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I wish my life was boring.

Three Annoying Things Bloggers Do

1. Hiding your blog’s RSS feed(s).

Why in the hell do some blogs make it so impossible to subscribe to their feed? Do you not want readers to be able to keep track of your updates? A couple times recently I’ve just given up. I had even tried random URLs such as http://evilfeedwithholder.com/feed/ and http://evilfeedwithholder.com/index.xml

It’s bad enough to remove the <link href="http://evilfeedwithholder.com/feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Forbidden RSS 2.0 Feed" /> bit as it is, but then not have a link anywhere on your website? Not in the sidebar, footer, site page, or anywhere else? Evil.

Don’t make me work for it! Make it simple! I’m likely to never return to your site again no matter how much I liked it.

2. Mixing trackbacks & pingbacks with your comments.

Often it’s difficult to tell where the trackbacks end and the comments start again, particularly when there’s just one or two comments nestled between seemingly endless trackbacks. I generally skip over all trackbacks or anything that looks like one. I might be missing something integral to the flow of conversation in the comments because that one important comment was stuck amongst the trackbacks.

3. Lack of context in your posts.

Sometimes I’ll find a new blog that could be interesting…if I knew what the hell they were babbling about.

I hate the feeling that I’m coming into a conversation late or that I’ve just walked into a room and everyone else has just started laughing, but I’m stuck in the dark.

When you’re referring to something that’s happened in the past, particularly a specific past entry, it’s generally a good idea to link to those entries that give it context for your new or occasional readers. If it’s not in the posts displayed on your main page, chances are, I’m not going to find it and I’m not going to waste my time finding it.

Posted by Donna on 7 October 2007 at 17:36
Filed Under: Articles, Rants
Tagged: , , ,

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Rachael says:
    8 October 2007 at 08:51

    Awh, damn, you stole the idea I was just about to blog about!

    Thanks for commenting on my new layout by the way.

    Anyways, to the real reason I’m here : to comment!

    I don’t subscribe to any RSS feeds myself, but I could understand why hiding one’s feed could be infuriating to visitors. Any self-respecting blog these days *needs* an RSS feed. Visitors simply don’t have the time to keep coming back to your site to read your entries – RSS feeds are essential, and to go and hide them is a surefire way to lose yourself visitors.

    Mixing trackbacks and comments is definitely high on my blog pet-hate list. I only recently worked out how to separate them in my WordPress comments, thank God.

    “I hate the feeling that I’m coming into a conversation late or that I’ve just walked into a room and everyone else has just started laughing, but I’m stuck in the dark.”

    That is so true! That’s part of the reason I hate the “today I did… and she said… and he said…” type blogs. I don’t feel “in the loop”. Only once I’ve gotten to know a blogger (through reading many entries) would I be prepared to read a “today I did…” entry, but how will I get to that point when all entries are like that?

    On a closing note – your sidebar drops in IE6. *sadface*

    Reply
  2. Donna says:
    8 October 2007 at 11:45

    On a closing note – your sidebar drops in IE6. *sadface*

    Ack, thanks! I never would have known because I only have up to IE 5 on my computer. Stupid Microsoft refuses to develop a higher version for those of us who want to cross-check our websites! :( Whoever actually uses IE 5 on their Mac for normal, every day browsing is a total masochist. ;)

    Strangely, the sidebar doesn’t drop in IE 5, but the background doesn’t show up. Still functional, just ugly-making.

    I need to figure out how to work around that issue. Off to find a friend who uses Windows!

    EDIT: I believe I’ve fixed it. Now I need to fix the transparent PNG image issue in the ‘Random Bits’ section. Oh, joy, more fun with Internet Explorer.

    Awh, damn, you stole the idea I was just about to blog about!

    Sorry about inadvertently stealing! I was planning on blogging about all the deeply stupid things people say to me about language-learning (and getting a degree in Modern Languages) soon so if you’d like to steal that, go head. ;)

    Anyway, I’m addicted to RSS feeds. I think I’m subscribed to about 200 right now, but many I skip if I’m too busy (all the time) or lazy (most of the time). I like my feed reader, Vienna, so that helps. I used to use an feed reader that I sort of hated and I never checked my feeds. Now I check everyday.

    Since I just (re)started this blog I have yet to add trackbacks (links as well as displaying them), but I definitely need to get on that for the sake of having it done in case it’s ever needed in the future.

    I’m not a fan of ‘he said/she said’ stuff either unless it’s an amusing bit of conversation (sort of in the style of an Overheard in New York type deal) that either doesn’t need context to be funny or the context is explained.

    Unless I know who someone is and their general ‘role’ in your life, unlikely for me to remember if you call your friends L and K (says the person with the one-letter name) which I completely understand, I find myself skipping over posts like that.

    Reply
  3. Kaylee says:
    8 October 2007 at 13:52

    It’s really annoying when there’s a great blog I actually enjoy reading and want to keep up with that has a hidden feed link. I’ve actually asked a few site owners to add a feed/feed link :P

    Reply
  4. Donna says:
    8 October 2007 at 14:03

    Next time I should definitely step up and just ask, if only for future readers. :) I’ll probably never return to many of these sites because they annoyed me so much.

    Reply
  5. Kiera says:
    8 October 2007 at 14:33

    What’s even more annoying is those sites that don’t offer an RSS feed option at all.

    Reply
  6. Rilla says:
    8 October 2007 at 18:13

    Great points you have made. I find those to be my problems too. Generally I find their RSS under /rss/ though.

    With the third one, I often find it on resource sites that they mention which pages they’ve updated without linking to those updated pages. Those actually annoy me too.

    Reply
  7. Donna says:
    8 October 2007 at 20:36

    I’ve tried /rss/ as well at these sites (and many other endings). How can people possibly make it so difficult to keep up with their site? It’s like they’re not interested in visitors.

    Reply
  8. Icarus says:
    5 November 2008 at 22:26

    Somewhere I have seen … And if on that very much.

    Reply

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