Radio W4KAZ

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Where Art Thou Blogrolls?

I sure miss people having blogrolls. I used to find the neatest stuff that way. -sigh-

5 comments to Where Art Thou Blogrolls?

  • I have mine as a page behind the sidebar now — the “K9JY Links” will take you to the page.

    I don’t have mine on the front page any more for a variety of reasons, but I wanted to make it easily accessible for people to see.

    I agree — when I first started looking for other ham radio blogs, the first place I went to was the blogroll.

  • Got it. Thanks.

    I like the format of that page. I’ve been thinking about doing something similar. The one tweak I will add to the formula is to retain some of my own blogroll links(favorites and new finds), and add a blogroll link to the page as “more ham blogs” or some such.

    73, kaz

  • Kaz, I’m curious — do those with a (ham radio) blogroll list every known ham blog — or just the ones they actually enjoy and read?

    I ask because I might have been one of the first to remove the blogroll from my site because I was constantly being asked to “add a link” to my blogroll from sites I wouldn’t recommend if they paid me. But I felt bad not adding their link because they would put a link to my blog on their site.

    So in the end, I felt the pressure of being a “gatekeeper” for picking and choosing whose blogs got listed and whose didn’t.

    I found that enough of a hassle that I dumped the whole thing. I very often provide ‘link love’ for sites I like in my blog postings and commenters on my site get to add a link to their own site and those appear on my front page.

    My Google Reader feed is filled with postings from other blogs that I enjoy and that can be followed by anyone.

    Am I missing something by not managing a blogroll?

    73 de Jeff

  • I would presume each individual to use his own criteria for the blogroll. That added to the variety of choices presented.

    It comes down to a difference in reading habits and personal preference. A feed reader is by nature transitory and ephemeral. While that may be the best-thing-since-sliced-bread for many, it doesn’t really suit my own reading habits.

    A list of links is usually more static. If I’m gone for an extended period, it is easier to catch up on my ‘interest reading’. A quick scan of a blogroll often used to nab me additional links. I may now miss some of those in the flowing stream of pushed reader feed content.

    You found maintaining the list to be a hassle. Fair enough. I understand the reasoning and the reasons.
    Deciding what to keep and what to toss is a valid issue.

    For my own part, I tend to surf around for leisure reading at less than regular intervals. It hasn’t happened for a few months, but there are usually gaps in my web wanderings, often of several weeks duration. I foresee one on the near horizon….

    Archive diving is less productive for me. “Google” still works, but they of late have been inserting much chaff and irrelevancy into their returned results.

    Irrelevant aside: Interestingly enough, I do NOT use packet spots when operating on HF because it takes the thrill out of finding a good QSO, yet I LIKE the ‘spots’ when web surfing. I must reflect on this newly discovered personal contradiction. Neither to be confused with “sunspots”!

    73 de w4kaz

  • Another valid reason you left out was “it uses up to much space in the sidebar”.

    I expect that will be reason enough for me to push the most(not all) of the blogroll and links to a dedicated page or post.

    They should be easier to manage and group that way, as simple links inside the page/post text. Similar to K9JY, for example, except I envision the link to the page as the last item in my existing side bar’s blogroll.

    73 de kaz

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