Running Weblogs with Slash

Choosing Topics and Icons

As the administrator, you should have some idea of your site’s focus. For example, Barrapunto covers Free Software in Spanish, while use Perl handles all sorts of Perl news. Though it has roots in Slashdot, Slash itself is content-neutral and can serve a community built around just about anything. The Slashcode web site (http://slashcode.com/sites.shtml) lists dozens of known sites, including those devoted to Christianity, freedom, jazz, drug policy, sports, media, sex, and local community resources. The site theme should direct you to choosing appropriate Topics.

Though your theme can be anything imaginable (and quite possibly, something the Slashteam would never have imagined), several guidelines apply:

Choose Topics that cover the subject matter without overlapping

If a Story can fit within two Topics equally well (perhaps in both “Politics” and “Free Speech”), Authors will have trouble classifying it, and users won’t know where to find it. Consistency is important. If you need overlapping Topics, consider creating some guidelines to clarify what the Authors should do in a similar situation.

A “Miscellaneous” Topic is a good investment because it can catch the few Stories that fall through the gaps. If more and more Stories fall under this catchall, it’s a sign that you need to add Topics. Review these orphans for inspiration.

Revise the Topic scheme occasionally

The theme and tone of a site will evolve along with the community it serves. Topics need ...