Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: TWD on January 25, 2020, 10:58:41 AM
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I've seen a few posts on blogs fora and elsewhere lamenting the decline of traffic to blogs and suggesting a move to social media was a cause and in some cases advocating a move to social as a result.
So I wrote a short thing about how to attract more traffic to your blog.
Naturally it's on my blog, so you'll have to click this link* to read it.
https://tomstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2020/01/getting-people-to-view-your-wargames.html
*see what I've done there :) ?
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Um, aren't blogs social media? :?
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I definitely don't think blogs are what you'd consider "normal" social media (a more interactive platform with more discussion/back-and-forth).
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Um, aren't blogs social media? :?
Yes, yes they are.
Why do you ask?
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Um, aren't blogs social media? :?
Not in the modern sense of the term.
There are, I think, two main reasons that Facebook is killing blog traffic. The Like button has, I think, neutered comment even on Facebook. People just click a Like button and feel as if they have made a suitable response to a post. The horrible commenting system on Facebook doesn't help. I think that this has extended outside of Facebook. People don't comment on blogs as much as they used to.
Facebook also tries to capture as much of your activity as possible and keep it inside Facebook. They recently killed the ability to autopost Wordpress blog posts to your feed. I used to generate a lot of traffic back to my blog that way. They also allowed people to make Groups private. Which means that you can't share private content across Facebook further siloing that content.
A forum like LA has been split into 100s of groups. And if any of them are private then you can't share content. It makes your browsing on Facebook time consuming.
Blog traffic is going to suffer when you have a globe-spanning system like Facebook that actively works to make itself the central focus of people's time online.
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Good post with solid advice for bloggers. I'm not sure it was a Puffin though.
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I suppose it depends on your reason for blogging, don't get me wrong it is great when one of your posts hits the spot and becomes popular or gains a lot of comments but my main driver has always been to keep a record of my gaming and painting activity. I also put stuff out there for other gamers to use (painting guides, scenarios etc) because I use others blogs for the same reason, kind of me putting something back to the gaming community.
There is so much choice out there on social media now, some of which is beyond me, but Yarkshire Gamer has a presence on Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and You Tube.
I use the blog for long posts like Scenarios or AARs that don't fit anywhere else because of size, Insta and Twitter (with a blog link) for one off pics and Facebook for inbetween stuff. YouTube is an entirely different kettle of fish and sometimes me talking about a rule set is easier than writing for hours about one.
Overall hits on my blog are down around a third on average to where they were at their peak a couple of three years ago.
Main reasons In can see are,
1) The fracture of TMP, it was "the" Wargames site and nearly everything flowed through it. Without going into the reasons many people have left (or been barred) from that site.
2) That fracturing has led to an increase in other Forums effectively splitting the audience. I have posted on here, Dakka Dakka, Wargames Website, Beasts of War, Bolt Action.
3) The demise of Google+ another great source of traffic that has now gone.
4) The way people consume social media, is more "quick fix" and people just don't seem to spend the time reading a whole blog post when they can get the jist of a post from a Facebook summary.
Nice article highlighting some good ideas. The blog is here for a while, you just cant put a full Battle Report on Twitter.
Regards Ken
The Yarkshire Gamer
https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com (https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com)
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Yes, I think "why we blog" may be a subject for a future post. Like you my reasons are very little to do with traffic (though it's nice to have).
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Modern trends seem to be for throwaway things. So social media is no different.
Twitter, facebook, instagram, are probably the main ones. And reddit even if I continue to struggle with the layout and format - it causes my head to glitch for some reason.
Personally I really can't stand them for hobby stuff for anything more than "oh looky" because I like to be able to look around for inspiration and forums are far easier for that along with pinterest.
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I suppose it depends on your reason for blogging, don't get me wrong it is great when one of your posts hits the spot and becomes popular or gains a lot of comments but my main driver has always been to keep a record of my gaming and painting activity. I also put stuff out there for other gamers to use (painting guides, scenarios etc) because I use others blogs for the same reason, kind of me putting something back to the gaming community.
fwiw, I only read blogs that provide information, so I'm a little surprised to hear if Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are competitors. I guess these other social media are more useful for time-sensitive announcements. Personally, I find forums to be more useful for this information, since forums accommodate multiple threads, while other social media topics are usually dictated by the owner. I do find these other social media easier to browse for a company's pictures than blogs or forums.
