Blogging tools

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... part of the technology for communities project,
started off by the authors of [Digital Habitats], Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, and John D. Smith.

Contents

Definition

A blog, or weblog, is a web page with new materials (posts) displayed chronologically, often with new posts at the top. It is created with programs that allows easy web publication without the hassles of HTML editing, and having to use a separate program to upload your work. Look and feel can be set with templates or customized. Blog software is becoming so flexible, you can create entire websites that don't look like "traditional blogs".

Blog software handles the task of generating archival entries for older posts, each of which has a separate URL for easy referencing. This allows posts to be found and "pointed to." Blogs often include subcriptions features such as RSS tools (Really Simple Syndication) or email alerts.

Video Intro

Lee Lefever explains what blogging is all about

Use of blogs for communities of practice

Blogging is a simple, convenient way to keep a community site (or multiple sites) updated without going through several programs to do the job, enabling less technical communities to have a web presence ("public face") to attract new members, and keep community members informed. Blogs can be individually authored or group authored, supporting the individual voice, or a more collective voice of the group (individual and community participation). Blogs can be public or password protection so they can be used for more private uses such as journaling or project spaces.

The ability to comment (which can be turned off or on in most blog products) supports community participation and has been used by some communities as a discussion tool. The "conversation" can also happen between blogs by using links to related posts on different blogs. This may be more difficult for some to follow, but allow a rich connection of ideas. RSS subscription features support ease of reading. This engagement with readers may encourage frequent site updates.

Blogs can be integrated with other tools such as linking discussion tools to posts rather than using the comment features, deployed in conjunction with wikis which allow aggregation of wiki postings into a chronological message thread, and with many other tools as community needs arise.

Tool Polarities

  • Together/apart, Synch/Asynch:
  • Interaction/publication:
  • Individual/group:

Key features

1. Look/feel/blog organization

  • Templates Ability to change "skins" which create a consistent format on a blog, or allow readers to select preferred skins
    • Allows blogs to match an existing website either for uniformity across a community or the ability to personalize the look of a blog with a unique look and feel.
    • Some templates now support multilingual interfaces for the interface (not the content)* Categories Single or multiple categories for a post. For more sophisticated content management - "categories on steroids"
    • Categories allow readers to view only posts that interest them.
  • Format long posts with summary and link to full posting
    • To reduce visual overhead in blogs with traditionally longer posts
    • Important in content heavy blogs.
  • Permalinks A unique URL for each posting,
    • Useful in crosslinking and archiving
  • Blogrolls Blog rolls are lists of links to other blogs identified by the blog author. Some blogging tools have features that enable easily generated blogrolls. Others require programming of a template
    • They serve to connect to domain related blogs or to blogs of other community members.
    • Some RSS readers (blog reading tools) generate code for blog rolls containing all the blogs that an individual has subcribed to (see http://www.bloglines.com) which allows a blog's readers to easily see what the blog author might be reading. This offers both domain content and some identity building for the blog author.
    • Blog rolls are a way of manifesting one's blog "community". In addition, cross linking either in posts or via blog rolls seems to improve search ranking in Google, which may be an advantage.

2. Commenting and other reader interaction options

  • Comments Readers can input comments to blog entries. Sometimes comments become almost a conversation. Comments can be visible along side posts, or you have to click into them
    • Comments allow the negotiation of meaning, sharing of ideas and resources. They become one of the ways that community manifests in blogs (the other way is when a group of bloggers all respond to each other)
  • Comments on/off/moderated
    • To allow blog authors the option of not having comments or to shut down a comment thread that turns into a "flame"
    • To prevent spam attacks in comments which can bring a blog down, particularly publicly viewable blogs
  • Access list (password protection) Password protection for private blogs
    • When privacy is important for organizational or personal requirements
  • Can easily connect to conversation threads Spawn conversation threads of any post (owner and/or particpate) which may appear on a separate page or side by side with postings.)
    • When content stimulates more complex conversations that can overwhelm simple "comment" features, linking to a more robust discussion tool can be useful.

