The Anatomy of a Typical Blog

Blog Entries and Archives

• Entries: Also known as posts, these are the individual articles that make up a blog. They are updated frequently and presented in reverse chronological order, with the newest entry first.
• Archives: An organized collection of past entries. Since all blog entries are dated, most blog archives are organized by year and month. A bare-bones blog will contain a series of current entries plus a list of archived entries on one side of the web page.

Other Common Blog Features

• Blogroll: A list of links to other blogs, a blogroll can be managed manually or with software.
• Calendar: A visual depiction of the current month, it highlights days containing blog entries.
• Categories: These are topics used to organize a blog’s content. Blog categories are determined by the blogger and usually reflect the topic and scope of the blog.
• Comments: Comments are reader responses to blog entries. Most blogging software includes built-in systems for configuring and managing comments.
• Permalink: Short for “permanent link,” a permalink is used by a blogger to link directly to an entry on another blog. A permalink often appears at the bottom of an entry as a linked pound sign (#).
• RSS: RSS, which stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” lets bloggers notify users whenever they publish new content of any kind (text, audio, video, and so on). An RSS feed sends either an alert or the actual blog content directly to readers. To receive RSS feeds from a blog, you must have a software program called a feed reader. You can download the most popular feed reader, which is free, at www.feedreader.com.
• Trackback: Trackback is a system that allows readers of a blog entry to view posts on other blogs that link back to that entry. Trackback links usually appear below blog entries or in the comment section of an entry. Readers who click on these links are redirected to blogs containing responses to the original entry or a list of links to those blogs.