free blog |
THE MOST POPULAR BLOG SOFTWARES |
The blog software uploads the new entry and fits it into the Weblog chronologically. Part or all of the entry is placed on the blog’s index page (the home page of the site), and the entire entry is also archived on its own page with a unique URL. Visitors see the index page first, where they can skim recent entries in reverse chronological order. They can click through to individual entries on individual pages.
The preceding section explains that blog programs create a unique page for each entry. The two reasons for this are linkability (when you want to point to a specific entry) and continuity — the unique pages are an archive of the entire blog. Archiving is important. You might think that the immediacy of blogs makes past entries obsolete, but the opposite is true. Blogs represent a history of a person’s writing.
It can be fascinating to dive into a blog’s past, and most software encourages visitors to do that by linking to archived posts in a variety of ways: On the index page, at least a few days’ worth of entries are presented. A “recent entries” column is often displayed on the index page’s sidebar, listing recent posts that aren’t on the index page.
Deep archives are often listed by month, by year, or by both, somewhere on the index page. A calendar format is sometimes used.
Archived entries are particularly useful in professional diaries and topical blogs, where you might want to research article links and commentary opinion from months or years ago. This brings up a question: If blogging is so new, how can archives stretch back for years? The fact is, blogging has been around for many years; it has only recently hit a tipping point of popularity.
Chronological entries and archives would be enough for a basic blog, and indeed, a few blogs eliminate all other elements from their pages. Permalink: Short for “permanent link,” this link takes the visitor from the index page to the entry’s unique page. Figure 1-8 illustrates a permalink below a blog entry.
Blogroll: The blogroll is not a requirement, but it is a tradition to list the blogger’s favorite blogs in a sidebar. The blogroll is usually common to every page of the blog, so visitors can see your favorite blog destinations no matter where they enter your blog. Blogrolls make the blogosphere somewhat incestuous, with many topical blogs all linking to each other. Having one’s blog included in a high-profile blogroll is an honor and can deliver lots of traffic to a previously little-known blog.