Weblog Resources

Articles

• Andreas Ramos' blog FAQ

• O'Reilly Network articles - The O'Reilly Network has several articles on Weblogs posted in their online Web Development Center.

• Rise of the blogs (June 2003)

• Blogging 101 (info for business blogs)

• Ten Tips For A Better Weblog (March 2003)

• Hmm, Look At What My Blog Coughed Up - Why Blogging Is Good For IT Professionals (May 2005)

• What Blogs Are: A Collaborative, Open Model For Information Exchange (September 2005)

• (If you do one thing with your time in the near future, start a blog; November 2005)

• Information Overload: Blogs As Content Navigators, Information Filters, Trusted Niche Guides (February 2006)

Books

I recommend Essential Blogging by Cory Doctorow, et al, published by O'Reilly. Written by leading bloggers, this book "includes practical advice and insider tips on the features, requirements, and limitations of [blogging] applications".

One of the most useful chapters, "Blogging Voices" is at the end of the book. The chapter consists of insights, comments, advice, and short essays from over two dozen blog authors and readers. If you still aren't sure "Why?", read this first.

Also from O'Reilly, Running Weblogs with Slash by chromatic, et al. Slash is the open-source software system that drives the popular Slashdot web site (and others).

The Weblog Handbook, by Rebecca Blood, explains how weblogs work and explores their impact on the media landscape. In the publisher's words, "For students of digital culture, The Weblog Handbook provides an account of the history of the movement, an explanation of the 'weblog method', and a thoughtful examination of weblogs and journalism." For history and perspective, this is a must-read.

I also recommend We've Got Blog, a collection of essays on weblogs edited by Rebecca Blood. Although the essays are all available online, they're convenient to read in one tidy volume. Available used, for a reasonable price.

For a broader view, be sure to take a look at David Weinberger's Small Pieces Loosley Joined. Subtitled a unified theory of the web, this book is not so much about weblogs, per se, as it is about the universe that is the World Wide Web. While you're at it, don't miss The ClueTrain Manifesto, co-authored by Weinberg and three web compatriots.

I'm sure I've missed mentioning many excellent resources. Visit amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com (or your favorite brick&mortar technical bookstore) and search for "blog".

Hosting Software & Sites

The following list gives a brief introduction to some of the popular blog software engines and weblog hosting sites. This is what makes your weblog "work".

Note - you don't need to use one of these. In fact, before most of these engines and sites were produced, many people created weblogs fromscratch and posted them by hand to their personal web pages! However, today's software provides many features, such as calendars, archiving, easy entry, etc. So, most of today's weblogs are published using one of the following packages.

For more complete comparisons, see Essential Blogging or the documentation for the particular packages.

• Blogger - www.blogger.com
  Free. Can publish to your site by uploading files via FTP. Includes free hosting. Also look at Blog*Spot, "the turn-key hosting service for Blogger.

• Blogger Pro - pro.blogger.com
  Paid upgrade for Blogger, with additional features.

• Bloxsom - www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/
  Free. Code is short, simple, and easily extended (Perl). Can be installed on your server (or requested installed on ISP's server)

• Greymatter - www.noahgrey.com/greysoft
  Free (donations accepted). Can be installed on your server (or requested installed on ISP's server).

• LiveJournal - www.livejournal.com
  Free (with "invitation"), otherwise $25/year. Includes free hosting.

• Manila - www.manila.userland.com
  This is the blog hosting and management portion of a larger (expensive) commercial package called Frontier. 60-day free trial.

• Moveable Type - www.moveabletype.org
  Free for personal and non-profit use (donations accepted). Commercial license available. Can be installed on your server (or requested installed on ISP's server)

• Radio Userland - radio.userland.com
  Can publish to your site by uploading files via FTP. 30-day free trial, then paid subscription. Includes free hosting.

• Slash - www.slashcode.org
  Open-source. Written in Perl. Can be installed on your server (or requested installed on ISP's server)

• Sparkpod - sparkpod.com
  "A more straight forward web log service"; 100% no coding, no extra software required

• TypePad - typepad.com
  From the creators of MoveableType comes a new service that will take most of the hassle out of starting your own blog, yet still offer the power and flexibility you want. Paid service with 30-day free trial; three pricing/feature levels.

• WordPress - www.wordpress.org
  A "a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability."

• Zope - www.zope.org
  Open-source. Written in Python. Can be installed on your server (or requested installed on ISP's server)

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• JoeAnt Search - joeant.com
  Free Weblog Hosting search results

Desktop Clients

As far as I know, all of the available blogging engines (and hosting sites) listed above provide an easy way for you to add new entries to your weblog! The interface is generally through the web, that is, a form in your brwser window.

However, you may prefer the convenience of a desktop client package for creating your entries. Desktop clients provide a convenient way to post weblog entries directly from your desktop, with a more familiar "feel" than the typical web-forms-based interface. Desktop clients are also more likely to offer additional features, such as draft mode (edit and save an entry but don't post it to the web yet) and builtin spell checking.

The following list provides links to some desktop blogging clients. Be sure to check the documentation for the client itself to determine if it supports the Blogging software/host you will use!

For additional choices, see Essential Blogging or look for recommendations from the developer of your blogging software (e.g. for desktop clients that support Moveable Type, check out the list of Desktop Client Tools posted at the MT resources page.)

• Kung-Log - Mac OS X users may want to try Kung Log, a Cocoa desktop application that uses XML-RPC routines to post and manage Moveable Type (and other XML-RPC-based Blog engine) entries.

• Web Publisher - If you don't use Mac OS X yet, take a look at Web Publisher (Carbon for Mac OS 9 and X).

• w.bloggar - If you insist on using Windows, w.bloggar claims to be the best interface between you and your blog.

Sampler / Resources

The following links provide only a small sampler of available blogs. They represent different styles, different tastes, different "Ways To Do It". If nothing else, they prove there is no One True Way to Blog.

Many of these sites (as well as the home pages for the various blogging engines) provide additional pointers to many more sites. Enjoy.

Slashdot - News for nerds, stuff that matters
(Powered by Slash.)

Currently Thinking - Thoughts on life
(Powered by Greymatter)

Boing Boing - A Directory of Wonderful Things
(Powered by Blogger)

Chicago Uncommon - A stranger's life in pictures
A photoblog of Chicago.
(Powered by Moveable Type)

The Subtle Knife: Writing Programs and Technology - an electronic dissertation
(Powered by Greymatter)

megnut - commentaries by Meg Hourihan, focusing on current events, web development and design
(Powered by Moveable Type)

Hunkabutta - Tokyo photos, a stranger's life in pictures.
A photoblog (with daily diary entries).

Dan Gillmor's Silicon Valley Tech eJournal

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O'Reilly Network Weblogs - Myriad articles and commentaries on varied technical topics

BLOGWISE - Blog Directory and Weblog Research

blo.gs - Recently Changed Weblogs

Weblogs.com - Recently Changed Weblogs

Photoblogs.org - The Photoblog resource - "designed to help people find high-quality photoblogs."

BlogFodder - "A daily micro-mail that contains a word, phrase, link, or image that could spark an idea that could lead to a train of thought that might someday become the seed of a weblog post."
(Powered by Moveable Type)

The bloggies -The 2003 weblog Awards

Photobloggies -The 2003 Photoblog Awards