From the very first time I posted to this blog, I’ve been conflicted about when to break my posts into two parts (where you have to click “MORE” to read the full post) and when to keep them intact on the main blog page.
(Of course, my image-only style posts, like this one, are an exception — I’m talking about mostly-text posts.)
My rule so far has been to basically decide based on (a) whether or not the post looks good all at once, and (b) how gripping the opening paragraphs can be made to get the user’s attention and interest before the break. I’ve also occasionally added a break a few days after originally posting a story in full, deciding that although I wanted the story to be fully readable at first, I didn’t want it to stay that way forever. This strategy seems a little weird to me, and I can’t figure out any good reason why I do it.
One advantage to breaking up a post is that I can get a better feel for how many readers actually found the article interesting based on how many readers clicked to read more (versus those who merely skimmed the opening sentences and found nothing interesting). Without the link, the only hits the post records are those who read the post through a RSS reader or via a link from another site.
aaah! i’ve been having exactly the same thought process!
i initially thought that it looked neater having a ‘more’ link, and as you say, it helps you see how many people are choosing to read the post while allowing readers to quicky scan a list of posts on the homepage and see if the content you’re writing is interesting to them … but then I started reading a few people complaining (not about my blog specifically) about all the clicking backwards and forwards that the ‘more’ link requires….
a combination of that, and then WordPress started breaking my stylesheet when I inserted the more break, and I’ve changed to *not* breaking up the post…
i do kind of miss it through. Some of my posts are too long, I think, to show the full post on the homepage.
when I finally find a wordpress theme that I love and switch to that, i’ll be re-visiting this topic… will be interested to hear what others thought and if people are still moaning about having to click through to read the full story!
Isn’t it all just a little bit too complex? When I first pulled the trigger on this wordPress thing about a month ago, I was dazzled by all the ‘control’. How much more robust it all seemed. When I initially got the ball rolling with ol’ Blogger, though, I didn’t care about most of these issues. I was just happy to have some content up there. Bugger the interface.
But now, having a custom theme has only solved half of the problem. I own the interface, so to speak, but does it deliver exactly what I want? Am I now expecting too much? Having spent the better part of the past week tweaking my theme to handle various plugins has gotten me farther away from thinking about content. Dear content. The reason i got my hands dirty with this business in the first place.
I only think the more link is acceptable when the content is longer than a full page scroll. A too-quick more link usually entices beyond its ability to deliver something worthy on the other end.
Comments
4 responses to “Blogging Style: When to Break a Post with a “MORE” Link.”
From the very first time I posted to this blog, I’ve been conflicted about when to break my posts into two parts (where you have to click “MORE” to read the full post) and when to keep them intact on the main blog page.
(Of course, my image-only style posts, like this one, are an exception — I’m talking about mostly-text posts.)
My rule so far has been to basically decide based on (a) whether or not the post looks good all at once, and (b) how gripping the opening paragraphs can be made to get the user’s attention and interest before the break. I’ve also occasionally added a break a few days after originally posting a story in full, deciding that although I wanted the story to be fully readable at first, I didn’t want it to stay that way forever. This strategy seems a little weird to me, and I can’t figure out any good reason why I do it.
One advantage to breaking up a post is that I can get a better feel for how many readers actually found the article interesting based on how many readers clicked to read more (versus those who merely skimmed the opening sentences and found nothing interesting). Without the link, the only hits the post records are those who read the post through a RSS reader or via a link from another site.
aaah! i’ve been having exactly the same thought process!
i initially thought that it looked neater having a ‘more’ link, and as you say, it helps you see how many people are choosing to read the post while allowing readers to quicky scan a list of posts on the homepage and see if the content you’re writing is interesting to them … but then I started reading a few people complaining (not about my blog specifically) about all the clicking backwards and forwards that the ‘more’ link requires….
a combination of that, and then WordPress started breaking my stylesheet when I inserted the more break, and I’ve changed to *not* breaking up the post…
i do kind of miss it through. Some of my posts are too long, I think, to show the full post on the homepage.
when I finally find a wordpress theme that I love and switch to that, i’ll be re-visiting this topic… will be interested to hear what others thought and if people are still moaning about having to click through to read the full story!
Yes,
Isn’t it all just a little bit too complex? When I first pulled the trigger on this wordPress thing about a month ago, I was dazzled by all the ‘control’. How much more robust it all seemed. When I initially got the ball rolling with ol’ Blogger, though, I didn’t care about most of these issues. I was just happy to have some content up there. Bugger the interface.
But now, having a custom theme has only solved half of the problem. I own the interface, so to speak, but does it deliver exactly what I want? Am I now expecting too much? Having spent the better part of the past week tweaking my theme to handle various plugins has gotten me farther away from thinking about content. Dear content. The reason i got my hands dirty with this business in the first place.
I only think the more link is acceptable when the content is longer than a full page scroll. A too-quick more link usually entices beyond its ability to deliver something worthy on the other end.
Sweet! Printing now…