Calling all BEAM Bloggers!

elixirforum · July 16, 2020, 2:15pm

This update’s just for you

Edit:

See new blog post posting info here: New dedicated Blog Posts and Podcasts sections

You can post links to your blog posts or podcasts either in one of the Official Blog Posts threads or the Elixir Podcasts thread, or, if you want a dedicated thread for each blog/podcast, via Devtalk.com.

If you post via Devtalk we will automatically cross-post your blog post here for each blog post or podcast (so one thread for each) so long as you have an account with the same username and primary email address on both forums. We also remove the rel-nofollow attribute when your link appears on our homepage on Devtalk, so great for your SEO!

If posting via Devtalk be sure to:

Ensure your account on Devtalk.com has the same username and primary email as your account here.
Initiate thread creation in one of the Blog Posts/Podcasts sections (for Elixir/Phoenix that may be in the Backend category, or for LiveView it could be the Frontend category).
Make sure the last link in your post is to your blog post as this is the link that will get featured on Devtalk (you can however override this by pasting the URL of your blog post or podcast in the TITLE field on thread creation, however you will need to be at Trust Level 1 to do that).
Include a short summary of your blog post or podcast then post the link on a separate line (here’s an example)
Include the Elixir and blog-post (or podcast) tags (as well as Phoenix, Nerves, LiveView etc if applicable). Don’t include the tags for Erlang or any other BEAM language as the system will instead post your blog post on to the Erlang Forums (unless that’s what you want).

It will then create a thread on Devtalk and then automatically cross-post here under your account

/Please note some of the below may now be out-dated/

Writing blog posts can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s also a lot of hard work, and, often after the initial bit of exposure bloggers get, their blogs become subject to the whims of search engines.

So while thinking about ways to widen Elixir’s reach beyond our immediate community channels, we also wondered how we could give bloggers (and other content creators) additional exposure too - but also in a way where they can remain visible for significantly longer and on a broader platform too.

Before we outline these new features, let’s first review how we’ve been accommodating blog posts to date. Essentially, there were two ways to post blog posts here:

In one of the official blog post threads (eg, Elixir Blog Posts)
In a single thread for all of your blog posts. Eg, “Julia’s Blog Thread”, or, a single thread for a large series.

We implemented this to make it easy for members to subscribe to or mute threads.

However we found that a fair number of people posted threads for individual blog posts which meant a moderator would need to either rename or merge them - and when they were missed this wasn’t fair on everyone else. Ideally, we’d have a system where people can post a thread for each blog post BUT everyone else can subscribe, or in some cases more importantly for them, mute threads about blogs they may not be interested in (there could be a number of genuine reasons for this, such as the content being at a level or frequency that is too high/low for that particular reader). Our new system makes this possible, while also gives bloggers exposure on multiple platforms and multiple Twitter accounts. How? By posting via the Elixir portal at Devtalk. (Haven’t heard of Devtalk? It’s the new multi-language platform brought to you by the same team behind the Elixir Forum )

How the new system works

Firstly, bloggers will still be able to post in one of the official blog post threads here like they always have (or in an existing thread for their blog if they already have one) however, for those who would like additional exposure, you’ll be able post via Devtalk and the following will happen:

When tagged with elixir (or phoenix, erlang, gleam, etc) your blog post thread will show in Elixir’s (or Phoenix’s/Erlang’s/Gleam’s) portal on Devtalk
The thread is tweeted via Devtalk’s Twitter account
The thread is automatically posted here via the user’s Elixir Forum account if they have one
The thread will be prefixed by type (eg: “Elixir Blog Post:”)
The thread here will automatically have a user’s blog tag added, eg “blogs-by-username”
If the thread was posted by someone who doesn’t have an account here (or their details don’t match), it will be posted here via the @Devtalk account and a special via-devtalk tag will be added (allowing users here to mute all such threads should they wish to)
The thread will be tweeted by the @elixirforum Twitter account with the prefix intact, allowing people on Twitter to quickly see what the thread might be about.

We’ll do similar for screencasters and published books.

Apart from the advantages above, of getting exposure on multiple platforms and allowing users to easily watch/mute such threads, by posting via Devtalk you will also help Elixir remain visible on a multi-language platform - both in terms of Elixir related content and Elixir itself remaining high up in the list of ‘top portals’.

A key feature is that you won’t just be posting once, getting some initial exposure and then being forgotten about - if you’ve written a blog post that people like or comment on, it could get continuous exposure all year round via Devtalk’s trending lists on the homepage and/or Elixir’s portal All these additional links could help with your SEO too

We love blogs and we want to support people blogging via their own platforms rather than them have to rely on the now commonplace blogging platforms to get exposure - hopefully we can help self-hosted bloggers get on an equal footing and perhaps even see a resurgence.

For those not interested in specific blogs, or items posted with the via-devtalk tag, you can simply mute the tags that don’t interest you.

How to ensure your accounts are linked

Simply sign up to Devtalk with the same username and primary email that you are using here. If you want to use a different username on Devtalk, simply PM the @Devtalk account here with your Devtalk username and we’ll get them linked for you.

Summary

If you’re not interested in this service you can continue to post your blogs here in one of the official blog post threads (or an existing blog thread if you already have one)
If you’d like more exposure, skip the above and simply sign-up to Devtalk with the same username and primary email address and post via any of the blog post sections on Devtalk, tag it with any of the BEAM language tags, and we’ll automatically cross-post here on your behalf (only use the Phoenix, Erlang, Gleam or LFE tags if the thread is primarily about those - if they exist in addition to the Elixir tag, they will take precedence and we’ll assume your thread is primarily about them)
Screencasters wanting the same: use any of the ‘learning resources’ sections and include the screencast tag and we’ll automatically cross-post to the screencasts section here
Those not interested, can simply mute the tags that don’t interest them

Like most things we try, this feature is on trial - we’ll monitor and tweak it as we go, but we hope you’ll agree this is a really nice addition for bloggers and screencasters and something that will also help get Elixir noticed in wider circles too

Edit: This now works for podcasts too - just ensure all the details match as above then post in one of the podcast sections on Devtalk and include the ‘podcasts’ tag

Edit: Please note you will need to be at TL1 over at Devtalk (usually takes about 15 minutes of browsing) for the link being pasted in the title bar to work - however if you PM @AstonJ he will manually bump you up to TL1