Elementary microformats
Having started publishing materials on microformats, I was faced with the fact that people did not fully understand their purpose (due to the lack of information in Russian). The translation placed under the cut is intended to clarify the heads of those who are interested in microformats. Charismatic American Molly Holzschlag clearly told about what, how and why. Everything is really simple.
And happy New Year to you, dear friends! I hope that in 2007 the Runet will not be overboard the µf-movement :-)
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Microformats: Understanding Elemental Microformats
Posted by Molly Holzschlag
Translation: 12/31/2006 Maxim Rossomakhin , Efim Karelin .
Remember the childhood years when you were playing with cubes? One of the most enjoyable fun of my childhood was playing with my brothers, figuring out who could build the biggest, tallest and coolest tower of them all. Having matured, we played the game “Jenga” (which is familiar to many American readers), where there were all the same cubes with the same basic idea.
Remembering those towers that we built from cubes or playing “Jenga”, it is easy to see the main thing: the towers were built from separate elements, each of which had its own purpose. Combining them, it was possible to create many different configurations. A similar metaphor is valid for bricks and brick construction. The brick has individual properties and an important role in the overall integrity of the building, but it is also self-sufficient in and of itself.
In order to dispel all ambiguities associated with understanding the essence of microformats, it is important to get rid of complex definitions by describing microformats in normal human language. The best metaphor I have invented is this: microformats are cubes or bricks from which you can assemble more complex structures known as compound microformats (compound microformats).
In this article I will look at the most popular and well-implemented "cubes", known as elementary microformats (elemental microformats). Each has a special purpose: for example, a description of interpersonal relationships, conditions for licensing content, etc. A beginner who is interested in working with composite microformats, but has not previously studied the essence of elementary microformats, may be discouraged.
Note
Creative Commons and rel-license microformat
Many readers are familiar with Creative Commons, but for those who are not in the know, I’ll explain: the Creative Commons project, officially opened in 2001 by its founder Lawrence Lessig (a lawyer and publicist who devoted himself to combating the growth of restrictions on the right to possession) its goal is to create licensing conditions that allow copyright holders to more flexibly determine the conditions for the use of their content by other individuals and organizations. Despite the fact that CC is based on legislation and terminology adopted in the United States, the principles embodied in this idea, allow to apply it throughout the world.
If you used Flickr photoservice or ran your blog, then you are probably familiar with various CC licenses that combine aspects of the following legal conditions:
· Attribution . Other persons have the right to copy, distribute, display, perform work and any derivative work, provided that such persons appropriately attribute the authorship of the work to the author of the work.
· Non-Commercial . Any works and their derivative works are available only for non-commercial (gratuitous) purposes.
· No Derivative Works . It is allowed to use any initial work, but the use of derivative works is not allowed.
· Share alike . Other persons have the right to create derivative works from your work, but such derivative works must be distributed under the same licensing conditions as your original work.
Note
The rel-license microformat allows copyright holders to assign a specific type of CC license to their content. The rel attribute is used with the value of license, and the href attribute contains the URL of the license page, here's an example:
Currently, any applications and services supporting the rel-license microformat (for example, Yahoo! Search) can index not only your content, but also the licenses distributed to it. Consequently, anyone who searches for links to content that is subject to licensing Creative Commons, can get links to such materials in the search results.
Rel-nofollow: we press tail to comment spam
The endless thirst for raising the position in search engine rankings has given rise to many “black” SEO techniques. One of them is clogging up blogs, wikis, etc. spam links. This is not only annoying, but also creates problems for legitimate links.
By adding the rel-nofollow syntax to the links in my blog, I can indicate to search bots (Google and others) that these links have zero weight in the results. Google and other search engines that support the work with rel-nofollow will not follow these links and will not give them weight in the results.
This link will be ignored by search bots, while remaining useful to interested users.
Note
The right to vote - people. VoteLinks
The microformat of VoteLinks is extremely interesting. This very simple microformat has great potential. VoteLinks can be used to conduct more accurate studies of consumer evaluation of certain goods, can serve as a mechanism for assessing the popularity of blog entries, or track real voting.
· Vote-for . Voice for.
· Vote-against . The voice “against.
· Vote-abstain . A voice abstained.
