So, for the folks who have been long time visitors to UUpdates and formerly "What's New With UU?" you may recall that I had done some minor April fools jokes. This year I decided to take it one step further and actually invite someone who knows how to write an actual article. The basic gist of the idea being "What would happen if the folks at the Onion took over UU World?"
I think I managed to fool a few folks in the process, or at least my guess it that Scott Wells may not have realized that Chris Walton was not in fact responsible for actually getting Francis Stokes to publish the article.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Site Redesign
A three column format seemed inappropriate when most folks simply are there to click through to the latest updates. All the menu options (and a bunch more) are still there. If you notice any "buggy" behavior with the new software let me know. I'll highlight individual features in new blog posts.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Enhancements
I am almost ready to release the new UUpdates. Two changes have been made to the current site and will carry over into the new one:
First is a set of optimizations to the database. I did some things to make results faster, and some of you may have noticed the total page count was lowered. By looking at the web traffic I noticed that people are far more interested in the latest information than they are in digging in deep, at least not routinely. So, I lowered the number of "feed items" stored to 10 items per site. Some sites had up to 30 items of monthly updates, which were unlikely to ever get read. The filter is just that -- not an extensive search -- as it is limited to pulling from only the excerpt and the title, so it's best used to track hot topics which are likely to appear in the title or first part of the post like filtering on "Second Life" which is getting a lot of press. But the more limited number of posts means searching back is less productive.
The second enhancement is really to offset the first. When it comes to searching I can't compete with a service like Google, so why bother trying? Thanks to Paul Wilczynski I don't have to compete, I can use Google. If a filter on UUpdates fails to find any results, the user will be directed to a page that contains the search results for the same term on Google Search of UU Blogs. Try an obscure reference like "equus" and UUpdates will return no results (at least it didn't when I tried it, Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe) photos could change that). But UUBlogSearch.com will return results.
First is a set of optimizations to the database. I did some things to make results faster, and some of you may have noticed the total page count was lowered. By looking at the web traffic I noticed that people are far more interested in the latest information than they are in digging in deep, at least not routinely. So, I lowered the number of "feed items" stored to 10 items per site. Some sites had up to 30 items of monthly updates, which were unlikely to ever get read. The filter is just that -- not an extensive search -- as it is limited to pulling from only the excerpt and the title, so it's best used to track hot topics which are likely to appear in the title or first part of the post like filtering on "Second Life" which is getting a lot of press. But the more limited number of posts means searching back is less productive.
The second enhancement is really to offset the first. When it comes to searching I can't compete with a service like Google, so why bother trying? Thanks to Paul Wilczynski I don't have to compete, I can use Google. If a filter on UUpdates fails to find any results, the user will be directed to a page that contains the search results for the same term on Google Search of UU Blogs. Try an obscure reference like "equus" and UUpdates will return no results (at least it didn't when I tried it, Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe) photos could change that). But UUBlogSearch.com will return results.
Monday, February 19, 2007
[insert blank] for Ministers
As many of you already know The Rev. Victoria Weinstein has been generating publicity with her PeaceBang's Beauty Tips For Ministers.
So, is there the potential for starting a series of blogs here? Similar to how there is a series of "[insert blank] for Dummies" (no correlation intended). As others have noted it is good publicity to have the "The Rvda. Weinstein victory" which I assume to be a fitting translation error of Victoria.
So will we get "Public Speaking Tips for Ministers" from Dan Harper? Or how about keeping the focus on personal appearance with "Fitness Tips for Ministers" from W. Frederick Wooden? "Computer Tips for Ministers" by The Rev. Scott Wells (UCC with an eye on UUA)?
So, is there the potential for starting a series of blogs here? Similar to how there is a series of "[insert blank] for Dummies" (no correlation intended). As others have noted it is good publicity to have the "The Rvda. Weinstein victory" which I assume to be a fitting translation error of Victoria.
So will we get "Public Speaking Tips for Ministers" from Dan Harper? Or how about keeping the focus on personal appearance with "Fitness Tips for Ministers" from W. Frederick Wooden? "Computer Tips for Ministers" by The Rev. Scott Wells (UCC with an eye on UUA)?
Sunday, February 18, 2007
New Chalice coming soon
Like Ms. Kitty I am thrilled to be mentioned in the latest UU World. more specifically UUpdates.net and not my blog. After the UU Blog Awards I got a bit of a bug to work on a redesign and finally kicking out some new functionality. It's not there yet, but in anticipation I wanted to share one thing I have finally settled on, a new logo/chalice.
The chalice idea is basically an inversion of an RSS button, with with orange radiating out instead of white. Unlike the new UUA chalice I wanted to keep the chalice off center, as the old Universalists did the off center with symbolic purpose. It's the same idea as the current chalice, but I like the new chalice a whole lot more. It looks less "Atari 2600".
Giving credit where credit is due the actual chalice above was done by Scott Abbotts I merely changed the "circles" around it.
I am sort of bummed I didn't finish the work before the publicity. The new release is coming.
The chalice idea is basically an inversion of an RSS button, with with orange radiating out instead of white. Unlike the new UUA chalice I wanted to keep the chalice off center, as the old Universalists did the off center with symbolic purpose. It's the same idea as the current chalice, but I like the new chalice a whole lot more. It looks less "Atari 2600".Giving credit where credit is due the actual chalice above was done by Scott Abbotts I merely changed the "circles" around it.
I am sort of bummed I didn't finish the work before the publicity. The new release is coming.
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