“We hates it.” “We loves it.” No. I think “we mostly hates it.” I’m so jealous of all the bloggers around me that I decided to put down my own list of top 10 must have features for DNN Blog. Bear with me, while I list down features that you have already been using for years, at LiveJournal, Wordpress, Typepad or the likes and I haven’t been able to. And I sure hope I can get to use some of these, at least.
10. Where is my $PostCount, $ViewCount, $MostActiveCommenter and … so on?
No, I am not talking about Google Analytics. First of all, Google Analytics is the worst thing a blogger can do to his SEO optimization although, that’s probably a subject I’d bitch about in another post. Look at valleywag!
One look at the summary page and you know which post is worth looking at. Starting from which is the latest comment, to which comment was most discussed, which post had the maximum viewcount etc., the list of features is really mind-boggling. Not to mention if this were to be customizable (available as a token that can be replaced in FCKEditor etc), the possibilities are endless!
Also noteworthy is the ‘feature’ that category be also available as a substitutable token. Same goes with say, $Image1, $SmallSummaryImage, $MediumSummaryImage etc. Gimme tokens!
9. Let me control my own real estate please.
The current blog module is so stubborn in terms of real estate consumption that it will not allow anything else inside of the space it has occupied. Hello! Wasn’t the whole idea of DNN laced with customization? Rip Rowan did start something awesome with his BlogDisplay 2.0 but since then, the steam seems to have fizzled out …
What would I want?
Please do not force me to put everything in one pane.
Let the users choose where they want the Summary Image, the Big Summary Image, the small Summary image or the title. Let the users choose which pane the Comments go to. Or, for that matter, Paragraph 1, paragraph 2 … first half of the post. last half of the post etc.!
Of course, having a common header and footer would also be desirable, something that metaPost has had for ages! But don’t stop there. Most users would want to have an optional per post header and footer override too. Imagine, if I were to be able to insert an IFRAME for every blog post that is published and every one of which is different from the other posts! What’s the use? Oh, I can use them for different ad-spaces! Imagine, if DNN Blog were to allow me to take all those IFRAMEs out (hide) or show in a single click? Okay, now we’re getting into dream-world.
8. Let DNN be DNN and Blog be the host.
The Blog module should be able to host other modules. The placement is probably going to be trickier than that in 9. but being able to embed other DNN modules in preset containers inside of Blog module would be a big boon.
This wish-list also includes authentication! Yay, I would love to show the Blog post only for people who can verify or, at least certify that they are above 18! Or, for that matter, show them some additional stuff if they are logged in, or at least show/not show a survey/poll if they are logged in.
7. Tag them.
Now, what kind of blog doesn’t have tags? And no, categories are different. Allow me to introduce some confusion to my readers. I can have a blog post belonging to multiple categories, multiple tags and be able to search/navigate via them. And no, the ifinity just doesn’t cut in where such features are expected to be the base minimum, the standard ‘feature list’. Gimme Tags!
6. Cross-post them.
Ok, I know the DNN Blog is my main blog. But, can I please post summaries to other blogs I host? I would be nice to replace all the links to point back to my main blog too (or not, depending on the settings). Can I also post to my friendfeed? Or twitter? Or facebook status?
In this age of everything social, the last thing I want to do is write my own plugin for doing cross-posts!
5. Mobile, Email, LiveWriter or Web
yes, I know what Antonio will say about posting via Email. No, I don’t want to set up via third party nonsense. I would prefer a native support for posting a blog, pictures et al included! Be it my iPhone, browser, PDA/smartphone, WLW or even SMS for status updates, anything else that comes by tomorrow. Having a dedicated Gateway support that can tie in to DNN Blog would be one thing that would set DNN Blog apart from the rest of the gang!
Oh, and while you are at it, may I also Fed-Ex a new post to you :-) ?
4. Comments, Watch list and Pin
One of the most hopeless /missing set of feature(s) and also one of the easiest to fix is the glaring omissions in the comments section in DNN Blog. Anybody can post a comment as anybody when not logged in. There’s no telling if a person is registered member or somebody who was just feeling a little ornery. No way to track if somebody replied to another comment.
Attention please; the comments section is one place where all conversions can be done. This is the place where all social/discussion,criticism happens. This is one place that needs to be improved/fixed before anything else. Anonymous users should always be identified as anonymous. Registered users need to be known/visible as such. Allow the blog owner to see basic IP info at least. And no, referring me to Google analytics for that is not the solution. Part of Blog moderation or spam filtering responsibility lies with the Blog itself. Allow me to mark a comment/commenter as ‘the awesome’. Allow me to enable captcha, keep anonymous commenting on but still advertise that logging in and commenting is better .. because of so and so…
3. Threaded, emailed Discussions
Alright, I can already see the LiveJournal and Wordpress bloggers laughing their ass off … “Whaaaa?” Well, yeah, the basic feature that every other blog out there has had for years is probably just a distant enough possibility in the DNN Blog module. Comments are supposed to be long discussions that can be notified via email, tracked and replied to. Since they are discussions, they can and should also be threaded. Now, don’t get me wrong, not every blog post needs to have threaded comments and someone may just not need a threaded view. Having an option to do that is a boon. Being able to do that via email is not just wishful thinking, its a must have. So is being able to track a discussion via email, get notified etc.
2. Privacy, DNN Role based visibility and Roles
One of the most desired feature in my opinion is the ability to restrict the visibility or, at least excerpts of a blog post to specific audience. Be it role based, login based or, even verification based. Just so that one can target a blog post to different segments, it shouldn’t be required to create multiple logins, multiple blogs and try to switch them to different pages.
While we’re on the topic of roles, how difficult is it to allow multiple logins to edit a post? Gah! Wordpress shows the way, one can start as a small time blogger and grow to a full-fledged publishing house, complete with a team of editors, script writers, publishers and legal dept, each one of which have/has multiple, overlapping right(s) (as to what they can do to a blog post)!
On the same lines, instead of the standard DNN Blog’s “Published” checkbox, just allow drill down into roles and users who can actually see the post! Or maybe even edit them? A blog post may start out as private and based upon multiple revisions, or feedback may end up as Public!
Another wishful thinking: Version management anyone ;-) Onyaktek has a module that does that too!
1. Social, Web 2.0, Instant Gratification, Community
No feedback system? No rating? No community? No way of summarizing who likes what ? What my friends are up-to? And, we’re post Web 2.0! In this world of Ajax-everything, if one is still required to click through multiple pages to do anything, nobody’s going to take the effort of engaging in a meaningful discussion. Please make everything AJAX (or not), depending upon the preference. Please find the presence, status indicators from Yahoo, Facebook or other social networks and embed. Keep the discussion going! And, PLEASE speak to the auth/user profiles, allow me to attach a user to his/her facebook profile or for that matter, any openID profile.
Most openID providers give a half ass implementation because, just like anything else, they all tend to be pushy. DNN, being an open source, community driven platform itself can change the entire game, just treat OpenID users on par with registered users.
How about, “Subodh likes posts related to Tech,Geek and Finance?” How about, related articles, in the present blog or elsewhere? How about “Most popular in this category/Blog/Tags?”
Alright, I know I have critiqued the DNN and Blog folks enough; comments and flames welcome.