tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54653539530454692032024-02-20T12:13:29.389-08:00Parresol's Digital Media BlogLParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-480278361287980382011-05-04T13:59:00.000-07:002011-05-04T13:59:55.169-07:00Looking Back Over the Emerging Technologies Class:<h1>Technology Change Agent:</h1><br />
As I harken back to my <em>third blog</em>, <strong><a href="http://lparresol.blogspot.com/2011/01/change-agent.html">Change Agent</a></strong>, for this class, I am asked to evaluate myself as a change agent for emerging technologies. I do see myself as a change agent in the field of technology because <strong>I love to learn new things and then talk about what I know</strong>. I’m quite enthusiastic when I have good information to share. The research and writing-blogging aspect of this Emerging Technologies class has been my favorite part of the assignments.<br />
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I found that I was far more interested in learning about the tools and technology for <strong>social media</strong> than I was for the <strong>programming</strong> aspects of working with the <strong>content management systems</strong>. The difficulty in being “forced” to learn new technologies, as has been the case with me and my fellow classmates, is the <em>supreme lack of time to really absorb and implement what I am learning</em>. However, I must be doing okay in these matters because my grades reflect success.<br />
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I have learned some of my limitations and my skill sets. A limitation for me is the ability to grasp programming issues quickly. I can do it when I have the time and desire to focus on it, but it’s not something I enjoy. Nevertheless, <strong>this class has really honed my skills</strong> in working with HTML/CSS and then taking that code and converting it for use to a few content management systems. I’m certainly no expert but I have some familiarity with the technologies and <strong>I know how to research the tools</strong> I need to progress further in the ever changing field of digital media technology.<br />
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<h1>The Most Important Technology for Me:</h1><br />
Every technology that was covered in this class is important. We have learned important information to further develop our skills in preparation for a career in digital media technology. <em>I prefer to think of this question in terms of which technology has sparked my fascination because that is the clue to which direction will make me a happier person, and thus more productive.</em><br />
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I’m especially glad that I chose to research <strong>Facebook</strong> <strong>for businesses</strong> for my <a href="http://lparresol.blogspot.com/2011/02/facebook-technical-report-for-designers.html">Technical Report</a>. Even though I had a Facebook account, that actually one of my kids set up for me a couple of years ago, I had never used Facebook. This exercise in learning a new technology opened me up to the field of <strong>social media networking</strong> which I find intriguing. <em>It fits my mind set of searching for knowledge and then sharing what I have learned</em>. Blogging is fun and Facebook is a very useful tool for connecting snippets of information to lots of people in the effort to entice them back to a home location.<br />
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<h1>To Generalize or To Specialize, That is the Question:</h1><br />
I think it’s important to continue learning and growing in the field of emerging technologies because the rate of change in this industry is faster than anyone can keep up with. There probably does need to be some form of <em>specialization</em> because technology expands exponentially in every direction. However,<strong> I think of myself more as a generalist with an interest in knowing something about a lot of things</strong>. This quality gives me more of a bird’s eye perspective. When I do find something that calls my focused attention, I have the ability to <em>specialize</em>; but eventually I will want to learn more and delegate the things that interest me less.<br />
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<h1>An Innovative Class Structure:</h1><br />
I think the structure of this Emerging Technologies class was innovative. It’s <strong>the first class I’ve ever taken that required the research and writing format be posted in a blog</strong>. How many classes anywhere make use of this format? It’s a <em>brilliant idea for digital media students</em>. In addition to posting my ideas about what I am learning, it was also a <strong>hands-on experience</strong> in using the technology that I am here to learn. I appreciate the instructor’s guidance by providing the questions that led to my informed blog material.<br />
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I also <strong>appreciate the instructor’s insistence on each student visiting and commenting on the blogs of other students</strong>. This structure set up the connectedness that we as a class developed, so that by the end of the semester when we worked together in small groups to complete a major project, <em>the people in the class formed bonds of friendship that supported our teamwork</em>. <strong>Teamwork is an important skill to have in emerging technologies because the subject is so expansive that projects can be completed more effectively when a group of people specialize in the tasks</strong>. It’s still good to be a <em>generalist</em> though so that each person understands what everyone else is doing and each person can be <em>flexible</em> enough to pick up where someone else may need help.<br />
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Thanks Jonathan for all of the information and training you’ve given over that past couple of years. Your critical eye and many suggestions have influenced me more than you know.LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-26770385318273671032011-04-26T18:34:00.000-07:002011-04-26T18:38:38.682-07:00Joomla Event Calendar Modules:<strong>Joomla 1.6 does not have a built-in event calendar module so you have to find one to install</strong>. <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars">Joomla.org</a> has a list of available event calendars. Since my group is working with <strong>version 1.6</strong> and we are students, we are limited to choosing <strong>Non-Commercial</strong> modules that also have a 1.6 Native version of the module. There is <strong>really only one choice</strong>, <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/1625">GCalendar</a>, But I will mention all four here.<br />
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<h1><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/1625">GCalendar:</a></h1><br />
GCalendar is the only choice at this time, in my opinion, because it’s <strong>free</strong>, it works with <strong>version 1.6</strong>, and it has a rating of <strong>4.35 out of 5.00 from 146 users and has 210 favored votes</strong>. It was added to Joomla February 11, 2007 so it has had time to have the bugs worked out of it. Users who left comments say that it’s <strong>easy to install, easy to setup, and has a nice appearance</strong>.<br />
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One commenter for GCalendar stated, “<em>I had this set up in minutes, this is much better than several of the commercial calendars on the front end</em>.” The same commenter then described his problem with the module, “<em>The only disadvantage of this is that if you want to have administrators manage the calendar they will need to do it from Google Calendars</em>.” So, now we know what the G stands for.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/1625">Features:</a></h2><em>Easy configuration, CSS based customization and performance gains through AJAX and advanced caching mechanism are the main targets of this extension.</em><br />
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<em>The whole suite contains different extensions which are listed here:</em><br />
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<em>* The component is the heart of the GCalendar suite and shows different kinds of calendars in the main part.</em><br />
<em>* The Upcoming Events module shows the next events of your calendar as a list.</em><br />
<em>* The GCalendar module shows the google calendar at a module position.</em><br />
<em>* The Next module shows a countdown timer till the next events starts.</em><br />
<em>* The search plugin adds the functionality to search for events.</em><br />
<em>* The next plugin embeds upcoming events into articles.</em><br />
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<h1><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/16581">PHP Quick Calendar E:</a></h1><br />
PHP Quick Calendar E is my <strong>second choice</strong> for an event calendar because it has a rating of 4.17 out of 5.00 from 6 users and has 4 favored votes. There are six reviews on this one. The previous module has 89 reviews and the other two modules have 0 and 1 respectively. <strong>We do have to take into consideration that Joomla 1.6 is new and therefore any modules for the 1.6 version are also going to be new</strong>. This module was added on April 1, 2011. In the notes section, an error is mentioned that can disrupt the whole page layout, <strong>Yikes</strong>.<br />
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One review stated, “<em>It looks good, very easy to install and customize, but I get a bug on event, when I try to record one event for one week the end date restore to 00-00-0000 when I save</em>.” I’m not exactly sure what this means but it can’t be good. The reviewers gave high stars but they were all fairly specific in what they were complaining about.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/16581">Features:</a></h2><em>* An event calendar</em><br />
<em>* Easy to use</em><br />
<em>* Based on the popular PHP Quick Calendar with extra functionality</em><br />
<em>* Able to display recurring events daily, weekly, monthly, annually</em><br />
<em>* Currently, only has the standard and small views</em><br />
<em>* An optional module for displaying the small view is also provided</em><br />
<em>* Can be customized using (the component) template overrides</em><br />
<em>* Comes with a translation into Spanish and Dutch, for the backend and frontend</em><br />
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<h1><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/14720">Calendar FX:</a></h1><br />
While this module has <strong>no reviews</strong>, it does have a rating of 5 out of 5.00 from 4 users and 6 favored votes. It was added November 11, 2010 and is <strong>Flash based</strong>. It is however useable without any knowledge of Flash. I rank this one lower than the previous module because it has 4 users who gave a rating even though it has been viewed 24793 times compared to the PHP Quick Calendar E which has 6 users who gave a rating with 8723 views. <strong>Both modules lack the popularity of GCalendar</strong> which has 146 users who gave a rating with 485492 views.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/14720">Features:</a></h2><em>* You can integrate it in any website for free without any Flash knowledge</em><br />
<em>* You can modify the calendar's width and height</em><br />
<em>* There are multiple background and shade properties</em><br />
<em>* The text is HTML/CSS formatted</em><br />
<em>* There is the ability to change skin for info box (event day)</em><br />
<em>* The features for cells/days are customizable</em><br />
<em>* Other options are available on the Live Demo</em><br />
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<h1><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/16533">Spider Calendar Lite:</a></h1><br />
This module is the <strong>lite version of a Commercial module</strong>, which students are not going to buy for a school project. There is one reviewer and he or she gave it a rating of 1 out of 5.00 and no favored votes. There have been 2443 views and this module was added on April 3, 2011, so maybe we just need to give it some time to evolve. That one reviewer stated, “<em>I installed this calendar and got all the module titles removed by it. Cloud text on the calendar does not show on some templates. Still needs some work done, maybe on the next release it will be better</em>.”<br />
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<h1><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/calendars-a-events/events/events-calendars/16533">Features: </a></h1><em>* Spider Calendar Lite is a highly configurable Joomla extension which allows you to have multiple organized events in a calendar<br />
* You can create as many events as you need for a day<br />
* With a simple click on the date you will see the events and their descriptions recorded for that day</em>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-47257622830969240252011-04-20T18:45:00.000-07:002011-04-24T19:20:39.183-07:00Joomla Contact Form Modules:Every website needs a contact form and a Joomla CMS website is no exception. <b>Joomla does have an existing built-in feature to create a contact form but there are other options as well</b>. <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/159881/working_with_contact_forms_in_joomla.html?cat=59">Associated Content</a> has an informative article on <i>how to work with contact forms in Joomla</i>. The article is a descriptive tutorial on how to add, delete, edit, and unpublish a contact form. <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms">Joomla.org</a> is <b>the source</b> to find as many as 39 contact form modules to choose from to plugin/addon to the Joomla website.<br />
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Since I am part of a group that is using <b>Joomla version 1.6</b>, the number of available choices is reduced to 13. Of those, 7 are commercial and <b>5 are free</b>. Of those 5, 3 contact form modules are rated at 4.5 stars, 1 is rated at 4 stars and the last one has no stars. I have chosen to look at the three modules <b>rated at 4.5 stars:</b> <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/16171">Fox Contact Form</a>, <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/8219">Rapid Contact</a>, and <a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/9743">Flexi Contact</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIvJvbJRjYDlQq-_0sGpM99uqlmnC-tv3Y1lgrDtg2EYgxPLAnslu-S47FoQ2aT_D34dSPw1kJk3TmzIK8Yx3Yl3IccJEKHVwLbR8Bz7DwI5he_7wZVvqBbT68Yk4oa5_HVvftAXYBMRO/s1600/FoxContactForm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIvJvbJRjYDlQq-_0sGpM99uqlmnC-tv3Y1lgrDtg2EYgxPLAnslu-S47FoQ2aT_D34dSPw1kJk3TmzIK8Yx3Yl3IccJEKHVwLbR8Bz7DwI5he_7wZVvqBbT68Yk4oa5_HVvftAXYBMRO/s200/FoxContactForm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><h1>Fox Contact Form:</h1><br />
Fox Contact Form is <b>my favorite</b> because out of the three modules, it is the <i>only one developed specifically for Joomla 1.6</i>. It was added to the Joomla website on March 10, 2011 and was last updated April 12, 2011. It received a 4.84 out of 5.00 from 19 users and has 20 favored votes. There are <b>glowing reviews</b> of this module and where there were complaints in the comment section, the <b>owner replied quickly</b> with solutions. For a further example of the owner’s willingness to help, check out a <a href="http://www.fox.ra.it/forum/fox-contact-form/21-joomla-16-fox-contact-form-and-godaddy-hosting.html">forum discussion</a> where he helps someone having problems getting this module and another module to work on GoDaddy. That person stated that he would “<i>like to stick to Fox Contact Form</i>.”<br />
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Fox Contact Form is <b>tableless, css styled, and easy to install</b>. One reviewer stated: “<i>Installs without a problem and then the surprise: You open the component as usual to set it up and get the message that there is <b>no set up necessary</b>. Just assign a menu item and you are ready to go. If you want to do some adjustments or add some fields you can do it very easily right there in the menu item edit view. Never installed such a useful component and module which are so easy to set up!”</i><br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/16171">Features:</a></h2>* Component and Module versions available. Unlike other similar extensions, you can have multiple component instances in the same site, and multiple module instances in the same page.<br />
* Custom fields and upload capabilities<br />
* Multiple recipients<br />
* Antispam system<br />
* Captcha system<br />
* Multilanguage<br />
* Logs all activities in a text file<br />
* One click updates with Joomla 1.6 auto updater.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZiB4zDhAsfvl3uMah3EWfybKJiSfgLj5agjxFcgxHsDH3mC7S3sp7cOvFfmAWtEqatfWFcMxKurXCBEhzYH6Ky3N5oy8VgnuFqlTN7j9zxMGn_puVFAgq3Kaq1TEjqG5g10omaCjUDwn/s1600/RapidContact.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZiB4zDhAsfvl3uMah3EWfybKJiSfgLj5agjxFcgxHsDH3mC7S3sp7cOvFfmAWtEqatfWFcMxKurXCBEhzYH6Ky3N5oy8VgnuFqlTN7j9zxMGn_puVFAgq3Kaq1TEjqG5g10omaCjUDwn/s200/RapidContact.png" width="200" /></a></div><h1>Rapid Contact:</h1><br />
