Jakob Nielsen gives us blog design advice

Jakob Nielsen lists 10 design mistakes that bloggers make. I make three of them here (I don’t have my own domain name, my calendar is my only navigation, my classic hits are buried, and I don’t have an author biography).

Well, actually, I have a page over on Wikipedia that folks setup for me (I haven’t yet entered anything on this page).

I’m working on the domain problem. Matt, if you’re reading this, it’d be really great if you could give your WordPress.com service users the ability to have their own domain names (keep in mind that WordPress.com is different from WordPress, the tool).

Also, I’m working on a directory of my first five years of blogging. I want to have that ready by my fifth blogging birthday on December 15. I’m using Dave Winer’s OPML tool to make an OPML directory of my favorite posts.

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Robert Scoble

As Startup Liaison for Rackspace, the Open Cloud Computing Company, Scoble travels the world looking for what's happening on the bleeding edge of technology for Rackspace's startup program. He's interviewed thousands of executives and technology innovators and reports what he learns in books ("The Age of Context," a book coauthored with Forbes author Shel Israel, has been released at http://amzn.to/AgeOfContext ), YouTube, and many social media sites where he's followed by millions of people. Best place to watch me is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble

Comments

  3. I use the domain name masking from network solutions. It works well enough - users type my blog address (www.kernelmustard.com) and their browser shows that in the URL bar, in spite of the fact that it’s a deep link.

    Not ideal, but it meets the need.

  4. I use the domain name masking from network solutions. It works well enough - users type my blog address (www.kernelmustard.com) and their browser shows that in the URL bar, in spite of the fact that it’s a deep link.

    Not ideal, but it meets the need.

  7. Does WordPress.com permit you to install plugins?

    I’m pretty certain I’ve seen post rating/voting plugins for WordPress that would do the trick. Of course, if your WordPress install is locked down, that’s not really an option…

  8. Does WordPress.com permit you to install plugins?

    I’m pretty certain I’ve seen post rating/voting plugins for WordPress that would do the trick. Of course, if your WordPress install is locked down, that’s not really an option…

  9. well if you have something specific in mind, that’s ok…but i’d go out to pick posts that have influenced me (and others) the most (tech or non-tech)…i have in mind a few related to tech. in Vista, SEARCH!, defending Microsoft!, and posts about some really cool Channel 9 videos (auxiliary displays, Kahuna, Avalon and Office 12)

    in summary, posts that urge you to post a reply!

  10. well if you have something specific in mind, that’s ok…but i’d go out to pick posts that have influenced me (and others) the most (tech or non-tech)…i have in mind a few related to tech. in Vista, SEARCH!, defending Microsoft!, and posts about some really cool Channel 9 videos (auxiliary displays, Kahuna, Avalon and Office 12)

    in summary, posts that urge you to post a reply!

  11. btw i wanted to look up some specific links…but gave up after the first link…aside from search, you definitely need a better vaigation system than the calendar you have currently…

  12. btw i wanted to look up some specific links…but gave up after the first link…aside from search, you definitely need a better vaigation system than the calendar you have currently…

  13. Jakob Nielsen is an pompous windbag. I have been reading your blog for years and have had no issues with your style or the calendar navigation.

  14. Jakob Nielsen is an pompous windbag. I have been reading your blog for years and have had no issues with your style or the calendar navigation.

  17. The advice about keeping your classics alive and Farooq saying that they should be reader picked gave me an idea that I don’t know how to do. A dynamically generated list with links to your most read posts… I guess it has to be server based, I’ll try something later on.

  18. The advice about keeping your classics alive and Farooq saying that they should be reader picked gave me an idea that I don’t know how to do. A dynamically generated list with links to your most read posts… I guess it has to be server based, I’ll try something later on.

  21. Nielsen’s list of “design mistakes” for blogs aren’t all genuine mistakes. A lot of them are just him pushing his very narrow set of opinions on people. I don’t care if he’s supposedly some sort of industry guru, or even if he has a Ph.D.; his vision of a web that goes solely by his rules runs contrary to the freedoms and flexibilty that the web provides.

    You don’t need a domain to have a good web site. Don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

  22. Nielsen’s list of “design mistakes” for blogs aren’t all genuine mistakes. A lot of them are just him pushing his very narrow set of opinions on people. I don’t care if he’s supposedly some sort of industry guru, or even if he has a Ph.D.; his vision of a web that goes solely by his rules runs contrary to the freedoms and flexibilty that the web provides.

    You don’t need a domain to have a good web site. Don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

  30. There still are one or two things holding up custom domains still, but one thing I’m comitted to is when you switch the system will do 301 permanent redirects from your old domain to your new one, so all google juice and links will follow to the new domain. We’ll also make this an option if you want to move off of WP.com entirely.

