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@subsection{Articles}
The @deftech{article} is the basic unit of content, like a typical blog post. In the web edition,
each article has its own @tt{.html} file; in print editions, an article may comprise either
a chapter or a part of a chapter, depending on the content.
An article can start out very small — just a date and a few sentences. Supplying a title is
optional. Later, it may grow in any of several directions: @tech{notes} can be added, or a title, or
cross-references to later articles; or it may be added to a series. Or it may just remain the way it
started.
@subsection{Notes}
A @deftech{note} is a comment or addendum to an @tech{article} using the @racket[note] tag. It may
be written by the same person who wrote the article, or submitted by a reader.
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@subsection{Articles}
The @deftech{article} is the basic unit of content, like a typical blog post. In the web edition,
each article has its own @tt{.html} file; in print editions, an article may comprise either
a chapter or a part of a chapter, depending on the content.
An article can start out very small — just a date and a few sentences. @bold{Supplying a title is
optional.} Later, it may grow in any of several directions: @tech{notes} can be added, or a title, or
cross-references to later articles; or it may be added to a series. Or it may just remain the way it
started.
@subsection{Notes}
A @deftech{note} is a comment or addendum to an @tech{article} using the @racket[note] tag. It may
be written by the same person who wrote the article, or submitted by a reader.
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"May have properties (e.g. disposition) that change the status and
presentation of the original post")
(list "Moderation (if done) is typically binary: approved or not"
"Moderation may take the form of edits and inline responses."))]
@subsection{Series}
A @deftech{series} is a grouping of @tech{articles} into a particular order under a heading.
A series may present its own written content alongside the listing of its articles.
The page for a series can choose how to display its articles: chronologically, or in an arbitrary
order. It can display articles only, or a mixed listing of articles and notes, like the blog. And it
can choose to display articles in list form, or as excerpts, or in their entirety.
A series can specify @italic{nouns} to be applied to its articles.
@subsubsection{Series vs. blog “categories”}
Typical blogs are not very good at presenting content that may vary a lot in length and style. The
kind of writing I want to experiment with may change a lot from day to day, season to season, decade
to decade. I wanted a single system that could organize and present it all, in a thoughtful,
coherent way, rather than starting a new blog every time I wanted to try writing a different kind of
thing.
My solution to this was to enrich the idea of “categories”. Rather than being simply labels that you
slap on blog posts, they would be titled collections with their own unique content and way of
presenting articles and notes. In addition, they could pass down certain properties to the posts
they contain, that can be used to give signals to the reader about what they are looking at.
@tabular[#:sep @hspace[1]
#:style 'boxed
#:row-properties '((bottom-border top))
(list
(list @bold{Typical Blog Categories/Tags} @bold{Local Yarn @emph{Series}})
(list "Every article needs to have one"
"Many or most articles won’t have one")
(list "Named with a single word"
"Name with a descriptive title")
(list "Has no content or properties of its own"
"Has its own content and properties")
(list "Broad in scope, few in number"
"Narrow in scope, many in number")
(list "Selected to be relevant for use across the entire lifetime of the site"
"Selected without reference to future creative direction; may be closed after only
a few articles"))]
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"May have properties (e.g. disposition) that change the status and
presentation of the original post")
(list "Moderation (if done) is typically binary: approved or not"
"Moderation may take the form of edits and inline responses."))]
@subsection{Series}
A @deftech{series} is a grouping of @tech{articles} into a particular order under a descriptive
title. A series may present its own written content alongside the listing of its articles.
The page for a series can choose how to display its articles: chronologically, or in an arbitrary
order. It can display articles only, or a mixed listing of articles and @tech{notes}, like the blog.
And it can choose to display articles in list form, or as excerpts, or in their entirety.
A series can specify @italic{nouns} (noun phrases, really) to be applied to its articles. So, for
example, a series of forceful opinion pieces might designate its articles as @emph{naked
aspirations}; the phrase “This is a naked aspiration, part of the series @italic{My Uncensored
Thoughts}” would appear prominently in the margins. Likewise, a time-ordered series of observations
might call its articles “journal entries”.
It will be easy for any series to become a printed @emph{book}, using the techniques I
demonstrated in
@ext-link["https://thelocalyarn.com/excursus/secretary/posts/web-books.html"]{@italic{The Unbearable
Lightness of Web Pages}}, and in @other-doc['(lib "bookcover/scribblings/bookcover.scrbl")].
@subsubsection{Series vs. blog “categories”}
Typical blogs are not very good at presenting content that may vary a lot in subject, length and
style. The kind of writing I want to experiment with may change a lot from day to day, season to
season, decade to decade. I wanted a single system that could organize extremely varied kinds of
writings and present them in a thoughtful, coherent way, rather than starting a new blog every time
I wanted to try writing a different kind of thing.
My solution to this was to enrich the idea of “categories”. Rather than being simply labels that you
slap on blog posts, they would be titled collections with their own unique content and way of
presenting articles and notes. In addition, they could pass down certain properties to the posts
they contain, that can be used to give signals to the reader about what they are looking at.
@tabular[#:sep @hspace[1]
#:style 'boxed
#:row-properties '((bottom-border top))
(list
(list @bold{Typical Blog Categories/Tags} @bold{Local Yarn @emph{Series}})
(list "Every article needs to have one"
"Many or most articles won’t have one")
(list "Named with a single word"
"Named with a descriptive title")
(list "Has no content or properties of its own"
"Has its own written content, and properties such as nouns, ordering, etc.")
(list "Broad in scope, few in number"
"Narrow in scope, many in number")
(list "Selected to be relevant for use across the entire lifetime of the site"
"Selected without reference to future creative direction; may be closed after only
a few articles"))]
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