Rapid Contact is <b>my next choice</b> of the three modules because it has the <b>highest rating</b>: 4.85 out of 5.00 from 62 users and has 35 favored votes. This module is <b>very simple with only three fields</b>: <i>Email, Subject and Message</i>; so if you don’t want any extra features, this one is useful. One user has put it in his Joomla Essentials folder and has used it on 20 sites without problems.<br />
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The owner offers a <b>version with ReCaptcha</b> that was added by a user. He asks to be contacted at <a href="mailto:mavrosxristoforos@gmail.com">mavrosxristoforos@gmail.com</a> if anyone wants it. ReCaptcha is a form of captcha, which is a plugin that prevents bots from sending spam to the receiver’s email. <b>CAPTCHA</b>: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/8219">Features:</a></h2>Two simple steps:<br />
1) Install,<br />
2) change mail recipient and it works!<br />
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Additional Options:<br />
* Anti-spam question-answer!<br />
* Thank you page Redirect<br />
* Custom Text<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeIoJNjLoQ1VglVD8uPkAqovRS0payvOUBzrGks5LWEYaszQ1GfBvUUunHV-w9x7BmOTVhA8SgDqDGyqqsh2Ra52oqVtJEVwO-mzfXbdEPDxoolcgWuWndyVbGg1zZZd7GLJ5-5krTXmE/s1600/FlexiContact.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeIoJNjLoQ1VglVD8uPkAqovRS0payvOUBzrGks5LWEYaszQ1GfBvUUunHV-w9x7BmOTVhA8SgDqDGyqqsh2Ra52oqVtJEVwO-mzfXbdEPDxoolcgWuWndyVbGg1zZZd7GLJ5-5krTXmE/s200/FlexiContact.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><h1>Flexi Contact:</h1><br />
Flexi Contact is <b>also a great contact form module</b>. It has a rating of 4.7 out of 5.00 from 64 users and has 46 favored votes. This module is also<b> simple but is more flexible</b> and offers more features than Rapid Contact. One reviewer was impressed with the <b>ability to add extra images</b>. Another reviewer stated, “<i>Not only is it simple to install, really clear to understand and complete setup, but html can also be entered into the text before or after the selected contact fields. This made it possible for me to keep the uniform look of my site</i>.” That’s a <b>good tip for designers</b>.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/contacts-and-feedback/contact-forms/9743">Features:</a></h2>* Configurable page header, page text, and page image<br />
* Configurable field names: Five one-line fields, one list box, and one re-sizeable text area<br />
* All fields can be optional, mandatory, or not shown<br />
* Multi-language with many languages<br />
* The user guide explains how to add your own language<br />
* Optional auto-fill of email address and name or username for logged in users<br />
* Keeps a log file of all contacts submitted<br />
* The log file is viewable in the back end and includes the IP address of the sender<br />
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<b>Optional simple captcha</b> <b>system.</b> <i>We don't want to discourage potential customers, so we use a simple picture based system, "Please click on the cat/dog/etc". You can easily add your own pictures to the image library.</i><br />
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<b>Optional "magic word" system</b>. <i>The user must find and enter the correct magic word to send a message. You can make the magic word easy to find, or difficult.</i><br />
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<h1>Joomla’s Built-In Contact Form:</h1><br />
Joomla’s built-in contact form is what is <b>found on most Joomla websites</b>. It’s a <b>default component</b> with a simple email form. <a href="http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk/joomla-blog/joomla-contact-form-redirect-users/41/">Kronikmedia</a> discusses <b>a problem and a solution for this contact form</b>. The problem is that <i>users are not redirected to a confirmation page</i>. This article offers a written tutorial on how to redirect users and how to change the confirmation message. The solution involves the usage of php so <b>beginners may want to be wary of this</b>.LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-27677759623448841862011-04-04T20:06:00.000-07:002011-04-07T07:50:55.802-07:00CMS Templates: Download or Design?This paragraph is an addendum to this blog. After class, I have decided that it is necessary to learn to template whether you start from scratch or modify a template. You can't modify a structure if you don't understand how to operate in the CMS. It will most likely be easier to start from scratch because you can make the template the way you have designed it and not have to eliminate unnecessary aspects of a template that is already created.<br />
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<h1>Original Blog</h1><br />
On a continuing note from my last blog, <strong>I ultimately decided to join the group of students working with Joomla</strong> because it is considered <em>friendlier for designers</em>. Now the question is set before us as to whether we should download a fully designed template for our website redesign project or to design a template ourselves.<br />
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I am working in a group of four people and we will come to any final decisions as a group. For us, time is short and we are starting at the beginning of our learning curve. It is therefore my opinion that we should find a template that is closest to our wireframe design layout and then tweak that template to suit our needs.<br />
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<h1>Suggested Template for Modification:</h1><br />
<div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVpCA5P1nmnZIt7QT1Juc8RR0AZQNIH2GAwsQD-EydiwLn8qCJPRIoPF33aksJ_pPypbjFtUjRfScJEb2vuAh-EK31tBCxsXRHoBrOKzTTG1zUoZ6ICnloHhEVoJBUOHc6zeXAt_lRApo/s1600/sketch001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVpCA5P1nmnZIt7QT1Juc8RR0AZQNIH2GAwsQD-EydiwLn8qCJPRIoPF33aksJ_pPypbjFtUjRfScJEb2vuAh-EK31tBCxsXRHoBrOKzTTG1zUoZ6ICnloHhEVoJBUOHc6zeXAt_lRApo/s200/sketch001.jpg" width="198" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQawm6HNZf0IHrUHWOT5I9GsN8-nHke59gHoyZYLORuveelqpFd39wG4QkuoBokq8Y0_58aFt0DwpnLHMkL8HSYr_MWvJ09XLPte9qgxzBtyVaBe9jpj1DwDuRwWx4-__q5NH3ZnMMuceu/s1600/GreenConsult.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQawm6HNZf0IHrUHWOT5I9GsN8-nHke59gHoyZYLORuveelqpFd39wG4QkuoBokq8Y0_58aFt0DwpnLHMkL8HSYr_MWvJ09XLPte9qgxzBtyVaBe9jpj1DwDuRwWx4-__q5NH3ZnMMuceu/s200/GreenConsult.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<div></div><a href="http://www.joomlafreetemplates.com/item/root/green-consultant-template.html">http://www.joomlafreetemplates.com/item/root/green-consultant-template.html</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<div></div>Based on the wireframe design layout that our group decided on, I suggest this template called <strong>green-consultant</strong> as a base to begin to develop our website redesign project. I looked at many different templates on a lot of free Joomla template websites and this template most resembles the structure of our wireframe.<br />
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<h1>Joomla Template Resources:</h1><br />
Finding Joomla template resources is as <strong>easy as entering those words into the Google search</strong>. I am listing here some of websites that I visited in my search for the right template for my group project.<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.joomlafreetemplates.com/">joomlafreetemplates.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://themesbase.com/">themesbase.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://joomla-mart.com/tag/free-joomla-1-6-templates/page/19/">joomla-mart.com</a></li>
</ul>I did experience problems downloading templates from joomla-mart.com. Some of the zipped folders appeared to be empty and my computer wanted me to insert a CD to continue extracting. Many sites are free but they want the user to register and login to be able to download their templates. <strong>Joomlafreetemplates.com seemed to be the easiest to work with</strong>.<br />
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<h1>Learn Joomla Templating:</h1><br />
Even if you download a template to use for your website, <em>there is always some little detail that you might want to change</em>. Here is a list of good sources to learn how to design a Joomla template.<br />
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<ul><li><a href="http://www.buildajoomlawebsite.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=keywords&gclid=CLe36-ichKgCFQpm7AodQHmQtA">buildajoomlawebsite.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.learnwebdesignonline.com/cms/customizing-joomla-templates.htm">learnwebdesignonline.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lynda.com/Joomla-training-tutorials/245-0.html?AWKeyWord=web&_kk=joomla%20tutorial&_kt=9eb4d2a5-2bb4-47ce-b299-7aad592702de&gclid=CMDO2tqnhKgCFchI2godV02fqg">Lynda.com/Joomla-training-tutorials</a></li>
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<h2>buildajoomlawebsite.com</h2>The buildajoomlawebsite.com source is <strong>my favorite to begin</strong> with because the site offers video tutorials grouped into <em>three skill levels</em>. The <strong>beginner level set of tutorials is free</strong>. There is a fee for the intermediate and advanced levels but the <em>prices are reasonable</em>.<br />
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<h2>learnwebdesignonline.com</h2>The learnwebdesignonline.com source is a <strong>written tutorial</strong> that includes snippets of php code and continues on to the next page of instructions. The page that I have linked to in the list above is an article on how to customize Joomla templates. This <strong>may be useful to my group</strong>.<br />
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<h2>lynda.com</h2>Lynda.com is a <strong>resource library</strong> that costs at the least <strong>$25.00 per month</strong> to access but it is rich with video tutorials for just about everything related to working on the computer. However, I found only two videos on this site useful to my group. <strong>We are using Joomla 1.6</strong> and there are <em>only two videos</em> for this latest version of Joomla. Those videos are titled <em>Essential Training</em> and <em>Creating and Editing Custom Templates</em>.LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-48591205341637830972011-03-27T11:16:00.000-07:002011-03-27T11:16:10.235-07:00The Best CMS<strong>The best Content Management System (CMS) is the one that most fits your needs in the moment</strong>. For me at this time, I’m a digital media student who has experience with XHTML/CSS and the two CMSs that I <a href="http://lparresol.blogspot.com/2011/03/cms-ratings-cmsimple-vs-websitebaker.html">previously blogged</a> about. I consider myself a beginner with limited time in which to learn a system to complete a class project.<br />
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Given my need for a small learning curve, ease of use, and established structure; <strong>the CMS system that I most want to learn is WordPress</strong>. There are others that I also want to learn and I am interested enough to go learn them when school is no longer my highest priority or if one of those CMSs, in turn, becomes a class assignment.<br />
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In this blog, I will discuss several CMSs and what’s important to me as a web designer.<br />
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<h1>Popularity Matters?</h1>WordPress is a blogging platform that has enough power and options to be used as a CMS, whereas others like Joomla and Drupal are CMSs that can be used for blogging. As of March 26, 2011 according to <a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=1&category=CMS / Portals">opensourceCMS</a> in the CMS/Portals-<strong>sort by: User Rating (Best to Worst),</strong> <em><strong>WordPress 3.1 is second best after Joomla 1.6</strong></em>. Popularity is a good reason to learn a CMS because many clients will be asking for custom templates for that CMS. <a href="http://www.goodwebpractices.com/other/wordpress-vs-joomla-vs-drupal.html">Tim Stiffler-Dean of goodwebpractices.com</a> stated “<em>Since WordPress is easy to use and some of them were already familiar with it, it was an obvious solution. Install WordPress on a server that they could access quickly and easily from anywhere with an internet connection, and let them get to business rather than have to learn about a whole different system</em>.”<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR9thf7jgcVNXaCp01vGVtTv1KztaJs4csO5n0qPnL5LafU60v-8puOhP3862i12EF0wfE97PTzV5L2zXi4YPh_VuE28PvkaQJ4kVhouqaaP3ArBDItBHEi7N1kf4y41sWCQjyDzZ1f0G/s1600/joomla-vs-wordpress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR9thf7jgcVNXaCp01vGVtTv1KztaJs4csO5n0qPnL5LafU60v-8puOhP3862i12EF0wfE97PTzV5L2zXi4YPh_VuE28PvkaQJ4kVhouqaaP3ArBDItBHEi7N1kf4y41sWCQjyDzZ1f0G/s1600/joomla-vs-wordpress.jpg" /></a></div><br />
However, as Marc stated on December 11, 2010 in the <a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=88&name=WordPress">comments section of opensourceCMS</a> “<em>If you’re a professional or a beginning freelancer, you should look far and wide at the other CMS offerings. If you offer WordPress, you are competing with rest of the known world and your work will be <strong>perceived</strong> as cheap</em>.” I would like to add that as a designer, if you don’t know WordPress, you could be <strong>perceived</strong> as out of touch with the market place. Besides, if you follow that logic, then Joomla could be <strong>perceived</strong> as cheap also.<br />
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<h1>Security:</h1>Another commenter from <a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=88&name=WordPress">opensourceCMS</a>, Dominate on August 7, 2010 stated that "<em>WordPress sites seem to be a target for hackers</em>". However, a <a href="http://www.theopensourcery.com/keepopen/2010/best-open-cms-wordpress-vs-joomla-vs-drupal/">May 5th 2010 article</a> at <a href="http://www.theopensourcery.com/">http://www.theopensourcery.com/</a> showed that as of January 1, 2009, <strong>WordPress</strong> had a total of <strong>15</strong> security advisories while <strong>Drupal</strong> had <strong>156</strong> and <strong>Joomla</strong> had <strong>192</strong>. <strong>WordPress</strong> has clearly solved many of its security issues, at least well enough to not be a concern to me.<br />
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<h1>Google Friendly:</h1><strong>Google loves WordPress</strong>. Refer to one of my earlier blogs for the <a href="http://lparresol.blogspot.com/2011/02/cms-introduction-for-designers-and.html">featured video</a> with a Google rep talking up WordPress. What they like about it is that it is <em>web standard</em>. Rudolf Boogerman of <a href="http://miracletutorials.com/">miracletutorials.com</a> wrote in his <a href="http://www.miracletutorials.com/wordpress-vs-joomla-review/">review of WordPress vs Joomla</a>, that this Google friendliness makes <strong>Wordpress</strong> “<em>hard to resist…from a marketing standpoint</em>.” He also said that WordPress sites "<em>will be listed in Google within 2 days</em>" whereas he hasn’t “<em>seen any other system doing that so far</em>.”<br />
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<h1>Navigational Structure:</h1>According to <a href="http://www.miracletutorials.com/wordpress-vs-joomla-review/">Boogerman</a>, <em>navigational structure is one of the downfalls of WordPress</em> because the menus are inherited from the chosen template and thus are difficult to change. Of course this isn’t a problem if you know the WP scripting language and CSS. This is <strong>one reason to use</strong> <strong>Joomla</strong> because its menus can be manipulated from the control panel. The same problem applies to WordPress in regards to changing the order of categories and pages. <strong>Joomla is certainly more flexible than WordPress</strong> but it also has a <em>higher learning curve</em>. I intend to learn Joomla in the future because a good web designer should have several options to offer clients, depending on their website needs. <strong>Drupal is the most flexible</strong> but we as a class are not going there at this time because it’s <em>beyond the scope of the class</em>.<br />
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<h1>User/Designer/Developer Friendly?</h1><a href="http://www.goodwebpractices.com/other/wordpress-vs-joomla-vs-drupal.html">Tim Stiffler-Dean of goodwebpractices.com</a> compares WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. He says that while <strong>WordPress is definitely user friendly, it is not developer friendly</strong> “<em>because there will be countless times in your journey to that great website that an upgrade released by the WP developers causes your entire site to simply disappear, or for those modifications that you made previously to no longer even exist</em>.” That’s a pretty heavy statement and it is an issue that may cause me to move away from WordPress in the future but I still think it’s a good place to begin. Tim says that Drupal is very developer friendly but not so friendly to designers while “<em>designers will choose Joomla because of the amazing capabilities that its engine has in making websites look fantastic</em>.” However, <strong>Joomla is not very user friendly because of the learning curve for designers and for the clients</strong>.<br />
