I’ve been asked why the syndicated version of the blog doesn’t contain the full-text of the articles the way many blogs do.

The answer, if you think about it, is pretty simple. I am syndicating what I wish everyone would syndicate. I mean, I have many different interests, and not all of them are going to match yours. Instead of blasting the complete text (and photos, where appropriate) of each blog entry, I syndicate a short capsule. If the reader is interested, they need only click the link in the syndication to read the full-text.

It’s also why long articles are broken on the front page; so casual readers aren’t subjected to huge amounts of scrolling, and those interested can follow the (more…) link and read on.

Take this post for an example. Most people who receive the syndication of this blog don’t really care why the full content isn’t syndicated. A lot of them are greatful that they don’t need to scroll past why the full content of the blog isn’t syndicated. On the other hand, if I post something about, say, Dr. Who, they might suddenly want to know what’s going on, and so can easily use the permalink and read it in a jiffy.

I honestly wish everyone would do this; after all, even though RSS 2.0 permits a CONTENT container, it doesn’t require one, and it would sure save me a lot of time when running through the blogs I receive locally.

Of course, you may disagree with this, and if so, feel free to comment. But since this is the way I find most efficient to work, even though it takes me an extra moment to write a secondary excerpt for the syndication, I plan on continuing.

Unless, of course, I am presented with a really compelling argument to the contrary…