We all make errors in our haste to check that one more item off the list of posts to place. In most blogs, the stray error here and there is easily overlooked. The one exception, I have to believe, is in a post making the careful attention to such things the very point of the plea. And, comically, this seems to occur more regularly when such dire stakes are held high above us.

It is therefore with a sad heart and an appreciation for irony that I point out the three MOST glaring hiccups in an otherwise well-written and informative piece (beginning with a lumbering double-hit in item 15):

[Including your blog categories or general themes is definitely call for. You may also customize the permalink to suit you needs especially if you’re a blogger with several categories.]

Continuing on, but not three points later, in item 18:

[...always make sure you schedule correctly especially if your post happens to related to something in current events.]

Yes, these are, in the scheme of things, minor mistakes that avoid a truly tragic situation where meaning was changed or a misspelled surname or incorrectly transcribed link caused embarrassment or libel. These are even preferable to spelling errors. But not after the effective, finger-wagging lecture so effectively delivered.

My tip for this author and anyone else who finds proofreading a pain – have it read out loud to you by a friend or an app (voicereader on iphone is my choice), or as a last ditch, read it to yourself into a memo recorder and listen to it. The above misses would have definitely been caught.

This has been a long response. It’s late and I’m very tempted to think I have effectively been editing and proofing all along and there’s no need to check. This is the devil speaking. He’s hiding behind an abandoned but undeleted fragment somewhere near the top. I’m going to go find him now.

Error Drone,

Max S. Gilford

However, concerning point 11. External links, it’s good to keep in mind the following:

1 – Some old or limited browsers (e.g. amazon kindle) do not support opening new windows and so links become inaccessible.

2 – It can be a problem for people with disabilities.
See : Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 § Guideline 10. Use interim solutions.
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/#gl-interim-accessibility
” [...] changing the current window or popping up new windows can be very disorienting to users who cannot see that this has happened.”

3 – Finally, some people consider it bad design :
See for example : Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox) § 9. Opening New Browser Windows
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html
“Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. [...] the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites.”

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