Silence.
Apr 2, 2009 Blogging
I really don’t enjoy blog posts like this. But I can’t let my blog sit here with no activity for this long without saying something about it.
I have not abandoned my blog by any means. However, this last month has been more hectic than I could have predicted. Work, family, freelance opportunities, memorial services, dogs, travel, and other factors have taken my attention off of my ‘normal routine.
I have some great posts in the works, including a two or three part interview with Tim Schmoyer of Life In Student Ministry.
I can’t wait to get back in the swing of things.
More to come…
Tags: blog
How Does Your Website Look As A Graph?
Mar 13, 2009 Blogging
A long time ago, I saw this service and had since forgotten about it. However, now that I have a website that is updated from time to time (hey, I’m trying to get better), I thought it would be intersting to see what it looks like as a graph. This doesn’t really have any purpose, other than that it’s kinda fun for us nerds. There’s a description of all the colors here.
ThreeParts Now Uses Facebook Connect For Comments
Feb 20, 2009 Blogging, Facebook, Online Tools
UPDATE: I’m now using Disqus to manage my comments, which allows for Facebook Comments.
Deleting <?php comments_template(); ?> will cause all previous comments not to be displayed. Don’t worry – you haven’t lost them, but they just won’t show up on previous posts.
If you’ve read any tech news this morning, you’ve probably heard the buzz about Facebook’s new commenting widget for websites. After reading this great post about installing it on a self-hosted Wordpress blog, I was able to quickly get it up and running. However, the post does misinform soon-to-be widget installers on a few things.
First of all, in step three, it says:
Open index.php with notepad or Dreamweaver from your Wordpress theme and add: xmlns:fb=http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml for php you can add:
<?php
xmlns:fb=”http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml”;
?>
This is misleading. In most wordpress themes, this line of code should be placed in header.php, near the top. Also, Wordpress doesn’t typically pull in this line of code with PHP. Rather, you should add it to the existing HTML tag, so your final line of HTML should look something like this:
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” xmlns:fb=”http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml”>
Secondly, it does not describe where to place the new Facebook comment script in single.php. The answer is simple: find <?php comments_template(); ?>, delete it (see update at top of post), and replace it with:
<script src=
“http://static.ak.connect.facebook.com/js/api_lib/v0.4/FeatureLoader.js.php”
type=”text/javascript”></script>
<fb:comments></fb:comments>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
FB.init(”YOUR_API_KEY_HERE”, “<path from web root>/xd_receiver.htm”);
</script>
Don’t forget to use your API key in place of ”YOUR_API_KEY_HERE”. I hope this may clarify some confusion for any of you who were having problems getting it up and running.
Tynt Tracer Lets You Monitor When Your Content Is Copied
Feb 19, 2009 Blogging, Online Tools
Ever wonder when someone is copying content from your blog and posting it somewhere else? Yeah, I usually don’t either. But now that we’re talking about it, wouldn’t it be great if you could track this easily? That’s exactly what Tynt Tracer allows you to do. It’s a pretty simple service with pretty awesome benefits.
According to Tynt, the service is design to do these things:
- Give you actionable insight into what content your users find most engaging
- Drive traffic back to your site using your copied content with no extra effort or cost
- When your content is copied, Tracer automatically adds an attribution link to claim it as yours
I can’t wait to get my beta account – which, like many other people out there, I am waiting in line for. Sign up now for a chance to use this great service.
Wordpress.tv Launches: Your Visual Resource for All Things WordPress
Jan 27, 2009 Blogging
Anyone who has heard me speak knows I’m huge advocate of using Wordpress in ministry. Well, this somehow slipped by me last week, but Wordpress.tv launched on January 17, and it looks like an excellent resource for those of you who use Wordpress on a regular basis. The premise of the site, as the domain may suggest, is to give Wordpress users a visual way of solving their problems and answering their questions.
Anyone looking for a quick way to find video tutorials applicable to their situation should visit the How-To page to find a list of topics including:
…and more. The layout of each video page is reminiscent of Hulu. You can’t post your comments and questions below each video and let the Wordpress community respond. Looks like a great idea, and a site that I will use for learning how to do new things with an old tool.
Should My Church Start a Blog?
Jan 9, 2009 Blogging
The most appropriate way to answer the question on whether or not to start a church blog is to sit down with your church staff and ask more questions.
- Is it a tool or a toy?
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What is the return on ministry?
According to The Blogging Church, a so-far great read by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch, you shouldn’t start a church blog until you are satisfied with your answers to these questions. I think the hardest one of these to answer is number three – What is the return on ministry?
The answer is likely going to be different for nearly every church. Bailey visits a few possible answers:
- Casting the vision of the church again and again
- Connecting volunteers with each other and church staff
- Knowledge sharing and the support of other church leaders
- Make a big church feel small (by providing honest insights)
Bailey also points out that there is no other technology that can provide the benefits blogging can with the same minimal investment in training, time and money. Ultimately, Bailey finds no reason why blogging is wrong for any church. On that point, I definitely agree.
