Blog vs. Website
A few years ago, when my younger daughter was very much into web design, she offered to set up a website for me. We discussed it sporadically, but my list of requirements (it had to be in English and in French, to start with) grew so long that it would have taken years to complete, so we ended up doing… nothing.
I started this blog in the meantime, and to tell the truth, I don’t think that I needed a website at all. I am not overly interested in the institutional side of translation websites, there is something too impersonal and static for me there.
Yet when I started this blog I was well aware of the shortcomings in terms of official information, which is why I was glad to discover this Problogger’s post a couple of weeks ago, because it seems to match exactly what I had in mind. Darren Rowse lists 20 different types of pages to use in a blog, and I’m thankful to him for publishing it, even though not all types will find their way here. The Web is like one big library and if you browse long enough, you end up finding exactly what you were looking for.
So I’ve started experimenting with a page about my areas of specialization, and I will probably continue to customize the blog along those lines.
If you’ve been through this kind of inner debate, what kind of pages would you consider essential to a translator’s blog? Any ideas?
May 7th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Nadine, I agree with you. Today a blog makes much better sense. The ease of updating content and the interactive nature really can eliminate the need for a static site. I will be going through a blog move and adding pages so have had to ask myself many of those questions as well. For a translation site, I would like to see areas of specialization, information about the translator, perhaps small samples. It is great that you are sharing from what you are learning. It helps many of us who are going down the same path.
Karen Swims last blog post..Forward Momentum Begins With Standng Firm
May 8th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Nadine,
I believe blog will be the future and so will the video presence of a person on the web.
1. Websites are mostly static Blogs are updated with fresh content
2. Websites are stiff in format and language Blogs are personal and intimate.
3. Websites are easily copied Blogs are not that easy.
4…..
And that’s the very reason I delayed publishing my new site again and again. I am still not sure whether to keep that or simply re-direct the domain to /blog.
Nice post.
Best,
Jianjun
Jianjuns last blog post..Forget About Gladder, Use Anonymouse
May 8th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Great post, Nadine. And an awesome blog, too!
Now, why not combine the 2? A good place to start could be Caroline Middlebrook’s “Niche sites”, a free downloadable PDF where she shows you how you can create static pages on WordPress and easily make a website-cum-blog (faire d’une pierre deux coups en quelque sorte
You can download the PDF at: http://www.caroline-middlebrook.com/blog/niche-sites-wp/
Warmest greetings
Amadou M. Salls last blog post..The Insider Guide – Recommendation
May 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am
@ Karen
Thank you for your encouraging comment! I think Problogger’s post is really useful to look at for the pages you may want to add.
The problem with small samples of translations is that most of our stuff is confidential by nature. And to ascertain the quality of the translation, you would have to be able to understand both languages. I could advertize some of the books that I translated. Must look into that.
@ Jianjun
I read somewhere that you can make some blog pages ’static’, that could be a useful way to deal with it. Will look into that this Summer.
@ Amadou
Great tip! I followed the creation of Caroline’s free e-book, and derived some useful insight from reading it. Caroline Middlebrook is always a great source of inspiration.