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Some good points, though "why we blog" is important too (I'm like Yarkshire Gamer for my reasons in blogging).
However, I'm interested now if I should add the "wargaming" tag in my posts and if that will make it easier for people to find my posts (as I don't have "wargaming" in my blog title).
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1) The fracture of TMP, it was "the" Wargames site and nearly everything flowed through it. Without going into the reasons many people have left (or been barred) from that site.
There were as many, or more, people that didn't go to TMP as did. There were already a lot of other forums that existed in blissful ignorance of TMP :-)
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There were as many, or more, people that didn't go to TMP as did. There were already a lot of other forums that existed in blissful ignorance of TMP :-)
There were and there are now, but none of those other forums generate anywhere near the volume of traffic to a blog that TMP did and to be honest still does.
I will still get over 50 % of the traffic to my blog from TMP, in comparison LAF is less than 10 percent. The argument about TMP has been had ad nauseum here and elsewhere I'm talking solely numbers.
Regards Ken
The Yarkshire Gamer
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My own experience of TMP is simply you HAVE to follow links to blogs to see anything (shiny photos of great minis etc) whereas, and maybe it’s a little lazy of me, on a forum such as this, if someone just starts a thread with, “check out my blog to see......”, I find it a real turn off and immediately move to another forum thread where I can browse at my leisure things of interest. I am not therefore surprised at that ratio of traffic.
I had a thread on Ammobunker that gained over a million hits. I can only attribute that to the fact it concentrated on one particular topic, project if you like. I can NOT in my wildest imagination believe the same would have been true had I instead posted it on a blog.
However, I have never had a blog, so I could be wrong.
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I suppose it depends how you define traffic.
I stopped measuring my blog by how many comments I received long ago. On the technical side:
- I recently stopped using statcounter.com as this was getting blocked and so underestimated the traffic. As I use Blogger, I am able to use the built in stats package as outlined here - https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2019/10/site-statistics.html
- Plus I find that I get a lot of views via my RSS feed (and these don't show in standard web stats) although the stats are difficult to interpret - https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2018/06/rss-readership.html
I do regularly post here and elsewhere with a teaser picture or paragraph to alert interested parties but I have noticed two things [1] TMP still drives the most traffic from links and [2] people generally comment on the starting forum.
Hope this helps.
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I think there's quite a difference between TMP and here (well, many differences, but let's not get into that).
From what I see of TMP, it doesn't hold that much of its own content - it consists a lot of links out to other stuff, sites, blogs. (The infamous Tango01 being the prime exponent). It provides a kind of clearing station for content held elsewhere, as well as a forum for, um.. discussion.
This forum on the other hand, has always been 'content-rich'. Many of the most active members here don't run separate blogs or sites - this is where we showcase our creative work, projects, games, ideas.
This probably accounts (in part, at least) for why this forum is still generally thriving. Because enough people still populate the place with meaningful content that other people want to see / enjoy.
This perhaps explains (quite apart from sheer scale - TMP having a much larger membership) why this site tends to generate less traffic to blogs than TMP.
I personally don't mind people just using this site to link out to their own blogs - it's inevitable TBH. But it's worth bearing in mind that if everybody did that, and nobody contributed content that actually lived here on the forum, then gradually LAF would become an empty vessel, people would stop coming, and the cycle of decline sets in.
At present, most of the time, it feels like a reasonable compromise between original content, discussion, and links offsite.
(That's not how this forum started, but it's where its got to these days. Nothing ever stays the same. C'est la vie ;) )
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There were as many, or more, people that didn't go to TMP as did. There were already a lot of other forums that existed in blissful ignorance of TMP :-)
When I first got into historical gaming post GW, it was the first hit on my internet search. I started there and lasted less than a day before I gave up. That was in the early 2000's. It wasn't a positive experience and from what I have seen over the years has only got worse. There is a toxicity to the place unfortunately.
