Choosing functionalities
Good blogs have some important features in common that you need to look for in any independent blogging software solution you consider (and in hosted solutions, too). Whatever solution you decide to use, make sure you have access to the following technologies, even if you don't plan to use them right away. If your blog is a success, you will undoubtedly want to add some of these features down the line.
i Categories: One of the best ways to help your readers get the information they're most interested in is to categorize your content. If you post frequently, allow multiple authors, or cover a number of topics, you'll find categories essential.
For an example of a categorized blog, check out Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion blog (www.micropersuasion.com), shown in Figure 6-1. Steve writes about the impact of blogs and journalism on public relations, and assigns each post a category like Citizen Journalism, Marketing, and Free Advice. Archived entries can then be sorted and read by category, instead of chronologically.
i RSS: Most blogs — and, increasingly, many Web sites with regularly updated content — provide an RSS feed for readers. An RSS feed is an XML-based file that creates short summaries of every entry posted on your blog. The RSS feed pushes your content to blog aggregation sites and permits it to be:
• Picked up by Web sites that syndicate blog content
• Pulled in by other Web logs or other Web sites
• Displayed by newsreader software
Figure 6-2 shows Bloglines (www.bloglines.com), a free RSS reader, at work.
I Blogrolls/links: Creating a list of links to blogs you read regularly, or a blogroll, is considered good form and a way of being a participating member of the blogosphere.
Some independent blog software solutions provide a tool for you to build the blogroll; others let you edit the templates and code yourself. If you pick a blog software package that requires you to write some HTML to create a list of links, see Chapter 4 for an HTML brush-up.
I Comments: Look for an independent blog software solution that not only permits comments, but allows you to track them to keep up with what people are saying.
You set apart your blog from a run-of-the-mill Web site with comments. They are the dialogue, the interaction, that makes blogs exciting and unique — and they're important avenues for your readers to give you information and criticism.
Readers can comment on Stonyfield Farm's Bovine Bugle (www.stonyfield. com/weblog/BovineBugle), shown in Figure 6-3.
Figure 6-1:
The Micro Persuasion blog sorts entries into categories to help readers focus or find things later.
Figure 6-1:
The Micro Persuasion blog sorts entries into categories to help readers focus or find things later.
Figure 6-2:
Bloglines is a Web site that gives you access to the RSS feeds of many blogs.
Figure 6-2:
Bloglines is a Web site that gives you access to the RSS feeds of many blogs.
Figure 6-3:
Comments from Stonyfield Farm's Bovine Bugle blog.
fejfflS Bovi ne Bugle: Comment on Can you teach the cows to skate? - Microsoft Internet Explorer
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Comments: Can you teach the cows to skate?
We had the same ice storm here, just north of the U.S. border in Hemmingford, Quebec. Our sheep would not venture out of the barn for the first two days, except for the 2 lamb (7 months old). They soon realized why the older and wiser ones stayed on firm ground! The llamas (2) who are usually so sure-footed really didn't know what to make of the of the ice, and they too stayed in their bam, despite that I brought the hay out to the feeder in the middle of the yard. We soon realized we were going to have to put hay inside or have a few accidents - the lamb kept bucking under or doing the splits. Although this was funny to watch, 1 worried about broken legs so they all ate inside for a couple of days.
Posted bv Anna-Maria Micolov at January 6, 2005 11:36 AM
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