miLienzo.com » Blogging, WordPress and Themes

In search of Inspiration

Jason — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:43:35 +0000

In my online travels this week I have come across a site or two I wish to share with you. I was struggling with a site design and visited the usual CSS galleries we all know and love for some inspiration, but that was not where I found it. In my despair I started visiting random sites, in the hope of something setting off a spark and inspiring me. Then I came across two sites, each unique in there own way and I had my inspiration!

The first of these was Multiplayer Bingo

On first impressions its not a ’stunning’ site, but it was the colours that grabbed me. The bright pink’s and blue’s could be blinding, but the beige eases the eyes and in all they compliment each other well. Online Bingo is not my thing at all, but attention is drawn to the important areas of the site through the use of these colours and tempts you to give it a try and sign up. (although I didn’t, bingo is just not my thing!)

Another site which grabbed me was edubook.com

I love the colour scheme and layout on this site. Personally I think it looks awesome but then I have always been a fan of orange and black layouts! Every detail on this site has also been carefully planned. Articles are well layed out, you can easily get to a category you require such as SEO resources or the Internet marketing articles, and they are well presented.

Just from exploring random websites I was starting to notice that you can be experimental with colour schemes, go out on a whim and use bright colours but use them in an effective way. They have not been overused on either site, but they are dominant and do their job: draw your attention and inflame your curiosity of the site!

There are alot of great resources for finding colour scemes, wether it be css galleries, other sites or colour matchers etc. But why use those? Why not be experimental, splash some bright colours over a site but think about how effective they will be, and are they drawing attention to the correct areas?

Well, enough of me waffling on, i’m going to go experiment with colours!

Spill your thoughts below and if you find anything cool, share the love!

Jason

How to add custom sites to I Love Social Bookmarking

Aaron — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:25:22 +0000

On a recent comment on the I Love Social Bookmarking plugin page, I was asked by shegs of GamersBeyond how to add a custom site to ILSB. Well, as luck would have it, it’s actually really easy so I will walk through the stages here.

Ingredients

A social bookmarking site – there are millions out there to choose from.
An icon – I wont describe how to make an icon, but you will need one (preferably PNG) size 20 x 20 pixels.
A submission URL – each site works slightly differently so you will need to find out the format of how URLs are submitted.

Place the icon and edit the CSS

This first bit is really easy. Simply put your icon in the plugin includes folder along with all the other icons. Make sure you have named it something sensible.

Next you need to open up the plugin’s style.css style-sheet (also in the includes folder). See the list of classes that show the background images for each social network site? Add a new one using exactly the same format (replacing ‘mysite’ with your chosen site):

.ilsb-mysite {background-image:url(mysite.png);}

Add the site to the PHP array

This next bit is slightly less easy. But still easy. Open up ilsb.php and scroll down until you find the show_icons array. See the format for how each separate site is defined? Well that’s right, you need to create a new one using the exact same format which will look something like this.

'show_mysite' => array(
'selected' => 'on',
'url' => 'http://www.mysite.com/submit.php?Url=%BLOG_URL%&Title=%BLOG_TITLE%',
'title' => 'Add to MySite',
'anchor' => 'MySite'),

See. I told you it was easy

That, ladies and gentlemen, is it. You may need to click the ‘Reset Defaults’ button in ILSB admin options screen if it doesn’t show up immediately.

If you do add any extra sites, do let me know via the comments here or my contact form, and I will consider putting your custom sites in the next release.

I Love Social Bookmarking version 0.3 released

Aaron — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:39:35 +0000

If there is one thing that is more desperately needed than a new post on miLienzo.com, it is an update to the I Love Social Bookmarking plugin. Two birds. One stone!

Since its release ILSB has had a few minor niggles related to certain themes’ CSS and which sometimes caused display problems and browser discrepancies – usually involving Microsoft Internet Explorer.

