I'm jumping for joy! Thanks a to feat of knuckle-headed persistence and by pushing a lot of buttons I've managed to move the TWANBOC Blogger files, the Wanking Tramp Reviews AND the earliest TWANBOC posts to Woebot. It feels great to have them all in the same place, now generations of future schoolchildren will be able to ZZZzzzzzz.
To mark this auspicious occasion I've put together a really rather marvellous teeny-weeny document. In it are all the fruits of my insights into the wonderful world of coding for blogs. I have a similar txt file always on my desktop which I use to copy and paste code out of. I would post it here, but in the HTML environment it would render itself invisible. Seriously, you've GOT to see this!
Posted by Woebot at April 17, 2004 09:20 PMthanks for the idiot proof guide. somehow, i managed to get my job saying that i had a basic knowledge of html, so that is bollocks, so this is appreciated. also, would just like to say, i have always admired/been thankful for your 'open link in a new window' habits, and cant think hy others dont follow suit.
Posted by: ambrose at April 17, 2004 10:15 PMcheers ambrose. ed blogistan alerted me to the "open in new window" thing a loooooooong time ago. oliver wang was berating people for not doing it recently too. boring to mention, but it makes ALL the diff.
oh and remember all that code works in forums too......
Posted by: Matt Woebot at April 18, 2004 07:01 AMGreat stuff Matt; of course, being très prétentieux myself I would also require a cheat sheet for foreign characters!
Incidentally, I have friends who would willingly be put to the sword for the belief that since your readers always have the option of right-click/"open in new window", you shouldn't make this decision for them. Myself, I'm agnostic.
Posted by: Angus at April 18, 2004 11:52 AMAs an iCab user, I prefer opening links in new tabs, actually...
Posted by: JoB ;-) at April 18, 2004 02:11 PMIncidentally, I have friends who would willingly be put to the sword for the belief that since your readers always have the option of right-click/"open in new window", you shouldn't make this decision for them.
Aaah, I had no ideas there were arguments against the practise! You've got to admit that within the context of the blog (this is a "GUIDE TO ELEMENTARY CODING FOR BLOGGERS" after all) that things opening in new windows makes sense. One is, after all, usually referring to things. I guess you could view it as anti-rhizomatic, contrary to "flow".
While I've got Angus in hand I'd like to shower praise on him (not just for being a funny bastard) but also because he has an RSS feed. He's the only one of 11 on my links bar who do, the others being AmBLonGus, Abstract Dynamics, Undercurrent, NYPLM, Grevious Angel, Pop Life and (via the genius Abe) K-Punk, SFJ and Philip Sherburne. Rambler gets special points cos he's figured out how to get his one working on a Blogger account, proving anyone can have one...
This means that with an RSS Feed Reader (I use Shrook) I dont have to check every shagging site. I just launch the app and it tells me who has new stuff up. It's quite fun, though at the moment pretty pointless (so few crew...)
I was quite surprised that the following didn't have their own feeds: Catch Dubs, Original Soundtrack, Evergreen Daze, Eden, Spizzazzz (and lastly, particularly, how can this be?) DJ Martian.
Of course this is a whole load of techno gubbins from one point of view (thats why I left it out of the guide) and if any of you were to scratch you posts on a tree in your local park with a compass I'd still make sure I read them. Such is my love...
Posted by: Matt Woebot at April 18, 2004 04:28 PMJohn doesn't have one because he's NOT EFFING HARD ENOUGH.
;-)
I think I have an RSS feed -- I've no idea what it's for really, despite my wibbling on the subject. Or whether, if I do have one,if it's switched on.
Posted by: paul "the mover" meme at April 18, 2004 08:23 PMThis is what an RSS feed Reader looks like. Quite sexy isn't it ?!?
Posted by: Matt Woebot at April 19, 2004 06:53 AMCheers for the props Matt - actually, Blogger changed things a little while ago and now all blogspot users can have an RSS version of their site (although for a while mine was handmade, hehe), but not everyone's got it switched on. All you have to do is go to Settings > Publishing and set 'Publish Site Feed' to yes. The feed then has the URL http://blogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml. There's a list of Blogspot users whose feeds I read over at the Rambler now, if anyone wants (he says, whoring for clicks).
Posted by: Tim at April 19, 2004 07:59 AMOops - that should be Settings > Site Feed etc.
Posted by: Tim at April 19, 2004 08:05 AMYikes! That little crib sheet should definitely considered harmful: aside from the tedious arguments of usability specialists, having links open in a new window is just plain rude! And always specify image dimensions, because it's a) invalid XHTML if you don't, and b) it looks nicer when your images are loading. I'll stop before I start foaming at the mouth about the semantic web and demanding use of em instead of i, strong instead of b etc.; not to mention using CSS instead of font tags to set size and colour of text...
Oh, and talking of RSS - any chance of putting the full text of entries in your feed, instead of wee excerpts? You just have to go to the RSS template in MT, scroll down to, um, somewhere in the middle, and change $MTEntryExcerpt encode_xml="1"$ to $MTEntryBody encode_xml="1"$
(My apologies for the extreme nitpicking...)
Posted by: Jack at April 19, 2004 02:11 PMhaving links open in a new window is just plain rude!
What utter nonsense! You're claiming they clutter people's desktops?
And always specify image dimensions,
95% of people aren't au fait with image editors.
because it's a) invalid XHTML if you don't,
Again an irrelevant point, this is aimed at the lowest common denominator non-coding crew. Basic HTML bizness.
and b) it looks nicer when your images are loading.
Fair enough but really SO WHAT!
I'll stop before I start foaming at the mouth about the semantic web and demanding use of em instead of i, strong instead of b etc.;
I used to use strong but it takes 6 times as long to type, and has precisely the same effect.
not to mention using CSS instead of font tags to set size and colour of text...
You expect bloggers to grasp CSS? You're nuts...
Oh, and talking of RSS - any chance of putting the full text of entries in your feed, instead of wee excerpts?
Fine
(My apologies for the extreme nitpicking...)
Yeah its OK but I think you're being pretty stupid. This is an elementary guide for NON CODERS. As far as I can see it's faultless. However if you want to come back with some sensible suggestions I'll ammend it to a v1.01. Can't say fairer than that.....
Posted by: Matt Woebot at April 19, 2004 02:29 PM![This is what an RSS feed Reader looks like.](http://www.hollowearth.org/images/rssapp.jpg"){kind=link}