It really doesn't have the content as others have said. And it can take a fair amount of work to sort through the noise and find what you need.
I avoid it like the plague.
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There were and there are now, but none of those other forums generate anywhere near the volume of traffic to a blog that TMP did and to be honest still does.
I am not arguing that they don't generate a lot of outbound traffic. Just that the impact of it shedding users isn't necessarily as big as you think. It has always been a divisive site. Not only because of the message board there but also because of its focus.
What TMP, and LAF, has is a longstanding and loyal audience that have let it ride out the impact of Facebook.
I am not sure what other people's local online communities were like but every single non-Facebook group that existed here four years ago is gone and has moved to Facebook. So, in my locality at least, trying to maintain a blog and bring traffic involves having to engage with people on Facebook.
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I am not arguing that they don't generate a lot of outbound traffic. Just that the impact of it shedding users isn't necessarily as big as you think. It has always been a divisive site. Not only because of the message board there but also because of its focus.
What TMP, and LAF, has is a longstanding and loyal audience that have let it ride out the impact of Facebook.
I am not sure what other people's local online communities were like but every single non-Facebook group that existed here four years ago is gone and has moved to Facebook. So, in my locality at least, trying to maintain a blog and bring traffic involves having to engage with people on Facebook.
I can only talk about what I know, a great deal of my gaming friends have left TMP some by choice, others have been shall we say, helped out. I also know a good deal of people who deliberately don't go there for a number of reasons.
I know that the numbers of visits to Yarkshire Gamer from TMP has reduced and I know people who visit YG either direct or via other forums used to via TMP because they told me.
As I said in my first post it's one of a number of reasons why I think (getting back to the point of the thread) that blog visits are down. I was trying to avoid a TMP debate, I failed lol
As for Captain Bloods point, I suppose I am guilty of that, most of my posts link back to a blog post. But I don't see LAF as the place to put a comprehensive post on say a Scenario AAR post, they can be pretty long with 25 - 30 photos, army lists, set ups etc.
I use a post on here and other forums as a taster, if you like and want to see more visit the blog, I think that's the best way. It's a free scenario at the end of the day !
I hope blogs stay around for many years to come.
Regards Ken
The Yarkshire Gamer
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I am another of those that rarely (almost never) click on a blog link in a forum post and certainly not if it is the only thing in the post.
"I am just starting a new project...click here to read more"......
That kind of "clickbait" post really annoys me and I fully support the attempts of other forums to stop people posting them by making a minimum number of images and explanation a requirement.
The only exceptions I make are to a very few known expert sources on the subject, be it a specific ruleset, campaign or era of warfare, but these I tend to already know and have saved as bookmarks. I look on blogs as a technical resource not an entertainment.
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Having 'blogged' for the best part of 8 years it has for me been a great journey. Indeed a personal diary of my wargaming adventures, projects, events and builds.
I recognise most of the comments posted here and, I also know that I am guilty of leading with a post and then stating read all about it on the blog.
Its for the reader to judge whether that extra click is worth it. Take for example my recent post on the Battle of Newbury - the blog posts surrounding this event were several weeks of research and a few hours to compile this into some meaningful posts. Ultimately when I did post on the LAF it was all about the battle report. Links in that blog post would take you to those earlier planning posts. I doubt if these posts would have been of interest to the bulk of the LAF audience.
I love the way the LAF is a dynamic community - as has been said it is content rich, positive and enthusiastic. Long may it continue
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I blog.
I 'advertise' each blog post I make on various forums which are appropriate to the content of the post (I figure game and boardgame). this is done by a link - bait or otherwise. I just see it as sharing free content, but understand anyone who with a load of other stuff to read, may not want to click. I blog for my own ppleasure, but do work to try and make the post attractive and enjoyable to the visitor and I believe that a lot of inspiration and ideas does come from the world of blogs.
My blog posts tend to be article based so can easily sit in the 3000 - 5000 words band. Each post is labelled, so a reader can search easily for similar subject matter within the blog.
So for me, the blog allows long posts, inter-related searchable material and in one place there are now several hundred lengthy posts of a style that if you like them, the blog is a useful place to visit and hunt around (if you don't like them, then you will doubtless avoid my blog).