Below is an example of what I could include in that blog entry in which my dissatisfaction with the recent presidential elections in the USA was discussed:
Note
Indication of interpersonal relationships using XFN (XHTML Friends Network)
XFN is a brain product of Eric Meyer (Eric Meyer, Complex Spiral Consulting), Tantek Çelik, Technorati, and Matt Mullenweg (WordPress). The idea is to create a means of presenting information about interpersonal relationships, which can be useful in the context of a constant increase in the number of social connections, largely based on the increase in the number of blogs. XFN support is built directly into WordPress, which allows users to specify their XFN links directly in blog lists (link lists).
Links are divided into several categories, each of which contains its own set of values ​​(statuses):
· Friendship. According to this category, you can give a person the status of friend (friend), acquaintance (friend), or contact (contact).
· Physical (familiarity in real life). This category contains only one status - met (met in life). The status is assigned to people you met in real life.
· Professional (professional communication). Two statuses are available to you to indicate professional connections - co-worker (colleague) and colleague (colleague).
· Geographical (geographical connection). Currently, XFN contains two geographic status: co-resident and neighbor. Co-resident status is assigned to a person living with you on the same street, and the neighbor status has a broader meaning.
· Family (family ties). Statuses: child (child), parent (s), sibling (brother or sister), spouse (spouse), and kin (relative). “Spouse” means someone who you consider to be your husband or wife, regardless of whether you are officially married or not.
· Romantic. The statuses are muse (muse), crush (object of courtship), date ("sweetheart"), and sweetheart (beloved). I note that the muse is usually called the person who inspires you.
· Identity (indicating itself). The status me allows you to link to your blog, or to materials directly related to you.
Here is a small example from my blogroll (XFN blogroll):
It is easy to notice that you can specify any possible status values, just make sure that they are separated by spaces.
Note
Tags for everything
Tag concept is an amazing constantly evolving network phenomenon. With the light hand of information architect Thomas Vanderwal (Thomas Vanderwal), the word “folxonomy” - a term describing the organic evolution of human dictionaries - came into use. If this sounds slightly esoteric, let's take a look at any of the Flickr photoblogs — you'll see that tags are everywhere. The idea is that people can use any tag values ​​to describe existing content, and then this content can be categorized along with tags assigned by other people. To better understand the organic nature of tags, look in Flickr for the keyword "droplet" ("drop") and see which photos came up with the search .
Microformat rel-tag has become a joint brainchild of blogging, social networks and search software. Perhaps the best examples of rel-tag can be considered Technorati website, which uses tags for organizing blog search results.
Here is the Spanish link to my website regarding the report I gave at the Fundamentos Web conference in Spain. You see a part of the blog post, and a link to the “fundamentos web” tag:
Anyone who is looking for information about this conference, basing the search on the “fundamentos web” tag, will find my blog among others, but if they are looking for me, they can also find this mention of me. The example demonstrates the capabilities of elementary microformats.
From elementary to composite
Let your imagination express itself, and you can easily imagine how combining elementary microformats can produce more complex results.
Let's say I wanted to do a search service that can find everything that is marked with the tag "cinema", and people who were considered friends voted for something positive. This service would give me more accurate and personalized results than usual. Undoubtedly, elementary microformats are the very foundation stones for creating stronger social networks, more accurate search results, and more effective interaction of people with the network.
Note
And happy New Year to you, dear friends! I hope that in 2007 the Runet will not be overboard the µf-movement :-)
')
Microformats: Understanding Elemental Microformats
Posted by Molly Holzschlag
Translation: 12/31/2006 Maxim Rossomakhin , Efim Karelin .
Remember the childhood years when you were playing with cubes? One of the most enjoyable fun of my childhood was playing with my brothers, figuring out who could build the biggest, tallest and coolest tower of them all. Having matured, we played the game “Jenga” (which is familiar to many American readers), where there were all the same cubes with the same basic idea.
Remembering those towers that we built from cubes or playing “Jenga”, it is easy to see the main thing: the towers were built from separate elements, each of which had its own purpose. Combining them, it was possible to create many different configurations. A similar metaphor is valid for bricks and brick construction. The brick has individual properties and an important role in the overall integrity of the building, but it is also self-sufficient in and of itself.
