Tagged: design RSS

  • michael 1:10 pm on 9 June 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Adobe Illustrator, colors, CS3, , design, HTML, pretty,   

    Blogging Software 

    I’m building an awesome new blog for our very own June Steckler, and I’m looking around for a design program that won’t cost me $500. When I do my own stuff, I usually just hand-code stuff with CSS and HTML, but that won’t work for what she wants. I need some actually pretty pretty.

    I realize that the right thing to do at this point is sub-contract to an actual designer, but I’m working in trade for original awesome artwork, and I’m not sure I can really offer somebody 1/3 of a painting.

    Anybody use anything on a mac that they really like for web design, that is either cheap or free?

     

    • Stick 5:53 pm on 9 June 2009 Permalink

      iWeb baby!

    • Zack 6:20 pm on 9 June 2009 Permalink

      I’ve been using Rapidweaver for the Mac for years. I love it. In addition to some really tasteful templates, you can hand-code just about anything, as it allows full access to all the HTML, etc.

  • michael 11:55 am on 14 July 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , design, DNS, , , , , , , ,   

    Results from the Blog Survey 

    The first 50 results from the survey are in. If any of you want to see the raw data, click the photo below, and it will take you to the survey report page. (quick note: click the plus sign on the right edge of the red bar at the bottom, and it will let you add all of the answers to the questions, so that you can see the raw data)


    wufoo surver results

    A few observations:

    Fully half of you identify yourselves as lurkers. I think that’s funny, and a little creepy. Kinda like having a backyard BBQ with 300 people standing in the shadows watching you and your friends talk.

    I’m surprised that more people don’t use RSS to track with the site. This is the inverse of most blogs – in most cases, significantly more people use RSS feeds to read the content than visit the actual site. I think this means that ARD has a lot of readers who are outside of the blogging mainstream. They visit this site, but don’t have a regular list of blogs that they read. I think that’s cool. I also think that if they know more about RSS, they would totally be into it.

    I like that most of you think it should be up to me to decide when to change the look of the site. It means my plan to beat you all into sheep-like submission is working.

    The consensus seems to be toward a blog layout that favors the core text, without so much dead weight on the sidebar. I like this idea, and I think the next design for the site will move that direction. Also, some of you have real daddy issues. I’m just saying.

    Google ads vs. Tip jar, and the winner is google ads. Cool. I think it’s funny that the people who seemed to be the most upset by any sort of monetization (the “pay for it yourself” answer) were overwhelmingly people who identified themselves as fringe (lurkers, visiting once a week, via RSS only).

    A quick word on that – when I started the site, I paid for the hosting out of my own pocket. No worries, it was like 7 bucks a month, and I considered it more than justified for the enjoyment it brought me as a side hobby. Then, when we started to get an uptick in readers, and more authors joined, I started hitting my bandwidth limit for the site (how much data you’re allowed to move in a month). Starting last August, the multiple authors started putting media content up (mp3s, videos, etc.). I think this is very cool, and I’d like to see a lot more of it. In fact, I think the fact that this site produces more content than commentary is one of the driving features.

    But here’s what that means for hosting costs. When Chad posted “God Of My Future“, it was about a 5 MB file. Within a month of being posted, it had been downloaded about 1,000 times. That’s roughly 5 Gigabytes of bandwidth for just one mp3. “Ring Them Bells“, which I posted about a year ago, still gets abut 200 downloads a month. That’s another Gig of bandwidth. You get the picture. We started blowing through our allotted bandwidth within the first two weeks of each month, and the overages started getting very expensive. Just to reiterate, I do NOT want the solution to be less media posting. I love the media. Keep it coming.

    The beauty of the google ads solution is that, as more people visit the site, more people click the ads, and the more revenue is generated. It balances the bandwidth issue nicely. Right now it’s pretty much perfectly balanced with hosting costs. On the months that more income comes in than goes out, I slip the extra off to someone else, like Real Live Preacher. On months where less comes in, I make Sophia roam the streets with a tin cup.

    Eventually, I’ll probably have to lease an entire server somewhere, to host all of the sites I’m running:
    Addison Road
    The Bible Podcast
    APU Music Tech
    Details of the Day
    30dropframe
    nickandmarisa.com
    The Logic Pro
    EDU Tech Talk
    SophiaLee.com
    Doulos Media
    and coming soon, The Dailies (get off your butt and get me a domain name, Chaddy-poo).

