To Link or Not to Link

Things could get real crazy around here for awhile. As noted earlier, I’m in the middle of selling my home and moving to Tacoma. Part of that process includes freshening up this place, replacing the carpets, getting the shower replaced, dealing with insurance agents, contractors, etc. Obviously moving all the furniture out for carpeting and painting is going to mean some enforced blackouts.

I’ve also promised to babysit my grandson Gavin for a week shortly and I’m certainly not going to pass that up just because I’m getting ready to move. Carpe diem.

In addition, I’m probably going to have to go up to Tacoma to start looking for a new house rather than merely searching online. And obviously when I sell my house there is going to a real, not virtual, disconnect until I can get an cable connection.

Though I had thought about starting my own political commentary, I’m joining a new political blog started by ReachM High Cowboy Networkinstead. Obviously that will put more demands on my time, but I still find it difficult to express liberal ideas here and not do anything in the “real” world to support those ideas. At least when I was a teacher I could argue that educating good citizens was my contribution.

I’m still trying to decide if I should link to all the writers who will be contributing to that site just as I now link to the Wayward Co-op members. I must admit, though, that I think of myself as a literary blog, and I’m not sure that I want to suddenly link to huge numbers of “political blogs.” If so, should I set them aside as political links, my first thought. If so, do I move those who are in my other links section who are political over to political links? Should I just remain a literary blog and omit these political links entirely. Should I move all my links to a separate page and just put out something called “Links?”

Strangely enough, this is one of the few issues I’ve dealt with on my blog where I would appreciate other bloggers’ advice.

14 thoughts on “To Link or Not to Link”

  1. develope a separate portal page cataloquing your interests
    makes the main page cleaner and focusses on your content
    happy trails

  2. definitely, I’m with Steve. Especially since you had the thought yourself of keeping your literary and political interests separate – you should go with your instincts.

  3. Well, not all of the bloggers will be political, nor will all the posts.

    If anything, I suggest grouping all those you link to specifically because they’re part of the group effort, more like your reciprocal links than the Wayward Co-op member links. Anyone in the group you link to now can stay as you’ve currently displayed them.

  4. Since I have not yet mastered the blogrolling thing that allows different categories and since I already had several of our group blogrolled I simply added those blogs that were not previously included.
    But for the desired impact (movement on Technorati or TTLB Ecosystem) you could hide the links under question marks or commas and it would still count on the links pages.
    I suspect we will eventually coin a name for our little metablog group Like the Vast Left Wing Bloggers Conspiracy and we will adopt a symbol like a 9 headed octopus and we can all list fellow members under that heading

    It will be linking to specific posts within your posts that will be important in sending traffic. The blogrolling is simply a status tool on the Ecosystem. But it is an important tool for increasing visibility.
    That may be more information than you were looking for.

    Barry at Rush Limbaughtomy

    On some level isn’t all literature political?

  5. The portal page sounds like a good solution, but you could also create links on your main index page (as you have now) except that instead of individual entries you would have categories on which your visitors could click and which would take them to a separate links page with the expanded listings of literary or political, as well as other blogs. But with all that you have going on in your life, if I were you, I would sleep on it a bit until the most comfortable (and easiest to maintain) solution would start to emerge.

  6. I think Maria’s recommendation is the best at this time — think about it a bit.

    I’m going to miss your ‘literary’ entries.

  7. Oh, I have every intention of keeping up with my literary entries, Shelley, except for the time when I’m having my house worked on or in the transition between houses.

    I’m only going to be contributing to the other blog two or three times a month, and some of those entries will be book reviews.

    I don’t necessarily agree that all literature is “political.” Like the Chinese who had Confucianism for a public philosophy and Taoism for a personal philosophy, I think the two can be, and should be, separated just as there’s no room in my “religious” beliefs for political dimensions.

  8. I’ve thought about putting my links on a page to achieve a cleaner look – (mainly beacuse my links are rolling out of control) What stops me is the links as the so-called currency of the web idea, and once they leave the main blog body, I’m sure the exchange rate falls. (Perhaps though this is still a transitional time for blogging style – and soon certain conventions will be tacit?)
    Glad to hear the literary entries will stay.

  9. I agree with what you’re first thought was; separate them. However, could you please, please, please, please get my link off of the same line as that poor excuse of a political pundit Ann Coulter. I think I’m going into epileptic seizure as I type………………………….
    Oh Lord! The horror! The horror!
    LOL. Ok I’m done. Sorry. I’ll be a good rook and go stand in my corner……

  10. Okay, Rook, took care of that, though I’m not sure it was too high on my priority list.

    I’m looking into some code that will collapse and expand the categories on the side of the page. That way I can shrink archives to one line, poets to one line, etc.

    If I can figure out how to add the code without destroying everything else, I will try.

  11. I say ‘Spoil the Grandkids!’ Everything else pales in comparison.

    I think a separate portal works as well as anything; we may do that on the metablog.

    As to our political site, I’d say it’s more accurately a governance issues site, focused less on candidates than topical issues of concern, but with other non-political dimensions, as well.

    Should you wish to write of religion or review sci-fi and recipe books, I’m sure we’d make room there for you. Good content, great hearts and compelling storytelling are always prizes for a site.

    I think we can do that and also defeat Bush with one hand tied behind our backs. ;^)

  12. Well, Jonathon, I guess it means we’ll have to stay in motels unless you come pretty soon, but maybe some aged, cheap motels would add to the local “color,” a Kerouac kind of thing.

    If you don’t come for a while, I’ll probably be more nostalgic for the river than you are.

    But since I’m semi-retired it shouldn’t be too difficult to go anytime you’re ready to come.

  13. I would concur with the rest of your adherents, in that you should focus on your personal enjoyment before worrying about where to put links on a blog. Although that does seem to be one of the ways I amuse myself…

    I would vote for keeping the links on the main page, but in a separate area, like the Wayward Co-op links. Those who would be in multiple categories (I see out2lunch is in the co-op, and I remember them being in the metablog initiative as well) would be your main difficulty then.

    Any way you slice it, make sure it doesn’t cause you to lose any more sleep! With younglings in the zone, I imagine you have enough problems in that area…

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