Full vs Partial Feeds
Over at the Blog Herald, there’s a great article on why people shouldn’t be using partial feeds. The author makes a lot of good points, essentially boiling it down to the fact that there are no benefits to using a partial feed. It doesn’t deter sploggers from stealing your content and it doesn’t bring extra traffic to your site; you are basically just frustrating your regular readers and alienating new ones. Read the full article for more.
What I find funny is his rationalizing of why it’s okay for some blogs (*ahem* the one he’s writing on) to use partial feeds. The only instance in which I think it’s okay to offer a partial feed is if you offer a full feed as well. I have seen several blogs that offered a full feed with ads and a partial feed without ads. I have no problem with that, it even kind of makes sense. Although, I can’t imagine there are an overwhelming number of people that hate ads so much they would put up with the frustration of a partial feed. But different strokes, right?
You should respect your readers enough to let them choose how they want to view your site. Offering just a partial feed takes that choice away and more often than not, they won’t bother reading at all.
Why links shouldn’t be opened in new windows
I get this request a lot: “Can you make all my links open in a new window?” This is a widely done practice, I used to do it, too. Unfortunately, what I didn’t know before, and what most people still don’t know is that it’s a really bad practice to have. The whole point of putting an external link on your site is to guide your audience to someone else’s site. It’s usually an act of kindness, not only toward...
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From the Mailbox
We received this email in the mail the other day and I cannot tell you know flattered we are: I cannot hire you. I cannot pay you. What I can do is encourage you. Your designs are absolutely charming! They are well thought out, clear, easy to read, and perfectly balanced. I used to do DTP work before I became my mother’s sole caretaker, so I do have a bit of experience from which to draw. I hope you continue...
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