Preface#
Xlog is an open-source online blogging system based on blockchain, focusing on the experience of Web 3. Although I don't have much knowledge about blockchain and Web 3, I know that they both focus on decentralization. I believe that the experts reading this article know more than me, so I won't embarrass myself. For registration and usage, you can refer to this article: Five Minutes to Own a Decentralized Blog on Blockchain and IPFS - Songkeys. I won't go into detail here. I will only write about the user experience.
Everything Depends on Wallet#
Since Xlog is based on blockchain, almost all operations need to be done in the form of transactions. Creating a new account requires a transaction, customizing a domain requires a transaction, and publishing an article also requires a transaction. Xlog uses CSB, and you can receive a small amount of CSB (you need to verify it by posting a similar promotional tweet). If it's not enough, you can receive more, and there are detailed instructions in the aforementioned article. In other words, every time you perform activities like these, you need to have your wallet open and be ready for transactions. If you run out of CSB when you need to publish an article, you have to post another tweet for verification, which feels quite inconvenient. Although tweets can be deleted after being published, I think many people, like me, mind this kind of account pollution. I'm not sure if the same tweet can be reused. If it can, it would be more convenient and easier to accept.
About Customization#
Since it's your own blog, most people like to create a unique style of their own. Unfortunately, Xlog doesn't have many customization options or themes. Basically, you can only change your avatar, write a signature, and add a background image. The rest relies on custom CSS. I'm not sure how much CSS experts can do, but for ordinary people, it's definitely difficult to achieve a high level of customization, and the official documentation is not detailed either. Xlog's positioning is not focused on this either. Currently, the best example I've seen is xLog Custom CSS - qfdk. The official intention is that it is still in the stage of frequent updates and changes, and documentation will be provided for reference once it stabilizes, but for now, we have to wait.
In addition, some information about blockchain and Web3 will appear at the bottom of the article page. It depends on personal preference whether you like it or not. But even if you don't like it, you can't close it😀
Easy to Use#
Although the above points are about the shortcomings of Xlog, Xlog is not as bad as it seems. The need to use a wallet is to protect privacy and data security. Although there are not many customization options, the default style provided by the official website is quite good-looking. On the other hand, if you use Xlog as your own blog, you only need to register a wallet and then register an Xlog account, which is quite convenient. The domain name will be automatically assigned, and since not many people are using it now, you can basically use the subdomain you want. You don't need to worry about SSL certificates either, as it is fully automated. Creating new pages and publishing articles is not complicated because Xlog has a backend for operations. Comments and various statistics are also implemented, so you don't have to worry about them. Even if you want to publish on other platforms, the official website provides an export function that allows you to export as an md file. So Xlog is actually a very suitable blogging platform for beginners. If you just want to write something ordinary and don't want to bother with servers or platforms like CSDN, or even don't want to bother with deploying static pages on GitHub or Vercel, Xlog is a good choice. In about ten minutes, you can have your own beautiful homepage at zero cost, so it's definitely worth a try.
Afterword#
I really don't know what to write in the afterword. This is a very simple evaluation, but overall, I don't think there will be much difference compared to a deep evaluation after extensive use. The ease of use is because there are not many features, so there are not many things to explore. I hope that naine can gain some valuable information from reading this and not feel like it was a waste of time. The reason for publishing it here is also to present it more intuitively. By the way, I only changed the theme color a little bit.