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Posted: Sat, October 19, 2002
Weblogs explained
Paul Squires
For over 10 years, the medium of the web has been used to convey content on fairly linear, static pages with little instantaneous
interactivity. For the last couple of years, a relatively new way of authoring and representing information on the web has captured the
minds of thousands of users - the `weblog', or simply `blog'.
Put very simply, a weblog is a web-based journal from one author or many authors. It presents the content in the form of a single
entry. Each entry is completed with a timestamp and invitation for users to comment. A web page can thus be a composite view of many
weblog entries, or `zoomed in' to just one entry. Each of these is usually finished off with what is known as a `permalink' - a hypertext
link to a single-page view of one entry, allowing users to link to it from their own sites or for bookmarking.
The most popular weblog creation suites are
Radio Userland ,
Blogger , and
Movable Type . All are from commercial companies who provide a number of
products, including some at no charge. Some are produced as freeware tools, such as
B2 , or part of more complex content management suites, such as
or
PostNuke . In most cases for all weblog publishing products, they require a
server-side installation and provide content publishing through a browser.
Most of these services are free, although their features and the services they provide differ. Moveable Type, for example, offers a
function called `Trackback' where those authors (`bloggers) that wish to comment on an entry in your weblog can automatically send a ping
to your weblog, indicating that they have submitted an entry in their weblog that references yours. Your weblog can thus automatically
list all sites that reference an entry or entries, and provide firm, explicit links between content, as opposed to implicit links such as
referrer statistics. Simple pinging functions such as this allow other services to provide update notification services, such as that at
blo.gs . More diverse applications are sprouting up all the time, such as
BlogChalking, which provides a personal identifier for the weblog author allowing for location-based searching; MIT's
B logdex , providing a route to popular weblogs; and
Blogstreet , which searches interconnected content.
The choice for a weblog publication tool is often self-determining. Once you size up what facilities you already have (such as a web
server with CGI) and what you want, the key then is to know what to do with it.
The content of a weblog can, of course, vary infinitely. Many are personal blogs written from the user's point of view, which makes
the content highly personal and more like a diary. Others are called information blogs, providing commentary and resources on a
particular topic.
The power of weblog publishing means that irrespective of their content and source, they are indeed written from a personal
viewpoint. The weblog from the Guardian's technology journalists,
Online Blog , is one such example. Many, of course, have a technology
and/or Internet perspective, but the content is as wide-ranging as one can imagine - and all the more readable, precisely due to their
personalised nature.
The increasing move towards a set of web standards has also provided weblog authors with the tools to move content around the
Internet quickly and easily. The publish-and-subscribe model of Radio Userland and others allows for the easy throughput of content based
upon the RDF application of RSS (Rich Site Summary). This means that the weblog author can integrate a content feed from an RSS-enabled
site elsewhere on the Internet straight into their own site - and also offer one back out for authors to include in theirs. This model
allows for a much more flexible means of displaying and distributing content through the same interface. As well as other weblogs and
standard websites, dedicated RSS reader software allows anyone to subscribe to any number of RSS feeds of their choosing. The user thus
has the capability of displaying a multitude of newsfeeds concurrently, without having to visit one site after the other. A multitude of
free and commercial readers are available. Recommended freeware readers include
NetNewsWire Lite on MacOS X, and
Feedre ader on Windows.
There is a school of thought which suggests that weblogs allow users to regain control of publishing content to the web, and to
create content which may not have existed in such an inspiring, public format. Weblog authors tend to respond to developments and
thoughts elsewhere on the web from within their own weblog. This puts the hypertextual medium of the web to maximum use, as opinions are
`amplified' to create public discussion to and from weblogs and websites, and readers are provided with seamless routes in and out of
diverse opinions and content they wish to view across a plethora of related (and unrelated) weblogs. (For a discussion of this, read
`Architecture Matters, The Rebirth of Public Discussion' on Ray Ozzie's weblog at:
.)
Weblogs are now moving out of the strictly personalised authoring mode and into many others, as the format makes it so flexible. The
architecture makes them ideal Knowledge Management tools for deploying into environments such as corporate Intranets, where staff can
contribute new information to their own weblog, hosted on the corporate server. Weblogs as knowledge acquisition and development tools
now have their own term: a klog. (See
http://www.dijest.com/aka/ - A Klog Apart - knowledge weblog.)
Sharing and re-using information across sites (physical and virtual) has always been fairly awkward, but XML has largely overcome it.
Weblogs are re-empowering people to write and `broadcast' their thoughts and opinions. The adoption of weblogs will grow exponentially as
their advantages become more readily apparent and accessible. Weblogs will provide a future for new content on the web based on new
approaches in both content and architecture.
Associated links
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/
A directory of weblogs, RSS reader software, and more, at the Open Directory.
http://www.syndic8.com/~wkearney/blogs/syndic8/
Syndication News from Bill Kearney. A weblog on XML and content syndication.
http://www.weblogkitchen.com/wiki.cgi?NotableWeblogs
A short directory of `Notable Weblogs' from the excellent Weblog Kitchen.
http://www.e-businessworld.com/ic_944428_912\f44 _1-2787.html
"The blog days of summer". An introduction to weblogging from Darwin magazine, which interviews some bloggers.
Paul Squires is the Head of Web Services at Opportunity Wales, a major project to deliver e-commerce advisory services to SMEs
across the Objective One area. For further information visit
http://www.opportunitywales.co.uk/
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