As far as formatting, you can find scans of the originals all over the place on the internet. The Library Company of Philadelphia has a good portal for the almanacs, explaining both Franklin and his writings.

In short, even though Franklin lived most of his life in the great cities of the Atlantic world (Boston, Philadelphia, London, and Paris), he still lived in a society that was largely rural. Most diarists began their entries with descriptions of the weather, and almanacs existed primarily to help farmers predict the weather based on trends (like "it always snows the second week of February"). The books could also include short stories, simple poems, words of wisdom, and morality tales, all of which Franklin excelled at. Poor Richard's mastery of simple wit made it the popular almanac on the market for its time.