Pottery Barn Trunk
Let’s talk about trunks!
Or more precisely, let’s look at stylish trunks used as coffee and side tables—and also discuss why I’m making a change to how my posts are delivered.
I’ve been blogging for five years, and the online world has evolved a lot in that time. When I started there wasn’t much guidance on how to build a blog—no established playbook, few large examples to follow—so many of us learned by trial and error. Blogging still feels new in many ways; we adapt as we go and make choices that feel right as opportunities arise.
That learning-by-doing spirit is part of blogging’s charm, but it also means we need to protect the time and effort that goes into creating original content.
Country Living
For years many readers used RSS feeds and feed readers to follow their favorite blogs. A blog’s feed address made it easy to aggregate posts in one place for convenient reading. I’ve used readers too, though I often prefer visiting the actual blog to enjoy the full visual experience: banners, sidebars, and the overall design. Still, feed readers are a helpful way to stay organized.
Recently, however, the convenience of full post RSS feeds has been exploited. Some sites pull entire blog posts from feeds and republish them as their own content. That’s not the same as sharing an excerpt with proper credit or featuring another blogger with a link—it’s wholesale copying of work we created for our own sites.
Pottery Barn Trunk Side Table
Taking whole posts—sometimes every post—robs creators of the value and credit they deserve. Crafting a thoughtful post takes time: researching, photographing, editing, and writing. It’s rewarding, but it’s also a lot of work. Reposting entire entries without permission undermines that work and the effort bloggers put into building their sites.
Creating original content is hard work. Protecting it matters.
Because of these abuses, many bloggers I follow and I have decided to change how our feeds operate. Starting with this post, you will not be able to read the full article anywhere except on The Inspired Room (or via the email subscription if you receive posts that way). The RSS feed will be truncated so readers will see an image and an excerpt with a link back to the full post on the site.
If you use a reader, you’ll see a preview and can click through to read the full post on The Inspired Room when it’s convenient for you.
Note: If you use Chrome, there are options that preserve the reader experience while respecting truncated feeds; you can explore browser-specific tools to streamline reading without encouraging content theft.
Pottery Barn Coffee Table Trunk
My blog will remain free to read and enjoy. Nothing about the content or how I share it on the site is changing—only how posts appear in feed readers. Excerpts and titles will still appear so you know when new content is available, similar to how I announce posts on social media.
Email subscribers are the exception for now: if you receive posts by email, you will continue to get full posts as a convenience.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding. I’m grateful to have readers who value original content and who help make blogging a positive, creative space. Let’s stand together against content theft and keep blogging original, ethical, and fun for everyone.
Thanks again for your encouragement over the past five years—I’m excited for what comes next!