Author markup best practices, icons for links, and a Coywolf app sneak peek
Yes, it’s been over a month since I emailed a newsletter. My philosophy is that if I don’t have anything interesting to send, why force it. We already get enough junk in our Inbox, and some of the worst email newsletters care more about frequency and repetition than quality. I hope that some or all of the following will be of interest to you.
Google search adds author markup best practices
Filed under “things get popular, and many people don’t do it correctly,” Google felt the need to respond to publishers improperly using the Schema structured data author type on articles. Google Search has published new author markup best practices.

How to use iconography to inform readers about external links
I recently got inspired to append contextual icons to certain external links on Coywolf. I think they improve the user experience and can increase high-intent clicks. Here’s how to do it.

Putting Apple search engine rumors to rest
Leading up to Apple’s 2022 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), rumors swirled, yet again, about Apple launching a search engine that will directly compete against Google Search. I’ve written about this before, and my take on it is that Apple already has a search engine. It’s Spotlight, and it’s already baked into everything they do.

A sneak peek at Coywolf App
I’m (slowly) building a web-native minimalist contact manager focused on efficiency and speed because I want it to exist. The progressive web app (PWA) will support automation via third-party integrations, native contact apps via CardDAV, and be free to use. You can learn more and signup for updates at coywolf.app.

Open Graph Checker Chrome extension
For a weekend project, I worked with the same developer helping me create the contact manager to create a Chrome extension that checks and previews Open Graph metadata. If a page has the necessary Open Graph metadata, it will display a preview of its image, title, and description with the extension. The extension will also report if the image, title, or description are missing. The extension is called Open Graph Checker and is available to download for free.
