Archive for October, 2007

The blog of web designer and developer Jonathan Snook, Snook.ca has one of the most interesting designs I’ve seen in the past couple of months.

The design is clean and simple, yet no space is wasted. My 1024×768 pixels of screen resolution are filled, leaving no extra space around the design’s edges. I can only speculate what it looks like on a bigger monitor, as it doesn’t appear to be a liquid layout. However, if I resize my browser window to 800×600 the header looks a little odd (see below image). (more…)

Just a reminder: The contest to name Webmaster-Source’s new podcast ends on November 3rd. So get your name submissions in while you can!

For those who are new, here’s a quick recap of the contest:

• Think of a name for a podcast about blogging, web design, and all things internet. Post it in the comments here or email it to matt [at] webmaster-source.com.
• Whoever picks the best name will be awarded a free banner slot on Webmaster-Source for 30 days. Should I prefer to use a name not submitted to the contest, the banner will go to a random entrant.

Also, if you’re interested in being on the show to talk about a blogging-related topic, please let me know.

Wordpress is a great blogging package, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. There are several things that I want added/fixed, but who knows when (if ever) they will be addressed.

Instead of complaining randomly, I’ve assembled a prioritized “Top 6″ list of things that need adding/fixing. The top two on the list are important, and pretty much everyone wants to see the points addressed. The WP developers really need to get to work on them.

If you have anything to add, mention it in the comments. What bugs you about Wordpress? What killer feature (that can’t be done well as a plugin) does Wordpress need?

Without further delay, rambling, or anything like that, here is the list: (more…)

Yesterday, Amazon changed their design. Oddly, though, it had been replaced with the original by this morning. Even more strangely, this isn’t the first time this has happened. About a month ago, an earlier version of this design was put online, only to be removed the next day. Are they testing a new design, but they’re not quite ready to make it permanent?

Luckily, I was smart enough to snag a screenshot of the new design:

(more…)

• Going Beyond the Blog - How to Extend Your Blog. Once you have a few hundred RSS subscribers, and some decent comment counts, how can you add to the “community” aspect of your blog? Go beyond the blog.
• How Old Are ProBlogger Readers? Since 90% of bloggers (I made that statistic up by the way) read ProBlogger, these stats have some meaning.
• No .com? Add the Domain Extension to Your Name and Logo
• Protecting Your PHP/MySQL Queries from SQL Injection
• Pro Blog Design, that great blog that I just can’t stop linking to ( ) is now offering “professional blog design services.” If you have some pocket change (okay, a lot of pocket change…) you can have your blog redesigned by design expert Michael Martin. Also available are design appraisals.
• Skelliewag has a three-part series on running your blog “correctly” from the start. Ever wonder how you get 200+ subscribers in only a couple of months? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
• Unclutter your blog! And while you’re at it, ditch the DiggIt widget…
• Is Google Ranking Scraped Material on Top?
• Name-Mix The New Branding Trend! Funky Names Are Here!
• I’ve always thought the footer an oft-overlooked part of web designs. Finally, someone besides me has compiled a post of cool footer designs.
• I think this guy needs to upgrade his CPU…
• Google’s just made it possible to tweak your ads without having to re-paste the code.
• Uh, oh. Bad Google! Is Google changing the PageRank algorithm…or just “penalizing” sites again?
• Hey, look, more Google news! GMail now has IMAP support.
• Is it Declutter Your Blog Week? The Blog Herald also says you should declutter your blog.

I have a widget on my desktop that tells me what all my websites’ PageRanks are. I’m not obsessed with PageRank or anything (unlike some people), but it’s nice to be able to check at a glance.

Anyway, I was checking another widget a few minutes ago, and I had a bit of a surprise. All of my websites’ ranks went up. That’s right, they’ve all went up.

• Webmaster-Source.com is now PageRank 3 (it was 1 previously)
• SiteOfRequirement.com is now PageRank 4 (was 3)
• NTugo.com is now PageRank 3 (was 1)

After seeing my new ranks, I went and checked some other sites.

• ProBlogger.net: 6 (hadn’t it been lowered to 4 recently?)
• SmashingMagazine.com: 6
• Copyblogger.com: 7
• EnGadget.com: 7
• Amazon.com: still 9

So, what’s Google done this time? Did they update the toolbar PageRank? Did they update their algorithm? It seems that most of the sites that had been penalized recently have been restored to their prior ranks.

People like to measure and compare things. Metrics affect decisions, like whether someone will buy an ad on your site.

Websites are measured in numerous ways. They’re given an “overall score” with PageRank; Feedburner counts the number of people who subscribe to their RSS feeds; and advertisers are forever obsessed with monthly pageviews.

Google’s PageRank is used by many to compare websites, though the fairness of the value is questionable. PageRank basically boils down to Links In - Links Out = PageRank. So if you have a lot of people linking to you, then you have a higher PageRank. Hording links, and by extension PageRank won’t get you anywhere either, as you have to link to get linked to. (more…)

As cool as that orange RSS icon looks, it won’t necessarily fit-in with your blog’s design. It’s orange! Sure, you could just use a different color, but why not get a little creative? You don’t have to use the same style as everyone else. You can make it a different shape, use different gradient styles, or something completely different.

If you do decide to customize your icon a bit, be sure to keep the same symbol on it. The “antenna” depicted on the “standard” icon means “this is an RSS icon!” If you leave it out, people won’t necessarily notice that the button is for an RSS feed.

Here’s a little inspiration: (more…)

The winners of the 2007 Blogger’s Choice Awards have been announced. Here are the top three in a few of the categories:

Best Blog About Blogging

• ProBlogger.net
• BloggingBasics101.com
• Lorelle.Wordpress.com

Best Blogging Host

• Wordpress.com
• Blogger.com
• LiveJournal.com

Personally, I don’t agree with the “Best Blogging Host” results. Blogger is really a better service than Wordpress.com, but neither is a match for a cheap web hosting package and the Wordpress software.

The 2008 season has already begun…so vote for me here.

What is the current state of your blog’s design? Is it looking a bit old? Is your template full of junk you’ve added over the months? No matter how good a design is, it will age over time and possibly become stuffed full of cool widgets you found. That’s when redesigning comes in, whether it’s a drastic revamp or a simple clean-up of your existing design.

It might be time for a redesign if: (more…)