In order to dispel all ambiguities associated with understanding the essence of microformats, it is important to get rid of complex definitions by describing microformats in normal human language. The best metaphor I have invented is this: microformats are cubes or bricks from which you can assemble more complex structures known as compound microformats (compound microformats).
In this article I will look at the most popular and well-implemented "cubes", known as elementary microformats (elemental microformats). Each has a special purpose: for example, a description of interpersonal relationships, conditions for licensing content, etc. A beginner who is interested in working with composite microformats, but has not previously studied the essence of elementary microformats, may be discouraged.
Note
For more information about microformats, look at the official site . Materials posted on the official website Wiki contain useful information about all current specifications for all currently existing microformats.
Creative Commons and rel-license microformat
Many readers are familiar with Creative Commons, but for those who are not in the know, I’ll explain: the Creative Commons project, officially opened in 2001 by its founder Lawrence Lessig (a lawyer and publicist who devoted himself to combating the growth of restrictions on the right to possession) its goal is to create licensing conditions that allow copyright holders to more flexibly determine the conditions for the use of their content by other individuals and organizations. Despite the fact that CC is based on legislation and terminology adopted in the United States, the principles embodied in this idea, allow to apply it throughout the world.
If you used Flickr photoservice or ran your blog, then you are probably familiar with various CC licenses that combine aspects of the following legal conditions:
· Attribution . Other persons have the right to copy, distribute, display, perform work and any derivative work, provided that such persons appropriately attribute the authorship of the work to the author of the work.
· Non-Commercial . Any works and their derivative works are available only for non-commercial (gratuitous) purposes.
· No Derivative Works . It is allowed to use any initial work, but the use of derivative works is not allowed.
· Share alike . Other persons have the right to create derivative works from your work, but such derivative works must be distributed under the same licensing conditions as your original work.
Note
For more information on Creative Commons, visit the official website .
The rel-license microformat allows copyright holders to assign a specific type of CC license to their content. The rel attribute is used with the value of license, and the href attribute contains the URL of the license page, here's an example:
<a href=http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ rel=licenseense> This is a material distributed under a CC reference, non-commercial, share alike license </a>.
Currently, any applications and services supporting the rel-license microformat (for example, Yahoo! Search) can index not only your content, but also the licenses distributed to it. Consequently, anyone who searches for links to content that is subject to licensing Creative Commons, can get links to such materials in the search results.
Rel-nofollow: we press tail to comment spam
The endless thirst for raising the position in search engine rankings has given rise to many “black” SEO techniques. One of them is clogging up blogs, wikis, etc. spam links. This is not only annoying, but also creates problems for legitimate links.
By adding the rel-nofollow syntax to the links in my blog, I can indicate to search bots (Google and others) that these links have zero weight in the results. Google and other search engines that support the work with rel-nofollow will not follow these links and will not give them weight in the results.
<a href=http://www.molly.com/comment06.php rel= "nofollow "> I have already commented on this. </a>
This link will be ignored by search bots, while remaining useful to interested users.
Note
The use of rel-nofollow microformat is not limited to the fight against spam. You can learn more about rel-nofollow and other uses for it by visiting microformats.org/wiki/rel-nofollow .
The right to vote - people. VoteLinks
The microformat of VoteLinks is extremely interesting. This very simple microformat has great potential. VoteLinks can be used to conduct more accurate studies of consumer evaluation of certain goods, can serve as a mechanism for assessing the popularity of blog entries, or track real voting.
· Vote-for . Voice for.
· Vote-against . The voice “against.
· Vote-abstain . A voice abstained.
Below is an example of what I could include in that blog entry in which my dissatisfaction with the recent presidential elections in the USA was discussed:
<a href=http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/ rev="vote-against"> I voted against George W. Bush </a>.
Note
Most of those who use HTML or XHTML are familiar with the rel attribute, which describes what the content of this link element applies to. In general, the rel attribute describes the relationship of this document to another document, the rev attribute describes the inverse relationship.