3. Authoring features

  • Multi authors Allow more than one blog author
    • A community or a subgroup of a community may wish to collectively blog rather than aggregate individual (separate) blogs.
  • Mobbloging Can post from a mobile phone - text or photos
    • For communities who's members may have more mobile phone access than web access. This allows them to contribute. Also useful for practices where field reporting is a critical practice.
  • Post basic look /feel - WIZIWIG Ability for user to format postings (text, links, etc.). Usually with a WISYWIG text editor.
    • Makes posts easier to read and becomes a key feature in posts that quote other posts (indent, italics) and for cross linking.
  • Spell checker Allows checking/correcting of text prior to posting.
    • Helpful where credibility is associated with good spelling or people working in a second language.
  • Can include inline images Either within the tool or in collaboration with a photo site (a la http://www.flickr.com )
    • Quickly adds a visual component to online communication. Allows inclusion of sketches, photos, etc. Can be tremendously useful in diverse groups where 'an image is worth a 1000 words.'

4. Subscription features

  • RSS (see also RSS and RSS Readers for more details) - A piece of code included in a blog that allows readers to subscribe to any updates or changes.
    • Very important in tech-savvy communities and blog centric communities. Lack of RSS in these communities can be a reason for ignoring a blog.
  • Email subscriptions Reader can subscribe to a blog to get email alerts or full post content
    • Alternative to RSS for those who do not use RSS aggregators/blog readers or who prefer material in their email inbox
  • Email notification of comments For blog author and for readers sending email when comments are posted
    • Comment notification can encourage dialog/conversation

5. Administration features

  • Archiving Archiving by date, category, and/or author
    • Archives can become knowledge bases for communities.
  • User preferences Set default fonts, formatting baselines, notification options and personal profiles.
    • One page where all one's preferences can be set is convenient.
  • Can easily combine or connect with wikis Similar to connecting with conversation threads
    • When content stimulates more complex conversations that can overwhelm simple "comment" features, linking to a more robust discussion tool can be useful.

6. Additional features

  • FOAF and Identity elements profiles that link to social networking systems, Technorati, etc. ** Identity elements allow readers to learn more about a blogger and for bloggers to have access tools that can link them to similar people/networks.
  • Built in trackback '...a remote commenting system between blogs. This is used when an individual reads an entry in someone's blog and chooses to write about that entry in his or her own blog. When trackback is used, a ping will be sent to the originator of the post, so he or she will know who blogged about his or her blog entry.' http://weblogs.about.com/cs/blogsglossary/g/trackback.htm
    • Makes crosslinking between blogs easier/automated. Auto linking helpful in communities with multiple blogs or linking ideas across communities.

Related

See also:

References

Here is a bunch of resources that need sorting so we have just a few. From the CPSquare 2.0 event. Some need to move to RSS and Blog readers

Definitions and Views About RSS

There is a wide range of blogging software out there. Some of it requires / allows more customization than others.

    • comparison chart of blogging software http://www.ojr.org/ojr/images/blog_software_comparison.cfm
    • Typepad is now part of Six Apart - where you will also find Moveable Type which are two of the more well established blogging hosts. You'll also find there LiveJournal which has over 9 million accounts (John B.)
    • WordPress is widely used, see http://wordpress.org, there's a huge user/developer community and it's quite easy to learn. It's free, but to try it out through a hosted service see http://wordpress.com and http://blogsome.com (Marshall K)
    • MySpace (from Microsoft) is getting a lot of press in the USA, but it has become an excellent resource for musicians to connect with their audience. The free accounts come with blogging capability.
    • Radio, one of the earlier entrants.
    • BlogSpot or , owned by Google.
    • Edublogs - free wordpress blogs for education professionals from James Farmer. Also uniblogs for students and learnerblogs for schools.
    • password protected blogs http://www.bryght.com/
    • Wikispaces - integrate blog posts from Blogger and TypePad blogs - if you have some really good blog posts they can be recycled and edited directly in Wikispaces. http://evoblog06.wikispaces.com/
  • Aggregators/readers

Are the tools that let you read multiples blogs or newsfeeds assuming they provide a web feed (RSS/Atom)

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