During the years, I slowly changed my way of blogging. I can just write about is, but I also want to add some thoughts about it. Welcome to my first State of the Blogging.
The first step was to put the whole blog post in a mind map on a mobile phone. I liked the auto complete typing. Then I copied all the text into a Word document.
Brewing blog posts
In the past I used the mind map intensively for blogging. I edited the first rough version with MindManager on my Android phone and then extracted the information with FreeMind on my PC. Nowadays I use an iPhone and I could not find the right software, so I started blogging in Word right away. Like now.
The basic idea is still the same. I put little pieces of the blog post in a Word document. Then I expand the pieces to readable paragraphs. This is based on the Fieldstone method of Jerry Weinberg.
Most tech related blog posts can be quite boring with abundance of dry facts and tips. So, I tend to add jokes in the blog post. If I need to retrieve some information from a blog post, then it is easier for me to consume.
Nowadays, I put a rough overview of a blog post or serie of blog posts with similar theme into one Word document. In case of several blog posts, I split the overview in different parts. Yes, you are currently reading the first part.
Making it accessible
In the past I tried to make my blog posts better readable for other people. I added extra headings, so I had to add extra code for CSS or Cascading Style Sheets. I used the following code:
blockquote {
color: black;
padding-left: 5%;
font-weight: 400;
}
h1 {
font-size: 20px;
line-height: 1.5;
}
h2 {
font-size: 18px;
line-height: 1.25;
}
h3 {
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 1.1;
}
Then I limited the size of the paragraphs. My thumb of rule is maximal 3 lines in Word, which leads to a reasonable paragraph in WordPress.
During editing, I tried to simplify the language, so a beginning engineer can understand my blog posts. Example: the previous version of the last sentence contained “to reduce the level of my language to a level of a beginning engineer”.
In one blog post I added a warning for people, who uses screen readers to read the text aloud. Most of the time it is tiring to listen to every period and comma in a sentence. So, a lot of people set the level of the screen reader to skip these characters. But this this is not handy, if source code is shown.
Bonus tip: I also used warnings for readers to avoid situation, which trigger things like anxiety.
Just checking
English is not my native language, so I try to use proper words. On the web I regularly asked for the meaning of a word. If I find a reference to urban language, then I need to change the text.
Fact checking on the web is also included in my blogging. Especially, if laws are involved. Luckily, they are published on the web. They are great link fodder.
Use the Source, Luke.
To be sure, I added a disclaimer, that I am not a legal expert.
Word offers spelling and grammar checks. I prefer to use English UK. There are a lot of people who like to speak Oxford English, but use American words or phrases. Yes, I am one of them.
Using open standards
A Word document cannot be copied and pasted on the Web. I prefer HTML, the language used to make web pages. Then I store the Word document with the option ”Web page (filtered).”.
To be continued.
