With the Read/Write web in full swing, there are a lot of options when it comes to the type of software that will operate your blog. Many blog networks provide free blogging software and storage for your blog. It’s sort of like having your own free web site, like at geocities.com, but along with storing your web files, the networks also provide WYSIWYG (what you see if what you get) software. Here are some of the more popular blog software networks:
- Blogger.com
- WordPress.com
- LiveJournal.com
Most newbies start off with free blogs. However, you can also create a blog on your own using the same kind of blog software (such as Blogger, WordPress, Moveable Type, and Type Pad). The advantage to doing this is that you have more control and usually more power (bells and whistles). The disadvantage is that you usually need to be more technically savvy than if you used a freebie blog site. These blogging software platforms are just that, software, so normally, you need some kind of programming skills to really be able to use them well.
Linking to Other Blogs
May 31, 2007 at 6:17 am (Links/Comments)
Linking to other blogs, also called “link love,” is an important step in becoming a good blogosphere neighbor. You can link to other blogs through a blog roll, which is a list of links usually located on the sidebar of your blog. You can also link to other blogs internally in a blog post. For example, say you really like what another blogger had to say about certain topic or issue and you wanted to add your 25 cents. You can post your own blog entry about the same issue, linking and mentioning where you saw the originally blogger talk about it. Both internal links and blog rolls are important parts to the whole blogging environment. They are part of what brings you into the conversation. Blogging is not a solo pursuit. No blogger is an island. Links connect you to other bloggers, literally, and they also help connect you to search engines (who like links). So, if you want to write a blog that gets read, then you want to be aware of your links.
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