Rob here blogging from the DanceUSA winter forum.
It may be the winter forum, but the weather in LA is great! The sun is out, it's not too hot, and I have met a lot of interesting people. This morning I attended the "Social Networking" workshop led by Sydney Skybetter.
Sydney is a really smart guy who hates MySpace, likes Facebook, and really, really loves Scrabulous. Obviously I cant recap the entire talk, but there were lots of useful insights...
Jerry Yoshitomi is starting to talk now...
Will post more soon.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, September 13, 2007
More Redesign Updates
Okay, more progress reports. Most of it is behind the scenes, but A LOT of stuff is happening. So, here we go...
The first Big Thing is that the Advertising Management System (AMS) has been installed an integrated. This new system is light years ahead of our current one, and it's going to be a dream working with it on the new site.
The second Big Thing is that v2 of the Voice of Dance forums have been installed and configured. It's currently in beta, but if you want to check it out, you can visit it here:
Visit the BETA Voice of Dance Forums
Feel free to sign up for an account and start posting... everything should work. But, be warned - the current DB might need to be cleared so we can start from a fresh copy when we launch.
Finally, now that the forums are installed, I have integrated the "Recent Discussions" box on the comp. To see what I mean, you can
Visit the ALPHA Voice of Dance Website
If you look down, you will see a box called "Current Discussions". That box is linked to the VOD Forums, and will display the last 8 posts that have been made.
So, if you want to see it in action, you can sign up for an account, then make a post. If you refresh the comp page, your post should appear in the box. Cool huh?
Alright, back to the trenches.
Rob
The first Big Thing is that the Advertising Management System (AMS) has been installed an integrated. This new system is light years ahead of our current one, and it's going to be a dream working with it on the new site.
The second Big Thing is that v2 of the Voice of Dance forums have been installed and configured. It's currently in beta, but if you want to check it out, you can visit it here:
Visit the BETA Voice of Dance Forums
Feel free to sign up for an account and start posting... everything should work. But, be warned - the current DB might need to be cleared so we can start from a fresh copy when we launch.
Finally, now that the forums are installed, I have integrated the "Recent Discussions" box on the comp. To see what I mean, you can
Visit the ALPHA Voice of Dance Website
If you look down, you will see a box called "Current Discussions". That box is linked to the VOD Forums, and will display the last 8 posts that have been made.
So, if you want to see it in action, you can sign up for an account, then make a post. If you refresh the comp page, your post should appear in the box. Cool huh?
Alright, back to the trenches.
Rob
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Update Log
The comp for the redesign is progressing nicely. In my initial comp, I felt like the layout had plenty of space. But, as I started implementing the design, something didn't feel right. After looking at it for a while, I figured out what it was.
In order to ensure maximum compatibility, I had automatically set the site width to 800px. However, this caused everything to bunch up. I didn't like the way it felt, and I wanted to switch it. But I was worried that this might shut out some of our users if I made the screen width any bigger.
Then I remembered that there was an easy solution to this dilemma. Our web stats package compiles aggregate data on our users. It doesnt track anyone individually, but what it does is tell you how many people have their screen resolutions set to a specific setting.
So, I went to the web logs and checked out the system stats for VoD visitors.
We have some pretty advanced users!
I was expecting 800x600 to be the dominant setting. But it turns out that most of our visitors are running at least 1024 or higher. Here is the breakdown:
51.02% 1024x768
24.69% 1280x1024
11.22% Unknown
10.41% 800x600
1.84% 1152x864
0.82% 1600x1200
Seeing that was like a bright ray of sunshine :) I immediately switched up the base width, and BAM - everything fit correctly.
Click here to view the latest comp
Rob
ps. Thanks for the feedback NY Dancer :)
In order to ensure maximum compatibility, I had automatically set the site width to 800px. However, this caused everything to bunch up. I didn't like the way it felt, and I wanted to switch it. But I was worried that this might shut out some of our users if I made the screen width any bigger.
Then I remembered that there was an easy solution to this dilemma. Our web stats package compiles aggregate data on our users. It doesnt track anyone individually, but what it does is tell you how many people have their screen resolutions set to a specific setting.
So, I went to the web logs and checked out the system stats for VoD visitors.
We have some pretty advanced users!
I was expecting 800x600 to be the dominant setting. But it turns out that most of our visitors are running at least 1024 or higher. Here is the breakdown:
51.02% 1024x768
24.69% 1280x1024
11.22% Unknown
10.41% 800x600
1.84% 1152x864
0.82% 1600x1200
Seeing that was like a bright ray of sunshine :) I immediately switched up the base width, and BAM - everything fit correctly.
Click here to view the latest comp
Rob
ps. Thanks for the feedback NY Dancer :)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Comp Integration Under Way
As part of our open process, we are posting some internal communications regarding our redesign. If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave them here at the blog in the comment section. I know the email mentions a request tracker, but that is accessible to VOD staff only.
Mahalos,
Rob
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Okay, I'm deep in the trenches, integrating the design now. But, I wanted to show you where the work is happening, in case you had any feedback. The URL for the v1 design is here:
http://www.dancephotooftheday.com/v1/
This is actual working HTML at this point, so feel free to take a look and see how its shaping up. Be Warned... it will probably be in a varying state of working and not working throughout the week as I make changes.
If you have any suggestions, please log them in the request tracker, as I will be unable to keep up with them over email with all the things going on right now. IN the meantime, I think I'm going to post this on the blog so early adopters will be able to take a peek as well.
