Archive for August, 2007

What are your favorite websites (design-wise)? We all want to know.

Here’s how it works:

• You submit the URLs of websites with cool designs via the contact form (or the post comments). Try to think up a few sites, and submit the URLs in one message (I’d prefer not to get 27 emails per person…).
• After a week or so, the entire list of links (and image previews) will be posted in a Smashing Magazine-style post. So, I’d recommend using the contact form so as to avoid spoiling the anticipation.

You may submit your own blog, but only if it’s a truly exceptional (and unique) design. So if you use Misty Look or No So Fresh, your site is definitely not eligible.

Submit any cool-looking site you’ve seen, and you’re own if it’s designed well. I’ll be adding a few designs to the mix, and exercising editorial control over the submissions (read: filtering out spam submissions). Have fun, and get your entries in (remember: submit them in one batch!).

Tired of managing your comments the hard way? Wordpress’s comments manager isn’t as easy to use as it could be, and it takes up a lot of time if you check for new comments, then go over to the individual post pages to reply. There’s a better way.

The Better Comments Manager makes it easier for you to manage and reply to the endless comments posted on your blog. An entry for the manager is added to the Wordpress admin, where you can approve/disprove comments, edit them, respond, etc. Definitely worth a look.

• Does your blog need a redesign? Benefits of a Blog Redesign.
• Did you know that Blogger has a secret version of their system that allows you access to upcoming features before they’re released? It’s called Blogger in Draft.
• Big webcasters agree to royalty crap, er cap, deal.
• Pro Blog Design has written a review of NTugo.com’s design.
• Looking for some icons? Smashing Magazine has 20+ more icon sets for you to have fun with.
• When testing a new design, it’s a good idea to test at various screen resolutions. Lifehacker has instructions on resizing Firefox to exact pixel dimensions for this reason. Or you could just use the Web Developer Toolbar…
• eMonetized.com has an interesting contest going. Four people who enter will have 125×125 ads placed on JohnChow.com (which would run you $500/month normally). All you have to do to enter is link to eMonetized withing the guidelines described in the post.
• How do you spell? Hopefully not with chat-speak… Really, do you use favorite or favourite? Color or colour?
• ProBlogger has released another one of those wonderful reader-submitted links posts. I’ve been enjoying reading them, ad I hope The ProBlogger continues to do something similar, even after the 31 Days to a Better Blog series ends. They don’t necessarily have to be reader-submitted, but they could have a new twist on the same idea. I like reading through the large quantities of links.
• Guide to Using DualFeeds with FeedBurner.
• As most of you will probably know, Lightbox is a JavaScript library introduced a couple years back. It’s goal was to make viewing image galleries easier. A plethora of spin-off projects have appeared, each introducing their own improvements. Which Lightbox is right for you?

RSS subscribers = repeat readers.

Whether they visit your actual blog every day, or just read your posts in their feed reader, RSS subscribers are an invaluable asset. They’re likely to be frequent commentors, and they’re most certainly loyal readers who will come back frequently. How do you make the numbers on your subscriber count go up?

1. Use full feeds. A lot of RSS-users prefer them, so they can read your posts quicker and not have to wait for your pages to load. I used to use summary feeds, but I recently switched and have seen an increase in subscribers (partly due to a StumbleUpon traffic spike, but I imagine they don’t mind the full feeds). You should be aware that Wordpress 2.1 and above cuts-off your feed content anywhere you place a <!–more–> tag. You can stop that “feature” by using the Full Text Feed plugin. If you don’t want to decide whether you should use full content feeds or not (there are plenty of arguements either way), then you could try out the DualFeeds plugin, which allows you to offer both full and summary feeds.
2. Place your RSS link prominently. You want your feed to be noticed. Put it above the fold if you can, and make sure it’s pretty visible, as you can see on this blog’s sidebar, as well as ProBlogger’s and Smashing Magazine’s.
3. Offer email subscriptions. Not everyone uses RSS. Luckily, FeedBurner has a service that allows you to offer email subscriptions to your feed. Subscribers to email updates will receive one email per day, but only on days that you post. It works well.
4. Put a subscription link at the bottoms of your posts. You have your RSS link above the fold, but don’t forget this useful trick! Okay, people are coming in from Digg, StumbleUpon, Google, and other traffic sources. They read down through your article. When they get to the bottom, they should optimally be offered a chance to subscribe to your feed. You’d be surprised how much your subscriber count can increase by doing this. Examples (scroll to bottoms of posts): Webmaster-Source, ProBlogger, Pro Blog Design.
5. Don’t forget AutoDiscovery! Make sure that you have a <link> tag (pointing to your feed) in your blog’s <head>. Some people prefer to use their browser’s AutoDiscovery feature to subscribe to feeds.
6. Have a “Subscribe” page. Add a page to your blog that offers subscription buttons, and explains what RSS is. Can’t explain RSS? Copyblogger.com lets you copy their “What the Heck is RSS?” page onto your blog. Then there’s a great video tutorial I found on ProBlogger.

Do you run a multi-author Wordpress blog? When it gets bigger, someone may (eventually) want the ability to subscribe to a single author’s posts. It’s possible, and it’s ridiculously simple to do. Don’t underestimate the power of the Wordpress Template Tags!

