Comments on: Philosophy Group Blogs

By: Stentor

Stentor — Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:24:28 +0000

… though I should add in MT/Typepad’s favor that it creates a separate page for each entry, thus improving searchability (though this could be a disutility if you enjoy seeing bizarre search terms in your referrer logs). I just wish more people would include their column structure in their entry pages (a la CT), so that the text doesn’t suddenly run all the way across the screen when I click on “read more.”

By: Stentor

Stentor — Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:21:32 +0000

Permalink “bloggering” was an issue this summer, but it got pretty well straightened out when they implemented the upgraded interface. As for easy modification of the look, I’ve seen a lot of MT/Typepad blogs that look awfully similar. I think there’s a sector of the blogging population that doesn’t really care what their site looks like as long as it’s readable, so making alterations easier isn’t going to change much (encouraging the use of RSS, which leads to people not actually seeing your site, will only encourage it). Those of us who care a lot about the layout of our blogs are probably disproportionately conversant with HTML, so we aren’t held back by the need to edit raw HTML to alter a Blogger layout.

By: Deborama

Deborama — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 19:06:07 +0000

I have used Blogger for a year and a bit. Recently I added Haloscan and it now has automatic trackback as well as comments (all free). I also have a tagboard (free). Blogger now has a built in feed (xml, Atom) which works very well with the Bloglines aggregator. I have about 200 sites on my Bloglines feed and about a fourth of them are free Blogspot sites with the Atom feed. So, yes, things have improved. I have considered changing to Typepad but I just can’t be bothered to do all that work when it ain’t broke as it is.

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 16:49:20 +0000

I’ve heard very recent complaints about Blogger permalinks still being messy. So that’s one reason to switch. Here’s five others. Integrated comments means you can do things like have a ‘recent comments’ box in the sidebar. This, like most things, can be added in Typepad through easy to use menus. Integrated comments also means that it’s easier to save, search, etc the comments. Typepad comes with Trackback built in. Typepad (like the standard Movable Type platform) comes with a built-in RSS feed. For those of us who rarely read blogs through browsers, this is a huge advantage. I’ve never found a stable, reliable RSS feed for Blogger, but I’ve never had a problem with a Movable Type feed. And as I mentioned in the text, it’s so easy to modify the Typepad template so your blog doesn’t look just like everyone else’s.

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 15:39:06 +0000

At least at one time, Blogger permalinks were notoriously unreliable, so much so that “Permalinks bloggered; scroll down to [whatever]” was a standard way of linking. This was pre-Google takeover, though, and I haven’t seen it much lately. I’ve never blogged with Blogger so I can’t speak to user-friendliness.

By: Richard Chappell

Richard Chappell — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 04:55:50 +0000

Hmm… I use Blogger, and it only took me a moment to integrate (Haloscan) comments & trackback into my blog. So are there any serious disadvantages to Blogger compared to other programs?

By: Amardeep Singh

Amardeep Singh — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 03:51:23 +0000

Are there any free blog engines that have integrated message boards? I am using an external one (Blogger), and I agree it sucks. Not that I have so many messages that it really matters ;-)

By: jholbo

jholbo — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 02:44:33 +0000

TypePad really is handy-dandy. For my massive (500+) intro philosophy module I have four TypePad blogs. One main blog, which complements the module website and readings site. Three tutor blogs, each with two to three associated tutors who use them to organize discussion relative to individual discussion sections. Plenty of work, but no technical headache whatsoever. So simple the designer doesn’t need any HTML knowledge; and so simple for tutors who get signed up to participate that you don’t even need to explain anything to them. It’s all just little yellow buttons with self-evident icons for making links. That sort of thing.

By: Jonathan Ichikawa

Jonathan Ichikawa — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 02:12:45 +0000

We’re Number One! We’re Number One! (I think…)

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 00:53:17 +0000

Brown wins for title, and also for disclaimer. You’ve got some work to do in bringing the Ithacans up to that standard.