The work that goes into a long post is done over several days, so I am loathe to 'only' and fully post in a single forum / FB space that within two hours I am off the front page, but with the blog, it just sits there until I next post and you can drop by when you are in the mood. I am quite wordy and I doubt FB suits that sort of thing.
I don't think that Facebook would give me that sort of scope for long articles or an archive. Forums do give an archive, but I support several forums, so just posting material to one of them doesn't really work for me.
I think bloggers build a reputation with regard to their material and in a short number of postings, you know whether you like the bloggers work and whether it is worth your time to visit and read etc.
If I were to reduce my efforts, it would because I think I spend too much time looking at a screen, when really, being productive, gaming a reading should in my world have a higher priority. I have already taken steps to drop around 30 - 40 minutes screen time a day and that has made an impact on my painting output.
As an aside, I also pay for some webspace and run a small wargame site on it. It is snippet based, advert free and I suppose I just lilke a bit of space that I can personalise and it complements the bog. I don't keep stats on it, so I have no idea whether it gets visited much or at all!
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The original post led me to think very hard about what I want from my own Blog. I even posted a Blog article/post linking to this thread. You can find it here;
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/2020/01/blogging.html (http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/2020/01/blogging.html)
I would like more traffic. I would like more comments. I would like to know that my Blog (it is over ten years old) is safe.
I'm not sure I'll get a satisfactory answer to any of these questions, but I will keep Blogging.
KEEP ON BLOGGING - If you don't use it/them you may loose them
Tony
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"I am just starting a new project...click here to read more"......
That kind of "clickbait" post really annoys me and I fully support the attempts of other forums to stop people posting them by making a minimum number of images and explanation a requirement.
Maybe the authors of these types of posts don't want to retype 200-1000 words for people that are too lazy to open another browser window?
And you have a very odd idea of what 'clickbait' is.
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Seven turn of amazing Warhammer!
You won't believe what happens in turn four!
Wargames clickbait.
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Maybe the authors of these types of posts don't want to retype 200-1000 words for people that are too lazy to open another browser window?
Err, at the risk of sounding like a smart-ass (which, for the record, I am not trying to do), a simple ctrl-c & ctrl-v should generally sort the retyping issue out.
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Err, at the risk of sounding like a smart-ass (which, for the record, I am not trying to do), a simple ctrl-c & ctrl-v should generally sort the retyping issue out.
It does sorta defeat the purpose of the blog though :-)
Besides, a blog post can have photo galleries and formatting that the message board won't support. I often post one photo here and my blog might have fice or 6 photos often in a gallery.
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Seven turn of amazing Warhammer!
You won't believe what happens in turn four!
Wargames clickbait.
-Where's the goddamn link!!!1 >:(
lol
Maybe the authors of these types of posts don't want to retype 200-1000 words for people that are too lazy to open another browser window?
And you have a very odd idea of what 'clickbait' is.
Pretty much.
I have to say that I blog mostly to keep track of my hobby doings and I share that info on forums because I appreciate it when other hobbyists do the same. Typing out the whole entry on a half a dozen forums though is a bit beyond what I want to do, so link to my blog is provided.
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Err, at the risk of sounding like a smart-ass (which, for the record, I am not trying to do), a simple ctrl-c & ctrl-v should generally sort the retyping issue out.
The issues this can cause with formatting on many fora, plus the need (on most) for images to be hosted elsewhere means is isn't quite *that* simple in my experience.
This, together with the fact that some forums where I first shared my hobby activity have now closed down with the consequent tragic loss to the hobby of my fascinating insights ( :o) mean I'd rather just post once in a place I can be reasonably certain it'll all be there for some time to come.
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Timely discussion about Blogs and sharing links etc.
Just before Christmas I decided that I would leave TMP for various reasons. It was the only Forum that I would normally post links to my Blog so knew that I would lose some traffic. I do share links here but would like to have a topic that I can add to rather, than keep posting bits about various items I have completed as I randomly complete something for my many projects. I feel that that is the purpose of my Blog. The other reason is time as I just don't have time to post on Various forums to keep my Blog alive. I started it as a record of my Hobby and often refer back to it as reference.
