| better blog OK, this was a good good question by Chirographum. Given infinite time, resources and coding knowledge, what changes would you like to add to your blog? What type of features would help improve your blogging? If those changes were available on another blogging platform, would you switch? Would you change the content, or just its organization?i have thought about this, at times a lot, given my meagre but easily tutored skills at web development. I can usually make a scripting language do what I want given enough time and research and interest. I have already hacked together the PHP in MT for this Blog and for the now defunct WordPress PhotoBlog. The first thing I would want my new more powerful blog to be is, "not just a blog." I have the desire to recreate the era of the Personal HomePage. Therefore, a front page would have to have a blog and modular components of other interests. On the front page would easily moveable blocks containing CD Cover Designs, the Photoblog, recent writing, Flickr updates, Twitter updates (if i ever twitter again), etc. Each block would be able to be turned on and off with the flick of a check-box. The CSS of the page would be fluid and boxes that disappeared would not affect the look of the page. Along with the modular boxes, there would be a "recently updated" feature that would contain thumbnails and condensed references to the stuff in the boxes. And of course, the boxes would lead to sub-pages containing the actual focused pages themselves, or just to the outside community. The Blog itself would be modular, still containing the combination of Full Posts and Link Fodder as it is today but a little more flexible in the manipulation of the data. To create a post, I would have a radio button that would determine the state of the post which is now determined by the category I choose. Categories themselves would become tag clouds. The tag clouds would be smart, as I started typing the tag for the entry, other suggestions would appear: recently used, similar spelling, etc. Each post would have hidden meta information so the blog could appear clean or with a click, you could see all the meta data like tags, number of comments, etc. CSS Hiding and fluid design is a beautiful thing. Finally, with quick manipulation of the CSS I could change the formatting of either types of post AND the layout of them as a whole. If the modular block of Blog wanted all Full Posts together and Link Fodder as a linear sidelinks, then I would just click the Layout Choice. Have it in pure linear fashion like now? Click. Want all Link Fodder at the top of the day? Click. Lastly, the design aspect of the blog would be easy. Most sites today can be seen as blocks of blocks. I don't know why but I still like the old school idea of Header, Body and Footer to describe a site. Essentially, I would see you as choosing layout styles for the Site (just like you choose it for the Blog) choosing from the traditional one I mentioned, column based (2, 3, 4, etc.), grids, etc. Once you choose layout, you fill the boxes with other blocks and tweak it to your heart's content. This is not a fully formed idea but I am dreaming, remember? Given the skill and time and patience, I would be one of those people who would end up creating their own Site Management software like so many have created their own blogging software. May 02 07 |
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