    The cool thing about that will be much more bandwidth, much more storage, total control over the software configuration, and if any of you guys want websites (www.bonowannabe.com, anyone?), kick me like $10 for the domain name, and it’s off an running. In fact, I can probably do that now, if you’re interested.

    So, that’s the state of the blog. I’m off to start work on a text-based, emotionally distant blog design. Happy posting, everyone.

     

    • Jeremy 12:12 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Let me know when you get your private server. It’s a nice thing to have. And going to the storage company is awe inpiring. Rows and rows of computers humming away. I talk to them when I’m there. Incase they become self aware I want them to think of me as a friend.

      Oh and one of these days I’ll get this whole RSS feed up and running. If it’s any consolation I have RSS feeds on my modded Xbox so dont think of me as a total tech doofus.

    • michael lee 12:20 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Imagine if your self-aware servers started reading the RSS feeds of your mad XBox game skills, and they got together with your Mr. Coffee to mock you behind your back. The thought of it keeps me up at night.

      I don’t think the RSS thing is a lack of technical skill. For most people, I think it’s a case of useage – it’s only worth the hassle of setting up if you keep tabs daily on a bunch of blogs. For people who only have one or two that they check, it’s probably not worth it.

      That’s why I think it’s indicative of the type of reader who shows up here – they don’t come becase they like blogs, they come because they like this blog. I might be reading too much into it, but the data was so skewed from the norm that I think it calls for some kind of interpretations.

    • Chad 2:10 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Just FYI, all of you who downloaded the free demo of “God of My Future” are morally and most likely legally obligated to buy the CD when it comes out Oct. 1. Feel free to start writing checks, all of you. We promise to keep track.

    • Sharolyn 2:52 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Chad – How does one purchase “God of My Future”? And do I get a free CD for posting that question?

      And what is an RSS? I am a monogamous to Addison Road. (Could you tell, since I don’t know what an RSS is?) And who has time for multiple blogs? I can barely keep up with Phil and Aly.

    • michael lee 3:03 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Basically, RSS is a way of transmitting information that’s been stripped of it’s context. Nobody can agree on what it stands for (really!) but most people say “Really Simple Syndication”. Our websited publishes what’s called an “RSS Feed”. A prettied up version of our feed looks like this:

      http://feeds.feedburner.com/addisonrd

      It takes the content of a website, rips off all of the pretty grapics, and translates all of the information like date posted, author, comments, etc. and puts it in a format that’s standardized and readable by computers.

      People can then use something called an RSS Reader to subscribe to the feeds of their favorite site. All of the content gets gathered together into one easy to read page, and you can quickly flip through all of the updated posts in a matter of minutes.

      I use something called Net News Wire, which is made by NewsGator. I follow about 200 blogs, and by using an RSS reader, it takes me about 5 minutes to sift through all of them in the morning.

    • aly hawkins 3:27 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Sharolyn – Phil and Aly can barely keep up with Phil and Aly. You are not alone.

    • Sharolyn 3:56 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      How in the world do you sort through 200 blogs in 5 mintues? Maybe you are like that Mike Myers hypoglycemic character, running through Central Park pulling an unearthed jungle gym on your leash. Or maybe it’s the Peet’s Coffee.

      Does the RSS summarize like this?:

      Aly: It’s grace.
      Phil: It’s other stuff, too.
      Aly: Yea, but mainly, grace.
      Phil: Don’t forget the other stuff.
      Aly: Hmm, mostly grace.
      etc.

      What really gets me is that I think all of y’all’s writings are first drafts, freshly shot out of the brain. By the time I thought about whatever topic enough, it would be SO five minutes ago.

      I’ll go try to think of something profound…

    • Chad 4:23 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      HAHHAHAHAA SHAROLYN FUNNY!

    • aly hawkins 4:50 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      “Hmm, mostly grace” is my new personal slogan. And it would make a great tagline (Michael).

      I don’t know how Phil operates, but my comments in conversation with him are most definitely NOT first drafts. The first drafts read something like “Waaah, you’re mean and more conservative than James W. Sheely and my mommy can beat up your mommy, waaaah.” Then I take a couple of hours to do my yoga and let the tranqs kick in, and revise, revise, revise.

      Phillip the Hyperactive-Hypoglycemic is one of my all-time favorite Mike Myers characters. Right up there with Lothar of the Hill People.

    • june 5:17 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Do any of the Addison Road authors write for any other blogs? (Other than the 73 other sites that Michael hosts in his free time. Say Mike, at what age did you give up sleeping?) I’m a part of a baby blog called Blog Mamas. It’s mostly motherly blather thus far. That’s what I like about AR: it may be blather, but it’s blather with a purpose. Or at least, fancy-shmancy, big-worded blather.

