips to get the best food photos you possibly can with your camera phone.

3. You can also write some posts in advance and set them to automatically publish when you’re going to be gone. There’s no rule that says you have to write your posts on the day you publish them! Even if you won’t be out of town during part of VeganMoFo, having a few pre-written posts for days when you feel too burned out to blog are a good idea.

If you have any other suggestions for traveling MoFoers, please feel free to leave a comment! And keep in mind that the cut-off for sign-ups is August 28th, we need a few days to get the blog list together.

Some 2012 Favorites

August 22, 2013 jess sconé Comments 5 comments

Hi everyone! Jess here, popping back in, doing the friendly organizer thing. In preparation for 2013 and deciding on just what my own daily themes will be (I just can’t commit to one, but so remain in awe of bloggers that go all out for a month! Are you? Do leave a comment with your URL so we can follow along!), I went perusing the month that was October 2012: aka VeganMoFo VI.

Here’s a mere smattering from the hundreds of posts that caught my eye from a month that featured a whole lot of warming bowls of soup, biscuits, Halloween cupcakes and winter squash, galore.

First up, Coconut Lime Ice Cream with Vanilla Beetroot Syrup for our Iron Chef Beetroot Challenge courtesy of Flaming Apron.

How inviting does this look!? Clearly, I want in and need to make this Sweet Potato Gnocchi from My Zoetrope, ala Chloe’s Kitchen.

Here’s one from one of the roundups I put together that definitely still stands out: fresh Butternut Squash Doughnuts with Apple Cider Glaze from RansomCakes. Plus, they’re gluten-free, soy free and come with a recipe.

Now, doughnuts aside, I am a sucker for an Italian dessert, and well, swooned over this fancypants dessert plate of Almond Ricotta Tart and Zabaglione Gelato over at MiscDesbris. Recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Nonna’s Italian Kitchen.

When I saw this entry for the Iron Chef Sesame & Potato duo challenge, I instantly wanted to know more (and to try them). Click on over to My Vegan Way for the Sweet Potato Dumplings with Sesame Crunch recipe and more fascinating photos.

Honestly, I’m not one for corndogs, but these Gluten-free, Vegan Corndog Mummies from Fork and Beans are clearly the cutest corndogs you’ve ever seen (Right?!)

Lastly, because I really need to get back to contemplating themes, let’s cleanse our palates with this gorgeous salad of Warm Beets & Blood Orange over at Hipsterfood.

What sticks out in your mind from VeganMoFo 2012?

Coming soon: VeganMoFo VII banners, theme suggestions, giveaway news & the blogrolls!

Haven’t signed up yet? Time is running out!

VeganMoFo

The Vegan Month of Food: 2017

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