You can add an Author RSS subscription link to any post page with a simple line of code:

<a href="<?php bloginfo('url'); ?>/?feed=rss2&author=<?php the_author_ID(); ?>"><?php the_author(); ?></a>

This will output the post author’s name, linked to an RSS 2.0 feed of their posts. Easy!

I’m surprised that so many people don’t realize you can do this.

Blogsolid is a blog about blogging. The tagline “ideas for better blogging” describes the site well.

Their content is good, and their design is amazing. It’s got a great natural/ancient/paper/etc kind of look to it. Though it’s a light-on-dark design, it’s been pulled-off well, and it’s not really that hard on the eyes.

Unlike most blogs, Blogsolid has taken the “Splash-Screen” approach, though I have to admit it’s one of those rare cases where it works (without being annoying). The splash page isn’t done with Flash either, which is a big plus. The splash page adds to the site, and does a great job of setting the tone. Note: Don’t try this at home! (more…)

• ProBlogger’s 31 Days to a Better Blog series continues with 113 Must Read Blogging Tips, another collection of reader-submitted links.
• Looking to make some more $$$ off your blog? Take a look at 101 Ways to Monetize Your Website or Blog.
• Full feeds or summaries? Scores of readers will scream “FULL!”, but in the end it’s up to the blog owner. Take your pick, or offer both with the DualFeeds plugin for Wordpress.
• Want to start a forum? Mashable has yet another huge list that may help you there. 70+ Resources for Creating a Forum.
• Pro Blog Design has another design tip to offer. Make Sense of Your Blog With Proximity teaches you how to group blog elements in logical ways.
• StumbleUpon is a great way to pull traffic to your blog. Blog-op’s Be A Good Stumbler post covers the basics of StumbleUpon…and how not to annoy the heck out of the Stumblers.
• Comments… They allow your readers to respond to your posts and they make things harder for you as a webmaster. 5 Comment Management Plugins for Wordpress helps you manage your blog’s comments, and improve your users’ commenting experience.
• YouTube is now putting ads in their videos. Instead of annoying pre-roll ads, they’re using a less intrusive ad design that overlays the bottom of the video for 10 seconds, and allows you to close it immediately. Profits from the $20CPM (minimum) ads are split with the publishers. 70% of users leave when they see a pre-roll ad, so good move, Google.
• I didn’t know this, but some moron has been trying to patent virtual subdomains. You read that right. The technology that allows sites like Blogger, Newssvine, or any other site that gives you an URL like you.thesite.com to function. The Apache Web Server has been using this for years, and someone’s trying to patent it!
• Is your blog a mess? Maybe you should read 50 Tips to Unclutter Your Blog. By the time you’re done, you’re blog should look like an iPod (clean, simplistic, uncluttered).
• Want more reader-submitted tips from ProBlogger? There’s more, all right.
• The Opera web browser has a cool feature called “Speed Dial”, which shows a grid of nine thumbnail buttons on every new tab. It allows you to jump to oft-used sites easily. Well, we Firefox users can do that now too with the Speed Dial Extension.
• Wordpress Cheat Sheets.

Is it a good idea to have more than one blog? Why or why not?

• Argument #1: No, because you’ll be spreading yourself too thin. You’ll be spending twice as much time on maintenance, ad optimization, link-building, writing, etc.
• Argument #2: Yes, because you can write about more than one subject. You’d get bored writing about the same thing every day.

Both are good points. You definitely don’t want to get bored with your blog’s topic, but it’s not a good idea to double your workload. If you’re a serious blogger, you could already be spending over three hours a day doing blog-related things. You don’t want to double that, do you? (more…)

Welcome back to Design Spotlight! I know it’s been awhile, but there have been a lot of other things to post about. Today we tackle Pro Blog Design.

ProBlogDesign has a cool, well-designed, template sporting a three-column layout. [Random thought here: We need to come up with a short name for this type of layout. It's awkward to say "Three-columned layout with the two sidebars positioned to the right."] The template uses few images, and features interesting positioning.

The logo (featured in 78 Inspirational Logos) sits inline with some useful text links, positioned at opposing ends of the screen. Floating atop some a green-striped background, the logo text is white, but almost metallic, somewhat reminiscent of the current iMac’s white finish. (more…)

Don’t settle for an <h1> tag, put a cool logo at the top of your blog!

If you’re starting a new website, or revamping an existing one, spend a bit of time thinking-out a logo. If your site doesn’t have one, get one as soon as possible. A good logo tells users where they are, and implants your site in their brains. Look at the image below:

The image shows Smashing Magazine with and without it’s logo. I purposefully picked a site with a spartan layout so you wouldn’t be distracted from my point. Which looks more memorable? The bottom or the top? Obviously the top.

Logos are important. Take a look at any business and they’re sure to have a logo (though the cool factor may be lacking). Amazon, CNN, Pizza Hut, etc, they all have logos. Obviously your website shouldn’t be without one. Logo making doesn’t take much work, just Photoshop (and a little experience), some creativity, a little inspiration, and a bit of time.

Photoshop costs $630, so I can’t help you there (sorry). If you don’t have Photoshop and you’re on a budget, you may want to take a look at the much cheaper Photoshop Elements, which can do most of the essentials, though it has a few features stripped-out. Creativity and time are up to you as well, but I can help you with the inspiration bit.

Here are some notable logos. Take a look at them, maybe they’ll give you some ideas. (more…)