OFFICIAL 2024 #ATOZCHALLENGE Blog Hop Sign Up

Sign-up for the challenge! https://forms.gle/41PjgHFL4zwnM2Am7

The ONLY way to officially sign-up for the 2024 April Blogging from A to Z Challenge is by filling out that form before April 7, 2024.
That's it. There is no other website or other blog hop page used. Sign up by filling out that Google form.
(The theme reveal was a seperate blog hop, a sort of teaser trailer to get readers excited about some of the partcipants. But to sign up for the actual challenge, a blogger must fill out the above form.)

Your blog name is what you call your blog.
The author's name is who writes the blog. This is probably your name- the name you want readers to call you when commenting.
Your blog link should take readers directly to your blog. Please check it. Have a friend check it.
***This is a blog hop! We ask that anyone who signs up has a blog where any and all participants can comment (without logging in, signing up, emailing, etc).
If your blog cannot offer that, this hop might not be for you.

Another way the #AtoZChallenge helps to drive traffic to your blog is by asking your theme category. A theme is not required. There are options if you have no theme. Knowing the main topics likely to be covered by your blog in April intrigue readers and increase the odds readers will visit your blog. Here's what the options look like.


The point of the #AtoZChallenge is both to test yourself to create an (English 26-letter) alphabet worth of posts using and inspired by the letter of the day on Mondays thru Saturdays in April, as well as to "hop" to as many other blogs in the challenge and leave comments on the A to Z posts found there. This grows our blogging community and creates connections.
That is why the Master List has a space for comments. So, when you take a copy of the master list for yourself, you can track which blogs you've left comments on.
The A to Z Challenge was created in the United States, and the website is based there, where the legal age of adulthood and consent is 18. Thus, if your blog has adult content, we must ask that you note it. This helps protect the community, as this is an all-ages event. Please help us keep the blog hop safe and legal.
Some bloggers are writers and will present a story that is meant to be read in order. If this applies to your plans, please indicate as such on the form so readers know where to start.
Think about your hop plans. Visiting others is half the challenge!
It's 2024. We ask your pronouns so as to not misidentify anyone. We wish to show respect to participants. No one should suffer from bias, discrimination or hate.
We ask the first year of participation in the challenge. Some bloggers may have missed a few years. But many of us celebrate the time when we first found this challenge.
There are spaces for social media, if you'd like to share yours.
Some people (mostly Wordpress users) have a problem where they feel their comments post with a name other than the one they'd like, or one on the Master List. Making it more difficult for bloggers in the challenge to comment back.
The #AtoZChallenge is an International event. It's great to know how many countries we've reached!
And finally, we inite you to give a brief summary of your theme for April, if you have one.

Thirty-seconds to three hours (usually seconds, but we don't run Google!) after submitting the form, you should check the master list to be sure your blog is on it. Contact the team if there is a problem. Jayden will be watching and deleting duplicates and any fake entries.

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

SIGN-UPS CLOSE ON APRIL 7, 2024.  

Sign-up for the challenge! https://forms.gle/41PjgHFL4zwnM2Am7

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST SIGN-UP #AtoZChallenge 2021

Time to SIGN UP for the challenge!

https://forms.gle/dXBFi5zphGnRu7Rc8 Just fill out that form!

You will see this confirmation message when you've signed up.
The results of this form will be MADE PUBLIC.

Please only sign up YOURSELF, your blog. Do not try to sign up blogs of other people. Thank you.

Grab a copy of the Master List so you can "get hopping" to other blogs: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mvSm8FsuFVkOQulQ0EgzslGiNd8CZWWrqaRhCG8Sv4o
File > Make a Copy (save to your location of choice)

*NOTE:

The Master List sign-up for the challenge does not close until April 7. 

If you make a copy of the list before that date, please remember to come back to check for additional blogs that may have signed up later.     

Challenge Awareness:

Visitors to your blog have to be able to comment on your posts (without "signing up" for anything first). Please disable any CAPTCHA. Commenting should be as easy as possible.

Remember to use a link that goes to your BLOG. Sometimes Wordpress users leave links to their dashboard where they create posts, rather than links to their blogs. The team has done what we can to raise awareness of this.

Because of GDPR and other privacy regulations, you should make sure that any options for getting email (newsletters, blog comment replies, etc) are OPT IN ~ meaning checkboxes are not "pre-checked." (If your blog doesn't have this, don't worry about it.)

Links that do not go to a BLOG with posts that can be commented on will be REMOVED.

Badges! Letters! A calendar showing which letters go on which days!

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/badges-2021.html

#AtoZChallenge - Please consider using the challenge hashtag to get more traffic for your blog.

In 2018, Jayden made a post with video and written instructions. If you are having difficulty with the form or Master List spreadsheet, please check the instructions first. 
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2018/03/master-list-sign-ups.html
If you still need help after that, you can reach the team:

On Gmail: atozteam2018 

On Twitter: @JRVincente (for spreadsheet and form questions) @JLenniDorner (other issues)

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atozchallenge
Or on our own blogs. Contact us.
(The team is helping as many people as we can as fast as we can. It may sometimes take a few days.)

Question the team has already gotten in 2021:
"I signed up on a Linky that one of the participants has going. Am I on the Master List?"
No. No you are not. You can ONLY be on the Master List if you sign up on the Master List from this site. The A to Z Team does not control those other Linky sign-ups. Any other linky is not officially part of this #atozchallenge, does not put your blog on our Master List, and is not endorsed, monitored, or regulated by the A to Z Team. You use them at your own discretion. We are also not part of blogchatter.

