Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)
Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Links and Labels

I don't like when bloggers link to something they posted about four minutes ago. We read that one, you don't need to link to it. Don't be hurt, I say this out of love.

I think there should be a blog bi-law that states that you can't link to a post on the same page you're on. If a reader has to go to 'older posts' at the bottom of your page to get to the post, then that's okay. This should be the cut-off point.

But I may need to become one of those people, because when I'm looking for some old post about something in particular, it takes about two working weeks to find.

Usually I have relied more on labels than links, but my labeling is so haphazard and stupid (for example, this morning it took me yonks to track down that old post about Crocs because I'd labelled it under 'crimes against humanity'. Obviously.)

So, I'm going to take some steps. More betterer labelling, and maybe one of those label sidebar thingo's.

10 comments:

Nathan said...

Some people are catering for their feed readers. Some feed readers skip things.

Nathan said...

Also, some people update so regularly that keeping track of pagination is difficult.

I'm sensitive about my links alright...

This is one of those cases where an emoticon might be appropriate to indicate the tongue in cheek nature of my comment. So there.

Ali said...

Yeah, I came over here to growl in defense too because I committed this particular crime against humanity just this week. And I was going to tell you about these (technologically advanced) people who use blog readers, but I can see that Nathan has already done that nicely.

Also if someone else were to find your blog post so profound, say, that they share it in google reader, then a reader over there doesn't have to come and go scratching through your blog. So you need to think about how you're catering to your own profundity Ben.

Drew said...

"We read that one"

Some of us didn't. Some bloggers post too frequently to keep up with it all, and so linking - and good labelling systems, become very useful ;)

Nathan said...

Also, just to add to the chorus of people roundly condemning your position in this case Ben (next time you should just bag out U2)...

37% of my readers come via a search engine. I have to consider them too.

So there.

Ben McLaughlin said...

Wow, the vehemence. Y'all should meet at the old mill tonight with your pitchforks.

Okay, I'll concede a small bit and say that due to that whole feed reader beeswax that a little more linking is okay. But I think in general there's too much, and if you read a blog regularly it gets on your nerves. But for my weaker brethren I'll turn a blind eye I spose.

Ali said...

I only just got back here, because obviously I didn't click that email box, and I am procrastinating on writing something at present, but am curious as to what's so annoying about it? Doesn't it just change my white writing to a nice pale blue ...

Ben McLaughlin said...

I think in general I'm easily annoyed, I'll admit that.

It's just the vibe.

Ben McLaughlin said...

You know what it might be? I like to feel like a blogger I read is like an old friend. I like in jokes, and for references to old posts, that you'd only get if you've read them for a while.

For me, the link to a post from two days ago immediately makes me, the reader, feel like a newbie, rather than a friend who's 'in' on the blog. It immediately puts me at a distance.

Ridiculous maybe, but this is what I subconsciously pick up. I'm a fragile little flower, really.

Ali said...

Fair enough. I will try to remember to throw in a few in-jokes on occasion. I don't think I linked to the "fish-killer" recently, cause I couldn't access my own blog from work to do so, so that was a little in-blog drama.

But you might just have to treat me like the weaker sister on this one.