The way I had written the code that draws the list and operates the hover-over function had good intentions at heart – for compliant browsers it was a pure CSS solution and for Internet Explorer there was a tiny bit of JavaScript doing the hover effect. Unfortunately, and without going in to too much detail as to why, the way I had written this code was problematic and causing these issues with a small number of users.

For this new release I have re-written the code that operates the hover-effect. It is now a completely JavaScript driven effect. This is a bit of a double-edged sword as whilst it will eradicate the problems users have previously experienced, it is of course not as pure as a CSS-driven hover effect and with this current release there will be accessibility issues if any of your blog readers use text readers or have JavaScript switched off.

In the end I decided I had to provide a plugin as solid as possible for the the mast majority of users. Rest assured that the JavaScript I’ve used is incredibly streamlined and efficient, and for a future release I will provide a JavaScript-free solution for those concerned with accessibility.

Head over to the ILSB page to download the latest release, and I’d love to hear your feedback on how you get on with it.

Note: If you are upgrading from a previous version of ILSB, your may have to refresh your browser to clear the old CSS from the cache as I’ve made a couple of changes to the style sheet.

Do you want a Jaiku invite?

Aaron — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:01:53 +0000

Do you have too much time on your hands? Are you sometimes left wondering what you could possibly do with all your spare time? Do you just wish that there was another instant-messaging-social-media know-what-you’re-doing-at-all-times thingy to play around with?

Well, I guessed not. But if you are interested I happen to have a few Jaiku invites available. Jaiku is a Twitterish microblogging tool/platform developed by some Finish folk and made the news last year when it was acquired by Google.

I joined Jaiku a couple of months ago and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve fully taken to it yet. But microblogging is all the craze and it’s what the cool kids do. Apparently. And besides, as Jaiku is still open to invite only whilst Google do whatever they are doing to the platform, I suspect these invites might be in high demand?

So if you fancy an invite drop me a line below. First come, first served!

EDIT: All my invites have now been used so I’m closing comments on this thread now. Sorry if you’ve arrived too late

LoopPress: New WordPress showcase site launched

Aaron — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:40:45 +0000

It is my duty to make a quick mention for a new WordPress showcase site that was launched last week. LoopPress is the brainchild of Jim Keiffer and has been launched to showcase beautiful WordPress designs.

From LoopPress:
If youâ€™re like me, you love Wordpress and want to know how other developers and designers are using it, designing for it and adding to it. LoopPress is a gallery devoted to beautiful websites, blogs and themes built on the Wordpress platform.

The site is still finding its feet but already it provides a great source of inspiration for WordPress users and designers. I’m proud to have my humble site listed amongst its pages as already it is in the company of some stunning WordPress designs.

LoopPress is an interesting idea and I wish Jim the best of luck with it. If you’re proud of your own WordPress site or theme why not head over to LoopPress and submit your own site?

Microblogging: What’s it all about?

Aaron — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:11:52 +0000

So, microblogging eh? What is it all about? To be honest with you, I haven’t got a clue. In the past I’ve been quite vocal about the pointlessness of Twitter, but something strange must have come over me today because I’ve joined the microblogging revolution.

Before you start deleting my RSS feed and cursing me for being a hypocrite, I haven’t joined Twitter… mainly because I think it’s got a bloody daft name. Instead I’ve joined Jaiku, which of course is a much more sensible name… (at least it doesn’t mean something rude).

Aside from the cool name, I was attracted to Jaiku because I’m a bit of a Google fan (Google acquired Jaiku a couple of months ago) plus I was interested in playing around with the mobile phone app (which I’ve subsequently found is blocked by my phone provider).

The long and short of all this is that I now have a Jaiku stream. Why not check it out or even subscribe to it? You’ll be able to find out fascinating up to the minute information about me, such as the fact I am home alone with the dog, and it is raining outside, and how joyous I am at the way Manchester United are playing at the moment.

Well, maybe all that isn’t quite so fascinating, that’s up to you to decide. I’m just fascinated in why people do this? Is microblogging just a tech toy for the geeks and nerds that are just too nerdy for good old fashioned blogging? Or is there something more to it?