I have joined a number of Facebook groups and find that the same questions are asked over and over again as there is no way of searching Facebook that I can see. This week I shared a post from 2016 about TAG's M113's I had assembled and painted to a Vietnam Facebook Group. There was a question as to whether a 3d printed M113 was based on the GW Rhino. :o (The knowledge and skills on Forums like LA are really high in comparison). I never seem to pick up any new followers when I post links and people don't seem to look through the Blog to see if there is anything else that is relevant.
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I have joined a number of Facebook groups and find that the same questions are asked over and over again as there is no way of searching Facebook that I can see.
Facebook is wildly inefficient at conversation. It makes sense since Facebook's audience isn't the people trying to post comments or start discussions but the people placing ads.
It is the prime reason why I loathe the site. Trying to follow threads and search in groups is next to impossible. I could put up with a lot of Facebook's crap if it at least did a good job.
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Facebook is wildly inefficient at conversation.
You can say that again!! Every time I have asked a serious question specific to a period in the appropriate wargames FB group I've been bombarded by 'likes' and never received a reply but for two occasions and a very paltry reply at that o_o lol
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You can say that again!! Every time I have asked a serious question specific to a period in the appropriate wargames FB group I've been bombarded by 'likes' and never received a reply but for two occasions and a very paltry reply at that o_o lol
Not just the quantity of responses also that the presentation of the discussions is crap. You need multiple clicks to see all the responses in a thread and the notification system is utter shite.
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Not just the quantity of responses also that the presentation of the discussions is crap. You need multiple clicks to see all the responses in a thread and the notification system is utter shite.
100%. It's actually confusing even when you make a comment and it sometimes appears out of context in the thread- even if you tag the person who asked the question to give a clear indication that you are addressing them :o
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... the need (on most) for images to be hosted elsewhere ...
Good point on two counts:
[1] The likes of Blogger offer free image hosting and they allow hot linking to fora etc. Without my personal blogger account I would not be able to post pictures here.
[2] Judging by the number of questions about posting pictures I see in various fora, there are a lot of people who struggle with this especially if cut & paste doesn't work.
... some forums where I first shared my hobby activity have now closed down with the consequent ... loss ... mean I'd rather just post once in a place I can be reasonably certain it'll all be there for some time to come.
Again a good point. Blogger may not be around for ever but it's got to be more stable than a small hobby forum. Plus they offer excellent data retrieval pathways in the event of closure (unlike Photobucket).
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Again a good point. Blogger may not be around for ever but it's got to be more stable than a small hobby forum. Plus they offer excellent data retrieval pathways in the event of closure (unlike Photobucket).
It's a relief to know that Martin. It was not pleasant trying to retrieve my pics from Photobucket!
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It does sorta defeat the purpose of the blog though :-)
Besides, a blog post can have photo galleries and formatting that the message board won't support. I often post one photo here and my blog might have fice or 6 photos often in a gallery.
The issues this can cause with formatting on many fora, plus the need (on most) for images to be hosted elsewhere means is isn't quite *that* simple in my experience.
This, together with the fact that some forums where I first shared my hobby activity have now closed down with the consequent tragic loss to the hobby of my fascinating insights ( :o) mean I'd rather just post once in a place I can be reasonably certain it'll all be there for some time to come.
Fair points. :)
I can particularly understand the concern over losing your work should sites end up going down. Stars know I've ended up losing plenty of stuff that way...
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I have been blogging for more than 10 years and nearly gave it up after photobucket debacle, paying for the initial hosting until I had stripped out my photos. I originally had six blogs, one for ancients and medieval “Storm and Conquest”, one for 18th centur “Fine and Dandy”, one for my 18th century imagination and the clubs imagination campaigns “Duchy of Skanderburg” , one for Napoleonic “Australian Napoleonic Kreigspielers” one for ACW and Sudan “Follow the Plume” and finally a ww2 and modern blog “Kampfgruppe Willow”.
