Note: This post introduces my new on-site Blogroll. You can view the Blogroll, which will be regularly updated, here.
I have had a long-time interest in maintaining a blogroll on The New Leaf Journal and had a couple of blogroll pages in the past. However, I was never satisfied with my blogroll idea, and for that reason The New Leaf Journal has been blogroll-less for most of its run. But our sad no-blogroll state of affairs ends today with the publication of the instant article.
Below, I will introduce my new blogroll, which will be a joint project of The New Leaf Journal, The Emu Café Social, and The Newsletter Leaf Journal (my three main projects) and explain my inspiration for our blogroll concept.
What is a Blogroll?
At its core, a blogroll is a “list of links to other blogs” (Alison Hawke at Quantum Tee. July 9, 2002). Its purpose is to serve as “[a] list of other blogs that a blogger might recommend by providing links to them” (Kimberly Michelle. May 26, 2010). Or, as the IndieWeb Wiki puts it, “[a] blogroll is a list of other sites that you read, are a follower of, or recommend” (IndieWeb Wiki).
Blogrolls have their roots in an earlier internet era. Richard McManus dug into the history of the blogroll and concluded “the earliest reference to this term I could find was Doc Searls in December 2020, who used the word ‘blogrolling’ as a subheader.” (Richard McManus at Cybercultural. September 17, 2025.) Blogrolls helped people discover new online writers based on recommendations from writers they already followed (see e.g., Robert Alexander. May 13, 2024). Ryan Brill wrote in 2004: “I see a blogroll as a way to link to other blogs that not only interest me, but are also written by people whom I respect” (Ryan Brill. June 7, 2004.)
Regular readers will know that I am an advocate of RSS feeds and related feed formats (e.g., ATOM and JSON feeds). Many blogrolls not only include feeds for sites on the roll (when applicable), but also OPML files, which include feeds for all blogroll sites in a format that one can subscribe to with a feed reader (Michael J. Radwin. December 26, 2022).
I could have easily provided my own concise definition of a blogroll. But I thought that linking to various blog posts about blogrolls to explain the concept was more in line with the linking spirit.
My Blogroll Backstory
I maintained a Blogroll page on The New Leaf Journal at different points. In so doing, I had two objectives. Firstly, I wanted to share websites that I enjoyed and read regularly. Secondly, I wanted to promote RSS/ATOM feeds by linking to those sites’ feeds. However, my attempts at a blogroll left me wanting. To the best of my recollection, I organized links into categories with brief descriptions. But I ended up letting the blogroll collect dust. Something about it was not inspiring me to maintain and promote it.
Blogroll Eureka
I had a “eureka” moment when I read a pair of blog posts about blogrolls, with the first, Joel Chrono’s Giving context to my blogroll, linking to a post with the same title by Simone Silvestroni at the Minutes to Midnight blog (note: Joel Chrono’s blog is on my personal RSS/ATOM feed list). I quote from the Minutes to Midnight post:
[L]ist-only blogrolls are pretty common, the result of reading them across various blogs is an uninspiring jumble of names. I never ever click on any of them because to me it’s like clicking on a random link on a random page.
I agree with this blogroll critique. Many blogrolls I come across are either formatted as lists of links with no context or links with brief descriptions that do not tell me much about the site in question. Joel Chrono was inspired by the Minutes to Midnight post to upgrade his blogroll to include more information about the sites he is sharing.
My Blogroll Concept
I read a good amount online. It is thanks to my reading that I am able to share approximately 21 links each week in The Newsletter Leaf Journal and almost-daily links on The Emu Café Social, not to mention some of my full-length NLJ articles which are prompted by articles from around the web. I assume that it is possible that some people who enjoy reading my writing may also be interested in reading the writing that I read. Thus, a NLJ Blogroll can serve two purposes. Firstly, I can help people who enjoy my website discover other websites that may be of interest. Secondly, I can share websites that inspire some of my articles and quips.
However, I find it unlikely that any single NLJ fan is interested in everything I write in light of the fact that I cover many different topic areas. Similarly, I find it unlikely that anyone would be interested in every site I may be inclined to share in light of the fact that I read a wide variety of websites. In recognition of the latter points, my previous blogroll attempts included short descriptions of the websites I recommended. But simply maintaining a blogroll page with descriptions for each site does not quite complete the circuit. I am a writer (or so I tell myself), not a list-maker (Buzzfeed never came calling). It occurred to me that I could write articles and short posts about websites on my blogroll. One inspiration for this idea comes from the now sadly defunct Yukinu Blog, on which Yukinu wrote short posts recommending websites and resources that he enjoyed (including The New Leaf Journal).
Borrowing from the former Yukinu Blog, I will write an article, short post, or section about each website I add to the Blogroll. On the Blogroll page itself, I will include along with each website I am recommending a link to the recommended website and its feed (if applicable) and a link to what I wrote about the website. These posts may appear on any site I control.
While every website on my blogroll will be a site that I personally read and follow, I will focus on highlighting websites that have informed or engaged with in my writing. “Informed” includes giving me links for use in my weekly newsletters. Do note that my “blogroll” will not necessarily be limited to independent blogs or non-commercial sites. I plan to include a broad collection of websites that interest me, covering both independent blogs and more “professional” online magazines and news sites.
Finally, I will also maintain an OPML file with every site on my blogroll. That file will be available here. You can download this file and upload it into any feed reader which allows for OPML imports (which, to be sure, encompasses every feed reader I know of) to add my blogroll recommendations to your favorite reader.
Conclusion
I will be updating the Blogroll regularly, so I hope readers check in regularly for updates. Anyone who can make it through some of my longer articles is obviously a reader, so I am sure that some readers will find other good writing from around the web and resources on my two new blogroll pages.