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At the moment, I want the CMS that is the friendliest to me to begin learning and I think that one is going to be <strong>WordPress</strong>. However, I can see that down the line in this class project, I may wish for the flexibility of Joomla if or when WordPress becomes insurmountable in some matter of design or add-on situation.<br />
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<h1>Alternatives for Future Reference:</h1>There are a multitude of CMSs to explore, learn and use. The best place to go to find them and take them for a test drive is <a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/">opensource.com</a>. Look at the Php demos navigation sidebar and click on CMS / Portals to get to a page where you can change the sort box to number of different categories. This website offers a way to demo the CMSs.<br />
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The two that I found most interesting were <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/">concrete5</a> and <a href="http://modx.com/">ModX</a>. Both are <strong>four-star rated in popularity</strong>. I read a <strong>fairly unbiased review</strong> comparing these two CMSs by <a href="http://www.hstuff.net/blog/2010/5/concrete5-vs-modx/">Seth at hstuff.net</a> Seth ultimately chose <strong>concrete5 as the winner</strong> and he talked greatly about his experiences using both systems and ended with a pros and cons section for both. <strong>I will repeat his summary list here:</strong><br />
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<h2>ModX :</h2><h3>Pros:</h3><em>Modular, templates, code re-use, apply changes to multiple pages simultaneously, once site is up can be operated by average computer user, community is kind and free.</em><br />
<h3>Cons:</h3><em>Documentation outdated, not easily spit and polished, getting site up is not for faint of heart, not easy to manipulate structure to suit each page's needs, no easy way for https login, no front end management except for comments.</em><br />
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<h2>Concrete5:</h2><h3>Pros:</h3><em>Easily polished, easy to use front end content management, easily manipulated blocks, project managers highly motivated to keep project secure.</em> <br />
<h3>Cons:</h3><em>Need flash, no simple way for https login, best stuff from community is not free (relatively cheap though), no backend management of comments.</em><br />
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If Seth’s word isn’t enough, Bill Carone, independent web designer in North Carolina stated in <a href="http://cms.phpmagazine.net/2009/08/concrete5_the_best_cms_to_come.html">cms.phpmagazine.net</a> that <strong>Concrete5 is the best CMS to come on the block in a long time</strong>. Bill says, “<em>There are no funky complicated rules or ways to do things. The installation is done through your favorite browser but works best using Gecko or Mozilla browsers. Designers like it because they can create custom themes very easily. Developers like it because the php used is straight forward and uses the MVC architecture</em>.” Concrete5 sounds good to me, especially after I watched their initial video on their main page, which I have included in my featured videos section.<br />
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<h1>Featured Videos:</h1>I have chosen three featured videos for this blog because the <strong>first</strong> one is an introduction to the new features in WordPress 3.1, the <strong>second</strong> one teaches how to embed YouTube videos into WordPress, and the <strong>third</strong> one is the video on the main page of concrete5.<br />
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<h2>First Video:</h2>The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJaVJAE6wV8">first video</a> is one in a series of videos by Thaddeus Hunt of <a href="http://thaddeushunt.com/">thaddeushunt.com</a>. After watching his video on YouTube, I went to his website and read every page and his latest blog entry. He is a web designer for a company in Durham, North Carolina; and in his spare time, he makes teaching videos for his freelance customers for whom he offers design work for WordPress sites. <strong>His YouTube video collection could be a good source for learning WordPress</strong>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tJaVJAE6wV8" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<h2>Second Video:</h2>The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IzWa1o3K1Q">second video</a> was made by Jack Humphrey from <a href="http://www.fridaytrafficreport.com/">fridaytrafficreport.com</a>. I think everyone in the class should know how to do what Jack demonstrates in WordPress but this video goes to show just how easy it can be to work in WordPress. Besides, I wanted to point to his website because it has <strong>free training and a job board for bloggers</strong>. You can find the link to the <a href="http://blogsuccess.com/">training center</a> through the “Know Jack” page.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8IzWa1o3K1Q" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<h2>Third Video:</h2>The <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/">third video</a> has convinced me that I need to add concrete5 to my list of CMS web design tools.<br />
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<object height="390" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UtaO3b7b08M&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UtaO3b7b08M&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-54522155248890751302011-03-23T17:34:00.000-07:002011-03-27T11:22:20.852-07:00CMS Ratings: CMSimple vs. WebsiteBaker<b>On a five star rating, I give WebsiteBaker 4.5 stars and I give CMSimple 2 stars.</b><br />
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I and my classmates have been learning about and using the two Content Management Systems (CMS) CMSimple and WebsiteBaker for the last several weeks. I have been so focused on learning html and css for the past year that I found creating templates for a CMS difficult at first. The new mindset takes some getting used to. In this blog I compare my experiences with the two CMSs.<br />
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<h1>Features – Likes and Dislikes:</h1><strong>What I like about CMSimple is the ease of installation and backup</strong>. What I don’t like about CMSimple is that there is very little support online for learning how to use it, the editing style of creating pages is inconvenient, and I did not find an easy way to embed videos. I discuss this further on in this blog.<br />
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<strong>What I like about WebsiteBaker is my familiarity with the editor and separation of pages; the abundance of cool add-ons, plugins, and modules; and the availability of online help</strong>. What I don’t like about WebsiteBaker compared to CMSimple is the complexity of installation and backup. Of course, most CMSs use the more complicated method, so this disliked feature would become moot when comparing WebsiteBaker with more powerful CMSs like WordPress or Joomla. The CMS Drupal is in its own category and I will not be going there for this class.<br />
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<h1>Client Use:</h1><strong>I recommend that clients use WebsiteBaker</strong> because they will recognize the structure of the editor if they are familiar with <em>Microsoft products</em>. I certainly like the editor in WebsiteBaker better than the editor in CMSimple. It is easy enough to explain the strange way of making pages in CMSimple and what not to do when creating content; so <em>if the client would rather have less to learn in regards to installation and backup, CMSimple could be a better choice for them</em>.<br />
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<h1>Installation:</h1>The <strong>installation of CMSimple is by far the easier of the two CMSs</strong>. You go to the website to download the CMSs in their zipped folders. You save the unzipped contents into the htdocs folder of your chosen server. I used <a href="http://www.server2go-web.de/">Server2go</a> with the addition of the database administrator <a href="http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php">PhpMyAdmin</a> in the admin folder of Server2go. With WebsiteBaker and most other CMSs, the CMS has to actually be installed into the server after the unzipped folder is placed in the htdocs folder before it will function. <em>For detailed instructions on installing WebsiteBaker, I recommend the tutorial video by Jonathan Ross</em>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jaab4P6wxI">Using WebsiteBaker, part2, Installing WB</a>. The installation process is fairly simple but for a newbie it can seem complicated. <strong>The nice thing about CMSimple is that it functions immediately – No installation necessary</strong>. CMSimple wins in this category.<br />
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<h1>Templating:</h1>I weigh both CMSs about the same in regards to the templating process. The templates themselves appear quite foreign to someone who only knows html/css. I recoded an existing html site to match the requirements of each of the two CMSs. <strong>CMSimple uses only html for its template code while WebsiteBaker uses php, hence the need for PhpMyAdmin</strong>. Other than that, they appear similar.<br />
<em>A short line of code replaces nearly all of the html code including the navigation lists and contents</em>. What remains are the divisions with their classes or ids; so the css that was originally created will still function after a few tweaks here and there. For instance, <strong>each CMS has its own unique code for the navigation lists</strong>; so the “you are here” function of the navigation buttons must be addressed specifically in the css for each CMS. You can view the source code of the page to see the variations between CMSs. The paragraph and image tags are then relocated to the editor section where they are still referred to by css.<br />
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<h1>Editing:</h1>The contents that were removed from the template must then be placed in the editor, which is usually WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and with administrative allowance, the editor can be manipulated in code view. <strong>I think it is easier to create a template and edit it in WebsiteBaker</strong> because the structure of the html code in the editor is closer to the regular html format that I’m accustomed to using.<br />
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<strong>CMSimple places a different meaning on the H1 through H3 tags, so that they define the pages</strong>. In CMSimple, all code is located on one page and it is then divided into (H1) main pages and (H2 to H3) subpages. Each page also becomes a tab on the main navigation. In CMSimple, your H1 tagged page heading is at the top of the page and next H1 tag you use will create a new page, so if you want to make headings and subheadings within a page, you have to start with H4 and go up. Then you can style these tags with css. I suppose CMSimple is okay once you get used to it; but <strong>WebsiteBaker’s ability to actually make pages with their own unique editors is appealing to me</strong>.<br />
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<h1>Backup:</h1><strong>CMSimple backup is without a doubt the easiest</strong> because all one has to do is to make a copy of the CMSimple folder from the htdocs folder of the server. With most CMSs, including WebsiteBaker, a backup of the database must be exported through a database management system, like <a href="http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php">PhpMyAdmin</a> or <a href="http://www.mysql.com/">MySQL</a>. It is also recommended that you backup all other FTP-data such as pages, media, modules and templates. <strong>WebsiteBaker has a backup module that makes backing up your site as easy as pushing a button.</strong> There is a <a href="http://www.websitebaker2.org/posts/security-vulnerability-backup-module-in-wb-core-13.php">security warning dated March 27 2010</a> on the WebsiteBaker website against using the Backup Module in the WB Core until further notice.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU033_iyETrxaSyHfhCkFCryp2AUeA5G4-p8BvJp6NepzYw6QdePgDwzSK2I6wWco12cZ94qGduup_CbWyWUScrUG1cx6TYB0CZrvoml1bkHxF9BhH9LLOZqhMBGlkhF6S2dOAcKoeb1lJ/s1600/wbWarning.png" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU033_iyETrxaSyHfhCkFCryp2AUeA5G4-p8BvJp6NepzYw6QdePgDwzSK2I6wWco12cZ94qGduup_CbWyWUScrUG1cx6TYB0CZrvoml1bkHxF9BhH9LLOZqhMBGlkhF6S2dOAcKoeb1lJ/s400/wbWarning.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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However, as of September 13, 2010, there is a <a href="http://www.websitebakers.com/pages/admin/admin-tools/backup.php">fixed and enhanced backup module</a> that works like a charm. Simply go to the link <a href="http://www.websitebakers.com/pages/admin/admin-tools/backup.php">http://www.websitebakers.com/pages/admin/admin-tools/backup.php</a>, download the backup module and install it. Installation is done by clicking on the Add-ons tab, then clicking the Modules link, then choosing the downloaded zipped folder and finally, clicking the installation button. The new module can then be found in the Admin-Tools.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bXc3pWB-0gIxWvdbIOLx6UjasO2XEKwxPyeTEhqXaCJDzb_O27x2Sb77CogDLUunoGMHjAyTBMQKFEey_KnMCCxYobN3r7h6k2zYrxHXZgnp6TjkMdTUYzgWjz_ALVNx6g68_cxmPDmY/s1600/backup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bXc3pWB-0gIxWvdbIOLx6UjasO2XEKwxPyeTEhqXaCJDzb_O27x2Sb77CogDLUunoGMHjAyTBMQKFEey_KnMCCxYobN3r7h6k2zYrxHXZgnp6TjkMdTUYzgWjz_ALVNx6g68_cxmPDmY/s400/backup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<h1>Videos:</h1>I like putting videos in my site so I decided to look at how easy it would be to do this in these two CMSs. <strong>WebsiteBaker ROCKS!!</strong> You just have to create a droplet. You go to YouTube to copy some embed code to paste in the right place later. Back in WebsiteBaker; go to Admin-Tools then droplets. Press the add droplets button. Paste the code in the code section and give the droplet a name and description. Break up the code in logical places, since there is no word wrap. Then write <span style="color: magenta;">return’</span> at the front of the embed code and <span style="color: magenta;">‘;</span> at the end to wrap it up properly. In the description, write the code [[youtube]] as a hint as to what needs to be placed in the editor. Save what you’ve done then go back to a page and write [[youtube]] in the editor. Save that and then the video appears on the page.<br />
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For a generic YouTube droplet, remove the specific address code for the video, which is the string of characters between <span style="color: magenta;">embed/</span> and <span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">“</span>. Replace the string of characters with <span style="color: magenta;">‘.$ID.’</span> Then change the code in the description and editor to [[youtube?ID=x]], where x is the identifying character string. $ID is a php variable so it has to have an ID passed to it in order for it to exist. The ID is the character string (x) that is written in the editor of a page. You’ll find the character string in the embed code of your chosen video.<br />
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The width and height can also be made generic by replacing width=”480” with <span style="color: magenta;">width=”’.$W.’”</span> and height=”600” with <span style="color: magenta;">height=”’.$H.’”</span> followed by adding <span style="color: magenta;">&W=400&H=600</span> after the character string in the calling code. For example, [[youtube?ID=x&W=480&H=600]], where x is the identifying character string between <span style="color: magenta;">embed/</span> and <span style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">“</span> of the embed code.<br />
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This process may seem complicated to a newbie but it really is simple and easy to accomplish. On the other hand, <strong>CMSimple is WOEFUL for embedding video</strong>. I did a Google search for adding video in the CMS. One plugin I found, <a href="http://www.cmsimplewiki.com/doku.php/plugins/videoall">VideoAll</a>, apparently doesn’t exist anymore since the links don’t work.<br />
