Micro-Blogging With Tumblr
This past week I spent some time setting up a site using the micro-blogging (or tumblelogging) tool Tumblr. The service is extremely easy to use and definitely worth checking out if you are either looking to get into blogging but don't relish the idea of writing long posts or are simply looking to create another site as an outlet for smaller bits of information.
Tumblr allows you to create six different kinds of posts: Regular Post, Photo, Quote, Link, Conversation, Video. These posts work exactly as their titles suggest, Tumblr simply gives you an easy template in which to input them and then styles them nicely for presentation on your page. Photos can either be uploaded to your Tumblr site or pulled in using a link. The same is true with videos which can either be embedded or pulled in using a link. Quote and Conversation are two interesting micro-blogging categories that are perfectly suited for Tumblr. While it may seem pointless on a regular blog to create an entire post that is simply a quotation, on Tumblr this is perfectly acceptable.
Tumblr has a bookmarks bar button so you can easily share something on your Tumblr site that you find while browsing the web. Clicking on the button displays a pop-up window which gives you the option of which category to put your newly found content in. It makes posting to Tumblr very fast and efficient.
While it may not look like it at first glance, each post on Tumblr has a permalink that is usually revealed by a tiny black box with an arrow in the right hand corner of a post on rollover. This ensures that your posts are still submittable to sites like Digg and Del.icio.us. Tumblr also features built-in RSS capabilities for your site so readers can easily subscribe to your work.
There are currently five nicely designed, minimalist templates you can choose from for your site. The colors of the various elements on these template is easily editable using the color menu below the theme select. Tumblr also gives you the option to completely customize your site. This is very nice if you know CSS and HTML.
Another powerful customization feature available on Tumblr is the ability to use your own domain name if you currently own one or would like to purchase one. This feature is set up in almost exactly the same way that it is with Google's Blogger so you might want to check out my post about that - also check out my post on ParisLemon about setting up a custom domain on Tumblr for a bit more info. It's a simple and relatively cheap process.
It should be noted that there is currently no comment feature for Tumblr posts. Tumblr explains this and the lack of other features as a purposeful decision to keep the platform as simple as possible. Find more on this in their FAQ section.
Tumblr's power, much like Twitter's, lies in its simplicity. If you want to start blogging but aren't looking to have a site based around longer expositions, Tumblr is definitely worth checking out.
You can check out my Tumblr site ParisLime, and also some other notable Tumblr sites: Gina Trapani's (of Lifehacker) Scribbling.net | Mini ZuD | Merlin Mann's Kung Fu Grippe | Leo Laporte's tumbleo | Skull's blog
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Reader Comments (3)
- Mikael Pittam, April 16, 2007
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Hi MG, I agree with you on the simplicity of Tumblr. I use the bookmarklet a lot, which makes microblogging easier. My Tumblr is found here: http://sumikael.tumblr.com/
- Mini ZuD, April 16, 2007
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You are everywhere MG! Want to thank you for the mention and link and invite your audience to check out the fine set of tumblelogs you listed.
Z
- Paul Jacobson, May 3, 2007
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I just started using Tumblr in the last day or so and have really been enjoying it. It is a great service. I would like to be able to blog to it from MarsEdit even though I have been posting through IMified.
