Weblogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author. Complete Article on Useit.Com >>

Uncle Jakob checks in - finally - on Blog usability.  I’m a bit surprised it’s taken him this long to jump on the bandwagon with how popular blogs have become.

Is it just me, or did his findings used to be based on research, and not just opinion?  And I worry about statements like “thousands of usability guidelines”....nothing like scaring potential clients off by making it sound like good usability is impossible.

At any rate, I don’t agree that blogs “free you from “Web Design”.  Sure, many packages use templates but someone, somewhere, at some point has put a design together that the site is now using and it’s important like any other site design.

On to his numbered list:

#3 - Kinda strange to see Jakob even mentioning Church sites / blogs.  Maybe his radar is larger than I thought.

#5 - Currently I copy the “evergreens” into the Articles section here on Boyink.com, but that isn’t an elegant solution when it comes to links and comments.  Once I get around to moving the site into ExpressionEngine, then I can assign a post to more than one category, with articles just being another category.

#6 - I definitely agree with, and hence don’t use calendars for navigation here on Boyink.com.  I just never understood the point of the calendar.

#7 - This is where Jakob seems a bit out of touch.  As a blog consumer I don’t really track or care to track “publishing schedules”.  There’s just no way to, with the number of sites I keep up with.  I don’t follow sites because they consistently publish on the same days, I follow them because they interest me, and I’d rather they publish when they have something to say, not just because hey—it’s Tuesday.

As a blog owner, I think it’s somewhat arrogant to assume that anyone is going to follow my site close enough to know when to expect new content.

No - this the where RSS (Real Simple Syndication) comes into play.  RSS is really the “other half” of blogging.  By using an RSS aggregator to subscribe to all your favorite blogs you just don’t need to care about publishing schedules.  When new content comes out, you’ll see it—easy as that.  As a blog consumer this allows me to stay current with exponentially more blogs than if I had to remember or bookmark the interesting ones.

#9 - Should prove interesting as time goes on.  Me - I can’t worry about what some future boss might think.  Maybe this will come back to bite me down the road, but this kind of thinking would lead to a very boring blog that no one would read.