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I saw another plugin, <a href="http://www.infocarto.fr/?R%26eacute%3Bf%26eacute%3Brences/Scripts">fdevideo – version 1.1-2010</a>, which is actually referenced by <a href="http://www.cmsimplewiki.com/doku.php/plugins/fdevideo">CMSimple</a> but; unfortunately, I couldn’t read the French instructions. However, if you download the zipped plugin, open the help folder, and look at the help document, you’ll see some <em>recognizable code that's, well, mostly in English</em>. Also, some pages can be translated by Google into English, but not that help page. With more experience, I could guess what needs to be done based on how other plugins are installed and used. <strong>I am disturbed by the lack of support for CMSimple</strong>.<br />
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<h1>Featured Video:</h1><strong>I would like to High-Five my class instructor Jonathan Ross for making an excellent series of videos about WebsiteBaker</strong> and particularly the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4IeU52UbgI&feature=related">video about droplets</a>. If you didn’t understand my description, this video will show you how to embed video into WebsiteBaker and more.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X4IeU52UbgI" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-38843155711137484952011-02-27T10:04:00.000-08:002011-02-27T10:04:37.251-08:00A CMS Introduction for Designers and Businesses:A Content Management System (CMS) is a web application that is used to create and edit HTML content in a way that can be easily managed by people who don’t know anything about web design, programming or code. Templates can be chosen from a pile of free offerings or designed specifically for the website appearance and then the content can be regularly updated by anyone the website administrator allows. I think it’s important for designers and businesses to know about CMSs and continue to stay abreast of new products and applications. <strong>It’s good to know which ones are more stable than others and what features to look for when choosing the right CMS for a client</strong>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<h2>CMS Basic Features:</h2>Some basic features of a CMS that I think are essential include the ability to choose from a large variety of <strong>templates</strong> or easily create a template, <strong>separation of presentation from content</strong> updating, and an <strong>easy to use interface for content managers</strong>.<br />
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As a designer, I want the CMS to be easy for me to implement my template design and then protect that design from content managers by separation of presentation from content. I also want the CMS to be extremely simple and user friendly for the content managers to learn and use in order to reduce their dependency on the web designer for non-design related tasks.<br />
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Part of being user friendly is the <strong>availability of support and tutorials</strong> in using the CMS for beginners. Even if a large open-source CMS doesn’t have a set of documented training devices, it should at least have a community of users that freely give advice. Paul Boag of boagworld.com warns that “it is not unusual to find apparently vibrant communities that are hostile to new users asking ‘dumb questions,’” <a href="http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/">Too many content management systems</a>. As someone who is constantly learning new tasks, I value respect whether I’m giving it or in receipt of it.<br />
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<h2>Nice but Not Essential CMS Features:</h2>There are other features that are nice but not essential, depending on the needs of the client. These CMS features include search engine friendly URLs, search engine optimization (SEO) features that allow search engines to crawl content deeply and regularly, and a robust security system that protects against hackers with ongoing diligence.<br />
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<h3>Search Engine Friendly URL:</h3><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwKWb9z6UKBjvkSQSCigwhsudEPZksr-FHLmCcfv2bvOpbU84Aij7Q3rftpyWbffiw34v355aU3-sgBGespAKsFLwHf8A2iypbKYRIerGi4g41qoW4SlWEBvHNwXl-GInS_F_LjjxkrXh/s1600/joomsef_ico120.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwKWb9z6UKBjvkSQSCigwhsudEPZksr-FHLmCcfv2bvOpbU84Aij7Q3rftpyWbffiw34v355aU3-sgBGespAKsFLwHf8A2iypbKYRIerGi4g41qoW4SlWEBvHNwXl-GInS_F_LjjxkrXh/s1600/joomsef_ico120.png" /></a></div>Paul Boag of boagworld.com says that “if a CMS supports friendly URLs they probably support accessibility and standards too,” <a href="http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/">Too many content management systems</a>. <strong>A friendly URL is a web address that is made readable</strong> and can be understood and manipulated by users to re-navigate within the site and it can be used by search engines in a keyword search. There is a component for Joomla called <strong>JoomSEF</strong> sold by <a href="http://www.artio.net/joomla-extensions/joomsef?gclid=CPrLmoeIp6cCFU9m7AodJhS1Dg">Artio</a> that <strong>rewrites Joomla URLs to be search engine friendly</strong>.<br />
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<h3>SEO Features:</h3><br />
SEO is an internet buzz word; every client wants it to help their page rise to the top of a search list. Therefore, it is a nice feature for any CMS to offer. Making search engine friendly URLs is a big part of SEO but that’s only the beginning. Not all CMSs allow designers to write relevant meta tags that search engines use to find content. iData Technologies states that “<em>it is possible for designers and CMS systems alike to create pages that are virtually invisible to search engine spiders because of text in images, script-based navigation, overuse of AJAX and a host of other practices</em>,” <a href="http://www.idatatechnologies.com/en-US/SEO_and_CMS_how_do_they_Relate.aspx">SEO and CMS: How will a CMS impact my SEO efforts?</a><br />
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When CMSs advertise that they are SEO ready, one should read the fine print. It could mean that they offer devices that only a programmer would be able to set up. The <strong>best way to achieve SEO is to use semantic markup and CSS</strong> which “<em>search engines can easily crawl and understand</em>.” The content management system <a href="http://www.thesimplecms.com/features/">Simple CMS</a> includes semantic markup language and a Mod rewrite engine in its list of features and Tracy Schmidt of <a href="http://435digital.com/web-design-development/3066/5-reasons-why-your-business-should-run-on-wordpress/">435digital</a> says that a WordPress user can install the <a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/">SEO plugin by Yoast</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGDVliknHDmFClSLXw-DHBnogFsJrmeOL-7fluMPS6X2wD5EqT9ZQd3xwVrzsxse5Tpl-BMWBLepe4N2OA5rgcqSyjOWKuu5hKGp8PXArGOJyLnGOnuAML1onBsabtyD1UR2qM3eXRIkj/s1600/wpseo-wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="50" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGDVliknHDmFClSLXw-DHBnogFsJrmeOL-7fluMPS6X2wD5EqT9ZQd3xwVrzsxse5Tpl-BMWBLepe4N2OA5rgcqSyjOWKuu5hKGp8PXArGOJyLnGOnuAML1onBsabtyD1UR2qM3eXRIkj/s200/wpseo-wide.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<h3>Security:</h3><br />
Finally and perhaps most importantly, is security. This feature is not necessary for everyone because not everyone is willing to pay extra money for protection against hackers. <strong>Large open-source CMSs are more vulnerable to hacking problems</strong>. They often have volunteers that work on increasing security but every site is responsible for self-cleaning and you can’t control your neighbors. <em>WordPress dot com is more secure than WordPress dot org</em> because it is a hosted CMS that has a team of experts that are responsible for maintaining security patches, <a href="http://www.webvanta.com/post/100344-wordpress-sites-hacked-again-hosted-cms">WordPress Sites Hacked Again; Hosted CMS the Answer?</a> <br />
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There is <strong>more security with a custom built commercial CMS</strong> for a business website that is willing and able to pay for it. This can be expensive if you can’t build it yourself. <a href="http://www.cmsdesignresource.com/articles/how-to-choose-a-cms/">Cmsdesignresource</a> says “<em>If you are a huge corporation (or if you have lots of enemies!), you’re going to need a system with higher security, because it matters a lot more</em>” and “<em>Websites that handle any kind of monetary transactions will need higher security</em>.” There are some CMSs, like <a href="http://www.sitefinity.com/cms-solution-industry/financial-services.aspx">sitefinity</a> that specialize in offering security and ease of use for websites that rely on on-line financial transactions.<br />
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<h2>Evaluation of CMS Options:</h2>The first thing for designers and clients to do when evaluating CMS options is to <strong>ask questions</strong> in regards to who needs the website and for what purpose it will be used. The needs of a large or mid-sized corporation are very different from a single-person entrepreneurial business or personal profile website. An online brochure style website may not need the same kind of security as a product based business that sells products through their online presence. In the pdf document <a href="http://switch-cms.com/$assets$/35ac9de5-c9da-4617-bd56-74fd1c5988f7/LEVEL_EvaluatingCMSPurchaseModels.pdf">Evaluating Web CMS Purchase Models</a>, Level Studios says that “<em>as web managers set out to identify a CMS that will meet their organizational needs, their decision will likely be influenced primarily by price, functionality and purchase model…As a web team begins to evaluate different CMS options, the purchase model is often the last thing to be considered</em>.” They say that ignoring the financial security that I mentioned previously can be a costly mistake.<br />
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<h2>Why Designers Should Learn about CMSs:</h2>Designers should learn about CMSs <strong>because the majority of their clients are going to want one</strong>. Designers should <strong>learn how to make templates</strong> and make use of available <strong>plugins</strong> on a <em>variety of CMSs</em>. There are so many old, new, large, small, simple and complex CMSs that are free or priced in ranges that reflect levels of services, personal or global in scope. The first learning curve for everyone is just <strong>determining the best CMS for the job at hand</strong>. Then there is a learning curve for every CMS a designer wants to master in order to provide more versatility to clients.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQryjugWQaRInyctuqw1xhTfyrKr4KoUuM0hjhc22LHL-DbissbInuqB1mGgxNpZARLiZSxW3xu0JC78b9Q3LLFE9iwpSSQPvtyo0iPn9Jrwx-0yZl6czUA0lS7Gclg_OqEPJDsjswWliA/s1600/frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQryjugWQaRInyctuqw1xhTfyrKr4KoUuM0hjhc22LHL-DbissbInuqB1mGgxNpZARLiZSxW3xu0JC78b9Q3LLFE9iwpSSQPvtyo0iPn9Jrwx-0yZl6czUA0lS7Gclg_OqEPJDsjswWliA/s200/frog.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
According to <a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/how-to-choose-the-right-cms/">webdesignerdepot</a>, a great CMS to start with is <a href="http://www.madebyfrog.com/">Frog CMS</a>. "<em>Frog CMS shows the most promise of any CMS that is currently in development. The extremely friendly administrator interface is its golden gem. The community for Frog remains small, but despite this the project is developing quickly, while plugins are constantly being produced at high standards to fill the gaps</em>."<br />
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<strong>The best way for designers to learn about CMSs is to start using them.</strong> A designer can begin by searching for reviews of the most currently popular CMSs, old and new, and then pick one to start experimenting with using non-client projects. A really wonderful website for tinkering with a variety of CMSs is <a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=all&category=All+CMS+Demos">opensourcecms</a> because they host a huge number of open source CMSs that are ranked by five stars and are then <strong>available for testing</strong> without the designer having to sign up for the CMS personally. Some websites and bloggers will do their own reviews where the designer can learn about new plugins that others are finding useful.<br />
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You know, even though there are a gazillion open source CMSs and plugins, there are many plugins, applications, and CMSs that charge for their use. Even though the CMS itself may be free; <strong>sometimes, the accumulation of objects that cost money can become greater in cost than if the client had gone with a CMS that charges up front</strong>. A designer should become familiar with all of the CMS options for their clients so that they can better help their clients make the best choices for their individual business needs.<br />
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<strong>Smashing Magazine</strong> dot com is a <em>great source for a designer </em>to begin looking at anything regarding web design. In 2009, Robert Hartland published an article there, <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/08/getting-started-with-content-management-systems/">Getting Started with Content Management Systems</a>, that is a <em>good starting point for a newbie</em> to begin learning the basics about CMSs and their features and functions. In 2010, Rachel Andrew published an article there, <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/22/designing-for-content-management-systems/">Designing for Content Management Systems</a>, where she suggests the services <a href="http://fontdeck.com/">Fontdeck</a> and <a href="http://typekit.com/">Typekit</a> that <em>allow for the use of fonts</em> not installed on the user’s computer without resorting to image replacement for text, which is an SEO unfriendly thing to do.<br />
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<h2>Featured Video</h2>The video I would like to share, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscFgaMTm48">Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners</a>, dates back to 2007 but it is still relevant to <strong>understanding SEO in a CMS</strong>. Matt Cutts from the webspam department of Google is being interviewed in this video about improving SEO in websites from <strong>Google’s perspective</strong>. Back then, <strong>WordPress</strong> 2.3 was new and yet Matt was praising them then for being <strong>SEO friendly</strong> due to their placing posts in one location and thus avoiding duplications. This video has a number of great tips for designers and small business owners including the best places to post videos and why as well as the use of <strong>Google maps</strong> and <strong>Google Webmaster Central</strong>. He said that Google is getting better at crawling <em>JavaScript and Flash but these should be used primarily for decoration and avoided in regards to navigation and business name.</em><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gscFgaMTm48" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<h2>Resources listed in order of appearance:</h2>1. Too many content management systems:<br />
<a href="http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/">http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/</a><br />
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2. Too many content management systems:<br />
<a href="http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/">http://boagworld.com/technology/too-many-content-management-systems/</a><br />
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3. Artio:<br />
<a href="http://www.artio.net/joomla-extensions/joomsef?gclid=CPrLmoeIp6cCFU9m7AodJhS1Dg">http://www.artio.net/joomla-extensions/joomsef?gclid=CPrLmoeIp6cCFU9m7AodJhS1Dg</a><br />
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4. SEO and CMS: How will a CMS impact my SEO efforts?<br />
<a href="http://www.idatatechnologies.com/en-US/SEO_and_CMS_how_do_they_Relate.aspx">http://www.idatatechnologies.com/en-US/SEO_and_CMS_how_do_they_Relate.aspx</a><br />
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5. Simple CMS:<br />
<a href="http://www.thesimplecms.com/features/">http://www.thesimplecms.com/features/</a><br />
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6. 435digital:<br />
<a href="http://435digital.com/web-design-development/3066/5-reasons-why-your-business-should-run-on-wordpress/">http://435digital.com/web-design-development/3066/5-reasons-why-your-business-should-run-on-wordpress/</a><br />
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7. SEO plugin by Yoast:<br />
<a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/">http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/</a><br />
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8. WordPress Sites Hacked Again; Hosted CMS the Answer?<br />
<a href="http://www.webvanta.com/post/100344-wordpress-sites-hacked-again-hosted-cms">http://www.webvanta.com/post/100344-wordpress-sites-hacked-again-hosted-cms</a><br />
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9. Cmsdesignresource:<br />
<a href="http://www.cmsdesignresource.com/articles/how-to-choose-a-cms/">http://www.cmsdesignresource.com/articles/how-to-choose-a-cms/</a><br />