Indication of interpersonal relationships using XFN (XHTML Friends Network)
XFN is a brain product of Eric Meyer (Eric Meyer, Complex Spiral Consulting), Tantek Çelik, Technorati, and Matt Mullenweg (WordPress). The idea is to create a means of presenting information about interpersonal relationships, which can be useful in the context of a constant increase in the number of social connections, largely based on the increase in the number of blogs. XFN support is built directly into WordPress, which allows users to specify their XFN links directly in blog lists (link lists).
Links are divided into several categories, each of which contains its own set of values ​​(statuses):
· Friendship. According to this category, you can give a person the status of friend (friend), acquaintance (friend), or contact (contact).
· Physical (familiarity in real life). This category contains only one status - met (met in life). The status is assigned to people you met in real life.
· Professional (professional communication). Two statuses are available to you to indicate professional connections - co-worker (colleague) and colleague (colleague).
· Geographical (geographical connection). Currently, XFN contains two geographic status: co-resident and neighbor. Co-resident status is assigned to a person living with you on the same street, and the neighbor status has a broader meaning.
· Family (family ties). Statuses: child (child), parent (s), sibling (brother or sister), spouse (spouse), and kin (relative). “Spouse” means someone who you consider to be your husband or wife, regardless of whether you are officially married or not.
· Romantic. The statuses are muse (muse), crush (object of courtship), date ("sweetheart"), and sweetheart (beloved). I note that the muse is usually called the person who inspires you.
· Identity (indicating itself). The status me allows you to link to your blog, or to materials directly related to you.
Here is a small example from my blogroll (XFN blogroll):
<ul>
<li> <a href= en tantek.com/log "rel= relfriend muse muse Tannek kelik </a> </ li>
<li> <a href=13www.stuffandnonse.co.uk "rel = friend met friend sweetheart <> Andy Clarke </a> </ li>
<li> <a href=www.meyerweb.com "rel= Ericmet Meyerweb muse> Eric Meyer </a> </ li>
<li> <a href= www.photomatt.com »rel = metmet friend friend Matt Mullenweg </a> </ li>
</ ul>
It is easy to notice that you can specify any possible status values, just make sure that they are separated by spaces.
Note
More information on XFN can be found here: gmpg.org/xfn .
Tags for everything
Tag concept is an amazing constantly evolving network phenomenon. With the light hand of information architect Thomas Vanderwal (Thomas Vanderwal), the word “folxonomy” - a term describing the organic evolution of human dictionaries - came into use. If this sounds slightly esoteric, let's take a look at any of the Flickr photoblogs — you'll see that tags are everywhere. The idea is that people can use any tag values ​​to describe existing content, and then this content can be categorized along with tags assigned by other people. To better understand the organic nature of tags, look in Flickr for the keyword "droplet" ("drop") and see which photos came up with the search .
Microformat rel-tag has become a joint brainchild of blogging, social networks and search software. Perhaps the best examples of rel-tag can be considered Technorati website, which uses tags for organizing blog search results.
Here is the Spanish link to my website regarding the report I gave at the Fundamentos Web conference in Spain. You see a part of the blog post, and a link to the “fundamentos web” tag:
<p> Aunque esto no ocurre solo en España. Una experiencia similar con <a href=ri www.orange.com »> Orange </a>, en Francia, nos contó <a href=ri molly.com »> Molly E. Holzschlag </a> en <a href = " Www.fundamentosweb.org/2006/programa/#taller "> Designing for web 2.0 </a>. </ P>
<p class = "tags"> Tags: <a href=en technorati.com/tag/fundamentos+web "title=" See the Technorati tag page for the "Fundamentos web". a> </ p>
.
Anyone who is looking for information about this conference, basing the search on the “fundamentos web” tag, will find my blog among others, but if they are looking for me, they can also find this mention of me. The example demonstrates the capabilities of elementary microformats.
From elementary to composite
Let your imagination express itself, and you can easily imagine how combining elementary microformats can produce more complex results.
Let's say I wanted to do a search service that can find everything that is marked with the tag "cinema", and people who were considered friends voted for something positive. This service would give me more accurate and personalized results than usual. Undoubtedly, elementary microformats are the very foundation stones for creating stronger social networks, more accurate search results, and more effective interaction of people with the network.
Note
The author thanks Brian Shude, Ryan King, and Tantek Celik for their help in learning the basic concepts, technologies and techniques associated with microformats.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/1058/
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