Blogging, A Glossary

Part Three of Three

Blog (noun)

Shorthand for “weblog.” A website that contains regularly updated content (written material, sound, photos, video) that is usually created by a single person. Entries are date-stamped, presented in reverse-chronological order, and categorized for easy access to archives.

Blog (verb)

To publish a blog or to post an entry to a blog.

Blogosphere (noun)

The virtual community of blogs. May be used in a macro-sense (all blogs) or a micro-sense (all blogs in a genre).

Blogroll (noun)

A list of external links, usually to other blogs, that usually appears on the blog homepage.

Blogware (noun)

The software used to manage a blog.

Comments (noun)

Commentary appended to a blog post by a reader or by the blog author (usually in response to a reader).

Comment spam (noun)

Analogous to e-mail spam; advertising masquerading as a legitimate comment.

Permalink (noun)

Contraction of “permanent link.” The URL (link) to an individual blog post, or in the case of blogs created with UserLand software, each individual paragraph in a post. Sometimes comments also have permalinks.

Photoblog (noun)

A blog that contains primarily photos for content.

Podcast (noun)

Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcast” attributed to Adam Curry. An audio file posted on a blog for syndication with an RSS feed.

Post (noun)

Any single entry published on a blog.

Post (verb)

The act of publishing an entry on a blog.

RSS (noun)

Commonly known as an abbreviation for “Real Simple Syndication.” The technology that enables a blog author to make content available to blog subscribers. The technology also allows other websites to automatically reproduce all or part of a blog’s content. Newspaper websites have enabled RSS for non-blog news.

RSS Feed (noun)

The file that contains information about a blog’s latest postings; it is automatically updated when a new article is posted. Also called a feed.

RSS Reader (noun)

The software that a blog subscriber uses to display (read) an RSS feed. Also called a news aggregator or feed reader.

Trackback (verb)

The communication between a blogs that allows one blog to know that its content has been referenced on another blog.

TrackBack (noun)

An entry on a blog that notes its content has been referenced on another blog.

Videoblog (noun)

A blog that contains primarily videos for content.

Part 1: Blogging Tools

Part 2: RSS Readers