All About Malayalam Blogs

Where to Find

• Malayalam-BlogSheet: Recent Malayalam Blog posts presented in a friendly layout. Reliability of Google Blog Search. Constant updates. Wide coverage. - Category List.
  
• Google Malayalam Blog Posts: Based on Google's Malayalam-Blog search. Lists almost all Malayalam Blog posts published in major blog domains, to-date. - Complete List.
  
• Malayalam-BlogList: A list of most recent 100 posts. Fast loading with auto-refresh every 10 minutes. - Short List.
  
• Pure Malayalam Blogroll: Complete list of recent Malayalam Blog entries based on Google's blog search; developed by Evuraan. Entries are filtered for inappropriate content.
  
• Chintha Aggreagator: Categorized list by Chintha.com. Blogs get listed on request.
• Cyberjalakam: Widget based aggregator. Blogs get listed on registration.
  
• Malayalam Blog Portal: Wiki based blog portal run by reader input.
• Kerala Blog Roll: A mixed list of Malayalam and English blogs.
• Tapioca: Search for blogs using Malayalam keywords. Same as Google search with Mozhi input.

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Following techniques for reading and writing work not just for blogs, but for any Malayalam content generation such as for MS Word documents.

How to Read

• Try Anjali Font Installer by Cibu first.
  

          If it didn't work, follow the step by step instructions below.

1. Download the latest unicode font AnjaliOldLipi and save in Windows Font folder.
2. Restart the Computer.
3. In Internet Explorer go to Tools, Internet Options, Fonts, Select Malayalam from the pull down menu and select AnjaliOldLipi as the font.

In fact, any Malayalam unicode font including the default font Kartika, shipped with the Windows should do the trick. However, Kartika being the modern lipi, most people prefer AnjaliOldLipi

How to Write

1. Go to Start, Control Panel, Regional and Language Options, Languages (tab) and select Install files for complex script and .....
2. Visit Blogger and start your own blog.
3. Choose any of the five options mentioned below for text input.

Enable Malayalam Blogging in Blogger

Read more about this here.

Use Mozhi Keymap

Using Mozhi Keymap for Malayalam writing is the easiest way. After downloading and installing, you will see a diamond on the right hand bottom side (taskbar) of the desktop. Click on it and click on the Malayalam letter 'ka'. The diamond will change to 'ka'. From now on anything you type on the computer will be in Malayalam.

Tip: Use Notepad for typing and save text as UTF-8 document. Copy paste the text into blogger window. This is faster and safer than direct input.

Use Varamozhi

Another option is to use Varamozhi for writing. Download and follow the instructions. Don't forget to use the Export to Unicode option.

Use Google Indic Transliteration, Varamozhi Online or Ilamozhi

Use Google Indic Transliteration (help), Varamozhi Online by Peringodan or Ilamozhi by Deign, if you have restrictions in downloading software to your computer.

Use Inscript Keyboard

Above three options use the technique of transliteration, that is, malayalam letters being generated from combinations of English letters. This means, one has to learn English letters first to type in Malayalam letters. In inscript keyboard, each Malayalam letter gets a key assigned in the keaboard. Visit Ralminov's blog for details.

Help

1. Tips on setting your blog. Read Adithyan's suggestions too.
2. Problems? Read Varamozhi Project Page, FAQ 1, FAQ 2 , Wakari's instructions in Malayalam or Adyakshari
3. Here is a quick reference to help you with the letters. You will also need this help to write Koottaksharams.
4. Advanced setup such as font embedding can be found in Ralminov's blog.
5. Need a Malayalam Dictionary? Click here.
   

How to Get Listed

Readers come to know about the existence of your blog and publication of new entries in your blog by visiting the several blog rolls mentioned in the Where to Find section.

1. If your blog has enough Malayalam content it will automatically get listed in the Thanimalayalam blog aggregator and Google's blog search. However, it might take a few days for Google and therefore Thanimalayalam aggregator to find your blog after you publish it for the first time. You can expedite this process by submitting your blog here.
2. To get listed in the Chintha.com blog roll send an email to editor AT chintha dotcom
3. To get listed in the Kerala blog roll visit this site http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~mp/contact.shtml
   

 

How to Liberate Your Blog

Some of the links to your blog will open your page in their own frame. Copy/paste the following script on top of your template (Add a Gadget), so that visitors don't see an unwanted frame around your blog.

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
if (top.location
!= self.location) {

top.location.replace(self.location);            //pop to top
}
</script>

What Else?

Blog Responsibly: Blogging provides one of the freest medium of expressions. However, the blog service providers and the blog rolls are bound by the rules of the countries they operate in. In addition, blog rolls are hosted by individuals and they might have their own conditions for a blog to be listed.

