I hope this thread can contain the general discussion about what the new
urls will look like. We've tried doing this on the wiki, but I think
the list facilitates more rapid and interactive discussion and promotes
greater visibility, so I'm starting this up here. As we move along I
will snip out parts of the discussion that seem to have been resolved
and note them on the wiki.
This is a shortened version of the proposal ...
http://rollerweblogger.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Proposal_NewUrlStructure
These urls I believe we all agree on so I just want to list them here
and I assume we don't really need to have continued discussion about
them ...
/<weblog> - weblog homepage
/<weblog>[/lang]/ - language specific version of any weblog page
/<weblog>/feed/<flavor>?cat=<cat>&excerpts=true - feed url
/<weblog>/page/<page link>?etc=etc - user defined page
/<weblog>/resource/<uploaded file> - user uploaded file
/<weblog>/search?q=<query> - search query on a single blog
These urls are still up for discussion and it would be good to hear from
anyone who has an opinion ...
/<weblog>?date=<YYYYMMDD>&cat=<category>&tags=<tags>&page=1
/<weblog>/entry/<anchor>
The above is what is currently proposed on the wiki and is a viable
option, but after a discussion with some of the guys from Technorati and
poking around a bit on the web I think there are some good alternatives
to consider.
/<weblog>/entry/<YYYYMMDD>/<anchor>
/<weblog>/entry/<YYYYMMDD>/?category=<cat>&page=1
/<weblog>/entry/<YYYYMM>/?category=<cat>&page=1
/<weblog>/entry/<YYYY>/?category=<cat>&page=1
The structure shown above seems to be used on a number of sites and has
some noticeable advantages and disadvantages. MT (typepad, livejournal)
and blogger use this except they omit the day from the url and only
support YYYY/MM.
pros:
- date becomes part of the standard link, which makes it easy for users
to hack at the url and know what to expect.
- we can actually calculate next/prev year, month, and day from the url.
cons:
- if someone modifies the pubtime of an entry then the permalink changes :(
- we have to additionally validate that the url date matches the entry
date for permalinks.
The fact that the permalink can change is probably the biggest issue for
me. I hate to see that happen, but it seems like other blogging systems
are putting up with that issue okay.
The reason to do this is to support path based urls, which are nicer on
the eyes and more easily understood by users. The drawback is lack of
flexibility.
What do people think?
-- Allen