A lot of high profile bloggers who have their heads screwed on a lot tighter than I do are leveraging some good use out of microblogging. The likes of Chris Garrett, Darren Rowse, and Ben Yoskovitz are all using services such as Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce to generate traffic and network.

I’m sceptical whether I’ll still be using Jaiku six months from now, but then I was also sceptical I’d still be writing miLienzo.com after all this time and here I am.

Are you a microblogger?

If you are, speak to me – I need to know what this is all about? How do you use microblogging? What benefits do you see from it? If you use Jaiku, please add me

What do you make of this PageRank hullabaloo?

Aaron — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:08:38 +0000

Even the less observant amongst us wont fail to have noticed the recent disquiet emanating from the blogosphere concerning that little green bar we all love to hate. One minute it’s down, the next it’s up, leaving many bloggers in something of a stir.

For the benefit of those oblivious, here’s a quick recap:

At the end of September David Airey reported being punished by Google for selling text link ads and trying to game search engine positioning. As far as I’m aware David didn’t actually take a PR hit put was being positioned a lot lower in search results than he should have been. David subsequently had his penalty reversed by generally being quite mature and sensible (removing the offending links and kissing big G’s ass ).
Early October Andy Beard confirmed that Google were applying PageRank deductions to some blogs. Andy’s very SEO-savvy community speculated that the deductions were related to selling text link ads and possibly doing paid reviews.
Last Thursday it seemed the world and their dog got slapped with a PageRank penalty including some very prominent blogs such as ProBlogger and Engadget. Andy Beard compiled a comprehensive list of those punished and speculation suggested that some of these sites are being punished for massive interlinking between blog networks.
Today it seems that Google has completed its quarterly update of the PageRank. Many of those punished earlier in the month have regained either all or some of their PR losses. Some have lost even more! Once again, head over to Andy Beard’s blog for a comprehensive run down. Andy’s done a great job of keeping on top of the story as it unfolds.

What do I make of this to-do?

It is clear to me that Google are making a very loud statement, although I actually haven’t fared too badly. I don’t sell text links, don’t do paid reviews, and don’t interlink massively between ‘associate’ blogs. There’s been no penalties for me and today I actually saw a slight PR increase from three to four.

Personally I don’t pay much heed to PageRank as I don’t sell any advertising and thus have no need to assert my worth with these kinds of metrics. Obviously I’m all for seeing more traffic coming here from search engines so it will be interesting to see what difference (if any) this little increase has on my Google traffic.

I do have a certain amount of sympathy for Google. They have a right to protect their position as the number one search engine by protecting the integrity of their search results, and all of the activities identified above do affect organic search results. And what’s more, I don’t have much sympathy for those bloggers who put that bloody awful word, monetization, first and foremost and tread dangerously close to the thin and wobbly spam-line.

But it’s not as black and white as people using the weight of their wallets to climb search engine results. Whose to say that a text link ad or a paid review is not relevant? The fact that it is paid for doesn’t make it irrelevant by default. The same goes for blog networks: by their very nature, the interlinking is between similar and relevant blogs.

The unanswered questions…

If a blogger doesn’t declare that a link or review is paid, how can Google monitor whether it is paid for?
Therefore, will this not just force bloggers to camouflage their text link ads within their blogrolls and be more discreet about paid reviews?
Or are blogrolls against Google’s terms as well? If so 99% of bloggers should have a PR penalty now!
What about the DoFollow blog brigade – are they treading on thin ice too?

Google are notoriously bad at coming forward and engaging with the web-public, but if ever there was a time for one of their trademark carefully worded blog articles, now is the time. As much as Google have a right to protect their business, they also have a responsibility, as a near-monopoly, to be upfront and clear with the web community. Google has absolutely no right to play games with peoples livelihoods!

This time next year, Rodney, we’ll be millionaires!

