http://www.mikevanwinkle.com Technology for Life. Solutions for Technology. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:21:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Some of you may notice my site looks a little different this morning. Over the weekend I tweaked the color scheme and some of the graphics. Let me know what you think! http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/09/welcome-to-my-new-design/ Problogger had great article last week on how to title a blog post. Sure it's a boring, mundane part of your site, not nearly as sexy as those moving images and flashy drop-down menus. But the title of a post could be the most important factor your are ignoring. Not ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/how-to-title-a-blog-post/ I am working with Texas Watchdog to set up a magazine style site. I have to give some props to Gabfire Design for putting together a very easy to use Magazine Style Wordpress Theme. It has been very easy to customize and turns out to be about the best free ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/quick-and-easy-wordpress-magazine-format/ TechCrunch published this really interesting graph yesterday that comes from Gartner. The graph details the life of a new technology. The initial excitement and buzz, the inevitable disappointment, then the slow build. Does a similar cycle apply to new web projects? Perhaps we have to give the phases different names, but ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/will-your-site-have-a-hype-cycle/ Problogger offers these ten things you should consider before writing a blog post: Choosing a Topic - take a little extra time defining your topic and the post will flow better and you’ll develop something that matters to readers. Your Post’s Title - perhaps the most crucial part of actually getting readers ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/problogger-10-tips-for-a-great-blog-post/ Non-profit organizations are in particular need of solid new media advice. Scarce resources, ironically, can lead both to chronic underspending and chronic overspending on new media. Some non-profits rely on volunteer or intern labor to build their web presence. To no surprise, these NPs usually end up looking unprofessional. Other NPs, ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/new-media-best-practices-for-non-profits/ So, my OnStage theme has only been out for a couple weeks and already I'm releasing a new version. What gives? Well it occurred to me that a few tweeks were needed. For one, the blog had no side bar which (a) prevented users from browsing archives and (b) eliminated ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/theme-update-onstage-theme-for-actors-v110/ A great article from Techcrunch reminding all of us to listen to what our customers want: Social networks have become integrative elements of modern American youth culture over the last years, shaping social patterns and changing the ways that people communicate. When taken abroad, these services have to deal with a ... http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/facebook-myspace-fail-in-japan/ This is without a doubt the best favicon generator I've found so far. http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/the-best-favicon-generator/ Ever wonder what the difference is between Wordpress and Drupal, and which you should choose. Well, as is always the answer: it depends. Performancing has a good expanation of what it, exactly, it depends on. http://www.mikevanwinkle.com/2008/08/wordpress-v-drupal/