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10. sitefinity:<br />
<a href="http://www.sitefinity.com/cms-solution-industry/financial-services.aspx">http://www.sitefinity.com/cms-solution-industry/financial-services.aspx</a><br />
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11. Evaluating Web CMS Purchase Models:<br />
<a href="http://switch-cms.com/$assets$/35ac9de5-c9da-4617-bd56-74fd1c5988f7/LEVEL_EvaluatingCMSPurchaseModels.pdf">http://switch-cms.com/$assets$/35ac9de5-c9da-4617-bd56-74fd1c5988f7/LEVEL_EvaluatingCMSPurchaseModels.pdf</a><br />
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12. webdesignerdepot:<br />
<a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/how-to-choose-the-right-cms/">http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/how-to-choose-the-right-cms/</a><br />
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13. Frog CMS:<br />
<a href="http://www.madebyfrog.com/">http://www.madebyfrog.com/</a><br />
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14. opensourcecms:<br />
<a href="http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=all&category=All+CMS+Demos">http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=all&category=All+CMS+Demos</a><br />
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15. Getting Started with Content Management Systems:<br />
<a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/08/getting-started-with-content-management-systems/">http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/08/getting-started-with-content-management-systems/</a><br />
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16. Designing for Content Management Systems:<br />
<a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/22/designing-for-content-management-systems/">http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/22/designing-for-content-management-systems/</a><br />
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17. Fontdeck:<br />
<a href="http://fontdeck.com/">http://fontdeck.com/</a><br />
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18. Typekit:<br />
<a href="http://typekit.com/">http://typekit.com/</a><br />
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19. Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscFgaMTm48">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscFgaMTm48</a>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-69037021082742565162011-02-08T20:03:00.000-08:002011-02-10T05:43:09.413-08:00The 3 Best CSS Resources Every Designer Should Know<h2>CSS Resources</h2>There are many good resources for learning CSS best practices and cool things to do to the presentation of a web site. I based my choices on the depth of content and quantity of references to further information. I like to see code examples that I can use and change as needed. I also like video tutorials and images as well. Here are my top three picks.<br />
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1. <a href="http://htmldog.com/">http://htmldog.com/</a><br />
2. <a href="http://sixrevisions.com/css/30_css_techniques_examples/">http://sixrevisions.com/css/30_css_techniques_examples/</a><br />
3. <a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/35-websites-to-teach-you-how-to-use-css-effectively/">http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/35-websites-to-teach-you-how-to-use-css-effectively/</a><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<h2>HTML Dog</h2><a href="http://htmldog.com/">HTML Dog</a> is my first pick because it is written and organized in a <em>simple and easy to understand</em> way. It is addressed to an audience ranging from absolute beginner to advanced web designer. There are no video tutorials on this site but there is an example of <em>web standards code for every situation</em>, accompanied by easy to understand explanations.<br />
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The author Patrick Griffiths highlights the <em>importance of web standards and using CSS to achieve accessibility in web pages</em>. "In addition to writting and maintaining the HTML Dog website, he has contributed to resources such as <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/">A List Apart</a> and the <a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/">CSS Zen Garden</a>, and is an active, well renowned member of the web design community." Also on this site is a link to <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?z=y&EAN=9780321311399&itm=1">Barnes and Noble</a> where you can buy his book, "HTML Dog: The Best Practice Guide to XHTML and CSS."<br />
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<h2>Six Revisions</h2><a href="http://sixrevisions.com/">Six Revisions</a> is my second pick because it is<em> like an e-magazine full of "useful information for web developers and designers."</em> On one page, within the site, there is a sub-source of CSS techniques and examples. This article, "<a href="http://sixrevisions.com/css/30_css_techniques_examples/">30 Exceptional CSS Techniques and Examples</a>," was written by Jacob Gube in 2008; so I'm sure there are plenty of new cool things to see today. However, this is an <em>excellent source-list of links</em> to a variety of websites that offer CSS code with or without written tutorials for just about every CSS example displayed there. This site shows itself to be a good reference source.<br />
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Another page on this site, <a href="http://sixrevisions.com/category/css/">http://sixrevisions.com/category/css/</a>, demonstrates the <em>variability of contributors and sources of cutting-edge CSS techniques</em> that are currently being used. This page is written in blog style where the introduction to each article is cut short by a continue reading button.<br />
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<h2>1st Web Designer</h2><a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/">1st Web Designer</a> is my third pick because it is rich with variety and details. This website, www.1stwebdesigner.com, has <em>more than 20,000 followers and subscribers</em> and offers a blog style array of everything a web designer would want to know, including everything CSS. The site is managed by a small group of people who love to teach what they know, voluntarily.<br />
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The one article I want to focus on is called "<a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/35-websites-to-teach-you-how-to-use-css-effectively/">35 Websites To Teach You How To Use CSS Effectively</a>" and was written in 2009 by Dainis Graveris. I chose to put this site last because <em>this article is a doorway to a gold mine of references to many websites every designer should know about</em>; including <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=css%20tutorial&tbs=vid:1">Google Videos - CSS</a>, where someone like me can watch video tutorials to their heart's content.<br />
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<h2>Autobiographical Video of Nathaniel Dodson of Tutvid.com</h2>This section is my piece of video lagniappe. I chose this video because I wanted to share the experience of another digital media "expert." The video I'm sharing here is an autobiography by Nathaniel Dodson of Tutvid.com. He has produced <em>over 200 video tutorials on how to do things</em> in Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. I recommend his tutorial on making <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QNv-RTtZTk">CSS Rounded Corners in Dreamweaver</a>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oxlap8ry4Ps" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-87570554901027236482011-02-02T19:17:00.000-08:002011-02-02T19:21:44.043-08:00Facebook Technical Report For Designers<h2>What is Facebook?</h2>Facebook is a social-networking site, a social media tool that has a great variety of options, settings, and applications that every web designer should learn and remain current so that they can customize a <em>Facebook Page</em> for their clients in a way that will grow their business. Facebook is more than a personal communication center; it’s also a way for <em>fans</em> to follow their favorite businesses and other marketable icons when used properly. Web designers need to know about Facebook because there are <em>over 500 million active users</em> who interact with as many people as they wish and are able to write posts everywhere, “<em>like blog comments on steroids</em>;” <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/">3 Reasons Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business</a>.<br />
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I think the wave of the future is for every business to have a <em>Facebook Page</em> to supplement their business website and other social media tools.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZuTGuARpeGJC-S6i8qhH9nTGGuzyGHxV09zg7bXsxSurnN_ymgkYo50zWU8MWBkAYgKf0C27wE2YoavAmqe0FqnxGM8vSRMdDs5wHobcf874qFHZSZwsJFZVSvaQj-w4P2mOh4EqmX-_/s1600/markzuckerberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZuTGuARpeGJC-S6i8qhH9nTGGuzyGHxV09zg7bXsxSurnN_ymgkYo50zWU8MWBkAYgKf0C27wE2YoavAmqe0FqnxGM8vSRMdDs5wHobcf874qFHZSZwsJFZVSvaQj-w4P2mOh4EqmX-_/s1600/markzuckerberg.png" /></a></div><br />
<h2>Facebook - A History:</h2>Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was an undergraduate at Harvard University as a way for college students to socialize online. Within months the allowable users were extended to other universities and then to high schools; <a href="http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/">Facebook – The Complete Biography</a>. Then on September 26, 2006, anyone could register as long as they had a valid email address; <a href="http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/002842.html">Kellie Parker</a>. In July, 2009, the big news was that the number of students on Facebook dropped while the number of parents rose as shown in the pie chart from <a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/">10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCJjS5jJANQNThegWG0muBnRc_RnH1ug6Cw8nkhUFrCEZfVTPzf-Hu7P92PcnCRWI4e_hIAW1siM5tIiMkQSI3de9wgG3OEo_a8lyG6FWOpEwp3e26_BEl7X_N3VC9hmnskqGlWzOx5Ne/s1600/facebook-page-seo-comments-likes-500x435.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCJjS5jJANQNThegWG0muBnRc_RnH1ug6Cw8nkhUFrCEZfVTPzf-Hu7P92PcnCRWI4e_hIAW1siM5tIiMkQSI3de9wgG3OEo_a8lyG6FWOpEwp3e26_BEl7X_N3VC9hmnskqGlWzOx5Ne/s320/facebook-page-seo-comments-likes-500x435.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/">http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/</a></div><br />
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<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20004853-36.html">Caroline McCarthy</a>, a CNET News staff writer, describes a brief history of the mistakes and recoveries of Facebook. 2006 was when Facebook initiated the <em>News Feed</em>, which releases <em>comments</em> and “<em>Like Button</em>” submissions to everyone on the <em>friends list</em>. The default was for everyone to get the personal information on the profiles. After a backlash, <em>privacy controls</em> were added to manage who sees what information. Based on Facebook’s history, <strong>I think that there have been so many changes in these past few years that a web designer would be negligent to ignore the most recent modifications and concerns, whether they are negative such as the attack on privacy or whether they are positive like the constant development of new applications</strong>. By the way, there is a movie out now about the life of Mark Zuckerberg and the development of Facebook called <em>The Social Network</em>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-kgC3j5yGLsmnJs9PDABz0xT_IAAoW0LZtMo2TDd5Gra85EQ_L14ZGERX2RvCa7Za_hkZIIDbTCDxdGyjvs10M9WrDrf0ToIqJ7FQu5HATtuaahc6eL8-9makuDDGj4opy1bE3NC4YH6/s1600/ZuckermanMovie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia-kgC3j5yGLsmnJs9PDABz0xT_IAAoW0LZtMo2TDd5Gra85EQ_L14ZGERX2RvCa7Za_hkZIIDbTCDxdGyjvs10M9WrDrf0ToIqJ7FQu5HATtuaahc6eL8-9makuDDGj4opy1bE3NC4YH6/s1600/ZuckermanMovie.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<h2>Facebook Rules:</h2>The first thing everyone should do is learn the rules; for instance, you can only have one account. If you already have a <em>personal account</em>, you cannot create a <em>business account</em>. If you convert a business account into a personal account, you cannot revert back to a business account. A business account cannot view the profiles of users; it cannot send or receive <em>friend requests</em>; and it cannot be found in a <em>search</em>. All of these things are available on a personal account and you can manage who sees what on various <em>Pages</em> and <em>Social Ads</em> that you create; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=721">Facebook Help Center</a>.<br />
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<h2>Facebook Pages:</h2><em>A Facebook Page</em> is the arena for businesses. You can only have one account with a maximum of 5,000 friends; but you can have an <em>unlimited number of Facebook Pages with an unlimited number of fans</em>. As the administrator of your account, you would want to separate your friends into lists each with their own privacy settings to allow or disallow particular kinds of content such as personal information. “<em>You can have up to 100 lists, with up to 1,000 friends in each list</em>” and “<em>you can also add Facebook Pages to Friend Lists</em>,” which is useful for reading News Feeds; <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-101-business-guide/">Facebook 101 Business Guide</a>. Realize that <em>News Feeds</em> are updated constantly every time someone in the list posts a comment or presses a <em>Like Button</em> so you would only want to see the relevant information on each <em>Page</em> by adjusting the settings.<br />
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<h2>Facebook Groups:</h2>It’s still okay to search for <em>Facebook Groups</em> to find niches of people with common interests; but for businesses, they are <em>clearly outdated</em> because they do not support the newest features that make <em>Facebook Pages</em> so appealing, such as <em>Facebook Apps</em> and most importantly the <em>Static FBML App</em> (Facebook Markup Language); <a href="http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/">How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing</a>. Every designer needs to know FBML which is similar to HTML. I will discuss its value throughout this report.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYSB5FUlMa-GzgJCyYrHKUc5pHvMq1dZLhglR88CGFuH6GfXRQZg4RhTa2HHySkte8vAB9BhkIksa33p5NfaYg8FgAW_u39eFKJ0yTmyob2herHhw2vO-Rpu-EJRrDPkTkdYhS6M7prpc/s1600/static-fbml-e1283927324176.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYSB5FUlMa-GzgJCyYrHKUc5pHvMq1dZLhglR88CGFuH6GfXRQZg4RhTa2HHySkte8vAB9BhkIksa33p5NfaYg8FgAW_u39eFKJ0yTmyob2herHhw2vO-Rpu-EJRrDPkTkdYhS6M7prpc/s320/static-fbml-e1283927324176.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savedelete.com/20-essential-facebook-apps-for-creating-successful-business-fanpage.html">http://savedelete.com/20-essential-facebook-apps-for-creating-successful-business-fanpage.html</a></div><h2> </h2><h2>Facebook versus a Website?</h2>A <em>Facebook Page</em> may look like a website if you know how to use all of the application tools but it should never be considered a replacement; “<em>it should be considered a subset of your overall online marketing efforts</em>;” <a href="http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/">How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing</a>. You as a designer can use the <em>Static FBML App</em> to <em>create tabs</em> that link back to the website. Since <em>spamming</em> can get a Facebook account revoked, you don’t want to force sales efforts onto the <em>friends</em> in other<em> lists</em>. Instead, ask customers to follow the business on Facebook and the word will spread via <em>News Feeds</em>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5KcT1KQoe7TLluSe1N5ZJiBmXtjD4RRLaS8EkARVe9OFYpohB7-FovExFITLFWvQhOHyEd2KCSM33ih6cdmAFdhBVzTr-bISS5MR6VYVWkRoC2akfivkqFdfO5fhqq_HyBxeZZRpaB5b/s1600/reeses-facebook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5KcT1KQoe7TLluSe1N5ZJiBmXtjD4RRLaS8EkARVe9OFYpohB7-FovExFITLFWvQhOHyEd2KCSM33ih6cdmAFdhBVzTr-bISS5MR6VYVWkRoC2akfivkqFdfO5fhqq_HyBxeZZRpaB5b/s320/reeses-facebook.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/">http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/</a></div><br />
