Blog Add-ins and Blog Add-ins and ToolsTools

Hosted vs. Installed

• Blogger, Wordpress.com

• Wordpress, Movable Type

• ExpressionEngine, Drupal

Commercial vs. Open Source

• What is open source• Who supports it• Security• Features• Documentation• Growth

Blog Tool vs. CMS

• ExpressionEngine

• Drupal

• Joomla

• The big ones…

Presenting a BlogPresenting a Blog

blog post

archives

categories

date

comments

about the blogger

blogroll

Branding

• Will you integrate you blog into an existing Web presence?

• If so, how prominently?

Side note: CEO Blogs

Branding

• Will the blog share the look of the Web site, link to it, or be entirely separate?

Why not integrate?

• Blogs are probably the freshest content on your site, so why not capitalize on that search engine juice by playing them prominently?

Widgets and Social Widgets and Social Media AppsMedia Apps

Add-ins and widgets

• Flickr: uploaders / display apps• News: Digg, Reddit, Metafilter• URLs: delicious.com was: del.icio.us• Twitter: Tweetdeck, Hootsuite• RSS: Feedburner• Link shorteners: bit.ly, tinyURL.com• ...and so many more

Comments and Comments and CommunityCommunity

Comments

• The flow of interaction on a Web site in answer to a post, and to other comments. Typically arranged in time sequence, with the writer identified and perhaps linked to.

CAPTCHA

• Completely • Automated• Public• Turing test to tell• Computers and• Humans • Apart

Are comments required?

• Comments are one of two elements that mean you have a blog instead of a web site. Without them, you lose out on the power of discussion, interaction, and buzz.

Having said that...

...there are scenarios when you may need to turn comments off, or even remove the capability completely.

When comments should go

• Success – there are too many comments to deal with

• Selectively, because a post is just attracting the wrong attention

• Because your topic is particularly controversial or sensitive

• Because you legitimately can’t respond to comments

• Time-based reasons

And.... spam

Spam exists because...

• Spammers want links pointing to their site• Spammers want people to click directly• Spammers want to attack your viewers

computers

• Spammers want to test your defenses

Spammers are trying to scam this process by creating dozens, even hundreds, of links from many different Web pages to the Web site they’re attempting to boost in the search engine rankings.

Spam comes in many forms

• Fake comments that look real• Requests for help• Offers too good to be true• Flattery

Put simply: you don’t want spam on your blog.

Spam comes in many forms

Pros and cons

• Open communication

• Input from your readers

• Ideas for future blog posts

• Freeeeeee content

• Spam• Trolls and offensive

remarks• Time

Moderating comments

• Nearly all blog software permits you to moderate comments in some way:– Prior to publication– After publication– Automatically

Moderation rules

• You have to do it.• You have to do it frequently.

If you leave spam on your blog...

• Legitimate readers will leave, drowned out by the spam.

• More spammers will be attracted.

If you...

• No spam ever appears on your blog unless you choose to allow it.

• Comments are delayed before they’re posted, making your blog less spontaneous and slower-paced.

Review all comments before they’re posted on your blog.

pro con

If you...

• Comments appear on your blog more quickly, making conversation quick-paced.

• You must review and remove unwanted comments frequently, probably daily.

Review all comments after they are posted on your blog.

pro con

If you...

• Cuts down on your comment moderation hours by pointing you to problem comments quickly.

• Turns your readers into police, changing the conversational tenor.

• Also, they might not do a good job

Ask your readers to notify you of inappropriate comments.

pro con

If you...

• Using a combination of blacklists and whitelists means you don’t have to read through lots of spam yourself; ineffective against personal attacks or flames.

• Software needs to be kept up to date as spammers work out new ways to cheat the system, so budget time for behind-the-scenes technical work

Let software weed out the bad stuff automatically.

pro con

Fostering communityFostering community

Set ground rules

• No racist or bigoted speech• No sexually explicit content• No discussions or descriptions of

violent or criminal acts• No unlicensed copyrighted material

Edit comments

• If a comment seems to cross a line, but still adds value, you can choose to edit it, or ask the author to resubmit without the problematic portion.

Delete comments

• It’s your blog, delete what you don’t want on it.

• But, be aware that you can take this kind of censorship too far.

Appoint a blog mom

• Ask community members to help set the tone by– self-policing– Chiming in when a comment discussion

is heading in the wrong direction– Notifying you

Other community policing tools

• Flagging comments• Rating comments by value

Membership

• Requiring that your readers register (usually for free) prior to leaving a comment is a good technique – reducing spam– reducing comments

• However, it can also increase trust among your community members.

Good content = good community

• You get out what you put in, generally.

• Request input.• Solicit help.• Ask questions.• Reward participation.

Leaving comments on other blogs

• Bring community to your site by joining communities on other sites.– Post meaningful comments.– Add “competitors” to your blogroll.– Learn by looking and listening.

Policies: compare and contrast

• McDonald’s Corporate Social Responsibility Blog: http://www.crmcdonalds.com/publish/csr/home/_blog.html

• Microsoft’s Channel 9: http://channel9.msdn.com/

At-home exercise

• Find a competitor who is “doing it right” and identify attributes you’d like to have on your own blog.