      Michael, sign me up for a website. I’ll throw ya the dime you asked for. Oh wait, was it ten whole dollars?!

      Sometimes when I’m reading Aly & Phil discussions, I imagine it all as a radio talkshow. Hmmm…and since Michael wants more and more media…

    • june 5:19 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      No but, seriously, I do want a site.

    • Sharolyn 5:38 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Aly, I should have known that you would know “Phillip”‘s name! And, ‘comforting to know you need to taylor your thoughts.

      June, how old is your baby? I just had one three weeks ago. He’s a keeper. I never imagined loving somebody who pees on me pretty much daily.

    • june 5:45 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Oh, by “baby blog” I meant that it just started recently. My “baby” is a baby no more: he turned two in April. Congrats on your little pee-er!

    • Sharolyn 6:02 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      GGOOTT IIITTT.
      Sharolyn is feeling foolish.
      I hope I maintain any credibility on the basis of sleep deprivation.

    • aly hawkins 6:46 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      June – I think the HarmAly Radio Show idea is TERRIBLE.

      1) Please read my previous comment about first drafts. I’m guessing my off-the-cuff remarks recorded for posterity would sound achingly similar, which can only help my nemesis’s cause. (Sorry, Phil. Unless you were hoping to be my nemesis. Then, congratulations.)

      2) Phil has a radio-friendly voice. I, on the other hand, sound like a 14-year-old Valley Girl on speed.

      The only way I can even hope to hold my own in these discussions is by staring into space for countless minutes, tapping out a few words, staring into space for more countless minutes, erasing what I just wrote, doing a shot of Jack, taking an inventory of my insect bites, picking my nose, IMing with a friend about nothing in particular, folding a load of laundry, taking the dog for a walk, and then starting the whole process again. I hardly think that’s a recipe for compelling radio.

      But I’m enormously flattered you suggested it.

    • june 9:34 pm on 14 July 2006 Permalink

      Aly dear, if you thought and/or spoke off the top of your head in the same words that you write, I would find you eerily frightening and somehow, unbalanced and out of touch. The fact that you have to think, rethink, consume stimulants, seek the company of a canine and rethink again before you compose a compelling post makes you real and gives your thoughts and words more merit.

      And I still say the radio idea is a good one. Though, “HarmAly” sounds like a tofu-based marmalade from Trader Joe’s.

      Sharolyn, the fact that, at three weeks postpartum, you are typing out coherent words, makes you utterly and impressively credible. Again, congrats on the bambino!

    • ash 1:44 am on 15 July 2006 Permalink

      June & Sharolyn,

      Please allow me to inform you that my wife is actually as articulate and razor sharp as you expect she is. I am the nose picker & and the dog walker, she is the grammatically correct compelling one.

    • michael lee 3:56 am on 15 July 2006 Permalink

      June – email me about the site, and I’ll get it setup for you. michael (at) addisonrd (dot) com.

      And, I do have a very hard time sleeping at night. My mind is the last thing to shut down, and it just keeps churning and churning until I beat it down into silence. The only two things that do this are tequila, and writing computer code. Since I don’t want to spend my 30′s sliding into raging alcoholism, I kill my brain off at night by tapping out little snippets of code.

      Insomnia sucks. I think my brain is broken, and I’d like to see someone about getting a loaner until Kaiser gets around to fixing this one.

    • june 9:19 am on 15 July 2006 Permalink

      Michael, UGH…I’m so sorry! Glad you choose code over Tequila most nights.

      Ok, this may fall solidly in the dorkarama column, but I’ve wondered if adults suffering from insomnia could be soothed to sleep by an automated rocking hammock…ya know, like a baby is rocked to sleep? I don’t know…might just be annoying and uncomfortable. I thought of it during the middle of the night once when I was getting one of my littles back to sleep.

    • Rob 12:32 pm on 19 July 2006 Permalink

      Great blog! I’ve added a link to your blog on Blog of the Day under the category of Design. To view the feature of your blog, please visit http://blogoftheday.org/page/111692

    • aly hawkins 5:10 pm on 19 July 2006 Permalink

      Wow, Michael…pretty cool to be complemented for your democracy.

    • michael lee 6:58 pm on 19 July 2006 Permalink

      The best dictators always give their underlings people the illusion of participation in government. It keeps them mollified just long enough to subvert the revolution.

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