Clazh » Usability

4+1 Things the iPhone Can Teach Us about Blogging

Arpit Jacob — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:00:04 +0000

This post was guest blogged by Dev Basu. Dev authors Daily Moolah dot Com, a blog on making money online. He is an established internet marketer and serial entrepreneur, based in Toronto, Canada. Daily Moolah dot Com covers topics such as blog monetization, affiliate marketing, Wordpress SEO, PPC advertising and much more.

Zeitgeist! No I didn’t sneeze…but there sure seems to be a trend about Apple going on in these guest posts. While Arpit’s taking time off from Clazh designing a Wordpress theme, I’ll try to shed some light on what all this buzz about Apple’s iPhone means for bloggers worldwide.

Establish Your Niche Early On : ‘iPhone’ is currently the 7th most popular search term on Technorati, with over 1700 blogs dedicated to Apple’s brand new ‘uber’ device. Lesson learnt bloggers – Get in on the game early on, because you are competing in a niche with over 306,337 posts at last count.
Press Release Your Way to Buzz-dom: Ok, so buzz-dom isn’t a real word, because I just made it up. But neither is ‘iPhone’. Apple’s marketing campaign has been ingenious to say the least, and hopefully your blog (and mine for that matter) will share a fraction of that success. Establish the same buzz Apple did by issuing a Press Release for your blog or website. You will be surprised to know how many bloggers haven’t considered a Press Release a viable way of boosting their blog’s popularity. Find out more here
Dare to be Different: Touch technology, task scheduling, and the ability to play mp3’s on your mobile phone aren’t all that revolutionary. But the iPhone is as successful as it is because Apple dared to be different, and so should you. I’m talking about uncommon wordpress themes, opinionated posts, disruptive content that makes you and your brand stand out among the rest of the herd.
But Don’t Re-invent the Wheel : Wait a minute – didn’t I just suggest being different from the rest? Yes, be different in your design, content, and opinion. But in doing so, choose technology, platforms, and design that is tried and tested in your niche. The iPhone, while touted as an all-in-one uber device, is still a phone at its core. Similarly, be the best you can be at being an authoritative blogger, coder, or marketeer. In code speak, why use flash when valid CSS is the prevailing standard?
Keep it Simple Sherlock – Is your blog easy enough for a one year old to use? Apple’s iPhone sure is based on this YouTube video. The key here is to have usability and interoperability at the top of your priorities when going about your blog. Make your RSS feed more accessible, your blog easier to navigate, and yourself easier to reach.

© Arpit Jacob for Clazh, 2007. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Catergories: Apple, Blogging, iPhone Tags: Blogging, Internet, Usability

Cool Hidden Features In Wordpress 2.1 Editor

Arpit Jacob — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:46:05 +0000

The Wordpress Editor has some hidden Features which can be show by using the shortcut key given below.

By using the following key commands, most users will can reveal a second set of features that will enhance their post writing experience:

Windows Firefox: Alt+Shift+V (Firefox)
Windows Internet Explorer: Alt+V (Internet Explorer)
Mac OS X Firefox: Ctrl+V
Mac OS X Safari: Sorry Charlie

Text styles
Underline
Full paragaph alignment
Text coloring
Two varieties of paste (text and Word)
Formatting removal
Code cleanup
Custom character insertion
Undo/redo

As much as I like the Editor I try not to use if for formatting. I rather code it manually in notepad.

source justsome

© Arpit Jacob for Clazh, 2007. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Catergories: Blogging, Wordpress Tags: Blogging, Usability, Wordpress

At Last Google Analytics Revamps and Redesigns Interface

Arpit Jacob — Wed, 09 May 2007 02:31:25 +0000

A while back I had reviewed Ten Best Free Web Statistics and Analytics Packages and had given google analytics negative points for usability. The Google Analytics blog just announced that they have redesigned and revamped the analytics interface. This was one of the major drawbacks of Google Analytics, while it was a powerful web statistics program it was way to complicated to use. The new redesign will be rolled out slowly looking at the screen the interface looks really awesome. I am sure the majority of bloggers every where have been using Google analytics and this new redesign gives more reasons to use it. I been using Reinvigorate too for the past one month it has a much better user interface I was tempted to lable it as the best web statistics program but now with the recent revamp of the Google Analytics interface it does not stand a chance.

From the analytics Blog.

What’s different?
We’ve redesigned the reporting interface for
greater customization and collaboration. This should make it easier for
businesses and website owners to find and share the data you need to
make informed decisions. The new version presents data more clearly and
in context, so you can look at a single report to gain insights rather
than having to pull up several reports to understand what action to
take.

Here are some of the improvements:

Email and export reports: Schedule or send ad-hoc personalized report emails and export reports in PDF format.
Custom
Dashboard: No more digging through reports. Put all the information you
need on a custom dashboard that you can email to others.
Trend and Over-time Graph: Compare time periods and select date ranges without losing sight of long term trends.
Contextual help tips: Context sensitive Help and Conversion University tips are available from every report.

You can watch the Video here to see the new interface in Action, or look at the new features with screen shots. MorderLifeIsRubbish has some Really good screenshots

Time To say good bye to other statistics programs.

© Arpit Jacob for Clazh, 2007. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Catergories: Google, Technology Tags: Analytics, Statistics, Usability, Web-Design