Adding a Linkblog to This Site

I come across a lot of neat things—might as well share them here.

in Software — 404 words — 2 min read — 1 comment

A few of the bloggers I follow, in addition to publishing longer-form writing, use their blog almost as one would use Twitter—for sharing short thoughts, often just a link with some commentary.

This idea of sharing links-with-brief-commentary is known among IndieWeb writers as a linkblog.

Different folks implement this in different ways:

  • Chris Coyier includes his link-with-commentary posts in the same place as the rest of his posts (though sometimes without titles, which is very fascinating).
  • Dan Mall uses a unified feed as well, but gives the link posts a dedicated tag and a unique page template that puts the external link front and center on the page.
  • Jim Nielsen separates his writing across subdomains, putting his traditional blog at blog.jim-nielsen.com and his linkblog at notes.jim-nielsen.com. He describes the latter as feeding the former, which I think is a good way to go. It almost gives me digital garden vibes, where thoughts begin as seeds and grow into more detailed things.

I’ve decided to add a linkblog to this site as well. Mine aims to incorporate the parts I like about each of the approaches I’ve seen others use, by having a dedicated area on the site for links, without going so far as to put it on its own subdomain. You can check it out here. (Update: I’ve also created RSS and JSON feeds for it.)

I opted for the separate-feeds approach because these two feeds will be vastly different in terms of publish frequency: I actually crosspost my links from a few channels on a private chat server I use with my family, where I often share things with my technically-minded siblings Dan, E.J., and Russell.

Most of the links I share are of a technical nature, but I’ll also occasionally share links relating to UI/UX design or behavioral science.

(Here’s hoping this can help me publish more longer-form posts as well. 😅)

Comments

1 comment
  • Evelyn

    I love this!! I think it is a wonderful idea to have a place where each one of those writers including you have a safe place to write their ideas. I liked a lot the idea of Digital Gardens. I think is inspirational! Also I think is awesome the work put into building this system! I love how you will be able to have a cross post system! Looking forward to continue learning.