WordCamp Israel

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The Israeli blogosphere is an eclectic space, with bloggers ranging from the very casual to the very serious. Hannit, who is generally agreed to be one of Israel’s leading bloggers, definitely belongs on the serious end of the spectrum. Hannit’s blog features tips on using WordPress, and touches on other technical topics. Her blog posts are helpful, thought-provoking, and well written. Read on to find out what Hannit has to say about blogging, and even more importantly, why her blog is called Achi Dakar (which literally translates into "My brother stabbed," a most unfortunate meaning for a blog title…).

Miriam: Hi Hannit, and thanks for agreeing to this interview. Let’s start with how you started your blogging career. When did you start blogging?

Hannit: I've been blogging for a bit more then a year now. I started with a personal blog on the "blogim" platform, but during the war last summer the platform became unavailable so I decided to move to a self-hosted blog. I did a little research and decided on WordPress. At first, my blog was a mix of personal and professional/technical. Along the way, I fell in love with WordPress and the blog became much more technical and professional.

Miriam: What are your goals as a blogger?

Hannit: That’s a tough one. I think I'm aiming at multiple targets. I want to expose WordPress to the Israeli community, which is why I write in Hebrew. I want to make blogging on WordPress more widespread, and the required information on the system available in Hebrew to as wide an audience as possible.

Miriam: What have you accomplished as a blogger?

Hannit: Hmm… I think I am making WordPress more accessible to Israelis. I'm accomplishing this by writing tutorials and translating themes and plugins into Hebrew. I've been told by many people that my blog helped them to start and maintain their self hosted blog.

Miriam: That’s amazing! So what does WordPress mean to you?

Hannit: WordPress is a world full of fun. I love its flexibility with using and writing plugins. I love the colorful themes and the ease of changing them. This platform can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. As a software professional I find that exciting. As a blogger I just enjoy its benefits.

Miriam: What do you think could be improved in WordPress? What’s your favorite WordPress feature(s)?

Hannit: The one thing that is really still a problem for me in WordPress is the fact that it is not yet compatible with RTL (right-to-left) languages. We (Ran and I) need to convert it with each new version that is released. That flaw makes most of the Israeli blogs a version or two behind.

My favorite WordPress features are the plugins and widgets. The flexibility they add to the system makes it possible for me to do whatever I want with it.

Miriam: What’s your opinion on the state of the Israeli blogosphere?

Hannit: The thing I find most lacking (and I have written about this) is more professional blogs. I read a lot of blogs as part of my daily routine, and I'd rather read them in Hebrew (for many reasons). Nowadays there are not enough "professional" bloggers in Hebrew, and this is something I'd really like to see changing. The Israeli blogosphere is full of very talented writers, I'd just like to see it taken one step forward.

Miriam: What advice do you have for people who want to get into blogging?

Hannit: Take it one step at a time and ask for help if you need it. There are a lot of people out there that can and are willing to help. Read a bit, decide what you want to write about (it can be one subject or many). But the most important thing - make sure to enjoy the ride!

Miriam: Thanks for the insight Hannit! Now, please tell me - why in the world is your blog called "Achi Dakar"?!

Hannit: As you know my name is Hannit. I'm named after Achi Hannit, a ship in the Israeli navy. When I started to blog, I wanted to have an anonymous blog (I was writing very personal stuff). So I decided to use Achi Dakar as my nick name - Achi Dakar is an Israeli submarine that sank many years ago.

When I moved to a self hosted blog I decided that I couldn't keep my blog a secret from people close to me and told them about it. After a while with my focus moving towards WordPress, I 'came out of the closet' and put my name on it. But since I didn't want to kill my reputation - I've stayed with the name.

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So there you have it - Hannit’s blog is named after a sunken submarine, and she’s named after a navy ship. Did I hear someone say "Only in Israel"?

Miriam Schwab