Running Weblogs with Slash

The Slash User Interface

The original and most popular Slash site is Slashdot, and most users first encounter Slash there. The site’s homepage looks something like Figure 1-1. (The default appearance of a newly installed Slash site is slightly different.) The most important page feature is the central column, which lists Stories in reverse chronological order. Each Story is introduced in a separate box. This introduction may, in fact, be the entire Story. The box also provides other information, including the Story’s title, date, and time of publication; the number of comments made on the Story so far; and the person responsible for the Story.

Figure 1-1. The Slashdot homepage

Other navigational aids surround the Story column: links to site features, live headlines pulled from other sites, a Search form, a multiple-choice user poll, and a list of older Stories that have been pushed off the homepage by newer ones.

The ReadMore... link in any Story box leads to that Story’s individual page. This displays the full Story along with user comments. Story content may be limited to the “Intro” text (displayed on the homepage), or it may include “Extended” text (displayed only on the Story page). An HTML form beneath the content allows you to add a comment or to change the presentation of existing comments.

Comments may be viewed in threaded, nested, or flat formats, or may be suppressed ...