Aaron — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:50:51 +0000

One of the winners from David Airey’s anniversary giveaway bonanza was a chap called Bruce who won a blog review from yours truly. I’ve not been the quickest in honouring my commitment (sorry, Bruce) but I am a man of my word so if you would like to hear my views on the blog of a man striving for independence and freedom from the oppression of 9 till 5 tedium, read on.

Bruce is a 40-something ‘retail recovery auditor’, which I’m told involves staring at a computer screen filled with numbers all day. By his own admission, Bruce hates his job.

Day Job Nuker, is a collection of articles, resources and tips for making money online and generating other passive income streams. It is also a record of Bruce’s own story, as he attempts to ‘nuke his job’ within his target of three years time.

Now, I must admit I’m not entirely sympathetic towards the cause. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for enterprising individuals, but the theme of making money is a common one in the blogosphere – it’s become something of a blogging cliche.

Borne from the John Chow mold, the blogsphere is awash with disillusioned individuals attempting to find that magic formula to get rich quick. Maybe I’m just a sceptical old grump, but I can’t help thinking that for every Chow-like success story, there must be thousands of imitators really looking forward to spending all six dollars they made from AdSense last month.

However, it’s unfair of me rant and judge Day Job Nuker before I’ve even looked at the site. So what’s it all about?

An ordinary, everyday guy

As I mentioned earlier, Day Job Nuker is Bruce’s personal story. He’s set himself a three year target to create enough income streams to be able to ditch his job. Three years is actually quite a realistic time period and that’s what strikes me most about Bruce’s site: he’s not promising unrealistic get-rich-quick schemes and scams, but instead he offers very original ideas, that combined with a lot of hard graft, might make a bit of cash.

Bruce’s ideas are wide and varied, ranging from raiding golf courses in the middle of night to dredge the ponds and waterways for lost (and resalable) golf balls, through to taking advantage of the Ebay Affiliate Programme by matching products with ‘wanted’ items on Craigslist.

You can tell Bruce is the kind of guy who would be at your local car boot sale at 6am on a Sunday morning waiting to snap up all the bargains before the poor seller has even switched their engine off (you know the type ). But this is what appeals to me most about Bruce. He hasn’t got the swagger and arrogance of Chow, he’s just an ordinary everyday guy who you cant help but like.

And it seems lots of other people are liking Bruce too. His reader stats are showing close to 200, which is some rise from when I first looked at his site three weeks ago.

Widgets galore

As a designer, it is only right that I reserve a few words for Day Job Nuker’s layout. I’ve seen worse… but it could certainly be improved.

Ultimately I don’t expect the glitziest of websites, much like when you walk into a Wilkinson store you know you’re not going to get Prada-like minimalist store design. The use of the xMark theme is functional and for the most part fit for purpose. My main concern is with the over-zealous use of various widgets, affiliate buttons, ads and other random gizmos in the two-column sidebar.

My advice to Bruce would be to spend some time tidying this up. The site isn’t as easy to navigate as it should be, and simply by removing a few superfluous widgets and prioritising some of the site navigation furniture higher than some of the adverts, it would go a long way to making the site more of a pleasure to browse.

I would also spend a little time thinking about the top navigation bar and how this is arranged. There is quite a random mix of pages, some of which are more useful than others. Should pages like the BAN Stats and Stock Picks (which are currently fairly empty) occupy such prime web real estate?

Conclusion

I went to Day Job Nuker with a very sceptical eye, but Bruce has won me over. The design isn’t the greatest, and to a certain extent this works with the site’s overall ‘feel’ and personality, but Bruce should think about how users navigate through the site.

Whilst you wont catch me down my local golf course making mid-night golf ball raids this weekend, you will catch me checking up on Day Job Nuker from time to time to see how Bruce is getting on. There is something very ‘Del Boy Trotter’ about Bruce’s money making ideas, and Del Boy made a million in the end. I’ve got my fingers crossed for Bruce too.

