Blogs
- Om Malik – Knows Silicon Valley first hand; great writer; excellent photographer.
- Scripting News – Dave Winer’s eclectic posts.
- Pixel Envy by Nick Heer – Blogs about tech and other topics. Well curated and interesting.
- Worms and Viruses – A tech blog by Jack Wellborn.
- The Euro TV Place – Reviews and clips of European TV available in the US. It amazes me how much European TV can now be streamed in the United States.
- Michael Tsai’s Tech Blog – Michael pulls out the essential nuggets from many sources and posts them on his blog, It’s a real time saver and his site loads likety split.
- Philip Greenspun’s Weblog – I have followed Philip Greenspun since he founded Photo.net, which I loved. Now he blogs about lots of stuff. Sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t but I keep coming back to read what the founder of Photo.net has to say.
- Visual Science Lab – Written by Kirk Tuck, an excellent photographer in Austin.
- Paris Diary by Laure – An excellent blog about what’s happening in Paris
- Mal Warwick on Books – Has been reviewing books on his blog since 2010
- The Homebound Symphony – A well written blog by Alan Jacobs.
- Matt Mullenweg – A founding developer of WordPress and the CEO of Automattic.
- Swissmiss, A popular design journal and more.
-
Molly considered WordPress but prefers JavaScript to PHP and finds WordPress bloated with features she doesn’t need or want. ↩︎
- myth: you need to be original
- myth: you need to be an expert
- myth: posts need to be 100% correct
- myth: writing boring posts is bad
- myth: you need to explain every concept
- myth: page views matter
- myth: more material is always better
- myth: everyone should blog
- Bulk editing of posts - Maybe not essential when you are just starting, but you can’t bulk edit posts, for instance, to change tags. This functionality exists in WP and would be very helpful. I suspect you can do it if you are self-hosting or can code.
- Images - It is primarily a text-based tool. So probably unfair to judge it on images, but there are two areas I find annoying. It does not store images you have used (like WP does), so if you want to use a separate post, you need to upload it again. There doesn’t seem to be a way to move an image from one post to another if you decide to combine two drafts. Only small things, but a little annoying.
- Coding - Any changes to the theme require coding. That means you cannot edit anything if you don’t know how to code.
- Links - Probably my ignorance, but I can not find a way to set it up, so external links open in a new tab.
- No app - There is no native app for editing on your phone. Although it is relatively good on safari on a mobile
- More windows or tabs increase the clutter of the user’s information space and require more effort to manage.
- New windows or tabs can cause disorientation, with users often not realizing that a new window or tab has opened. This problem is exacerbated on mobile, where the old window is never visible.
- Less-technical users struggle to manage multiple windows and tabs, especially on mobile. (On tablets, where users can have both multiple windows and tabs for the browser, it’s even more confusing.)
- New windows or tabs prevent the use of the Back button for returning to the previous page and force the user to spend effort to find their way back to the previous content.
- New windows or tabs are not inclusive for blind or low-vision users — especially when they open outside of the area that’s magnified.
A Nice WordPress Gallery Plugin
My hobby is photography and I’ve been looking for a WordPress gallery plugin I like to display image galleries in blog posts. I’ve tried many but they would not do everything I want or were cumbersome to use.
I just found GT3 Photo and Video Gallery Pro and it does everything I want it to do. It’s also easy to use. The free version does a nice job but the Pro version adds a lot of nice features and cost $19 for a one year license. This is an example of a gallery I created with the plugin. And I think the gallery looks great on mobile as well. All the settings are available in the block editor which I find ideal for me. This post includes another example a GT3 gallery.
Blogs I Like
I like traditional blogs, which harken back to the early days of the internet when people wrote to share for the joy of sharing. The main goal wasn’t to make money via advertising or subscriptions. It was people sharing and connecting with other people. There aren’t as many blogs like this around anymore. I value the ones that remain and share this list in the spirit of sharing and connecting person to person:
The list is in no particular order. Please suggest other blogs to follow.
Last updated: February 14, 2024
Why Having Your Own Home on the Internet is Important
Om:
Why do “creatives” forget that the platform exists for one reason—the platform’s overall growth and viability?
The Substack founders are staying true to form — trying to save/grow their business. They have to grow in order to raise their next round of funding. If they don’t, then it’s lights out.
Yes, Substack is blogging, and it’s totally valid for a blogging system to be better at publishing one kind of writing.
