Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most bloggers link to the blog name and the refer to the blogger of that blog in subsequent mentions? I know that I do. So the link actually highlights the blog name more than italics will.

We're not print journalists, we're hobbyists. These are our personal journals or opinion sites that we paid for with our own money (for the most part). Even the more "serious" pundit-y blogs include random personal posts on occasion. I will follow my own style, thankyouverymuch.

Jen, even the linking convention is a matter of personal preference. For example, I rarely link to the blog name, unless I'm introducing a new blog that I've run across. In most cases, I link to text that describes the post that I'm referring to.

I'm not a fan of italicizing names because I use italics to emphasize certain words or phrases, and too many italics will lessen their impact.

Repeat after me: The Stylebook Changes. The style for a blog name is to link to the blog name.

Of course, when I've linked it the first time, I tend to just italicize it. But I don't get to argue about this if I point that out first.

The style for a blog name is to link to the blog name.

Says who?

How dare you invoke pinkies!

Actually, you should not necessarily link the blog name and try to link keywords, like the topic of the post. This will help you search chances.

And before you start blasting away at losing focus on the naturalness of blogging and what are we coming to, I'm only suggested one rule. Testing the waters. I'm no absolutist, more trying to spark debate and see where people are.

I do try to obey the rule however.

And anyone who says they don't try to blend in some form of basic web marketing into their blogging is lying. We are all selling. We don't have to be extreme, but hey, we all learn from each other and try to make the most of this.

I Bold 'em. That's the way I do it so it must be right.

"And before you start blasting away at losing focus on the naturalness of blogging and what are we coming to, I'm only suggested one rule. Testing the waters. I'm no absolutist, more trying to spark debate and see where people are."

Yeah, only one rule today.

Next week, this self-appointed editor of blogging will "suggest" another rule, like standardizing a date line in some manner.

The week after that, he will "suggest" still another style rule.

A month or so after that, he will be bitterly criticizing people who don't follow the rules.

The next month, there will be serious "suggestions" of blog certification and official censure.

Inevitably, there will be a "suggestion" to drop non-compliant blogs from the links because they don't follow the official Slant Point-approved style format.

I'm sure he's "testing the waters". That's the problem with all self-appointed authorities. They're always "testing the waters" to see how far they can push other people around, how much they can dictate to other people.

Personally, I've never had any problem determining what was or wasn't a blog title from the context. Some bloggers link to the name, others capitalize the name, others bold it. The specifics don't really matter.

Eric called it a solution in search of a problem. I'm not as charitable. It sounds like the work of a supervisor in search of subordinates.

I agree with Phelps -- it's just one of those things that bloggers have made standard -- or good manners.

Spacemonkey has a few things to say about blog styles: http://flyingspacemonkey.mu.nu/archives/049547.php

Rules....rules.... rules....

Why do some feel the need to impose their rules on others?

If i was lucky enough to get paid for my opinions then I would follow the rules of the entity that provides my paycheck. If scott is willing then my SSN is ...-..-....

If not then just leave us alone.

Scott, it appears that you've succeeded in "sparking a debate," judging by the comments.

Lest you think that I don't take such things seriously, you'll note an entire category of posts called "Blog Usability." As a web designer (but with absolutely no background in journalism or writing) I perhaps tend to view blogs from a different perspective than someone with mainstream journalism creds.

It's all about usability (and marketing...I'll grant you that point). If the style enhances usability, it's good; if it hurts it, it's bad; if it's neutral, then we can always agree to disagree.

Italicizing blog names falls into category 3, in my opinion. Do it if you want; don't do it if you don't. 99.9% of your readers won't notice or care one way or the other.

Shannon, I don't think Scott is trying to impose any rules on bloggers (and I think he's perceptive enough to realize the futility of any such attempt...we're all like two year olds in that respect ;-). I also think it's healthy to bring up such issues, because they can make us think about about the larger context, which we should be anyway: how readable are our blogs, and how can we improve them in that respect?

