Blog Basics
What is a blog?
A blog, or weblog, is an online publication similar to a journal, diary, or log. The term weblog, created in 1997, was shortened to blog in 1999 when Peter Merholz used “we blog” in the sidebar of his blog (Wikipedia, 2005). This created the verb to blog in addition to the noun blog (Wikipedia, 2005).
What is the difference between a blog and a personal web site?
The most basic distinction is the typical structure of a blog. While a web site can have any structure, a standard blog will consist of chronological posts—or entries—starting with the most recent post on the top of the page. Blogs also tend to have archives or calendars linking to previous entries, a blog roll—or list of similar blogs, and a page or side note about the author(s). See Jakob Nielsen’s Weblog usability article for more information on blog design.
Perhaps the largest difference between a blog and a web site is how pages are maintained. Blogging software, whether in the form of a web site such as Blogger or installed code such as WordPress, gives users with little to no programming knowledge the ability to update content through a simple web interface. Much like writing an email message using webmail, blogs have a subject line, content box, and button to click when the post is ready.
Limits to this format arise in the design. Where a personal web site allows for creative use of space, the blog structure constrains information to a specific format. Most blogs do offer a choice of basic layouts, from number of columns to color combinations, as well as the ability to integrate images, but they still restrict information to chronological posts.
Despite the constraints, blogs have been used successfully for creative purposes beyond their intended format. One blog publishing magazine content on LiveJournal gained a large enough reader base to develop a print edition. Authors use blogs to post samples of upcoming books for promotional purposes or test works in progress. Community blogs offer listings for upcoming events and collaborative authors review local restaurants and performances, with the blog functioning similar to a newspaper’s entertainment section.
Activity: Create a blog
Choose a blog provider (Blogger, LiveJournal, xanga). Create a new account. Write and post an entry. You may also want to practice viewing your blog, reading other blogs using the same service, creating user icons, creating blog rolls or friends lists, and editing and deleting entries.
If you already understand the basics of blogging through a free service, and you have access to a web server, you may want to try installing simple blog software to see how it’s done. WordPress provides a free download and detailed instructions for installation.
Wikipedia. (Sept. 3, 2005). Weblogs. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog on September 5, 2005.