Posts from ‘wordpress’

Dec
28

I can’t express how much I’ve needed news of a new and improved traffic statistics provider. Statcounter is, well, it’s Statcounter. Not much too it except that the 100 visits you get to see are some what in real time. Sitemeter is untrustworthy, and a system that I’ve never felt comfortable using.

Google Analytics is decent, but it’s a little complex for my basic needs and doesn’t operate in real time.

Clicky Web AnalyticsUntil now there hasn’t been any other options. Thanks to Clicky, we now have something fresh on the table.

Clicky calls itself “web analytics 2.0″, and I for one find it a very fitting label. Compared to the other stat providers, Clicky offers far more tools and goodies.

Basic Features on Free Accounts
-Customizable dashboard
-Clean interface
-Visitor details
-Track custom data
-API (Application Program Interface)
-TagClouds
-Data export
-Track outbound links
-Track file downloads
-Stats via RSS
-Real time stats
-FeedBurner integration
-Google Maps integration
-IP Tagging
-IP Filtering
-Works with visitors who have JavaScript disabled
-Secure web site support (SSL/HTTPS)
-Full dynamic referer tracking
-Public statistics
-Affiliate system

If you’re a Wordpress widget fan, you’ll be happy to know that Clicky also provides Wordpress widgets ready to lock and load. For the code junkies like myself, it’s a simple process of dropping the code snippet into your footer file and you’re good to go.

In fact, I had real time data coming in just two minutes after installing the code.

Bloggers looking for a good stat provider will definitely want to give Clicky a try. You won’t regret it.

Apr
16

Yeah, I changed themes yet again.

I really liked the last one, but it was taking WAY too much time to load. It only took two e-mails from readers to realize it wasn’t just me. The theme was slow. Period.

Plus I was getting quite a few errors in the code and I know the high and mighty search engines didn’t like that. This theme is very bare bones and quite simplistic. Hopefully it loads quick and gets right to the point.

Enjoy!

Apr
15

My earlier post requesting a Digg Widget hit the front page of Digg and slammed me with 7,000 visits today. The extra chunk of visits was nice, but the real bonus was the Digg Widgets that came with it.

The first one to come along was Mike’s version in the form of a Wordpress Plugin.

From the looks of it Mike will be putting a lot more into the plugin over the next few days.

The one that has me sold, however, is a flash version (shown above) by David LeMieux. The new Digg Widget pulls data from your Digg friends list and puts it in a scroller. The scroller then displays the title and number of Diggs for the most recent Diggs in your friends list. The widget also comes with a link to your user profile.

This should be complex to install right? Not at all. Simply go to the set up page, enter your user id, hit submit and copy the code.

David used my design concept for the widget and I must admit it looks quite nice.

Good job, guys! AND THANKS!!!

Apr
14

Dugg PluginMy purpose for posting on the suggested Digg Widget is already bearing fruit.

Vino2Vino’s Mike jumped right on the challenge by pumping out a fairly simple Wordpress plugin that will display a user’s friend list of recent Diggs.

You can see the plugin in action here.

This is headed in the right direction, but it doesn’t yet have any style. I’m hoping to see someone help out in the style realm for those of us who know little about it.

Either way, a big thanks goes out to Mike for jumping on this and creating a plugin that gives us a great starting point.

Thanks Mike!

Mar
24

As you can see, I’ve gone with a new theme on the blog. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time now, but just haven’t gotten around to it.

This theme is a lot easier to manage and seems to be a lot friendlier on browsers and load times. Plus, the colors are simply much better on the eyes. In my opinion that is…

Also, the last theme I was using was a pain to work with and edit. Widget sidebars are becoming the “hot” way to manage content, but I think they are complete crap. I just need simple HTML to mess around with and I’m good to go. This theme does support widgets, but unlike the last theme it doesn’t force you to use them.

Overall I think this theme will be a long time look for this blog. I’m sure I’ll mess around with the header image a bit, but the over all look and feel will remain in place.

Props goes out to Ed Merritt for creating the theme and offering it for free download.

Hope ya like it!