Lorelle points towards the recipe for an ezine and asks about the difference between an online magazine, an ezine and a blog. It is quite true that all these are finally forms of publishing and might end up using similar technology. However, in my opinion, the differences lie outside the technology.
Difference for the Reader
One important difference is the way a reader reads. Magazines have issues, which are released. The issue is not just an entity that is release chronologically, but it binds all the articles today. The issue usually has a structure - a cover story, a note from the editor, articles that cover all aspects of the topic being discussed. In short, the issue is composed - specially and specifically through editorial control. All these concepts are borrowed from the print publication. An online magazine can choose to not obey them to focus only on the online readers. It can violate certain rules and leverage the interactive nature of the Web to fullest. However, the editorial still plays an important role, whether the issue gets composed or not.
The difference between an online magazine and an ezine is blur for me. But going by what I have come across in my experience, I think an ezine is an online magazine on a niche subject. I also think that an ezine can also include newsletters, which can be called a magazine on a much smaller scale. You will also find another term commonly used - a webzine.
A blog, on the other hand, is just a collection of chronological renderings. A blog, by definition, does not impose any other rules. No editorial, no workflow, no journalism and no issue.
Of course, the content definitely matters, and it matters everywhere equally. However, with magazines the website should provide meta information like that about subscription or the editorial team, the authors. Or maybe allow the user to subscribe online and then manage the subscriptions.
Difference Behind the Scenes
All this is about what the reader sees. The reader is aware of the binding called an issue and reads articles by issues primarily. As a software engineer, I see additional differences in how the website should behave for others who work behind the scenes, usually called the administration (or admin) area. Again, they are more related to the process of publishing rather than the technology. A magazine publishing includes a workflow - someone writes, someone edits and someone publishes. Though the same thing can be said about a blog, here ever someone can be different person working for the magazine. A magazine publishing might contain composing the article with different media types - text, images, audio or video.
The website needs to provide, or interact, with tools that allow this composition. If the magazine gets published in multiple media - it might employ single source publishing to ensure integrity of content across all formats.
An additional feature, not available in many tools specialized for magazine, is version control. It is important for the magazine to have a way of rolling back the changes and choosing an older version. This is usually worked around by having a separate version control system or just a directory based structure. However, integrating it with the publishing and workflow tools can improve productivity and reduce errors.
The CMS involved should allow for flexibility in the article design and management, in content classification, treating different types of content differently and composing the visual structure. These features might be desirable for some in a blog too, however I feel they are must for a tool that gets used to build magazines.
Some tools
Some of the open source tools that I think can be used for online magazines are:
This list is limited by my knowledge and even then I am sure I have missed many more. Also, this list does not mean that all these tools can always be applied. It really depends on the specific magazine and what the website is going to be used for.
To summarize, I think the differences in these publishing entities is more because of what goes behind the scenes. It is easier to deal with the front end than the back end (or the administration). To add a twist, I am of the opinion that every magazine, online or not should at the least have a blog.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
We use Joomla with iJoomla Magazine to publish our Hindi blogzine Nirantar http://www.nirantar.org.
March 16th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Debashish, one of the reasons I did not mention iJoomla was because it is not open source. Feel free to correct me. The other is that iJoomla is more of a magazine-like layout component for Joomla than a magazine component.
But I have added Joomla in the list, missed it earlier, thanks.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Very good points.
What I found from a little of my research is that many have similar views but differentiate the three types:
1. Magazine: online support to physically printed version or demographics and advertising driven, therefore focused content, online publication. They tend to feature a staff.
2. Ezine: Online newsletter, usually with a very narrow audience and content focus, and little financial backing. These are usually driven by only a few rather than a crew. Many associate ezines with the online version of the “zines”, 1970s-80s of self-published “newsletters/magazine” created cheaply with home computers and photocopiers filled with gossip and editorial slant.
3. Blog: Chronological, editorial journal and/or “news” source.
The interesting part for me is the use of “webzine”. Many used that for the online version of a printed magazine, while others decided it was the full version of the shortened “ezine”.
As we evolve into virtual media more than traditional printed media, it’s interesting to watch the process of name calling, adaptation, cross-overs, and new technology, isn’t it?
March 21st, 2007 at 1:28 am
True, the names that we end up with really can write a story themselves. However, a lot of times I feel that we end up creating confusion too, like in case of Web 2.0!