The A to Z Team runs this website, we don't control the rest of the Internet. 😏


Be sure your blog displays a participant badge so everyone knows they're in the right place!And please consider getting a t-shirt.

(Looking for shirts from previous #atozchallenge events: https://buff.ly/3w66PEH )

Master List Sign Ups

Your choice of badges for showing off your A to Z pride!

Click here to sign up for the A to Z Challenge! Sign ups are open until April 1. Check out our instructional video below or our written instructions. 

The best part about our new list is that you can SORT and FILTER it! (So there's no need to worry if you're not at the top of the list). 

The Master List sign up is how participants officially register to join the A to Z challenge 2018.

Daily lists, Theme Reveal, and social media comment link-ups are encouraged but not required.
The daily list sign ups will be made available early for those who are confident in their ability to pre-determine their posts' direct links.

The Master List sign up is now:

CLOSED

Categories -- check out that post for information on categories. The MASTER LIST category question is the category of your blog itself. (For whichever category you'd like your blog to be known.)
What the A to Z Challenge Means by THEME

Click here to see the list of all participants! For information on how to use the Google Sheet list, see our instructional video below or our written instructions.

And don't forget to check out the Theme Reveal on Monday the 19 of March.

Plus, there's Idea Donations day on March 13.

Happy Dance!

The list has been open for TWO whole days! Can you believe it? This has basically been me for the last two days:

Elevator dancing is really awkward when you work in a scientific organization.
Overt exuberance is rather rare :) Thankfully I get in pretty early..

Dancing bananas: hilarious and awkward, because.. well.. because.

This isn't awkward - she's just one of my favorite characters :)

Anyway, if you haven't yet, you should sign up on our list! The link is in Alex's Monday post, or in the tab at the top of the page. Happy Wednesday, y'all :)

AJ Lauer is in her fifth year participating in the A-Z Challenge, her third year as a co-host. She is the author of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot and has some pretty great stuff in store for this year! 

Checklist: Are you READY for the BIG DAY? #atozchallenge 4/1/2014

You've signed up on the list.  You've maybe written some posts.  Maybe you have a theme, but are you REALLY ready for Tuesday, April 1, 2014 when the biggest blogging event of the year will begin?  Here's a checklist so you can be sure.

1) You might have heard this before, but you HAVE TO TURN OFF CAPTCHA, aka WORD VERIFICATION aka PROVE YOU'RE NOT A ROBOT.  You really don't need that "keep out" sign. (If you're worried about spam, disabling anonymous comments is the best defense, and you can also you use comment moderation.)

If you don't know how to turn it off, there's a video in the FAQ to help you.

2) Do you have a way for visitors to follow your blog? 
You can use Google Friend Connect (GFC), follow by email, follow by RSS feed, or all three.  We recommend that you have at least one if not all three options available for guests to be able to come read more, or look at your great photos, or listen to your creative songs, or learn your awesome craft ideas.  You do want more followers, right?

3) Have you cleaned up your sidebar?  (I need to...egads, it's cluttered...) What I mean is, do you have your sidebar in a logical order?  How to follow you (see #2) should be near the top, if not THE top item. Arrange the rest of your items in the order of importance ~ what do you want people to know about you and your blog.  Some may not scroll all the way to the bottom, so put the important "stuff" at the top.

4) Do you have your participant badge displayed?  I'm talking about this one, found in the banners/badges tab above:

I know some of you have very legitimate reasons for not displaying it, and we're not forcing anyone to have it up. However, here are some reasons why it's to YOUR advantage to have it in your sidebar, and I suggest placing it right under your follower widget of choice.

* visitors know right away that you're participating

* if you put it up NOW it's advertising and we get more participants

* you avoid a reminder email from one of the co-hosts or one of the minions to please display your badge (which saves us work and we'd really appreciate that)

5) Do you know where the sign-up list is?  I suggest having it open in your browser all day so that it's easy to visit someone when you have just a few minutes.  All of those add up, and pretty soon you've been to more than the suggested 5 blogs immediately following your number on the list.  That will bring you more visitors!  This is the sign-up list.

6) Do you know what to do once you've put your first post up?  A lot of people have been asking.  The quick answer is: you've already signed up on the list I linked in #5, you don't have to link up each day.  However, here's what you should do to insure success:

* advertise your post using your other social media outlets of choice

* if Twitter is one of those, include the #atozchallenge hashtag

* for those of you on facebook, get active with the A-Z facebook page by visiting it daily to see what's going on, liking comments, adding your own.  Doing so will bring more visibility to your blog, and more visitors.

* if you include an image, others can pin your post on Pinterest

* make sure you're visiting others.  If you visit, they will come.  If you sit there, they will not.  Your success, your connections with others, your increase in friends and exposure all depends on YOU.  If you invest the time to make the first move, it WILL pay off.

* the more you get yourself out there, the more you will get out of this adventure

Yes, most of this has been said before.  It's worth repeating though.  The A to Z Team's goal is for this be a rewarding experience for you, and we really do care about you.  We may not be able to read all of your posts...but we want you to succeed.

Questions?  Contact Us tab is right up there.

~Tina, on behalf of the A to Z Team

P.S Got some new info this morning.  Be sure to read Ida's comment below. It has other following suggestions and shows you how to fix GFC if you're having problems with it.  Thanks, Ida!