What’s wrong with Substack, and why it will ultimately need to change or be replaced, is that they require writers to use their editor.
That’s lock-in.
My Perspective on WordPress
I’ve always thought of WordPress as the default for personal websites focused on writing. However, I have never found a WordPress theme I love. Some themes are feature rich and slow and others are fast but, at least to my eye, not visually appealing. And I know there are many WordPress themes.
The theme I’m using on this site is called TinyTheme. The developer, Matt Langford, even helped me to customize it. It now suits me perfectly. Both the hosting on Micro.blog and the theme are fast.
Having said that, for photography, I haven’t found anything I like better than Squarespace, where I also have a site. Squarespace sites aren’t fast but I want to post large images so there is a tradeoff, especially because I don’t know how to code.
A Useful List of Blogging Platforms
Manuel Moreale, an Italian freelance developer and designer, posted this list on his blog. He’s been blogging since 2017. I can’t tell what platform he’s using and I’m curious.
See also, Blogging Platforms.
Migrating from Substack to Ghost
Molly White left Substack and went to a self-hosted Ghost1 newsletter, in large part over its policies. I applaud her for leaving Substack. It’s better to have your own home on the internet.
Molly explains step by step how she did it. It was a lot of work and not as easy as Substack would have you believe.
If you are thinking of starting a publication, the open web is, in my opinion, the way to go.
I had a couple newsletters on Substack, which I deleted because of its tolerance of Nazi supporters. They were small newsletters, one of which shared news about the Holocaust. I may start again on Ghost. I will never again build a house on someone else’s property.
Respond or Remain Silent?
There are many hot button issues now. People are very divided. It’s worth thinking about what you will do when someone says something or writes something with which you strongly disagree.
Adam Newbold suggests it may be better not to respond:
When you respond, your noble intentions lead you to believe that you’ll counteract the noise with something nicer. But in the end, you’ll just wind up amplifying the noise. And you’ll never feel better afterward.
His post is about online communications but I think his suggestion applies equally to interpersonal communications.
Having said this, sometimes silence could be seen as acquiescence with something you just can’t agree with. Then some response may be needed. Even so, it’s worth considering if silence is the best approach, especially online. And if a response is warranted, does it need to be a nuclear attack?
See also, Manton Reece.
Why Publish?
But why do I feel the need to publish this writing? Why do I not just write these in a diary or journal?
I think the answer is that writing to publish, and the idea of someone reading it, helps me to make it the best writing I can. I don’t actually know how many people read these little articles but you (whether you are real or not) are important to help me distill these thoughts down to their essence.
Blogging to Connect With Kindred Spirits
Blogger Rach Smith of Australia used to look for links back to her site from other creators. But when her blog started ranking on Google, most of her traffic starting coming from search and so she lost interest in the data and turned analytics off:
I keep writing on this site because it is the best way to find people who have similar interests as me.
…
People who arrive via search are just looking to get a question answered and move on. That’s great and I hope I can help them, but they are not the reason I’m here. This site is here for the people who stay a while, have a look around and then send me an email to start an interesting conversation.
So, I’m turning analytics off.
To me, this is what blogging is all about.
My thanks to Kev Quirk for bringing this post to my attention.
Personal Independent Blogs are Important
Lars Mensel explains that personal blogs allow people to stay in control of their own data:
Many—if not most—of the online platforms and networks I’ve ever used on the internet have stopped existing or withered away, something that is strangely commonplace on the web. And yet we hardly stop to think that everything we share might simply get lost over time.
Blogging Myths
Julia Evans, a Canadian software developer, offers eight blogging myths that discourage people from blogging:
I found this list and her explanations helpful. In the end, it’s the author’s blog and it can be whatever the author wants.
Why Blog? - ‘You just might want to say hello’
The late Nora Ephron writing on HuffPost in 2006 explained that:
getting heard outside the world of blogs occasionally requires that you have something to say. And one of the most delicious things about the profoundly parasitical world of blogs is that you don’t have to have anything much to say. Or you just have to have a little tiny thing to say. You just might want to say hello. I’m here. And by the way. On the other hand. Nevertheless. Did you see this? Whatever. A blog is sort of like an exhale. What you hope is that whatever you’re saying is true for about as long as you’re saying it. Even if it’s not much.
Among her many accomplishments, Ephron wrote the script for the lovely romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally. She died in 2012.