I then decided to focus on two, “Storm and Conquest” and “Kampfgruppe Williw” combining a few articles but predominantly dumping lots of articles and posts. I then paid for google storage and replaced all of the photos I could and dumping articles and bits that were ordinary quality. I now predominantly use my blogs for my own records and SEO searches for our Wargames business, helping push up our google presence.
As for links, I think people are lazy these days and want everything at their finger tips without searching for a answer first, Facebook particularly suffers from the same question regularly, plus the inability to find anything on there is frustrating. I still prefer forums but many are disappearing like blogs, some are still healthy but unless you are doing outstanding work you will hardly get a response. I have been of late commenting on blogs a lot more to get interaction.
I still link back to my Blog from here, Facebook, the Wargamers guild, and TMP. A lot of great information will disappear if blogs disappear.
Cheers
Matt
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I have been of late commenting on blogs a lot more to get interaction.
Well said Matt. I try to comment on blogs as much as possible. As well as a record of ones wargaming projects blogging should be a fun, participatory recreational activity. It used to be the case that the participatory element was more common. It was and still is a great way to exchange ideas.
That's it. Simple really.
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...... blogging should be a fun, participatory recreational activity. It used to be the case that the participatory element was more common. It was and still is a great way to exchange ideas.....
I don't see it that way at all.
What is the benefit of a discussion of the quantity and types of vehicles in a given unit, or the banner designs of Knights at a given battle (as examples), if that information is spread out between 5 or 6 different peoples blogs?
A forum based discussion on the same subjects, where the same 5 or 6 people contribute at a single point is a far more valuable resource to the wider community.
Blogging is a very insular, self satisfying activity. I have looked at a few blogs linked from LAF posts as a result of discussion on this thread and see the same limited group of bloggers commenting favourably on each others posts, which is fine and pretty much replicates what is common at most games clubs; a friendly, mutually supportive chat amongst colleagues. However it does little to help involve new people or those outside of the close group.
As forum software became more user friendly it took over from the usenet group/Yahoo group type sites as a way to advocate and support the broadest involvement of people interested in a given topic or subject. Blogging is the exact opposite of that as it seeks to individualise content into peoples own sites rather than sharing it.
I think people who run and use blogs should ask themselves if they are spending the time necessary to write and post that content for their own benefit and enjoyment, or to provide a resource for the wider community.
If the former then great, blogging is working for you, if the latter I would suggest putting that same content on a shared public forum would be more useful.
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I have joined a number of Facebook groups and find that the same questions are asked over and over again as there is no way of searching Facebook that I can see.
Facebook Groups have a search box in the column to the left of the posts. But it's still really difficult to find things.
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I use feedly to keep track of a lot of blogs, but rarely like/visit them directly. I suspect that affects stats as well.
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If the former then great, blogging is working for you, if the latter I would suggest putting that same content on a shared public forum would be more useful.
You do know that people are allowed to do things for their own enjoyment?
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Facebook Groups have a search box in the column to the left of the posts. But it's still really difficult to find things.
People don't search. Its easier for them to ask a question then spend the time to research something.
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I think people who run and use blogs should ask themselves if they are spending the time necessary to write and post that content for their own benefit and enjoyment, or to provide a resource for the wider community.
If the former then great, blogging is working for you, if the latter I would suggest putting that same content on a shared public forum would be more useful.
I know that I Blog for my own satisfaction.
Tony
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I use feedly to keep track of a lot of blogs, but rarely like/visit them directly. I suspect that affects stats as well.
I use feedly to do this too. It's very useful.
I know of some blogs that only show truncated articles in their RSS feed to ensure you have to visit the blog. Some blogger do it to prevent unscrupulous people scraping the article and republishing it as their work. There's a 10mm blog that does this just to harvest the Adsense revenue: very naughty.
RSS readership will show in the stats if you have stats running on your RSS feed. I use Feedburner: see https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2018/06/rss-readership.html
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I've just started blogging again and I'm loving it!
I've also put a little blog directory on it, so if you'd like to add yours, then feel free, the link is in my signature below ;D
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I know of some blogs that only show truncated articles in their RSS feed to ensure you have to visit the blog.
Or to keep the size of the feed down. If you put the entire article in the feed then you also get full-size images in the feed which makes the RSS pretty much useless for anything else.