Protect Your Privacy: Identity theft is billions of dollars worth illegal activity. You can reduce the chances of getting victimized by withholding your private data such as name, address and birth date from your blog and comments.

How to Solve the Font Issue: Click Here

How to Solve the Font Issue

For some of the readers, the chillu letters will appear as letter+chandrakkala, instead of the proper chillu. If this happens,

1. Make sure that you deleted any old AnjaliOldLipi font from the Windows font folder and installed the latest one.
2. If step 1 did not solve the problem, it could be because you have an older version of usp10.dll file in the Windows/System32 folder. Download and unzip this file. Eventhough, this is an exe file you can unzip it. You will find a usp10.cab file. Unzip that too to get the usp10.dll file. Remember the location you saved it.
3. Download and run this program. You will be asked the location of the new usp10.dll file.
4. After installation cancel the Windows warning and choose to keep the new file.
5. Restart the computer.

If everything went alright, you should be able to read the proper chillu in the sentence below. Else, you might still have an older version of usp10.dll somewhere in your computer. Do a search for usp10.dll and check the version of the other files (right click, properties, version). It should be 1.47 or later. If not, at this point, just replacing all of them with the new version and restarting might work. Please read the comments here. If nothing works...

...പിന്നെയും ശങ്കരന്‍ തെങ്ങേല്‍ തന്നെ.

Learn All About Malayalam Blogs

Malayalam Blog Dictionary

Aggregator = A software that frequently checks blogs for new content and displays the new content in a single place for easy reading.

Anjalioldlipi = Most widely used Malayalam unicode font, created by Kevin. Displays the Malayalam letters in old lipi, most satisfactorly.

Atom = A machine readable format of a blog entry.

Blog = A web site with a difference where a blogger publishes posts on a regular bais as in a personal diary. Originated from the word weblog. Permits interaction between writer and reader.

Blogger = A person who blogs. Also, a blog service from Google.

Blogroll = A list of blogs.

Blogspot = Part of the domain name in a Blogger blog provided by Google.

Feed = A machine readable form of a blog entry.

Feed Reader = A computer program for reading the subscribed feeds. e.g. Google Reader.

Kartika = Default unicode font supplied with Windows. Not popular being new lipi.

Keyman = A program by Tavultesoft to create keyboard maps such as Mozhi.

Mozhi = A program for typing Malayalam using English letters. Unlike Varamozhi, direct entry into a field is possible. Doesn't permit saving the document locally. Developed by Peringodan.

Pinmozhikal = Malayalam comment aggragation system existed until June 2007. Archives.

RSS = Realy Simple Syndication. Another format for machine readable blog entries.

Thanimalayalam = A blogroll where only Malayalam blogs are listed. Based on Google's blogsearch. If a blog has sufficient Malayalam content it will automatically get listed. Developed by Evuraan.

qw_er_ty: Keyword for preventing a comment being forwarded to Pinmozhikal.

Unicode = Internationally accepted format for the digital representation of languages other than that uses English letters.

Varamozhi = A program for generating Malayalam letters from English keyboard developed by Cibu C. J. More functional than Mozhi.

Wordpress = Another blog service similar to Blogger.

Learn All About Malayalam Blogs: Click Here

History of Malayalam Blogs

Blogging like activity among malayalees started first around 1996 on now extinct guestbook of Kerala.com. They used an ASCII font Kerala.ttf using the predecessor of Varamozhi, Madhuri. This activitiy continued for about three years and stopped. When commercial blogging services were made available a few years later, Malayalam online writing gained popularity. Advent of unicode fonts and transliteration tools such as Varmozhi and Mozhi contributed to the spreading of online malayalam writing. (Read more: 1, 2). The publicity that followed the Malayalam Blog meet in Kochi, July 2006 boosted the popularity of Malayalam blogging (see graph below).

Figure 1: Interest in Malayalam Blogs based on monthly average of unique visitors to this blog (May 2006 - Sep. 2009). Uncorrected for search engine parameters. The spike near August 2006 corresponds to the media coverage of the first Kochi Blog Meet.

From year 2004 to 2009 an exponential 'explosion' in the number of published Malayalam blog posts can be observed (Figure 2). While in year 2004, only 16 unicode blog posts where published, in year 2009, the number is going to well exceed 1 lakh. Future of any language depends on how well its users adapt to emerging technologies. From this perspective, Malayalam language seems to have a bright future.

Figure 2. Number of Malayalam blog posts from year 2004 to Sep. 2009 based on Google blog search.



Posting date: September 09, 2009