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Every action that a<em> fan</em> makes on a <em>Page</em> will be announced on their <em>News Feed</em> which is visible to all of their friends. A <em>News Feed</em> is the center column of the home page and it updates constantly with Top News or Most Recent news <em>depending on the settings</em>. The Facebook Help Center is a great source to learn more about <em>News Feeds</em> and how to change the settings to show or reveal the incoming or outgoing information as you wish. It is possible to block having to see the comments of people you’re not interested in viewing.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BWNHQsKj-deTMQwwQlfhju4QVbL5fssiRpRYi5gQtLktp-bBxgj4-tzjsyrOWNw8yNQx3UJLNDUETr6ISSMrNrFgTHjWdg7WC-oYDg8iLKwc1S4kUpU8biCqW_mwJMtGix3aKpJejEK9/s1600/0910ap-fb-uno-welcome-tab.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BWNHQsKj-deTMQwwQlfhju4QVbL5fssiRpRYi5gQtLktp-bBxgj4-tzjsyrOWNw8yNQx3UJLNDUETr6ISSMrNrFgTHjWdg7WC-oYDg8iLKwc1S4kUpU8biCqW_mwJMtGix3aKpJejEK9/s320/0910ap-fb-uno-welcome-tab.png" width="262" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/</a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YBaVRBCgdx3WJohvLZOP8x-0DjUKDhGCi-O0uH3aeEVlAZMiymO36ZA0nwfrfSxZFKdHallnKgMue571XsV3gH_AErEAgDCS9wQymOEmZq5el30MSoxPlNvTcbjJ96oml8q0XPFKGrPl/s1600/0910ap-fb-uno-fan-of-week.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YBaVRBCgdx3WJohvLZOP8x-0DjUKDhGCi-O0uH3aeEVlAZMiymO36ZA0nwfrfSxZFKdHallnKgMue571XsV3gH_AErEAgDCS9wQymOEmZq5el30MSoxPlNvTcbjJ96oml8q0XPFKGrPl/s200/0910ap-fb-uno-fan-of-week.png" width="81" /></a></div><br />
Another good thing to do with the <em>Static FBML App</em> is to make use of the available <em>vertical space on a Facebook Page</em> because it will <em>remain visible through scrolling and tab changes</em>. It can be used as a <em>side navigation, logo placement, and/or a vertical ad</em>; <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page</a>.<br />
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The <em>Wildfire App</em> can also be used by designers as a way to set up an easy access for running contests and promotions that engage readers to interact even more with the website. You just need to learn which apps are free and which ones you have to pay for. For instance, the content for <em>Promotions</em> via the <em>WildFire App</em> lives on the developer’s website and its use is subject to small fees – even though the account at <a href="http://wildfireapp.com/">wildfireapp.com</a> is free; <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ35X9qb0c58jlIV3EO1G1MqlZp5ZOJdIy9auUm76QaS2rnf0VKCqvg1fje8h2ILFANrY0zbg8cWzmsftHpEjKNTeFhDDzWLMN4j8nxOkkZU82gYjpJhFCTdk0jtXfx6paeWqHyEvGh7yq/s1600/promotions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ35X9qb0c58jlIV3EO1G1MqlZp5ZOJdIy9auUm76QaS2rnf0VKCqvg1fje8h2ILFANrY0zbg8cWzmsftHpEjKNTeFhDDzWLMN4j8nxOkkZU82gYjpJhFCTdk0jtXfx6paeWqHyEvGh7yq/s320/promotions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/</a></div><h2> </h2><h2>Facebook Identity:</h2>A web designer should think carefully when helping a client develop their identity on a <em>Facebook Page</em> because the <em>Facebook username will become the business vanity URL and it can NEVER be changed</em>. Facebook requires that a <em>Page</em> have a <em>minimum of 100 fans</em> before it becomes eligible to select a username so there is time to think. One rule to keep in mind is that <em>generic names are forbidden</em>, so choose the actual name of a person or business with or without the addition of a generic keyword; <a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/">10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know</a>.<br />
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Another aspect of identity that all Facebook users should consider is their <em>Avatar</em>, the image of self that brands your identity everywhere you post a comment. You can advise your clients that somewhere along the line, you may be presenting yourself to people of importance like potential employers or customers; so the best option is to use a nice photograph of yourself that will <em>engender a feeling of trust</em>; <a href="http://gigaom.com/collaboration/6-tips-for-better-branding-using-avatars/">6 Tips for Better Branding Using Avatars</a>.<br />
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For a business, a designer needs to consider the <em>Facebook identity of the Landing Page</em>. The <em>Static FBML App</em> can be used to <em>create a tab with a great graphic design</em> that leads the first time visitor to click on the <em>Like Button</em> in order to become a <em>fan</em> that can then receive <em>News Feeds</em> and spread the word to their friends. This image from Red Bull is a great example; <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/">Top 10 Facebook Pages</a>. It should be noted that since applications can only be used in <em>Pages</em>, this design that mimics a webpage is <em>not available in Groups or personal profiles</em>; <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-customize-your-facebook-page-using-static-fbml/">How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kKL9U4pKtgvL2W07HIf_gsJutiwdKWz7l1REWNOH-2xB6OhdbP1Xbpt68-yd-w-dpEwgn_tB2FwyfWWOcfD01yCwHdU_n9VmNo26N7GfH6xAuKNV-g0EzpqYTp5-BjR6ciWI27QgT4xy/s1600/01-red-bull-call-to-action-facebook-page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kKL9U4pKtgvL2W07HIf_gsJutiwdKWz7l1REWNOH-2xB6OhdbP1Xbpt68-yd-w-dpEwgn_tB2FwyfWWOcfD01yCwHdU_n9VmNo26N7GfH6xAuKNV-g0EzpqYTp5-BjR6ciWI27QgT4xy/s320/01-red-bull-call-to-action-facebook-page.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/</a></div><h2> </h2><h2>More Facebook Applications:</h2>Several other Facebook applications that should be studied include <em>Social RSS</em>, the <em>Poll app</em>, <em>YouTube for Pages</em>, the <em>Like Box</em>, <em>Facebook Ads</em> and <em>games</em>. With <em>Social RSS</em>, you can eliminate the process of republishing information manually. Updates pulled in through an <em>RSS</em> of your client’s favorite <em>Facebook Pages</em> can be updated automatically. It is recommended that a separate tab be relegated for this so that the readers can choose to view them or not.<br />
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The <em>Poll app</em> is simple, easy to use, and is managed in the settings panel. “<em>A poll can be a casual way to get a read from your fans about a new product, a new page design, or your business in general</em>;” <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page</a>.<br />
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It’s also recommended that a business dedicate a <em>Page tab</em> to the business <em>YouTube channel</em>. Videos can be displayed as most recent or as favorites. Since the videos play directly on Facebook,<em> fans</em> never have to leave the <em>business Page</em>. Mari Smith with Social Media Examiner says “<em>You could do a video tip per day or per week. Make sure to keep the length short and the content concise. The ideal length for videos is up to 1 minute and 40 seconds</em>;” <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-better-engage-facebook-fan-page-fans/">How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’</a>.”<br />
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The <em>Like Box</em> goes well with the <em>Like Button</em> because it shows the pictures or <em>avatars</em> of the people that are known to the viewer and this can be a further enticement for them to “<em>like</em>” the <em>Page</em> and become a <em>fan</em>; <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/">3 Reasons Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business</a>.<br />
In June 2010, “<em>Facebook revealed that businesses who advertise their Facebook presence off the social networking site get at least 20% more fans</em>;” <a href="http://www.mrlukeabbott.com/marketing/15-facebook-for-business-tips/">15 Facebook for Business Tips</a>. This is where the <em>business vanity URL</em> comes in handy to put on business cards, the Twitter account, and the business website. In turn, <em>Facebook Ads</em> can be used to drive the<em> fans</em> back to the website for more information. <br />
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According to the source listed above, <em>Facebook Ads</em> “<em>send more traffic to their website than Google ads, and they’re cheaper</em>.” I recommend reading about the rules and suggestions about <em>Facebook Ads</em> on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=856">Facebook Help Center</a> page.<br />
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GAMES. Need I say more? People love games and will happily “<em>like</em>” a business that invites them to play games, and designers are always needed to develop new games and new ways to play old games.<br />
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<br />
<h2>Example of a Facebook Business:</h2>Peter Fletcher shares a story in his article <a href="http://therealestatemarketingmaven.com/2010/04/sharing-property-listings-facebook/">How to share property listings on Facebook</a> about a realtor friend who uses Facebook to <em>share</em> property listings. The realtor has a <em>personal profile</em> that he keeps separate from his business and then he has a <em>business Page</em> where he lists properties. The properties are linked to his website where more information can be found. He “<em>asks the seller to click the Share button for their property on the Page and post the property listing to their personal profile</em>.” Then the listing goes to all of the seller’s friends with the <em>realtor’s Page name</em> on it and in effect giving their endorsement. The property ad goes viral and everyone wins.<br />
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<h2>Example of a Facebook App Developer:</h2><a href="http://www.bytindia.com/index.php">BYT Social</a> is a web and Facebook application development company from India and they give outstanding descriptions of what a web designer should know and do for business clients. They are an example of how fast <em>Facebook Apps</em> can be developed and tailored to fit individual business needs and how fast things change. <em>This company developed a memory game called Basics Matchup Challenge</em> for a client that offers prizes to winners. The development company says that “<em>it’s one of the best ways to promote brand awareness, and increase users’ familiarity with your logos, models, graphics and brand</em>.”<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-N3LXUwama9yET6y355YnatQfXe7quWknqMzn0BvLFLZ6tTkgGir72JoMfomHvs3w5qVdudjUCJn-C1-Es1pCtI9hlVjnR6xqAjXRIFC85FEUYrPopPcZ-ngU4vpuzQgjwdNu1OmsT_Z/s1600/matchup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-N3LXUwama9yET6y355YnatQfXe7quWknqMzn0BvLFLZ6tTkgGir72JoMfomHvs3w5qVdudjUCJn-C1-Es1pCtI9hlVjnR6xqAjXRIFC85FEUYrPopPcZ-ngU4vpuzQgjwdNu1OmsT_Z/s1600/matchup.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bytindia.com/index.php">http://www.bytindia.com/index.php</a></div><br />
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<h2>The Video Guide to Facebook Places for Businesses:</h2>Here is my favorite video for this blog segment. Mari Smith is a regular contributor for socialmediaexaminer.com and offers a whole series of video tutorials on how to use Facebook and other kinds of social media tools. This video touches on the game <em>Foursquare</em> and talks about the Facebook equivalent <em>Facebook Places</em>. Both of these are <em>location-based services</em> that “<em>are great for brick-and-mortar businesses because they can use these services to encourage people to come into their </em><br />
<em>location</em>;” <a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-places-business-guide/">The Video Guide to Facebook Places for Businesses</a>.<br />
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<h2>Resources in the Order of Appearance:</h2><br />
1. 3 Reasons Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/</a><br />
<br />
2. Facebook – The Complete Biography:<br />
<a href="http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/">http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/</a><br />
<br />
3. Kellie Parker:<br />
<a href="http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/002842.html">http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/002842.html</a><br />
<br />
4. 10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know:<br />
<a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/">http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/</a><br />
<br />
5. Caroline McCarthy:<br />
<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20004853-36.html">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20004853-36.html</a><br />
<br />
6. Facebook Help Center:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=721">http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=721</a><br />
<br />
7. Facebook 101 Business Guide:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-101-business-guide/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-101-business-guide/</a><br />
<br />
8. How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing:<br />
<a href="http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/">http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/</a><br />
<br />
9. How to Use Facebook for Business and Marketing:<br />
<a href="http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/">http://www.techipedia.com/2010/how-to-use-facebook-for-business-and-marketing/</a><br />
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10. 20 Essential Facebook Apps For Creating Successful Business Fanpage<br />
<a href="http://savedelete.com/20-essential-facebook-apps-for-creating-successful-business-fanpage.html">http://savedelete.com/20-essential-facebook-apps-for-creating-successful-business-fanpage.html</a><br />
<br />
11. 5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page:<br />
<a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/</a><br />
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12. wildfireapp.com:<br />
<a href="http://www.wildfireapp.com/">http://www.wildfireapp.com/</a><br />
<br />
13. 5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page:<br />
<a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/</a><br />
<br />
14. 10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know:<br />
<a href="http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/">http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/</a><br />
<br />
15. 6 Tips for Better Branding Using Avatars:<br />
<a href="http://gigaom.com/collaboration/6-tips-for-better-branding-using-avatars/">http://gigaom.com/collaboration/6-tips-for-better-branding-using-avatars/</a><br />
<br />
16. Top 10 Facebook Pages:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/</a><br />
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17. How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-customize-your-facebook-page-using-static-fbml/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-customize-your-facebook-page-using-static-fbml/</a><br />
<br />
18. 5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page:<br />
<a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/">http://mashable.com/2010/03/28/facebook-business-apps/</a><br />
<br />
19. How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-better-engage-facebook-fan-page-fans/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-better-engage-facebook-fan-page-fans/</a><br />
<br />
20. 3 Reasons Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-reasons-facebook-trumps-twitter-for-business/</a><br />
<br />
21. 15 Facebook for Business Tips:<br />
<a href="http://www.mrlukeabbott.com/marketing/15-facebook-for-business-tips/">http://www.mrlukeabbott.com/marketing/15-facebook-for-business-tips/</a><br />
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22. Facebook Help Center:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=856">http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=856</a><br />
<br />
23. How to share property listings on Facebook:<br />
<a href="http://therealestatemarketingmaven.com/2010/04/sharing-property-listings-facebook/">http://therealestatemarketingmaven.com/2010/04/sharing-property-listings-facebook/</a><br />
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24. BYT Social:<br />
<a href="http://www.bytindia.com/index.php">http://www.bytindia.com/index.php</a><br />
<br />
25. The Video Guide to Facebook Places for Businesses:<br />
<a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-places-business-guide/">http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-places-business-guide/</a>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-14305154074846449402011-01-23T19:55:00.000-08:002011-01-23T20:23:00.801-08:00Change Agent<h2>Do I See Myself as a Change Agent?</h2>In general terms, I do see myself as a Change Agent because I ask a lot of questions and am interested in listening to people's stories. I have taken quite a few Cultural Anthropology courses in college and am always interested in why people do what they do. <br />
<br />
When I was a teenager, I watched my mother go into a company, interview all of its administrative employees and write several procedures manuals for their positions. In some cases, the workflow was changed based on her recommendations. She even hired me to help her with the filing.<br />
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Although I can be rather pessimistic at times, I strive to maintain a positive attitude. I think about many possible scenarios and look to other people for sides of the story that perhaps I missed. In the <a href="http://www.myersbriggsreports.com/?gclid=CJmuusLW0aYCFYHb4Aodshf2Hw">Myers-Briggs Career Personality & Leadership Tests</a>, I scored so close to the middle in all categories that a Human Resources Specialist described me as truly being able to understand all points-of-view. <br />