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Or to keep the size of the feed down. If you put the entire article in the feed then you also get full-size images in the feed which makes the RSS pretty much useless for anything else.
Not so. You are confusing the feed with the full page content. The feed will only contain links to the images and not the images themselves.
The size of the feed is independent of the size of the images therein. If you've added "full-size" images then both the feed and the original web page will load slowly.
It's always better to insert a smaller image linked to a larger one. For Blogger users, Google does this automatically using just one image and if you look closely at the image link it's very easy to resize the image. Compare:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LUw02boIX18/XdPYy3XQbmI/AAAAAAAAJOQ/_-o9NH3_disXwkGzSO06zJd53gMPBZYUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/20191119%2B-%2BS8001190f.jpg (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LUw02boIX18/XdPYy3XQbmI/AAAAAAAAJOQ/_-o9NH3_disXwkGzSO06zJd53gMPBZYUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/20191119%2B-%2BS8001190f.jpg)
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LUw02boIX18/XdPYy3XQbmI/AAAAAAAAJOQ/_-o9NH3_disXwkGzSO06zJd53gMPBZYUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/20191119%2B-%2BS8001190f.jpg (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LUw02boIX18/XdPYy3XQbmI/AAAAAAAAJOQ/_-o9NH3_disXwkGzSO06zJd53gMPBZYUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/20191119%2B-%2BS8001190f.jpg)
The key difference is between "s600" and "s200". Hope this helps?
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I've also put a little blog directory on it, so if you'd like to add yours, then feel free, the link is in my signature below ;D
Tried this but got a "The reCAPTCHA validation score failed." error on both Firefox & Vivaldi. There was no CAPTCHA pop shown even after switching off all the security options.
Update: submission made but no CAPTCHA involved at all. Curious.
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Not so. You are confusing the feed with the full page content.
No, I'm not. I was just being more succinct than I needed to be.
The feed will only contain links to the images and not the images themselves.
Yes, but those links are to the image as they appear in the post. So my 700 pixel wide image appears in the text as HTML that leads to that image. If the feed is used in, say a sidebar of a person's blog, then that full image appears taking over the sidebar and screwing up the display. It is also a PITA if you are developing a list of blogs and displaying the content since you never know when someone else is putting full article content in the feed. Even manually building an excerpt or summary is a PITA since you never know when an image is going to show up and what size it is.
You can see this sort of behaviour at sites like
http://figoblogotheque.blogspot.com/
I've included an example.
It's always better to insert a smaller image linked to a larger one.
This behaviour presumes usage though.
My initial objection is actually to a comment in your original post.
I know of some blogs that only show truncated articles in their RSS feed to ensure you have to visit the blog.
So there are several problems here. Your comment presumes a particular way to use an RSS feed. You want to read posts in it. Your presumption leads you to build your posts in a particular way. That presumption leads to problems for people that don't share your reading habits.
RSS was never intended as a way to read a blog. The problem is that there is, AFAIK, no leadership updating or maintaining the standard and so there have been industry lead updates to the format that aren't universally agreed upon. Blogger is a total basket case when it comes to RSS. Google hasn't done anything to that site to make it easier to syndicate content elsewhere as they wanted people to use their Google signup and, while it was running, Google Reader, to explore blogs.
Some sites like Wordpress have features that let you finetune your RSS feed but since the format is effectively stuck in a world before the pre-eminence of Blogger and Wordpress it has issues that haven't been resolved.
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No, I'm not. I was just being more succinct than I needed to be.
:)
OTOH Feedly does a really good job of handling all types of feeds: never seen an oversized image. It's obliviously coded to allow for the numpties.
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OTOH Feedly does a really good job of handling all types of feeds: never seen an oversized image. It's obliviously coded to allow for the numpties.
I use Feedly and it does a good job of post-processing the feeds.
Blogs, and by extension RSS, haven't really seen a lot of love since Google killed off Reader. Facebook also took the opportunity presented by Cambridge Analytica to kill off the ability to post from your blog to your Facebook feed from Wordpress. Not sure if they did the same thing for Blogger.
Blogs are a part of a more open internet that is getting strangled by Facebook.