Technically Easy

Category: Websites and Blogging

This category will contain any blogging-related posts, that includes platforms such as WordPress and Blogger.

  • Interested in Guest Posting?

    I usually publish blog posts on Mondays (review), Wednesdays and Fridays. I came to thinking about also publishing posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays to fill out the week. The problem is finding the time to publish on all five of the days.

    This is where guest posting comes in. I have decided to allows those interested to provide posts that I will publish on Tuesday or Thursday of each week. If you are interested read the details below.

    Post Requirements

    There are several requirements that need to be met when submitting a post:

    1. The post must be about technology, whether it is informational or instructional.
    2. Must be your own unique post, which means it can’t be a copy of an article written by you or someone else.
    3. The spelling and grammar must be good, although it doesn’t have to be perfect.
    4. No foul language will be accepted.

    How to Submit

    To submit an article for posting, simply send an e-mail to psalmon12@gmail.com with the following:

    1. Your orginal written post.
    2. Any images you want to include in the post. You can indicate where they are to be placed in the post.
    3. A one paragraph signature, to be placed at the bottom of the post, that you would like to include. You can include one link to your Web site only in the signature.

    If there are any changes that I think should be made, I will send you an e-mail with the article and changes for your approval. When the final post has been created, I will publish it on the next available date (Tuesday or Thursday). I will then send you an e-mail indicating the date the post will be published.

  • Review: My Ideas 4 You

    I have reviewed several personal blogs in the past, and compared to more niche oriented blogs I find them the most difficult to review. Personal blogs aren’t written with one specific topic in mind, but rather, can span a whole range of topics.

    The one aspect of personal blogs that is different compared to some niche blogs is the frequency in which they are updated. Many are updated on a daily basis. This week I review a personal blog that is updated several times a day.

    My Ideas 4 You

    Web Site: My Ideas 4 You

    Description: It’s a blog about my personal life as well as gadgets and tools which I have seen or used before. I will also publish my own point of views and reviews of movies, computing software and hardware.

    Design 4.5 stars

    The design of the blog and the colours chosen by the author is pretty unique to this blog. The author has chosen to go with a black background with orange and yellow highlighting. Since the background is so dark, and the orange and yellow is so bright, it provides a nice contrast between the colours.

    The actual text used is a gray colour, which may be difficult to read as it isn’t nearly as bright as white would be in that situation.

    The layout itself is really simple, with the content on the left and a navigation sidebar on the right. At the top is a bar that includes a menu and several options, such as font size and administration options. The adjustable font size is a nice feature to have. This allows a visitor to increase or decrease the size of the font to their liking.

    Below the top menubar is a few links, a calendar, the subscription information, and a hitcounter. The calendar highlights the days containing posts, which you can click on to display the posts.

    The navigation sidebar is nicely organized with the main navigational links at the top to make them easy to find. One nice touch to the categories is the grouping of certain topics, such as a Technology topic with several related topics below that.

    The blog layout overall is really well done, not too crowded and easy to navigate.

    Focus 3 stars

    From what I can get out of My Ideas 4 You, it appears to be a personal blog about whatever the author feels about talking about. This can lead to a lack of focus as is evident when you read the blog. The author has chosen to discuss many topics so there is no real focus to the blog.

    A solution to this problem is to simply create multiple blogs, one for each topic, which would help keep the blog in focus.

    Content 3.5 stars

    The content is updated several times on a daily basis. This is great for those that like to read personal blogs regularily as there will always be a post on this blog.

    The posts themselves are not long and can contain only one or two paragraphs. If the posts were longer, the author may not write as many. Of course the other downside to so many posts is the lack of images. Only a few posts each week contain an image, which reduces the amount of colour on the blog.

    If you enjoy reading blogs with short content, few images, and updated on a regular basis, then you may want to check out My Ideas 4 you.

    Spelling and Grammar 3 stars

    The spelling and grammar is the weakest part of the blog. Although, My Ideas 4 You isn’t dominated by bad spelling and grammar, it can make it difficult to read a few posts. I had to reread a few sentences because of either a word missing, or a long run-on sentence. Using a spellchecker and reading the posts before they are published would definitely help this blog.

    As I read the free review e-mail that the author sent me, I noticed that he did make mention about his grammar, and is aware of it.

    Overall 3.5 stars

    My Ideas 4 You has some nice features that aren’t common in other blogs, such as the font size modifiers and the calendar control at the top. The blog’s layout is by far its strongest part, with the spelling and grammar being the weakest.

    The blog is updated several times on a daily basis, which is great for those that like to read the blog. A few more images in the posts would add some much needed colour to the blog, especially considering it uses a black background.

    Making a few changes, such as the images and correcting the spelling and grammar would greatly improve My Ideas 4 You.

  • Fix: ASP.Net Client-side Validation

    Besides managing Technically Easy, I also manage other web sites. These web sites were developed using Microsoft’s .Net framework and were coded in C#. Recently a problem had developed that caused me some grief.

    In the test environment, the ASP.Net client-side validation controls (used on some web forms) worked perfectly. They highlighted the fields that weren’t filled in correctly when a visitor clicked the submit button. In production, however, they stopped working. After some serious research I determined the cause of the problem and was able to fix it. This post will explain how I did it.

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  • Review: Palanthir

    There are many blogs for various niches online. Some blogs are focused specifically on a single niche, while others may focus on several niches. Those that do focus on several niches will hopefully focus on niches that complement each other, such as discussing PC games and video cards.

    This week’s blog is really difficult to determine the niche. The author has chosen to discuss a variety of topics, which unfortunately doesn’t provide a nice flow for the visitors.

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  • What are Web Sites, Domain Names and Hosts?

    I recently received a question regarding the difference between web sites and domains. I replied the best I could without including too much information as to make the answer confusing.

    The person asking the question was new to web site management. As there are probably many more out there that would like to start a web site and are new to this online world, I decided to create this post to explain a few things.

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  • How To Create a Development Blog in Blogger

    In a recent post titled Developing a Blog Process I described how you can use a separate development blog to test your blog changes. This allows you to change your design at will without impacting your visitors.

    One point I didn’t touch on was how to create a development blog. In this post I will explain how you can easily create one in Blogger.

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  • Review: Insight on a Gamer

    The electronic gaming industry is huge with many games earning as much as blockbuster Hollywood movies. The industry brings in billions of dollars, which at times is more than the movie industry. There are many fans of electronic games, for which I am one, so it is by no coincidence that there are many blogs dedicated to this topic.

    This week I look at the first gaming focused blog, since I started writing free reviews, called Insight on a Gamer.

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  • Review: Makoy’s Memoirs of a Certified Blogger

    I have reviewed a few personal blogs since I started offering free reviews in November 2007. They are probably the most difficult to review since they aren’t usually focused on a single niche.

    This week I review a personal blog from a blogger in the Philippines who apparently will be moving to Singapore.

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