<br />
<em>With further professional training, I think that my natural skills could be honed to develop the Change Agent characteristics in any position I hold or even as a viable career choise in and of itself.</em><br />
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<br />
<h2>What is a Change Agent?</h2>A Change Agent is a professional systems' integrator who has the skills to motivate groups of people into changing their workflow behaviors for the benefit of the entire organization.<br />
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Jim Canterucci of corpchange.com explains in his article, <a href="http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/Areyouachangeleaderarticle.aspx">Are You a Change Leader?</a> that "<em>change leadership is the ability to energize groups who will be implementing change projects that they may or may not buy into. It's important for change leaders to understand the need for change and demonstrate a high tolerance for ambiguity and a positive attitude</em>."<br />
<br />
Canterucci further explains the skills that a Change Agent needs to succeed. These include but are not limited to "<em>planning, project time management, coalition building, decision making, active listening, meeting management, and communications</em>." In another article by Canterucci, <a href="http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/CommonSense.aspx">Change Leadership is just common sense...isn't it?</a>, change leadership is described as "<em>an art</em>" because the Change Agent must do the "<em>soft work</em>" of "<em>influencing scores of people to change their mind-set and behavior</em>" oftentimes in a highly stressful situation. This can be a real challenge when you consider that everyone in an organization from senior executives to technology specialists to administrative employees are asked to change how they work at their jobs.<br />
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<br />
<h2>How Does a Change Agent Motivate Others?</h2>A Change Agent motivates others by actively listening to all concerned parties and determining on an individual basis what motivates them to want to do what it takes to improve the workflow for the entire organization.<br />
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In the article <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/24975/Change_Management_Understanding_the_Science_of_Change">Change Management-Understanding the Science of Change</a> by Christopher Koch via cio.com, a big mistake that companies make is "<em>assuming that everyone is motivated by ambition - as many CIOs are. But many people, especially IT professionals, are motivated as much or more by the work they do (the craft of software development, for example) as they are by the opportunity to move up in the hierarchy</em>."<br />
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Koch reports from other leaders that the reward and punishment approach to change doesn't work on a personal level even if it motivates some people on the large-scale. He quotes research psychiatrist Jeffrey M. Schwartz of the School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles that "<em>change hurts...and the brain pictures prove it</em>." This article goes into great detail about the brain, how it works, and how to get around its limitations to induce pleasure at the thought of change.<br />
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In quoting Michael Wakefield of the Center for Creative Leadership, Koch reiterates that "<em>learning is the antidote to change resistance</em>." He suggests that people with similar workflows should be grouped together to discuss their common issues so that each individual has a chance to discover on their own the great ideas that will improve their situation. According to Schwartz, "<em>moments of resolution or insite - call them epiphanies - appear to be as soothing to the prefrontal cortex as the unfamiliar is threatening</em>."<br />
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<br />
<h2>How Do We Change With the Technology?</h2>"<em>The technological change that occurred slowly over centuries (such as the invention of the wheel) accelerated to change measured in decades ( the impact of the automobile, for instance), which has now been transformed into continuous and pervasive change brought on by the computer chip</em>." <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/32119/Change_Management_Leading_Through_Technology_Changes">Charlie Feld</a><br />
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(The best way in which to change our business as technology changes is to either hire or become a great Change Agent.)<br />
<br />
Change is definitely something we all have to face in our careers as new technology develops. Even as the technology increases, people from every industry find new ways to implement new products into their own specialties. Inevitably, new terminology arises and is coined for some proprietary piece of technology that may quickly become outdated, such as "<em>interactive videodisc or CD-i</em>;" or people usurp an old term and change its meaning, such as "<em>media</em>."<br />
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<a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">Elaine England and Andy Finney - ATSF</a> wrote a definition of the "<em>new media</em>," also termed "<em>multimedia</em>":<br />
<br />
"<em>Interactive media is the integration of digital media including combinations of electronic text, graphics, moving images, and sound, into a structured digital computerized environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes. The digital environment can include the Internet, telecoms and interactive digital television</em>."<br />
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I think the technologies that will have the biggest impact on our careers in the next 5 to 10 years are the continuing development of interactive websites for all business large and small and the adaptation of these websites for mobile devices.<br />
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These websites will not only announce to the world that they are in business but the websites will be portals to their employees and customers to interact through blogs, social networks, and information delivered by podcast, video, and live-interaction, even if the live-interaction is scheduled.<br />
<br />
Technology improvements occur across all disciplines and often differing terms arise for the same or similar things. The difficulty with this is when the lines between unique industries blur, as is happening today. <em>What do law, graphics, health, broadcasting, education, and journalism have in common with one another?</em> In a word, technology.<br />
<br />
Computer programs, e-commerce, videography, Internet connections and more permeate the heart of running any kind of business in today's world. <em>So, how do we manage to constantly update our businesses in this ever-changing technology environment?</em> Learn more about hiring or becoming a Change Agent. According to <a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">England and Finney</a>, a Change Agent is a person with the "<em>vision and skills to implement a change in organizational culture or business practice</em>."<br />
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The following figure from England and Finney shows the center person, a Change Agent, who specializes in Interactive Media and is able to integrate the processes of the new technology into every spectrum of traditional industry specialization as represented by the spokes of the wheel.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGCLrAVMICcApvyKHyjMGve5Y-D5CfPgwIYO0Pb71ogLPQMnYGDbmli2DblrMOFooQbJBD2StEMmDWkh2HaiJK5IymVtt0O9bpIFGWiGly2-h7z281Wy3SJwh8-IOpS34wnF9dZkdLROh/s1600/changeAgentWheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGCLrAVMICcApvyKHyjMGve5Y-D5CfPgwIYO0Pb71ogLPQMnYGDbmli2DblrMOFooQbJBD2StEMmDWkh2HaiJK5IymVtt0O9bpIFGWiGly2-h7z281Wy3SJwh8-IOpS34wnF9dZkdLROh/s320/changeAgentWheel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Fig 5- Traditional Subject or Sector Areas can be found at <br />
<a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">Elaine England and Andy Finney - ATSF</a><br />
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<h2>Continuing to Be a Change Agent as the Technology Changes</h2><a href="http://www.marciaxenitelis.com/">Marcia Xenitelis</a> in the article <a href="http://advice.cio.com/xenitelis/how_to_engage_employees_with_technology_based_change">How To Engage Employees With Technology Based Change</a> from advice.cio.com says that "<em>it's prudent for any organization to know that employees understand and embrace the reason behind the changes in technology</em>..." <br />
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Xenitelis tells an example of taking workers through a simulated customer experience to learn for themselves about the problems that need to be overcome. She says, "<em>this way we created the 'Aha' moment, employees got the message better than any intranet, information session or small bulletin could have conveyed it</em>."<br />
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I think that it is natural to be afraid of changes especially when we feel comfortable in our daily routine. However, <strong>it is inevitable that technology will continue to advance and force everyone to change if they want to remain viable in the business</strong>.<br />
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Change can be made easier with experiential education that allows for a psychological safety net for people to push beyond their natural fears by participating in generating the ideas for improvement and integration of new technology into the unique workflow of their business.<br />
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<h2>"Education Reduces Brilliance?"</h2>For your entertainment, here is a <a href="http://blog.mypersonalbrilliance.com/2010/11/30/education-reduces-brilliance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mypersonalbrilliance%2FMFjt+%28Personal+Brilliance%29">video I found on Jim Canterucci's website</a> presented by Sir Ken Robinson on making changes in the educational system.<br />
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<h2>Resources in the Order of Appearance:</h2>1. Myers-Briggs Career Personality & Leadership Tests: <a href="http://www.myersbriggsreports.com/?gclid=CJmuusLW0aYCFYHb4Aodshf2Hw">http://www.myersbriggsreports.com/?gclid=CJmuusLW0aYCFYHb4Aodshf2Hw</a><br />
2. Are You a Change Leader?: <a href="http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/Areyouachangeleaderarticle.aspx">http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/Areyouachangeleaderarticle.aspx</a><br />
3. Change Leadership is just common sense...isn't it?: <a href="http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/CommonSense.aspx">http://corpchange.com/Resources/Articles/CommonSense.aspx</a><br />
4. Change Management-Understanding the Science of Change: <br />
<a href="http://www.cio.com/article/24975/Change_Management_Understanding_the_Science_of_Change">http://www.cio.com/article/24975/Change_Management_Understanding_the_Science_of_Change</a><br />
5. Charlie Feld: <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/32119/Change_Management_Leading_Through_Technology_Changes">http://www.cio.com/article/32119/Change_Management_Leading_Through_Technology_Changes</a><br />
6. Elaine England and Andy Finney - ATSF: <a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf</a><br />
7. England and Finney: <a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf</a><br />
8. Elaine England and Andy Finney - ATSF: <a href="http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf">http://www.websmx.com/dme/files/DME260/What%20is%20Interactive%20media-ChangeAgent.pdf</a><br />
9. Marcia Xenitelis: <a href="http://www.marciaxenitelis.com/">http://www.marciaxenitelis.com/</a><br />
10. How To Engage Employees With Technology Based Change: <br />
<a href="http://advice.cio.com/xenitelis/how_to_engage_employees_with_technology_based_change">http://advice.cio.com/xenitelis/how_to_engage_employees_with_technology_based_change</a><br />
11. video I found on Jim Canterucci's website: <a href="http://blog.mypersonalbrilliance.com/2010/11/30/education-reduces">http://blog.mypersonalbrilliance.com/2010/11/30/education-reduces-<br />
brilliance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mypersonalbrilliance%2FMFjt+%28Personal+Brilliance<br />
%29</a>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-22047913896270955132011-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:002011-01-23T16:18:32.381-08:00Blogging For Business - Why Blog!<em>Imagine your business blog reaching a potential audience of over 260 million readers.</em><br />
<br />
No, really, it's better to target the areas of that audience that want what you have to sell, but I'll get to that later. Let's start with statistics.<br />
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<h2>How Many are There?</h2>WordPress alone <a href="http://en.wordpress.com/stats/">reports</a> over 260 million people worldwide visiting one or more of their blogs every month. WordPress also states that as of December 2010, they are hosting 16 million blogs.<br />
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Blogger by Google is also increasing in size and probably so are the numerous other blog hosting services available. This comparison chart shows the increase of blogs produced in WordPress and Blogger up to the year 2010. I found this image at <a href="http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/wordpress-com-growth-2010-stats.html">techie-buzz.com</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrHarmPBbMKjZ6q5OmslXVbBoIUtg8N_t4MmW0nyXoo48znLi5FBcONrJi2aucR3Q8IGZRcHzauVqa_uFbzp0D25xYDyvBIT2zAISFC4lX52pTbNVamCfCks6-_HRA_-77SRJGK-v3554/s1600/viz.png" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrHarmPBbMKjZ6q5OmslXVbBoIUtg8N_t4MmW0nyXoo48znLi5FBcONrJi2aucR3Q8IGZRcHzauVqa_uFbzp0D25xYDyvBIT2zAISFC4lX52pTbNVamCfCks6-_HRA_-77SRJGK-v3554/s400/viz.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><br />
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<h2>Who are They?</h2>Blogging has also been under study by the "Technorati," that is the literati of technology. In the <a href="http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/">Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2010 report</a>, it's revealed that nearly half of the bloggers worldwide are based in the United States, 40% of bloggers blog from their mobile devices, and 40% of the people interviewed trust the blogger's opinions over the mainstream media. A significant portion of the bloggers are women and more specifically stay-at-home-moms who are "the most likely of all to blog about brands."<br />
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Even so, in the U.S., the majority of bloggers in 2009 were single males who were employed full-time. 74% of those were college graduates and 50% had a household income greater than $75,000. Referenced from <a href="http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-are-the-bloggers/">Technorati.com</a>.<br />
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<em>Men and women, young and old, rich and poor</em>; it doesn't matter who your customers or employees are, the odds are in favor that someone will be blogging about their personal experiences in relation to your business. This is important for business owners to recognize because businesses don't have to sit by and watch other bloggers lead the conversation. <em>The business itself should have a blog</em>.<br />
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<h2>Your Blog is the Face of your Business</h2>Large and small businesses have gotten into the act of blogging. In 2005, Bob Lutz of General Motors became a headline because of his blogs. He wrote about his specialty, car-design. According to Katherine Heires in the article <a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5111.html">Does Your Company Belong in the Blogosphere?</a>, Lutz and other high level executives realized that blogging was a cost effective way to achieve marketing success.<br />
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<h2>Here are five suggestions for making a better business blog:</h2><ol><li>Lead the conversation about your company by informing your customers, employees and the media about the unfiltered details that you want to be known.</li>
<li>Lift your brand into higher SEO rankings while establishing your credibility as an expert in your field by maintaining your blog and linking back to your business website.</li>
<li>Listen to your customer base by reading their comments and corresponding with them in your blog.</li>
<li>Provide an authentic human voice to present character and personality to your business.</li>
<li>Narrow the scope of your blog to highlight your own special niche.</li>
