Reflecting on WordCamp

I had no idea what to expect going in but I have to say that WordCamp Victoria was well-organized, well-run, and informative. It was broader than I was expecting; the content of the sessions went beyond Wordpress itself to cover topics such as picking what to write, keeping the user in mind when you write for the web, and dealing with comments -- good, bad, and ugly.

The session I most enjoyed was the first session I attended: "Knowing & Knurturing Your Kniche Blog: Starting & Running A Successful Niche Blog in WordPress," presented by Mike Vardy. Refreshingly, his presentation did not rely on tech -- he used the blackboard. The basis of his talk was to pick something that you care about, that you know something about (and are prepared to learn more about), and then build it and promote the hell out of it. Kind of a Field of Dreams approach.

When I asked him what to do if the thing you pick is in the scrum -- one of a thousand blogs on a given topic -- he had two words of advice, "Write well." OK, Mr. Vardy, I will try.

I may even apply some of what I learned from Cathie Walker who talked about the way (most) users read websites (short answer: they don't -- 80% skim), what level they read at (generally below grade 8) and how you can cater to their needs.

That tied in well to what Lorraine Murphy had to say about moderating comments on a blog or forum. It made me think back to how I managed that ridiculous troll thing last year and how I have handled other tricky interactions online over the years. I'm still thinking.

I also attended sessions more specific to Wordpress -- about themes and plug-ins and alternate posting tools.

What now? Well, I am going to try to put my planned Wordpress niche blog into action -- sooner than later -- plus Hubby and I are scorching and rebuilding ThoseDeWolfes and (drumroll, please) we have set Kiddo up with her own blog. Cue the Yakkety-Sax...

EDIT: Cathie Walker's presentation, Writing for the Web is available as a pdf

Troll Maintenance.

Those of you who follow this blog will be aware that I picked up an internet troll last week, someone who felt compelled to spew vile text over recent posts all because I shared some random thoughts about a 40 year old television special.

Since I don't want to give him any further power, comments are now moderated until further notice and comments on this post are closed.

[The image accompanying this post is the Troll of Norway, uploaded by Flickr user Christoph Grothaus, used through a CC-BY-ND license.]

Hey! Where'd all the clutter go?

In the spirit of decluttering everything around me, I thought it only fair to declutter this blog, too. So, behold! White space, clean lines, and more room for pretty pictures. It also loads WAAAAY faster, but let me know if you encounter any weirdness.

Blogcleaning

Notice anything different? Well, unless you are reading the feed and not visiting my page, you should. I upgraded to Blogger's newer template today and changed the background image to my button stash (the intersection of craft and clutter seemed appropriate)

I changed a few other things, too, but most amusing to me are the slideshow of my Flickr photos at the top of the left sidebar and the link to some of my and hubby's YouTube videos at the foot of the page. If something is missing that you think needs to be added, let me know!

Oh, one other thing, I added a link to all the places you can buy my creations in the sidebar and I have decided that if you email me and say, "Hey, I just ordered [this product] from [website selling that product] and I read about it on Flotsam and Jetsam," I will send you a free gift!

almost good enough to want to lick the computer screen...

I've been surfing around looking for food/cooking/recipe blogs and feeds (for another project) and Oh, My! there are so many great ones out there! Here's a few of the things that caught my eye:

DIY Gourmet offers a recipe for a Green Tea Martini (a.k.a. "kimono remover") -- it's not really a martini as the alcohol is provided by sake but, what the heck, it looks like it has potential.

Equal Opportunity Kitchen tested (and possibly improved on) Robin Hood's recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. They almost make me want to go out and find some overripe bananas.

Eating Out Loud ponders a mix of salad ingredients in Pea, Peanut and Hominy Salad -- it looks okay, but what really piqued my interest here is the presentation in a wine glass.

Mmmmm-Mmmm!

NaBloPoMo....

OK, it's November. I know November is always busy, so I wasn't about to get sucked into NaNoWriMo again but for some reason there was some insanity lingering at the back of my brain and I decided to try NaBloPoMo (that's National Blog Posting Month if you want to stretch it all out). I had been on the fence, but since this post will make three for three, I figured I might as well give it a shot. Also, I am member #5413, so I guess there are more than five thousand other insane bloggers out there.

It's going to be a bit of a challenge as I will be away from the computer mid-month at least (for a quick cross-border Christmas shopping trip)... and this coming week I will be in Parksville for a CUPE Education course (Advanced Communications) and while I will have my laptop with me, I will also be busy!

So, I am keeping a running tab of "ideas" in a Google Document (any suggestions for topics this month are welcome -- just leave me a comment); and I will write my computer-free posts out long-hand while I am away, transcribe them and backdate the posts on my return (I don't think it's "cheating" if I write them out while I am away....)

.

Virtual vs. real life....

Up until yesterday I had many profiles online. It became very obvious that something had to go, and so I started deleting journal profiles. Now it all comes back here, to my first blog. I still have some personal issues to work out, but likely you won't hear about them here.

The bottom line is that I'll be stepping away from the keyboard more often and perhaps that will translate into more adventures to write about here.

This New Blogger SUCKS.

OK, I didn't want to have to shout it out, but the new Blogger interface SUCKS.

This morning.... I can get into the back end but I can't see my blogs. Instead I see this:

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.

When reporting this error to Blogger Support or on the Blogger Help Group, please:

• Describe what you were doing when you got this error.
• Provide the following error code and additional information.

bX-vjhbsj

Additional information

uri: /
host: victorialocal.blogspot.com


This information will help us to track down your specific problem and fix it! We apologize for the inconvenience.

And I am not the only one. The web is suddenly flooded with whiny people like me wondering why we are being denied the chance to read/write our favourite blogs. And, this is not the only problem.. it's been flaky since day one.

GRRR. Google, you are being EVIL. Cease and desist!

This and that....

Cold FX™ has failed me. I am home sick. Also, I fear that I will need another root canal... ouch. But I can still type... so here I am.

Remember the Elans? Well, they are planning for the 2007 event and requested to use some of my photos from the 2006 Elans on the new website. I requested and received credit, so "yay."

Speaking of photos, another person contacted me to suggest submitting one of my photos to CartArt, so I did.

And speaking of submitting, I've submitted this blog, and some of my others, to the Big Blog Directory, an ambitious undertaking (to say the least) by a fellow local blogger and photographer, Leon.

I've also managed to contribute to the Victoria Grid Project this month:

The idea started in a thread over at Vibrant Victoria and grew into a group at Flickr -- there are currently 34 members contributing to the project. The concept is this: members agree on one grid square on a map (it was decided to use the MapArt Victoria map, for consistency). January has been grid H32 which includes the Inner Harbour and a section of James Bay.

Coming up this Friday and Monday I will be working from home, care of the Union, to start the full design of the local's website, version 2.0. I think I have decided to try Drupal, especially since I have a Drupal expert close at hand.