Tag Archives: Blog

A Blog Update!

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So, I’m trying to work at putting aside a bit more time to work on this blog, and make it beneficial to those who read it and come across it via random Google searches for those one-off, hard-to-find niche problems that we seem to run into as IT professionals.

Previously, I have been spending time writing articles as events happen in my life, that I feel may be pertinent to the blog and the viewing audience.  There have been some comments on a few of my entries, providing me with the knowledge that people actually read the blog, and actually do get benefits out of my posts!  So, at the very least I know it’s somewhat useful.  However, for the most part, the audience has been quite quiet.  And that is completely understandable!  I don’t respond to blog articles as much as I should when I come across them online while looking for solutions to my own niche problems I run into.  However, it makes it extremely difficult to better tailor my posts to the readers and to better help them with any IT issues that they may have.

I have taken it upon myself to better analyze my website analytics, and to better understand what type of traffic accesses this blog, and how to best cater to them.  I’ve noticed that it appears that my two busiest articles have been my article on Google Calendar Sharing, and my article on Widows 7 Offline File Syncing.  I have also noticed that the bulk of my users come from Google search result links, and the majority of those links include searches for things relevant to both of the previously listed articles.

So what does this mean?  It means that most of my viewers only accidentally stumble upon the blog!  And again, I completely understand.  But I would like to rectify that!  I would like to make this blog for the readers.  Obviously I can’t blog long, detailed posts about everything related to technology.  Well, I could, but that wouldn’t pay the bills!  What I can do, however, is gear what I do blog about more toward the interests of you, the readers, and what you are interested about.  Do you want to read more product reviews?  Would you like more tutorials on how to do certain things?  How about troubleshooting steps to resolve those annoying complicated problems that Googling can never seem to find the answer to?  Let me know!

I’m glad to see that there is traffic, and people are getting use out of the blog.  But I’d always like to make it better!  Leave me your feedback in the comments section.  Good, bad or otherwise, I’d love to hear what you have to say!

– admin

A New Theme!

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OK, so admittedly, this isn’t that exciting.  But bear with me, as I wanted to call attention to it anyway (because I’m a geek like that!).

Since I started this, I was using the default WordPress Twenty Ten theme.  It served me well, and I did zero modifications to it.  I then updated a few things the other day, and decided to go ahead and upgrade the theme to the new Twenty Twelve theme instead.  Why?  Well,

  • It’s Pretty!
  • I love the new font from Google Web Fonts.
  • It’s minimalistic.
  • It’s mobile friendly.
  • It’s…..new?

As mentioned, I do love the font.  I’m an avid Day One user, and have loved the fonts on that application.  I think I particularly like the change from a Serif font to a Sans-Serif font.  The previous font was a bit too detailed for me, and I wanted a simpler, less cluttered font.  I felt it detracted away from the point of the blog, and didn’t do me any good.

I also love the fact that the font is pulled in from Google Web Fonts.  While it’s not that unique and exciting, it does bring about an interesting and intriguing way of dynamically building a website based on “layout” generated from another site.  And of course since Google is involved, one does wonder in the back of his or her mind what Google stands to gain from the use of Google Web Fonts.  But no matter, I like how the font looks, and appreciate the ability to use it via a simple CSS rule and JavaScript import.

Additionally, I like the fact that the layout is minimalistic.  It doesn’t say much, other than the fact that I don’t want unnecessary stuff cluttering up the blog.  (Of couse, it might also say that I’m lazy and don’t want to take the time to build my own unique layout and color scheme…)  I feel that with the fact that my blog isn’t popular by any stretch of the imagination, that I don’t need to overload it with additional content and clutter up the page.  I decided to strive for a simple, easy to read, quick to access site that has just what you’re looking for, without having to look too hard for it.

Lastly, I love the fact that it’s designed with “mobile-first”.  I can now bring up the blog on my phone, and get a nice, easy to read layout that quickly gives me access to everything I need, without the clutter.  Sadly, the design still loads everything on the page and simply presents it in a more mobile-friendly layout.  This results in a waiting period while the entire site loads; especially on a slower mobile connection.  I’d prefer if it didn’t have to load everything in the meantime, and could instead load a smaller, more mobile-optimized version of the site.  But alas, beggars can’t be choosers, and the designers of the theme did an outstanding job as it is.

See any compatibility issues with the new theme?  If so, leave a comment below, and I’ll try to get anything fixed up that looks out of place in the new theme.  Thanks!

– admin