If you want to hear a little more about Bruce’s story, checkout his interview on the jobacle.com podcast.

Celebrating a Century of blogging

Aaron — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:14:52 +0000

Something special has happened to miLienzo.com recently. Its voice has dropped, its shoulders have broadened and it’s started to develop a bit of stubble under the chin. It’s even started showing a keen interest in lady blogs! That’s right, miLienzo.com has come of age. We are officially 100 posts old, which in blogging terms is something of a milestone.

In fact, the big 100 passed the other week whilst I was away in Italy. My post on DJ Sara and DJ Ryusei was my centurion post, and rather aptly it had a bit of a party whilst I was away! In one day this article generated 1000 per cent more traffic than any other day in this blog’s history.

I’ve got johno from I Love Typography to thank for that, for Stumbling and Digging me. Cheers johno!

And thanking people is what this post is all about. I blog because I like interacting with you, my readers. I like reading your comments, I like discovering your blogs, I like getting in touch with you and I like getting to know you. So here goes…

Matt Ellsworth – Thanks for being the first person to ever leave a comment on this site. I don’t see you round here much any more, but you have a special place in miLienzo.com scriptures all the same.
Marc Rapp – Thanks for being the first person to join my MyBlogLog community. You’ve no idea how lonely it felt before you joined me – you made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Lorelle – Everyone knows about Lorelle. Another commenter from the early days, I’ve learnt a hell of a lot from Lorelle about WordPress and blogging. Cheers!
David Airey – Ahhh, Mr Airey, cheers mate! Cheers for being a very regular reader and commenter here, cheers for writing your own excellent blog which has given me lots of inspiration over the months, and cheers for awarding me one of your Creative Design Awards.
Gregory Moulinet – Cheers for some great comments and inspiring discussions about the creative industry and working in the city.
Paul Enderson – I can always rely on Paul to leave the most sarcastic comment of the day, without fail. Thanks for putting a smile on my face.
Tara – Like David, Tara is another design blogger who has had a lot of success and I look up to. So thanks for regularly finding the time to pop over here and leave a comment.
Darren Rowse – Another inspirational blogger who I’ve learnt a lot from. But a special thanks for linking to my Technorati article.
Scott Smith – A funny one is Scott. He’s either here leaving comments like a man possessed, or he’s nowhere to be seen for months on end. He’s currently the latter, but I know he’ll be back. See you soon Scott!
Asgeir Hoem – Thanks for being a regular commenter and always having some nugget of knowledge to share.
Justin Kistner – Many thanks for all your comments over the months and a special thanks for your guest article the other week.
Stevie B – Thanks for breaking my meme-tagging cherry when you tagged me with the Productivity tips meme.
Sera Strawbridge – Thanks for making my world a richer place with the Make the Logo Bigger song.
Vivien – Thanks for continuing to write an excellent blog and, well, inspiring me.
DT – Thanks for continuing to write a great and hugely inspiring design blog.
Shantanu – Thanks for being a regular face and commenter recently.
Lauren, Charity, Randa – Thanks girls, for all the comments over the months and keep up the good work on your own blogs.

I’m sure I’ve missed loads, so apologies if I have. But I reserve one ultra-special thanks, for YOU, for reading this blog now. See you at 200!

New WordPress social bookmarking plugin released

Aaron — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 21:30:01 +0000

Today I am proud to reveal to the fruits of my last few weekends’ labour: my first ever WordPress plugin!

I Love Social Bookmarking is a simple WordPress plugin that allows your readers to submit your content to social media services via a clutter-free drop-down list of attractive icons.

For a demo of the plugin, just look at the bottom of this article and hover your mouse over the little heart icon.

Version 0.1b is a pre-release trial version released to eliminate bugs and identify popular feature requests before a general public release. If you’d like to help me test this version please install it and let me know of any problems you encounter or additional features youâ€™d like to see included.

Head over to the ILSB plugin page for more details.