The Geekzone Blogging Guide Part I
Geekzone Blog, posted: 21-SEP-2006 22:25
This is the first article of a three part series (I, II, III) with some blogging principles you can apply to your Geekzone Blog (or any other blog really).
Thanks to Juha Saarinen for coming up with this series.
The Basics
You've got your Geekzone Blog and you're ready to start posting. Luckily, Geekzone's blogs are easy to use and you'll be up and running in no time. However, there are a few things to consider before you publish your thoughts in the Internet.
Publish on the Internet? That is what you'll do, so take some time and think about how you'll come across to other people. If what you write is interesting enough, many thousands of people will read it.
Here are a few tips to make your blog entries read well:
Spelling and good grammar
Yes, they're boring and get in the way of writing as you think, but… spelling and grammar have a place. A post with bad spelling and grammar, rotten punctuation and no capitalisation isn't fun for others to read.
If spelling and grammar aren’t your strong points, try using a word processor with a spelling checker to weed out the errors. Take care when copying over the text into the blog post editor on Geekzone though, to avoid accidental formatting codes getting into your text. To avoid this, turn off the HTML/Rich Editor feature in your Blog Profile or copy the text to Notepad first and then from there to the blog editor.
Geekzone is working on integrating a spelling checker at the moment, so please bear with us while we hack on this feature.
Format
Make sure you separate paragraphs with a couple of line breaks, because this will make it easier for visitors to your blog to read the content. Also keep the font usage consistent, avoiding different fonts and sizes in the same post and not using many colours.
Remember, you can edit the post as many times as you need.
Language choice
You want to come across as a sentient, intelligent being with something important to say. Trust me on this. Therefore, you need to make sure the language in your blog posts reflects this.
Avoid l33tsp33k, SMS abbreviations, excessive punctuation marks like !!!!, swear words, and so forth – unless of course you want to make a point of using such "linguistic features".
It's still hard to read long articles on the screen, so try to break up what you write in short sentences and paragraphs. Doing so helps readers a lot.
Bullet points can be very effective as well, for getting your point across fast.
Read more on The Geekzone Blogging Guide Part II.
Other related posts:
Geekzone Blog Ad Delivery solution
Geekzone Moderators meeting
Chris DiBona session at Summer of Code, Wellington, New Zealand
Thanks to Juha Saarinen for coming up with this series.
The Basics
You've got your Geekzone Blog and you're ready to start posting. Luckily, Geekzone's blogs are easy to use and you'll be up and running in no time. However, there are a few things to consider before you publish your thoughts in the Internet.
Publish on the Internet? That is what you'll do, so take some time and think about how you'll come across to other people. If what you write is interesting enough, many thousands of people will read it.
Here are a few tips to make your blog entries read well:
Spelling and good grammar
Yes, they're boring and get in the way of writing as you think, but… spelling and grammar have a place. A post with bad spelling and grammar, rotten punctuation and no capitalisation isn't fun for others to read.
If spelling and grammar aren’t your strong points, try using a word processor with a spelling checker to weed out the errors. Take care when copying over the text into the blog post editor on Geekzone though, to avoid accidental formatting codes getting into your text. To avoid this, turn off the HTML/Rich Editor feature in your Blog Profile or copy the text to Notepad first and then from there to the blog editor.
Geekzone is working on integrating a spelling checker at the moment, so please bear with us while we hack on this feature.
Format
Make sure you separate paragraphs with a couple of line breaks, because this will make it easier for visitors to your blog to read the content. Also keep the font usage consistent, avoiding different fonts and sizes in the same post and not using many colours.
Remember, you can edit the post as many times as you need.
Language choice
You want to come across as a sentient, intelligent being with something important to say. Trust me on this. Therefore, you need to make sure the language in your blog posts reflects this.
Avoid l33tsp33k, SMS abbreviations, excessive punctuation marks like !!!!, swear words, and so forth – unless of course you want to make a point of using such "linguistic features".
It's still hard to read long articles on the screen, so try to break up what you write in short sentences and paragraphs. Doing so helps readers a lot.
Bullet points can be very effective as well, for getting your point across fast.
Read more on The Geekzone Blogging Guide Part II.
Tag(s):
Other related posts:
Geekzone Blog Ad Delivery solution
Geekzone Moderators meeting
Chris DiBona session at Summer of Code, Wellington, New Zealand
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