</ol><h2>What's Your Authentic Voice?</h2>As a designer, I think the representation of an authentic voice is most interesting. <em>How you turn a phrase leaves a lasting impression, especially when it's a first impression</em>. Like the words of presidents, blogs remain for future bloggers to repeat. If I'm going to be repeated, I would hope that it was my authentic voice that spread my word in a favorable way.<br />
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"In your blog, express your enthusiasm and passion for your work and your company's product, with occasional asides on topics that reflect your personal interests. The latter will keep your voice authentic and increase the linkability of your blog."<a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archives/5111.html">Kathy Heires</a><br />
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<em>Your authentic voice needs to be informal and expressive of what's most important to you</em>. It's easier to keep on your business track in a blog if there is one voice or one topic for discussion. A business can have different blogs for different topics like one about employee life as a recruitment tool for new employees and another one about the personal stories of your customers and how they put your product to use. The subjects are as diverse as your authentic voice can imagine. <br />
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"A business blog can provide a 'voice' for your company that educates and informs your website visitors; it is more easily updated than traditional web pages." <a href="http://humanresources.about.com/od/businessblogs/a/business_blogs.htm">Susan Heathfield</a><br />
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<h2>More than One Voice?</h2>However, <em>one blog can have multiple authors and maintain one voice</em>. Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing wrote in his article <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/12/25/five-tips-for-more-efficient-business-blogging">Five Tips for More Efficient Business Blogging</a> that a blog maintained by a team of people is "more interesting, expands audience reach and it's far more sustainable." It's so much easier to keep on top of your business blog if you spread out the responsibility of replying to customer comments and forming new ideas to share.<br />
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Another source of ideas to blog about is your customer base. Ask your employees who come face-to-face with people or meet your customers at informal events and ask what they would like to know more about in your business blog. You can increase your readership with personal invitations to join in on your blog conversation. <em>Whatever you blog about, personal or business, be true to yourself and your authentic voice.</em><br />
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<h2>What's Your Niche?</h2>Okay, so you have an authentic voice but what's your niche and why is it important? <em>A niche is a special topic that you, as a blogger, have enough knowledge and inspiration to carry on a long conversation</em>. You not only inform or educate with your content; but you also reply to comments; so make sure you know what you're talking about.<br />
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"Blogs in different niches will attract different audiences." <a href="http://www.simplyzesty.com/blogging/reads-blogs-bloggers/">Niall Harbison</a><br />
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Many people who leave comments on your blog are bloggers themselves, so their link to your blog is how your word speads, good or bad. Not all of your readers are bloggers but the readership of those bloggers trust their opinion of your business. <em>What's important to your business is that you attract the audience that will want to buy what you have to sell</em>.<br />
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<h2>So, How Do You Attract the Right Audience?</h2>Choose a niche "that you're passionate about that just happens to have massive demand and no competition..." <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/how-to-choose-a-niche-topic-for-your-blog/">Darren Rowse</a><br />
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Sometimes a niche can be too broad, so <em>narrow it down to a unique branch of your topic</em>. Then your blog will rise to the top of Search Engines. Darren Rowse, for instance, started with the topic of how to write blogs. Then, he specialized his niche into how to make money from blogs. He wrote eight articles on <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2004/09/23/adsense-tips-for-bloggers-1">Adsense Tips for Bloggers</a>, the first to which I have linked here.<br />
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Finally, I want to end with a video that I really liked of Lee Odden interviewing <a href="http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/08/brian-clark-video-interview/">Brian Clark on Content Marketing with Blogs</a>. Brian Clark can be found at <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/">http://www.copyblogger.com/</a> where there is a lot of FREE information on how to create better copywriting for your business blog.<br />
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<h2>Resources in the Order of Appearance:</h2>1. WordPress alone reports: <a href="http://en.wordpress.com/stats/">http://en.wordpress.com/stats/</a><br />
2. techie-buzz.com: <a href="http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/wordpress-com-growth-2010-stats.html">http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/wordpress-com-growth-2010-stats.html</a><br />
3. Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2010 report: <a href="http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/">http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/</a><br />
4. Technorati.com: <a href="http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-are-the-bloggers/">http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-1-who-are-the-bloggers/</a><br />
5. Does Your Company Belong in the Blogosphere?: <a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5111.html">http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5111.html</a><br />
6. Kathy Heires: <a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5111.html">http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5111.html</a><br />
7. Susan Heathfield: <a href="http://humanresources.about.com/od/businessblogs/a/business_blogs.htm">http://humanresources.about.com/od/businessblogs/a/business_blogs.htm</a><br />
8. Five Tips for More Efficient Business Blogging: <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/12/25/five-tips-for-more-efficient-business-blogging">http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/12/25/five-tips-for-more-efficient-business-blogging</a><br />
9. Niall Harbison: <a href="http://www.simplyzesty.com/blogging/reads-blogs-bloggers/">http://www.simplyzesty.com/blogging/reads-blogs-bloggers/</a><br />
10. Darren Rowse: <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/how-to-choose-a-niche-topic-for-your-blog/">http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/how-to-choose-a-niche-topic-for-your-blog/</a><br />
11. Adsense Tips for Bloggers: <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2004/09/23/adsense-tips-for-bloggers-1/">http://www.problogger.net/archives/2004/09/23/adsense-tips-for-bloggers-1/</a><br />
12. Brian Clark on Content Marketing with Blogs: <a href="http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/08/brian-clark-video-interview/">http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/08/brian-clark-video-interview/</a><br />
13. Brian Clark: <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/">http://www.copyblogger.com/</a>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5465353953045469203.post-67453709634681711212011-01-12T18:55:00.000-08:002011-01-23T16:22:17.651-08:00Comparison of 3 Blogging Tools<em>Out of three blogging tools that I researched, I chose to use blogger.com also known as blogspot.com.</em><br />
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My name is Lisa and I am a student in the Digital Media Technology program at AB Tech. This is the first blog I've ever written and it is devoted to a class on emerging technologies.<br />
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This post is about my research into three blog hosting companies: <a href="http://blog.com/">blog.com</a>, <a href="http://wordpress.com/">wordpress.com</a>, and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">blogger.com</a> (also known as <a href="http://blogspot.com/">blogspot.com</a>). <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdhE09Gnzcux_Wsc-FvhBcJ08o_RVE9ESuQkHUvJ_GRguiT2UzBx27GPUCORRR7K5faR2-AFTGWOBzGVsoG5Nsd-3F-fv4Qnw252Yn-JSRktXxl7D8T14BjeK5xpKRl5gn2ZPX7ZJ2XEw/s1600/smallBlog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhdhE09Gnzcux_Wsc-FvhBcJ08o_RVE9ESuQkHUvJ_GRguiT2UzBx27GPUCORRR7K5faR2-AFTGWOBzGVsoG5Nsd-3F-fv4Qnw252Yn-JSRktXxl7D8T14BjeK5xpKRl5gn2ZPX7ZJ2XEw/s200/smallBlog.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<h2>Blog.com </h2>Basic Features<br />
<ul><li>simple domain address</li>
<li>connects with Facebook and other social networks</li>
<li>track statistics with Google Analytics</li>
<li>post from your mobile phone, iphone, or 3rd party services</li>
<li>variety of page themes that can be changed easily</li>
<li>multimedia support: photo galleries, videos, music (up to 2GB)</li>
<li>support team: online support center and articles only - no phone help</li>
<li>earn money by showing ads</li>
<li>widgets and menus</li>
</ul>Premium Features<br />
<ul><li>$30.00/year: No ads or display your own ads</li>
<li>$18.00/year: your own domain</li>
<li>$15.00/year: custom CSS</li>
<li>$20.00/year: starting price to upgrade storage space from 2GB</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TIarkTGS4RRArWKsklHltVnIhBiQ5sYpbvBaDbMmvs9ABi6OKNlSgPp05gvlga5H-ftGDFxVVcYeFaEsaV5WkcIElQU4aW9ZpC5bU3bO-rYM7TowYnYhWYPfUH1KDmbqr0ZVOqe_kUiU/s1600/smallWordPress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TIarkTGS4RRArWKsklHltVnIhBiQ5sYpbvBaDbMmvs9ABi6OKNlSgPp05gvlga5H-ftGDFxVVcYeFaEsaV5WkcIElQU4aW9ZpC5bU3bO-rYM7TowYnYhWYPfUH1KDmbqr0ZVOqe_kUiU/s200/smallWordPress.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<h2>WordPress.com </h2>Basic Features<br />
<ul><li>over a hundred themes</li>
<li>integrated statistics system</li>
<li>can move a blog from Blogger, LiveJournal, MovableType, TypePad or another WordPress</li>
<li>widgets for Flickr, Twitter and more</li>
<li>track replies to comments</li>
<li>can add pages to create a website</li>
<li>24/7 online support with contact forms and forums - no phone help</li>
<li>easy upload of pictures using Flickr or Photobucket</li>
<li>embed videos from YouTube or Hulu</li>
<li>spam blocker for comments</li>
</ul>Premium Features<br />
<ul><li>$29.97/year: ad free</li>
<li>$59.97/year: VideoPress</li>
<li>$14.97/year: custom CSS</li>
<li>$19.97 to $289.97/year: extra storage</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpS1THleX-uyxT7eOjhgI74AfsgxacQlU7RmuPYOo0-uYssGFUJdoPiUetwnKrhgLmyk76WcPx-vtzNKv7K8Uxy9jrUIwREQM9HCQb33v2nlE-dIcqjS-kfxPj4Qw5OZJgP2t2Eft0-o_/s1600/smallBlogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpS1THleX-uyxT7eOjhgI74AfsgxacQlU7RmuPYOo0-uYssGFUJdoPiUetwnKrhgLmyk76WcPx-vtzNKv7K8Uxy9jrUIwREQM9HCQb33v2nlE-dIcqjS-kfxPj4Qw5OZJgP2t2Eft0-o_/s200/smallBlogger.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<h2>Blogger.com/Blogspot.com </h2>Basic Features<br />
<ul><li>many templates</li>
<li>100s of background images</li>
<li>10s of flexible layouts</li>
<li>drag and drop widgets</li>
<li>videos uploaded through Blogger are hosted on Google Video</li>
<li>gadgets: slideshows, user polls, AdSense ads</li>
<li>earn money: ads and Amazon product links</li>
<li>"Follower's gadget" to develop a community</li>
<li>statistics</li>
<li>change fonts and colors easily</li>
<li>spell checker</li>
<li>editable CSS and HTML included</li>
<li>HTML editor</li>
<li>post text, photos, videos and more</li>
<li>post as often as you want</li>
<li>online support, help center, help forum, lots of video tutorials - no phone help</li>
<li>login with your Google Account</li>
<li>access to Gmail, iGoogle, orkut, etc.</li>
</ul>Advanced Features<br />
<ul><li>create new pages - linked from your blog</li>
<li>post from a mobile phone</li>
<li>Videos: AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media (100MB max)</li>
<li>video tutorials on how to embed audio using <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a> and <a href="http://divshare.com/">divShare.com</a></li>
<li>I did not find any premium charges for additional features</li>
</ul><br />
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<h2>My Choice</h2><em>I chose blogger.com also known as blogspot.com as my blog host for this emerging technologies class assignment.</em><br />
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There are many blogging tools or FREE blog hosts available and more of them that I'm still unaware of; but for the purposes of this class, I was required to review three. I briefly looked at several other blog hosts but I chose to review Blog.com, WordPress.com, and Blogger.com/Blogspot.com because they were closest to the top of my Google search list and I didn't find any glaring reason not to consider them.<br />
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All of my research <em>for my chosen blog host</em> was done on blogger.com. It wasn't until I was well into the process of signing up that I realized that I would be given the address <a href="http://lparresol.blogspot.com/">http://lparresol.blogspot.com/</a> so I see that blogger.com and blogspot.com are the same entity.<br />
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In regards to blogger.com/blogspot.com <em>the biggest point of attraction for me</em> is the connection to <a href="http://google.com/">Google.com</a> and the access to my Gmail account. Google seems to provide all of the features for FREE in this blog host, unless I overlooked some details. There is also a connection with <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a> with the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=50288">AdSense</a> way of earning money by displaying ads and creating links to personally chosen Amazon products. This seems like a win/win situation that benefits everyone.<br />
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I am disappointed that none of these blog hosts offered phone help in their support systems. I really like to discuss things that are new to me with a living person who can respond to me instantly.<br />
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<h2>Video Tutorials</h2>However, I am impressed by the numerous links to video tutorials on how to get started blogging and how to use a various assortment of other blogging tools and features. I learn best by watching a demonstration and listening to a human voice.<br />
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My three favorite video tutorials so far include:<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=d7pAoXdkSck">How to upload MP3 on your Blogger or WordPress step by step</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/4/fnzlOYaeOwU">Uploading a video with Blogger</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/3/Jg2zTRRXry4">Creating a podcast with Blogger</a></li>
</ul>That first video shows how to use Audacity and divShare to put a music player on your blog. There are so many ways of adding music and video to a blog and YouTube is full of videos that demonstrate the various methods that people are willing to share.<br />
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<h2>Resources in the Order of Appearance:</h2>1. blog.com: <a href="http://blog.com/">http://blog.com/</a><br />
2. wordpress.com: <a href="http://wordpress.com/">http://wordpress.com/</a><br />
3. blogger.com: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/home">http://www.blogger.com/home</a><br />
4. blogspot.com: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/home">http://www.blogger.com/home</a><br />
5. Audacity: <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">http://audacity.sourceforge.net/</a><br />
6. divShare.com: <a href="http://divshare.com/">http://divshare.com/</a><br />
7. Google.com: <a href="http://www.google.com/">http://www.google.com/</a><br />
8. Amazon.com: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com/</a><br />
9. AdSense: <a href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=50288">http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=50288</a><br />
10. How to upload MP3 on your Blogger or WordPress step by step: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7pAoXdkSck">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7pAoXdkSck</a><br />
11. Uploading a video with Blogger: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/4/fnzlOYaeOwU">http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/4/fnzlOYaeOwU</a><br />
12. Creating a podcast with Blogger: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/3/Jg2zTRRXry4">http://www.youtube.com/BloggerHelp#p/u/3/Jg2zTRRXry4</a>LParresolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14879301966713763280noreply@blogger.com0