After all, this is perhaps the first time in human history that writers are also in complete control of the medium in which they publish (the cave wall painters were a close second). Some of us don't know what to do with that control, and others of us have a good grasp. The thing is, we're all on a learning curve, as new as the medium is.

You can all just go buy my book, The Chaffin Blog Style Guide, and get the answers to these and other puzzling questions in one handy reference package. It will be both digital and hard-bound in nice cow leather (probably brown, but I could go with blue.) I'm taking pre-orders through paypal...just use my email address. I'll even sign it for you when it's published.

Pre-pub price is $30, post-pub $50 -- so order quickly! Makes a great stocking stuffer (the receipt does, not the book -- the book will be large and likely rip any stocking)!

Scott, I think I'll order a few of these, depending on your answer to this question: are blog names italicized or not?

Because that's my litmus test, you know?

Scott,

You're going about it all wrong. You charge $20, but change it every year so that we have to get a new edition. ;-)

Personally, I'm always perturbed by people who use numerals for numbers under 10 (1-9).

Eric, you're just going to have to muddle through until the publication. I could give you a hint, but then why would you buy my book?

Bryan, I like the way you're thinking. So that's $30/$50 for the FIRST ANNUAL edition. A collectors' item, especially signed. $20 next year.

I think I deserve a piece of the action, considering how all the deals are taking place in my personal little "business incubator."

COMMENTATORS VS BLOGGERS

ALMOST 100 PERCECT OF COMMENTATORS, including the eurasian, DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THESE "BOLDED LINKS". For example, the bolded link, ERIC.

But all commentators know and can easily type:

http://www.ericsiegmund.com/fireant/

(1) Such an "http://" tells readers and commentators it is a WEBSITE/BLOG.

(2) IT IS A LINK

(3) ANY OF THE ALMOST 100 PERCENT INTERNET-COMPUTER IGNORANT USERS CAN successfully type THE " http:// " link in their posted comments without much instruction or education.

(4) The "http//" link is at least a better and more accurate indicator to people where they are linking than just clicking ERIC or JEN or SHANNON. Who knows? Some names in the Internet may send your computer to Nigeria!!!

(5) WEB REDIRECTION SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED BY THE INTERNET. (This way, #4 comment will make "http://" AN ACCURATE INDICATOR and not just a "more accurate indicator "

(6) ALL WEBSITES/BLOGS SHOULD RESPECT THE 'http:// links" posted bty commentators and not disconnect nor turn them off.

MICROSOFT AND OTHER INTERNET EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS, PROVIDERS SHOULD NEVER HAVE GIVEN IN THE PAST AND SHOULD NEVER GIVE IN THE FUTURE TO WEBSITES/BLOGGERS THE CAPABILITY TO SHUT OFF THE CAPABILITY OF COMMENTATORS TO PUT CLICKABLE LINKS IN THEIR POSTED COMMENTS ON BLOGS AND WEBSITES.

(7) Remember Mr. Freen and others, in the teminology of ERIC, YOU AND I AND PRACTICALLY ALMOST EVERYONE POSTING COMMENTS HERE OR AT MYWESTTEXAS.COM OR AT CSPAN.ORG OR AT ANY WEBSITE IN THE INTERNET ----YOU MR. FREEN AND ALMOST 100 PERCENT OF INTERNET POSTERS ARE NOT BLOGGERS but only commentators. ERIC AND JEN, HOWEVER, ARE BLOGGERS BECAUSE THEY ARE POSTING THE COMMENTS ON THEIR OWN WEBSITE!!! So we mere commentators must see to it that THE INTERNET WILL BE FORMED IN SUCH A WAY THAT COMMENTATORS WILL BE ABLE TO POST EFFECTIVELY, WITHOUT WEBSITES AND BLOG SITE OWNERS SABOTAGING OR DISCONNECTING OUR LINKS.