  31. There still are one or two things holding up custom domains still, but one thing I’m comitted to is when you switch the system will do 301 permanent redirects from your old domain to your new one, so all google juice and links will follow to the new domain. We’ll also make this an option if you want to move off of WP.com entirely.

  32. I am very curious. Why don’t you host your own blog?

    As to Matt I have seen cases where Google juice doesn’t flow as desired with 301 redirects. There is more to it than 301 re-directs to transfer G’Juice.

    BTW: Personally I commit 1.5 of his stated blunders (no mugshot and I occassionally post wide ranging topics) :)

  33. I am very curious. Why don’t you host your own blog?

    As to Matt I have seen cases where Google juice doesn’t flow as desired with 301 redirects. There is more to it than 301 re-directs to transfer G’Juice.

    BTW: Personally I commit 1.5 of his stated blunders (no mugshot and I occassionally post wide ranging topics) :)

  34. Usability has its place but if usability designers designed a bar, it would be brightly lit with organized seating and a central liquor dispenser, Music would be at a level where all could talk comfortably and the bathrooms would be centrally located, and…. no one would go. Nielsen has his perspective and has helped improve many sites but there needs to be a new paradigm in usability which understands that we are not all automatons and that individuality is important. Keep up the good work, don’t fold to the engineers and I would love to see your “best of” series. Spoken by a usability wonk, bored by conformity.

  35. Usability has its place but if usability designers designed a bar, it would be brightly lit with organized seating and a central liquor dispenser, Music would be at a level where all could talk comfortably and the bathrooms would be centrally located, and…. no one would go. Nielsen has his perspective and has helped improve many sites but there needs to be a new paradigm in usability which understands that we are not all automatons and that individuality is important. Keep up the good work, don’t fold to the engineers and I would love to see your “best of” series. Spoken by a usability wonk, bored by conformity.

  36. I’m an editor at Wikipedia (I enjoy pain). The article there on you says that you were promoted to the honorary title of “chief blogging officer”. I can’t confirm it, and it seems a bit odd. True or not?

  37. I’m an editor at Wikipedia (I enjoy pain). The article there on you says that you were promoted to the honorary title of “chief blogging officer”. I can’t confirm it, and it seems a bit odd. True or not?

  38. You’re only 5 years old? Then maybe there’s hope for the rest of us ;)

    Btw- it’s interesting how the internet retains recent history on its denizens. And dates us.

    I went to undergrad in the early 90’s, and grad school in the late 90’s. I found that it’s difficult, if not almost impossible to find information about school events/people/things from the early 90’s. Why? Not a lot of people creating a personal presence on the internet back then.

    But the late 90’s? Early 2000’s? Suddenly an explosion of personal histories and events which have been recorded.

    I managed to find an old friend from undergrad, only because she created a personal web page in 2000 (which incidentally hasn’t been updated since then).

    So here’s an interesting question: as far as the internet goes, how old is any one of us? 5 years? 10 years?

    Who can claim to be the oldest (by internet years)?

  39. You’re only 5 years old? Then maybe there’s hope for the rest of us ;)

    Btw- it’s interesting how the internet retains recent history on its denizens. And dates us.

    I went to undergrad in the early 90’s, and grad school in the late 90’s. I found that it’s difficult, if not almost impossible to find information about school events/people/things from the early 90’s. Why? Not a lot of people creating a personal presence on the internet back then.

    But the late 90’s? Early 2000’s? Suddenly an explosion of personal histories and events which have been recorded.

    I managed to find an old friend from undergrad, only because she created a personal web page in 2000 (which incidentally hasn’t been updated since then).

    So here’s an interesting question: as far as the internet goes, how old is any one of us? 5 years? 10 years?

    Who can claim to be the oldest (by internet years)?

  42. As for a domain name, you could just put this site in a frame on socobleizer.com - what is it? Domain cloaking.

  43. As for a domain name, you could just put this site in a frame on socobleizer.com - what is it? Domain cloaking.

  44. You can also register a domain with GoDaddy.com for under $9, setup your registered domain to forward your wordpress subdomain, and setup the Godaddy forwarding to mask the subdomain using your registered domain. Works great. I do that with several of my domains, and no one can tell the difference.

  45. You can also register a domain with GoDaddy.com for under $9, setup your registered domain to forward your wordpress subdomain, and setup the Godaddy forwarding to mask the subdomain using your registered domain. Works great. I do that with several of my domains, and no one can tell the difference.

  63. It’s Incredible about the power of Internet and blog. wordpress Blogs never ceases to amaze me. People write with such energy and passion. I really enjoyed visiting your site. Good blog and I intend to visit again!.

  64. It’s Incredible about the power of Internet and blog. wordpress Blogs never ceases to amaze me. People write with such energy and passion. I really enjoyed visiting your site. Good blog and I intend to visit again!.