This started as a quick post about a one post on Blogussion, morphed, and as I started exploring the site, found more posts and features that I wanted to read and share. Some hours later, I’d learned a lot, and decided that Blogussion was going to be one of the places I’d be going when I needed to solve a WordPress problem – or a high-intensity dose of motivation and/or inspiration. Finding a list of 7 wasn’t a problem. Keeping it down to 7 was.
7 Alternative Blogging Tools (Mac-Supported too!): another exceptionally useful tool from Blogussion. (I’ve found that the “Press This” bookmarklet doesn’t give me quite enough control – but haven’t yet decided which which of the off-line blogging tools suits me best). And since a list using prime numbers seems a good idea, here are 7 more reasons to take a look at Blogussion:
- As a Thesis customization, it’s quite impressive. It’s very visually rich – “maximalist” if that’s the opposite of “minimalist” – but not cluttered, and still easy to navigate.
- 100+ Lists To Help You Become a Better Blogger. This is the deep end of the pool – or the long way around. It’s big. It’s the meta-mega list.
- 12 Useful Firefox Add-ons For Every Serious Blogger. I hadn’t heard of any of them (this may say more about my ignorance than Blogussion’s erudition, but still – all of them look like big time-savers for regular bloggers).
- My complaint about Blogging 101, a/k/a Blogging Guide: From Planning to Earning – is that I didn’t have it to read when I started blogging.
Sections include Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging V2.0, Choosing the perfect hosting service, Picking themes and plugins, Long or Short Posts? – and over a dozen sections on every – or nearly every – aspect of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The Blogging Guide is a work in progress – there are a handful of sections in the table of contents not yet written – but it’s already well past the tipping point. If they keep at it, it may well become the benchmark for comprehensive guides to blogging.
- Blog and Forum Design Links is a growing directory of free, paid, and for-hire customization resources for blogging and online forums. It says something Blogussion’s integrity that they don’t use this area of their blog – or any other that I saw – to flog Thesis at the expense of other themes, although Blogussion is openly part of the Thesis community. (By way of disclosure – my affiliate link code is in the preceding link – and I do insert it when I remember to). I’m hoping that in future, they’ll add sections on BuddyPress and WPMU (WordPress Multi-User) – so I’ll have to do less work learning to use them.The only omission that I noticed was Ian Stewart’s Thematic system, which is, in my view, stellar, for function, aesthetics, and the nearly seamless integration of form and function. (Don’t miss Stewart’s blog ThemeShaper, and his new venture, WPAZO* – The Best WordPress Stuff).
- The structure of posts is meant to reinforce the preceding material – not assuming that you’ve digested and absorbed everything you’ve just learned. So at the end of some (perhaps it’s all) posts, there’s a summary. This is especially useful when you’re struggling to learn something new. An example is in the post 8 HTML Tags & Styles You Can Use To Enhance Your Post Structure. At the end of the post body is a summary of the eight tags and styles. (This seems a good juncture at which to recommend the plugin “Code Snippets” by Johan Steen. Saves a lot of time – both directly and by reducing errors. “Post Snippets Plugin – a must-have plugin” expands on its virtues)This is where I wanted to have a screen grab of Blogussion’s “Summary” feature – but since I haven’t installed Fireshot yet - you’re going to have to go look for yourself. See #3, above.
- How to Build a Community Around Your Blog – is a short, thoughtful essay musing about what engages readers. An excerpt:
The comments section of your blog is where the majority of your reader interaction will take place. Moderating comments effectively and offering incentives to your commentators is important to build a bustling comment community. The more valuable your comments are, the more valuable your content is, and the better your blog will be.
You should install plugins such as commentluv and top commentators to reward commentators for participating in discussions. In addition, plugins such as comment edit and threaded comments should be added to allow visitors to interact with one another and say exactly what it is they want to say. Finally, you can use plugins such as Thank-Me-Later and subscribe to coments to keep commentators up-to-speed on what is happening on your blog.
In addition to giving your commentators plenty of opportunity to interact with your blog and each other, you should also be active below posts. Reply to comments and answer reader questions, debate or agree with reader opinions, and thank new readers or friends for stopping by your blog. An active comment section is an essential part of building a blog community.
The pieces “When Blog Expansions Backfire – Part 1″ and “When Blog Expansions Backfire – Part 2″ can, I think, be read as companion articles.
It’s very tempting to point out that Blogussion’s founders/editors, Alex and Janith, are 15 and 16 years old, respectively. I nearly did – but on reflection, I think it misses the point. It implies that that it’s remarkable that two men this young did such a good job, since they’re “just kids.” But Blogussion would be a first-class resource if it had been created by one person, or ten, with a mean age of sixteen, twenty-six, or sixty. There are more than a few people who – as is their right – frame every discussion of SEO in frankly mercenary terms.
They’ve taken a complex, multifaceted subject and created a well-written, navigable site. Their first post (or the earliest dated post in the archives), dated December 11, 2008, can be found here: TeenProBlogger + KolaKube = Blogussion.
Another measure of this accomplishment is that, as the poet Ted Hughes said of Shakespeare, they’re writing for two (or more audiences) at once. At one end, the people who are comfortable with CSS, hooks, maybe even a little PHP – and are probably at Blogussion sharpening their skills generally, or perhaps sharpening some skills – and starting from the beginning learning, for example, about SEO.
At the other end are people who’ve gotten themselves a blog at WordPress.com – and the Blogging Guide addresses them, for instance, with Choosing the perfect hosting service.
I fall somewhere in the middle – SEO is still largely a mystery, and I’m skittish about altering CSS. So I’m going to subscribe to their feed, read their archives, and plagiarize as much as I can get away with.
Alex’s other work includes Kolakube and Asnio. Janith’s prior blog – TeenProBlogger – now redirects to Blogussion.