FOR EXAMPLE, INSTEAD OF BEING AT THE MERCY OF COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, COMPUTER DEVICES/SUPPLIERS, WE THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE ABLE TO IMPOSE RULES SUCH AS PREVENTING THESE SUPPLIERS/VENDORS OF COMPUTER ADD ON DEVICES/SOFTWARES FROM INCLUDING 'DEVICE DRIVERS THAT ARE NOT MICROSOFT DIGITALLY SIGNED" WHICH THEY ALL KNOW WILL ONLY OPEN OUR MICROSOFT RUNNED COMPUTERS TO VIRUSES IN THE INTERNET!!!!

Maybe the other non-microsoft signed software are there for manufacturers other than Microsoft. IF SO, THE DRIVERS FOR SUCH SHOULD BE IN A SEPARATE DVD DISKETTE. THIS PRESENT HABIT OF MANUFACTURERS PUTTING THE DEVICE DRIVER ONE AFTER THE OTHER IN A MENU IS A RECIPE FOR INNOCENT, NOT SO KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE WHO ARE THE MAJORITY OF INTERNET USERS, TO END UP WITH DRIVERS THAT ALLOW VIRUSES TO GET IN!!!

AS A COMMENTATOR IN THE INTERNET AS ARE ALMOST 100 PERCENT OF ALL INTERNET USE, WE COMMENTATORS DO NOT KNOW HOW TO ITALICIZE. MAYBE THE COMPUTERS THAT WE OWN CANNOT ITALICIZE. KINDLY DON'T GIVE MICROSOFT AND OTHER DEVICE/SOFTWARE, COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS IDEAS ON HOW TO EXTRACT MORE MONEY FROM US.

IT WILL BE USEFUL IF "http://" is shortened say to "://"' and "http://"www" shortened say to "://w"

Or/AND if computer keyboards by hardware or software will have the öld "Commodore 64 " keyboard feature which had a certain number of SPECIAL PROGRAMMABLE KEYS. And then you could program any programmable key, so that with one stroke of that key, the whole string of letters in "http://www" will all appear and be typed!!!!

Eurasian, I couldn't possibly begin to address all the points you've attempted to make, but I will attempt to clear up some apparent confusion about a few things.

First, the disabling of links in comments is the legitimate prerogative of the blog owner and it usually is the result of abuse of the tactic by comment spammers. Those spammers fill their comments with links to commercial websites (often but not necessarily pørn) in the hope of getting people to click on them or improving their rankings in search results. When the spam problem gets out of hand, the blogger often has no choice but to disable links.

In fact, I disabled HTML in the Gazette's comments for a few weeks, until I installed a plug-in designed to control comment spam. It's worked so effectively that I've reinstated HTML capabilities in comments.

Second, "http://" cannot be shortened to just "://" because there are other "prefixes" that may be used. Two that come immediately to mind are "ftp://" and "https://". This coding is essentially for telling the web browser software which "internet protocol" is being used for accessing the content.

Note also that there are a number of software programs you can install on your computer to allow you to assign a series of keystrokes or commands to a single keystroke, and thus eliminate repetitive typing of commonly used words or phrases.

And, finally, you should remember that comments exist at the sole pleasure of the blog owner. It's not your right to comment on a blog...it's a privilege granted by the blog owner, and he or she has the absolute right to turn comments on or off for any or no reason whatsoever. As Jen pointed out earlier, the vast majority of bloggers pay their own expenses to maintain a blog; that alone is sufficient reason for them to run their blogs as they see fit.

