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December 19, 2004
Blogging 101 - Categories
By QBlog in Blogging 101
Many blog tools have a "categories" feature that enables bloggers to organize their posts by themes instead of just dates. Categories make searching for archived content a much easier process. Admittedly, I haven't used categories on this blog until recently but I now see the importance of this organizational enhancement.
Blogger Sucks
Blogger.com doesn't suck, they just don't offer categories... yet. Some get around Blogger's lack of categories by creating multiple blogs under a single profile and using each blog as a separate category. This can work if a unified template is used but the problem is that the dated archives can't be shared across each blog. My advice for Blogger users, write Blogger and request a categories feature but in the meantime, clearly name your posts to simplify searches of your blog content.
Be Wise
I've seen some blogs with 40 categories. The author creates a new category for almost every post. That's just silly. If you're using categories then think of a broad theme rather than something overly descriptive. If you sometimes post about Beanie Babies then maybe a category called "Collectibles" instead of Beanie Babies. That way you can also put your posts about Madame Alexander Dolls under the "Collectibles" category.
You also don't necessarily need to categorize every post. If most of your posts are about the same thing, which is also what your blog is generally about, then you might want to save categorization for those special projects. I started a weekly series on another blog called "Sunday Memories" where memories of childhood toys and technology were shared every Sunday. Setting up a "Sunday Memories" category would have been perfect for such a project. I've recently started switching over all these Blogging 101 posts to a Blogging 101 category which you can browse through on the Archives page. Things like that are perfect for unique categories.
Multiple Categories
Some blog tools allow for multiple categories but I advise extreme caution when assigning a post to more than one category. Remember, categories can also become hard to sort through as they get filled with posts. Adding content that's also listed in other categories may not be the best way to serve your readers. I'm not saying you can't use multiple categories, just use them with caution.
Be Descriptive
Don't name your categories something ambiguous. If your category contains posts about dogs, don't call the category "Mr. Binky" even if that's the name of your dog. Most people who don't regularly read your blog will be clueless about the significance of Mr. Binky and such a label will only confuse them and bloggers should avoid confusing their audience as much as possible. I'd change the Mr. Binky category to something called "Dogs." Not as cute but much more descriptive.
The End
That's about all I can say about categories. Have anything else to add? Be my guest.
I wrote to blogger regarding lack of category function. They replied that it was not currently in the pipeline but suggested the work around that you described.
Another solution for this is in the blogger nav bar. There is a search box in the upper left portion of the nav bar. Readers can search for posts containing selected keywords and blogger will retrieve all matching criteria.
It's not the solution I am looking for but neither is the multiple matching blog pages.
Posted by: Dave S | December 23, 2004 9:47 PM