Blogging Done Right

I have written about blogging platforms in the past. Specifically, I’ve made comparisons between Blogger and WordPress as they remain to be the most popular choices by bloggers. When it comes to picking sides, the obvious answer has always been, “depends on what you want”.

From then on, I’ve experimented with other services that have crept up on the web. Some I liked more than others, but the fact still remains, there’s always a downside to each of these systems. That’s why I wrote a page about my gripe with blogs and how to -if possible- for some developer to design the ultimate blogging platform!

It’s been published a few days ago, but probably went unnoticed. Anyway, read through it, leave a comment, digg it, tell me what you think :)

My Gripe With CMS

Having individually gone through almost all kinds of blogging services on the web (as of writing), I’m still unsatisfied with various aspects of their features, or at least, their method of execution. From large-scale content management systems (CMS) to basic micro-blogs, I was able to compare the extent of their strengths with their shortcomings to conjure up what could be, the ultimate blogging platform. At least in my opinion.

Now I’m fully aware that building such a platform would take a tremendous amount of work and require a substantial effort (API and all…), but I’m hoping that one day, some developer will finally “get it” and go about doing it right. If there was one thing we’ve learned from the success of Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, it’s that implementing a few simple ideas can go a long way and even change the way we get things done.

So without further ado, here are some highlights of what would constitute in making the ultimate blogging platform:

AJAX Speed

• Slow blogs are frustrating. AJAX can minimize page reloads and give the user a snappy-interface feel.
• This applies to posts, comments, polls, navigation and anything else possible.

Desktop Clients

• Allow for offline blogging/drafting/updating because not everyone can be connected all the times!
• Use Google Gears perhaps?
• If failure/disconnection occurs during a submission, the client can automatically queue it and attempt to publish later.

Search Results

• Search should be standard for all blogging services; there’s no value to information if it cannot be retrieved when needed.
• For this, a blog must be properly indexed, incorporating tags, categories, labels, SEO, sitemaps, metadata, or whatever it will take to sort out information.

Rich Content

• It should be easy to post text, links, lists, images, and videos to any blogging platform.
• Include subtle multiple file-uploading capabilities because people will not send one file at a time.
• Provide some kind of Mail-To-Blog support for convenience.
• Add a gallery-based file/asset manager.

Web Integration

• Blogs should be aware of the other popular web-apps and therefore inherently auto-detect Youtube, Flickr, Delicious, etc… links and format them appropriately.
• Users should also be able to import/export data easily from one service to another services via standards such as RSS feeds.

Socializing

• Implement a privacy feature where users can show/hide certain posts/catagories/tags from a predefined group or public.
• Add friends list/blogrolls
• Allow public comments (no registration required), email notifications, activity newsletters, comment tracking, the ability to show updates since last login.
• Enable team/group blogs.

Appearance

• A simple drag-n-drop widget layout interface is a must.
• Customizable themes are great but not necessary for most users as long as the header can be changed.
• The ability to create pages, generate tag clouds and related posts automatically.
• All XHTML/CSS themes and content must validate.

Statistics

• So far, only WordPress has bult-in web stats!
• Why not fuse Google Analytics into its Blogger’s dashboard?
• RSS/Feedburner stats?

So there you have it: all the bullet points of what it takes to make the ultimate weblogging platform. Is it doable? Certainly! What’s taking them so long? Your guess is about as good as mine; all that has been mentioned has already been created and applied; what is left is for all of them to come together and produce an unbeatable combination. Google’s Blogger is by far the most disappointing since the majority of its improvements could come from its own other Google products. I’m not asking for the reinvention of the wheel here, all it takes is for somebody organized enough to put it all together.

“The Transition is Now Over”

First: 3baid switches from Windows to Mac OS X.
Second: 3baid abandons Blogger and hosts his own WordPress blog.

Today, its time for a third transition…

This evening, as I turned on the lights in my room, one of the bulbs bursted and fell from its socket. Luckily, that particular lamp wasn’t anywhere near the switches -where I was standing- so there was no harm done, but since I’ve already had bad incidences with these bulbs, I decided it was time to do something drastic about it.

Today, I’m saying goodbye to incandescent bulbs and switching the the wonderful fluorescent lamps:

• They have very little heat emissions; the AC doesn’t need to work as hard.
• Their brightness is double what I had for 60W yet they only consume 23W!
• The lamps emit a constant, “warm white” rather than a sharp yellow color.
• Since they don’t get very hot, their filaments last up to 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs.

-Wikipedia.org

The one setback is that these bulbs are pricier, although considering some countries like Australia have already started their plans to phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2010, why not start today? :)

Blogger vs WordPress

Some recent switchers to Blogger Beta have been experiencing commenting-related problems that have enticed the idea of moving to WordPress. After searching the web for a decent comparison between the two services, I drew my own table to let you decide whether making the change is worth it or not:

Click here for full table

In short, if you take blogging seriously, need to check statistics, store multiple pages, upload and update software and don’t mind paying for hosting then WordPress is for you. On the other hand, if you’re a casual blogger who simply wants a place to write their thoughts, share pictures, customize their template, not worry about any kind of code/fee/storage limit, then Blogger is for you.

Reminder: Blogger in Beta is not a finished product. Google will be continually fixing and adding new features as they go.

Please leave any comments if you spot any errors or an important feature that is not included in the table.

What Do You Think?

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The Super Secret Kuwaiti Blogging Community

During today’s episode of Compunet World (3alam el Compunet), a Kuwaiti TV tech show, Manar Al-Hashash began her usual segment by answering some viewers’ questions. Someone had inquired about the term “blog” and she briefly explained online journals, then went on about how easy it is to visit Jeeran.com and create one for yourself.

Wait a minute; what happened to the more popular services?! Oddly enough, Manar didn’t mention neither of Blogger or WordPress, and I would expect someone as computer-literate as herself to be aware of such tools. After all, the show has always been about the best technologies and services out there. Could it be that her choice of Jeeran.com was a deliberate move to make the topic around the Kuwaiti blogging community all the more avoidable? :o

Update: Link to Jeeran.com’s blog post.