Now, a quick primer. If you want to italicize or bold certain words or phrases, simply enclose the words or phrases with the following tags:

italics: <i>word or phrase</i> will give word or phrase

bold: <strong>word or phrase</strong> will give word or phrase

See...isn't that easy?

b OF COURSE "http://www" CAN BE SHORTENED TO 1 OR 2 CHARACTERS
i AND STILL ENSURE A UNIQUE INTERNET PREFIX. EVEN IF IT WERE A SINGLE CHARACTER PREFIX, REMEMBER THERE ARE 26 CAPITAL LETTERS, 26 SMALL LETTER, 10 DECIMAL DIGIT CHARACTERS, PLUS SPECIAL CHARACTERS. BOLDing MEANS ANOTHER COMPLETE SET OF THE NUMEROUS CHARACTERS ABOVE. SLANTING OR ITALICIZING MEANS ANOTHER. ITALICIZING OF THE BOLD MEANS ANOTHER AGAIN. SO TOO WITH OTHER MODES OF PRINTING STYLES IF AVAILABLE.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I've used the print formatting before. Learned it from CSPAN commentators. That's where I learned to separate into paragraphs my MRT posts by putting 2 blank lines between paragraphs. OTHERWISE THE ENTIRE POST ENDED UP LIKE A SNAKE

%%% EXPERIMENTAL %%%

Eric

I previewed my post and for some mystyerious reason the BOTTOM HALF JUST DISAPPEARED!!!

I understand you, Jen, and others being the OWNERS AND PAYERS OF YOUR RESPECTIVE BLOGS. (However, in the much larger picture, be thankful!!! GOD IS REALLY THE TRUE OWNER, AND YOU THE HONORED STEWARDS.)

But there is a BIG ADVANTAGE TO TRUTH AND THE PUBLIC GOOD IF LINKS ARE POSTED.

Half asleep, I heard ATTORNEY JEAN MORALES, on kwel AM1070 HOSTING AND talking about a certain particular website which you can trust because it cites REFERENCES, LINKS. And even half asleep as I was hearing ATTY. MORALES, I WAS HALF ASLEEP ALSO THINKING ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR POST OF YOURS.

You see, JULY 24 and JULY 27, I HAD A HEATED DISCUSSION WITH TRAIN ENGINEERS AND WIVES OF TRAIN ENGINEERS OF UNION PACIFIC. I PROPOSED SEVERAL EXPERIMENTAL SOLUTIONS ONE OF WHICH WAS THE PUTTING OF OCTAGONAL STOP SIGNS ON RAILROAD INTERSECTIONS. A NUMBER OF THEM POURED COLD WATER ON EURASIAN'S EXPERIMENTAL SUGGESTION.

A MONTH LATER, AUG 20(?) NTSB, THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WAS ISSUING A PRESS RELEASE AND THE MAIN POINT OF THE NTSB PRESS RELEASE WAS THE PROPOSED INSTALLATION OF STOP SIGNS AT RAILROAD INTERSECTIONS. THE NTSB INVESTIGATOR WAS REPEATING THE VERY POINTS AND WORDS POSTED IN THE EURASIAN EXPERIMENTAL. WITHOUT WEBSITES LIKE FIREANT, MYWESTTEXAS.COM, KWELRADIO, JESSICAS WELL, OAOA, MYWESTTEXASTALK.COM, CSPAN.ORG, etc, THE GOVERNMENT WILL DISHONESTLY END UP HIJACKING EURASIAN EXPERIMENTALS JUST AS PRESIDENT BUSH HIJACKED EURASIAN"S EXPERIMENTAL 300 DOLLAR GOVERNMENT MONEY GIVEAWAY TO ALL, WHICH WAS AIRED ON THE CRAIG ANDERSON SHOW DURING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION AND REPEATED AND REPEATED PUBLICLY ON RADIO FOR YEARS EVEN AFTER THE BUSH 300 DOLLAR REBATE. I WONDER WHAT GOD WHO IS THE SOURCE OF ALL CREATIVITY, AND THE BILLIONS OF SAINTS AND ANGELS ABOVE MUST BE SAYING!!!

BUT HERE IS A LINK (EURASIAN, OCT 5)WHICH WILL ILLUSTRATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ALLOWING THESE WEBSITES AND MESSAGES AND TRUTHS IN THE PAST TO BE AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE SIMPLY BY CLICKING:

http://www.kwelradio.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=38

the-eurasian@earthlink.net