Mahalos,
rob
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mahalos,
Rob
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Okay, I'm deep in the trenches, integrating the design now. But, I wanted to show you where the work is happening, in case you had any feedback. The URL for the v1 design is here:
http://www.dancephotooftheday.com/v1/
This is actual working HTML at this point, so feel free to take a look and see how its shaping up. Be Warned... it will probably be in a varying state of working and not working throughout the week as I make changes.
If you have any suggestions, please log them in the request tracker, as I will be unable to keep up with them over email with all the things going on right now. IN the meantime, I think I'm going to post this on the blog so early adopters will be able to take a peek as well.
Mahalos,
rob
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Crowdsourcing Expertise
As many of you may know, we are currently in the process of redesigning the ENTIRE Voice of Dance site. As part of the process, we've been looking at the different sections that we have online and deciding what we should do with them to revamp them.
In particular, we wanted to really get some momentum behind the 'ask an expert' column. It's a little known secret that the Voice of Dance community contains some of the most well known and well respected names in dance. In fact, many of our regular readers are considered experts in their respective fields.
So, we thought in the spirit of Web 2.0, why not tap in to this incredible resource, and at the same time help introduce some of our members to the dance community at large?
Our initial idea is this... on the main web site, we take 'Ask an Expert' questions from the readers of Voice of Dance. They can be questions on any topic, ranging from equipment recommendations to partner etiquette.
Then, we submit these questions to our friends on MySpace by posting a bulletin. Anyone who feels qualified can answer, and the best answer (or answers) will get posted on Voice of Dance, along with a link to the expert's profile.
The reason this might be an awesome way to do it is because:
1) Multiple answers ensure that the chosen answers are the best of breed
2) It's fair. There's not one 'expert'. Everyone has a chance to contribute.
3) If your answer gets picked, you will get a TON of traffic to your profile from VoD
What do you think? If you have thoughts or ideas on this approach, please let us know by posting a comment. Hope to hear from you!
Rob
In particular, we wanted to really get some momentum behind the 'ask an expert' column. It's a little known secret that the Voice of Dance community contains some of the most well known and well respected names in dance. In fact, many of our regular readers are considered experts in their respective fields.
So, we thought in the spirit of Web 2.0, why not tap in to this incredible resource, and at the same time help introduce some of our members to the dance community at large?
Our initial idea is this... on the main web site, we take 'Ask an Expert' questions from the readers of Voice of Dance. They can be questions on any topic, ranging from equipment recommendations to partner etiquette.
Then, we submit these questions to our friends on MySpace by posting a bulletin. Anyone who feels qualified can answer, and the best answer (or answers) will get posted on Voice of Dance, along with a link to the expert's profile.
The reason this might be an awesome way to do it is because:
1) Multiple answers ensure that the chosen answers are the best of breed
2) It's fair. There's not one 'expert'. Everyone has a chance to contribute.
3) If your answer gets picked, you will get a TON of traffic to your profile from VoD
What do you think? If you have thoughts or ideas on this approach, please let us know by posting a comment. Hope to hear from you!
Rob
Friday, August 31, 2007
Voice Of Dance Redesign
Hi everyone,
So after 10 years on the net, we are going to redesign the VoiceofDance.com. We would love to have your input. What do you like about the site? What don't you like?
Are there features that you would like to see added.
By the way, how about those two new features--Dance Photo of the Day and MyDance Horoscope?
Let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Lori
So after 10 years on the net, we are going to redesign the VoiceofDance.com. We would love to have your input. What do you like about the site? What don't you like?
Are there features that you would like to see added.
By the way, how about those two new features--Dance Photo of the Day and MyDance Horoscope?
Let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Lori
Horoscope Launches Soon
Well, the horoscope is almost done. Finally! We have had the columns for a while now, as well as the Flex widget, but the wheel containing page has been a work in progress. I put a comp online for review, but so far the feedback has been mixed.
Personally, I like it a lot. It definitely needs some tweaks. For one, we need to brand it. And for two, we need to modify the text so that the page is not so confusing (WTF is all that code at the bottom?) But overall, I like the color scheme and the general look of the page.
I've shown it to a bunch of people whose opinions I trust, and for the most part, people seem to like it. But the vote hasn't been unanimous. And the one person who really matters - my boss - doesn't love it. So, we are going to kick it to the designers to see what they come back with.
Regardless, the heavy lifting is done. Even though the container page is still in flux, the horoscope widget itself is done. We wrote it in Flex. It's dope. It's fun. And it's ready to go.
So, hopefully, we can straighten everything out with the container page soon and get this baby launched. Because even though we are primarily a dance site, I think our horoscope is cool enough to run with the big dogs.
Rob
Personally, I like it a lot. It definitely needs some tweaks. For one, we need to brand it. And for two, we need to modify the text so that the page is not so confusing (WTF is all that code at the bottom?) But overall, I like the color scheme and the general look of the page.
I've shown it to a bunch of people whose opinions I trust, and for the most part, people seem to like it. But the vote hasn't been unanimous. And the one person who really matters - my boss - doesn't love it. So, we are going to kick it to the designers to see what they come back with.
Regardless, the heavy lifting is done. Even though the container page is still in flux, the horoscope widget itself is done. We wrote it in Flex. It's dope. It's fun. And it's ready to go.
So, hopefully, we can straighten everything out with the container page soon and get this baby launched. Because even though we are primarily a dance site, I think our horoscope is cool enough to run with the big dogs.
Rob
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