Why Blog? - A Place to Speak One’s Mind
Photographer and blogger Kirk Tuck summing up his 2018 — which now seems like a long time ago — wrote:
Everyone should have at least one safe space in which to be archly and profoundly opinionated.
I’m not sure if Kirk was writing tongue in cheek. In any event, I always look forward to his posts.
Kirk’s blog is called the Visual Science Lab. He’s been blogging since 2009 and has more than 1,300 followers.
Blogging Without a Plan is OK
The author of but she’s a girl . . . writing about the 20th anniversary of her blog:
When I started this blog 20 years ago, I had no real plan in mind. I still don’t. I write about what interests me and makes me happy, and that is the only theme that runs through it. People still seem to find it and discover interesting things to read, but to be honest, I would probably still write if no-one was reading, just to amuse myself.
but she’s a girl . . . is also on micro.blog.
Always Write for Your Audience
From the About Page of Derek Sivers, who I believe pioneered the concept of the Now Page, — a webpage describing what a blogger or website owner is doing “now”:
I always write for my audience, not for myself, so this feels indulgent. When I think of expressing this kind of “about me” stuff in an article, I stop myself because it’s not directly useful to you.
So this is just one big page where I can write all about myself, without feeling the need for it to be useful. And some day this site will be all that’s left of me, so I might as well write my own mini autobiography.
A Substack Publication Shares Subscription Data
SpyTalk is a Substack publication covering national security topics, with an emphasis on U.S. intelligence operations, both foreign and domestic. In other words, spy stuff.
On December 18, the publication shared some interesting subscriber numbers:
Subscriptions more than doubled, from 4,840 in the last week of December 2021 to this week’s 10,474. Fully paid subscriptions . . . rose nearly 25 percent, from 510 to 636.
The publication charges $99 for a year or $9.95 for a month so that would translate to gross income of about $6,300 a month. Less than 1% of subscribers pay.
Blogger Describes Move from Squarespace to Ghost
Blogger Chris Lloyd moved his blog from Squarespace to Ghost and is happy with Ghost. Still he shares Ghost’s negatives:
[…]
Why Creating Links to Open New Browser Windows is Probably Not a Good Practice
I want to thank Sven Dahlstrand for taking the time to explain to me why opening external links in a new tab is probably not a good practice. Sven helpfully referred me to a page written by usability experts Jakob Nielsen and Anna Kaley explaining:
Since 1999, it’s been a firm web-usability guideline to refrain from opening new browser windows for several reasons. All of these also apply to opening new browser tabs and are still valid today:
I had been opening external links in a new tab in the hope of keeping visitors on my site but I had not thought about the confusion this can cause, especially on mobile:
Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user’s machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the _Back _button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don’t notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed-out _Back _button.
Blogger Explains Move from Squarespace to Ghost
I decided to move my blog away from Squarespace. The main reason behind the move was that Squarespace is a full-fledged website builder and not necessarily focused on publishers. That meant, I had to deal with many unwanted problems. The biggest problem being the site speed. My website was incredibly slow on Squarespace and I wanted something fast and nimble.
[…]
Since the backend of Squarespace is built to help you create a website with simple drag and drop tools, it is bloated. That means the backend is very slow and you will feel it every time you create a post.
[…]
Another reason Squarespace is not good for publishers is website speed. Google punishes you heavily for a slow website, and my blog on Squarespace was excruciatingly slow. It constantly scored below 10 and 40, in mobile and desktop page speeds respectively. That not only means that Google was not ranking my articles, it also meant readers had a bad experience on my website.
This completely jives with my experience. Jakob Nielsen, a web usability expert, explains that slow response times are the worst offender against web usability: “Users don’t care why response times are slow. All they know is that the site doesn’t offer good service: slow response times often translate directly into a reduced level of trust and they always cause a loss of traffic as users take their business elsewhere.”
Blogging Makes My Writing Better
Steve Hodgson explains why he blogs rather than just writing in a diary or a journal:
I think the answer is that writing to publish, and the idea of someone reading it, helps me to make it the best writing I can. I don’t actually know how many people read these little articles but you (whether you are real or not) are important to help me distill these thoughts down to their essence.
Steve has been blogging for more than ten years. He calls his blog “Sulluzzu” because it is his wife’s favorite word. It means hiccups which Steve says seems to fit with how regularly he updates his blog.
It’s interesting to learn what motivates bloggers.
Steve is on Micro.blog as @BestofTimes.