Navigating blog content - basic questions

3 replies
Hi Folks!

I am just getting started with IM, and I am going to set up a Wordpress blog as the platform. I am hoping some of you might be willing to answer some general questions I have about blog navigation.

Okay, here's the thing. I've seen many blogs and themes lately. The actual content is the most important thing. The posts are generally organised into categories, while the pages have the static stuff.

Two things are confusing me.

1.) Although the all-important content is in the categories, the categories themselves are very often listed almost as an afterthought! They might be listed in the sidebar halfway down the page, while the static pages are listed front-and-centre in a prominent position! This seems very odd.

2.) I'm confused about how users are supposed to navigate through a blog. Often a thumbnail-like selection of the most recent or most popular posts can be seen on the front page, but it is difficult (or at least non-intuitive) to browse through all posts to find things of interest. Add to this is the issue of 'old' posts being 'archived' by month.

This seems to indicate an ethos where only the most recent information is of interest, and any topics over a month old are moth-balled and need to be hunted down. Seems a bit clunky - or am I misunderstanding how this works?

Is there a better way to organise blog content? I would have thought that the categories would take pride of place, while the static pages would be off to the side somewhere. I also think it would be better to have all posts under a category viewable in brief (those mini-previews) so users could browse all the available posts in a category, regardless of when they were posted (my subject matter will not be time-sensitive).

Thanks for any help and info you can provide!
All the best,
Sean
#basic #blog #content #navigating #questions
  • Profile picture of the author Phoenix Imaging
    P.S. I just saw a blog with a site map that appeared to list ALL of the articles/posts by category on the site. Is there a way to provide this kind of easy access using navigation rather than a site map?
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheila Atwood
      With the new menu bars in WordPress you can put any choice of category or pages in your navigation bar.

      There are also plugins and themes that show off your best posts in your side bar.

      Your site map is done with a plugin like Google XML Site Maps.

      I have been creating page of blog posts I want my readers to go to. Then I list that page in the navigation bar. For example:

      The navigation bar says: Home --About -Dog Training- Free Dog Bones

      Dog Training will take you a page that lists the posts I want the reader to see. I use the blog titles and then hyperlink them.
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      "You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose." -Dr. Suess
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      • Profile picture of the author Phoenix Imaging
        Thanks, that sounds like a great way to handle it Sheila! A simple and practical way to assist visitors to browse.

        So you essentially do it by having pages in the nav, containing links ('anchor text hyperlinks'?) to each blog post by title, right?

        Users can browse the whole list of articles under a catagory (or whichever you choose to have listed in there - the publisher's favourites) looking for titles that peak their interest. Easy way to browse! Awesome solution!

        By the way Sheila, I like the Dr. Suess quote in your signature.

        All the best,
        Sean
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