I built the original VeloWeb using Adobe PageMill, the first sophisticated WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website tool.
I was a computer novice, but wanted to make my mark on the World Wide Web. I bought the book Building a Website for Dummies, which contained a tryout version of PageMill.
The Interwebs would never be the same.
I’d barely mastered HTML, when forums started to buzz about “Web 2.0.” I gathered it had something to do with RSS feeds, comment systems, and “interactivity.”
“Static” websites were so yesterday.
I was dubious, not to mention confused (the former often a stand-in for the latter).
I followed Adobe’s (expensive) evolution through to Dreamweaver, learning a bit of Javascript and CSS code along the way. But I began to tire of the heavy lifting and time away from creating content. I looked into blog options, just last year settling on WordPress—first as an appended blog, finally as a complete content management system.
As the geekosphere warbles about Web 3.0 (the semantic web), I’m just getting my head around the wonders of plugins, social media, Twitter widgets and tag clouds.
So, it appears, are some of my readers, who I suspect are of the same vintage.
For the uninitiated, here’s a brief guide to navigating this growing archive, beyond the obvious site navigation bar and search function.
One of the coolest things about blogs are the variety of navigational tools. Categories and tags are the backbone of organization. Stories are filed under main categories, e.g. Adventure, Cycling, Environment. Some of these will have sub-categories: Climbing, Randonneuring, Climate. VeloWeb’s blog categories are listed in the right-hand sidebar.➡
Tags represent more granular classification. I use them to group people, places and things.
Depending on the theme (design architecture) of a blog, you might find tags beside category listings, at the beginning or end of a post. On VeloWeb, categories are under the headline; tags are grouped at the end of a post.
The “tag cloud,” again in the right sidebar, is a nifty widget that illustrates the mention of subjects on the blog, by text weight.
Clicking on any tag or category links to an archive of posts filed under that taxonomy.
Next come the social media widgets. You can use them to share VeloWeb’s great content via e-mail or your favourite social media sites—Facebook, Twitter, Reddit. You can also “like” an article on Facebook or to the new kid on the block, Google+. As mentioned above, a Twitter feed is included to the right so you don’t miss my -140 character ruminations.
Finally, there are hierarchical “breadcrumbs” to help you get your bearings. They appear at the end of blog posts and pages. They look something like this:
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VeloWeb » Randonneuring » Readers’ Rando Bikes
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Blog breadcrumbs include categories.
The one exception are VeloGarage pages. They are organized under their own custom taxonomy with subject-specific categories and tag system. In the right sidebar there, you’ll find a tag cloud representing bike parts—derailleur, chain, etc. At the end of Garage posts there’s Jobs, Repair, or Project categories and “Components” tags. For instance:
Listed Under Jobs: Maintenance, Repairs
Listed Under Components: chain, drivetrain
The “Technical” category, under Garage posts’ byline, links to technical articles at VeloWebLog.
I hope this post clarifies any questions you might have about cruising VeloWeb. If you have any remaining questions or suggestions, please comment below. After all, that’s a big part of Web 2.0. 🙂
Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe (top right). It’s absolutely free.
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