Not the greatest title, but I hope it tells something about this series; I will be answering common questions put to me by people everyday. Questions about anything regarding web design, web programming, getting into the web design game etc …

In this podcast, I will answer a common question put to me every so often:

Do you need to go to web design school, or college, to become a professional web designer?

Check out the podcast in the killersites.com web design magazine:

web design school?

If you have any comments or any new questions you would like answered, just post a comment here or on the magazine and I will do my best.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

As the title of this post suggest, there are three things you need if you want to create a ‘killer’ blog:

1. Start with a great blog software.
2. Get a great design.
3. Produce great content.

The list above is in order of doing, but not the order of importance: content is still king and so you must be able to produce quality content on a regular basis for your blog, otherwise it won’t work.

Let’s look at some details …

Great blog software

You must spend some time to figure out what blog software is best for you. There are many you can choose from (including several CMS’) … and you can even do it manually. This is what you should look for in a blog setup:

• Easy posting of content. The blog should be easy to use.
• Syndication – automatic RSS feed creation.
• Built in search.
• Gravatar (universal avatar) support.

I personally use Wordpress because it meets all of the above and it has a huge community of people actively extending its’ functionality. That said, there are many other good choices out there … one of them may be better for you than my choice.

Great design

When I am talking design, I am talking about both how it looks (aesthetics) and I am also taking about how easy it is (from the user s perspective) to use it. Again, you will have to investigate this yourself because many times, this is personal taste.

Great content

The first rule of web design that I learned back in 1994, was that content was king. You can have the best looking blog/web site in the world but if the content sucks, no one will come back.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Let’s take it from the source:

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?

From a community members point of view, what’s cool about gravatars is that you don’t have to upload your avatar image on every blog, forum or community that you are a member of. And from the community owner’s point of view, you can now add a little pizazz to your blog or forum with your members gravatars.

You can read more about gravatars in the magazine.

In a nutshell:

Both are web based applications/software designed to allow many people to contribute content (typically articles … but podcast and videos are becoming more common) to a website.

I would say the basic difference is that a CMS (Ex: Drupal) is a closed system where only certain people can add or edit content to the website/cms.

On the other hand, a wiki is an open system where anyone can edit and add content. The idea behind a wiki is that the masses will eventually correct any false information – with the help of editors.

My thoughts:

I’m no wiki expert, but I see wiki’s being more suitable to general encyclopedic information. If you need a tighter structure and control over what is being posted on your site, I would be leaning towards a CMS rather than a WIKI.

That said, I am sure that the differences between the two types of software has room for a lot of gray area – I’m sure some CMS software have WIKI like functionality and vice versa.

How about blogs?

Blogs are kinda like a CMS for one person. One other distinction would be that the blog traditionally is date driven – where newer articles are posted to the front page of the blog. As with the WIKI/CMS blurring of the lines, you see the same with blogs and CMS software.

For example: Wordpress (a popular blog program) has CMS like features:

• Multiple users can post articles.
• You can have static non date affected pages. Wordpress call these ‘pages’.

Beyond the CMS-like features built into the core Wordpress package, Wordpress has a huge number of plug-ins out there that extend it’s capability considerably … bringing it even closer inline with a true CMS.

A few links:

Wordpress home page: www.wordpress.org
Drupal home page: http://drupal.org
Another popular CMS – Joomla: joomla.org
Wiki software: Media Wiki

Ciao,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

I decided to create a dedicated Wordpress section on killersites.com

Right now, I only a have a few videos (with a bunch more coming) but I am also thinking of maybe some written tutorials etc…

The videos:

So far I’ve only added a few videos but have another 40 minutes of video to edit that should be up this week.

Any comments or suggest are welcome.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

For the last couple of years I have been preaching that web designers should learn at least one blog or CMS (content management systems) software so that they can then offer blog/CMS installations and customizations to their clients.

The use of blogs/cms’ is also one of the reasons why I think web designers should learn PHP, given that most blogs are created with PHP these days.

I choose to hang my hat on Wordpress for many technical reasons (it is fast, mature, object oriented) and because it is the most popular blog software out there.

Anyway, I am now putting my videos where my mouth is, and I’ve started to create video tutorials on using and customizing Wordpress.

This first video shows you how to install Wordpress:

How to install Wordpress

Yes, not the most exciting for you seasoned Wordpress nerds, but I still felt this video was needid. Don’t worry though, I have several more advanced videos that I am working on that should interest most Wordpress users. This is what I have coming so far:

• How to add and customize buttons in the Wordpress editor.
• Basic Wordpress use and configuration after install.
• Building a Wordpress theme/template from scratch.

You should expect these to come out very soon.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com

1. Can you describe your introduction to blogging, how you became interested how has it impacted you personally?

I first heard about blogging in about 2001 and dismissed it as another tool for people who didn’t want to learn HTML. A year or so later, I realized the significance of blogging and blogging software:

… it was going allow for the original vision of the Web to actually materialize, where anyone could easily get a website on the Web.

Blogs and the blog phenomenon, made me rethink my whole approach to web design as a web professional: blogs, CMS and other similar content formatting tools where the future of web design.

2. From a business perspective, how do you think blogging can positively impact communications, sales and corporate image?

Blogs offer a great way to connect with your audience/client base in a informal and personal manner. These days, traditional hard-sell tactics of marketing are quickly becoming dated … now businesses have to engage with their audience.

Just as a programmer can get away with wearing jeans to work, blogs allow companies to communicate with the public in a less restricted context.

3. What is the best advice you can give an individual or business who is considering starting a blog?

Find someone in your company who:

1. Knows your products/services.
2. Is fun to be around.
3. Can write and communicate well.

Keep the content of the blog peripheral to your companies core. Remember the soft-sell principle and try to engage with the audience honestly.

Setting up a blog:

You have two basic options:

Go through the trouble of (1,) setting up your own blog or use a (2,) blogging service like killerblogs.com where you can roll out a blog in record time.

Another advantage of going with a blogging community, is that you can take advantage of the community to spread the word about your blog and your business.

4. What industry sites and blogs do you read regularly?

Mostly technology related and international news: CNN, MSNBC.

5. What are your favorite blog development tools or applications?

From my experience (not that I have tested every blog tool out there,) Wordpress is probably the best choice out their today because it is:

1. Mature – clean code and refined functionality.
2. The Wordpress community is big … lots of resources.

Another option that I have played a little bit is Drupal. Drupal is really a full-blown CMS (content management system,) but it can easily be setup to act as a simple blog.

… One advantage that Drupal has over a simple blog, is that it can be later expanded to do things that a blog might not be able to handle.

6. Can you name 5 tips for successful blogging?

1. Be honest.
2. Be sincere.
3. Keep the writing on topic.
4. Keep the the writing concise – people are impatient on the Web.
5. Be regular with your articles.

7. Can you name five common mistakes in blogging?

The opposite of the above 5 tips.

8. What is the best way to get a new blog promoted?

In the real-estate world the top 3 rules are:

1. location
2. location
3. location

In the blogging world, the top 3 rules:

1. content
2. content
3. content

If you have good content on your blog, people will talk about it and it will spread. The Web is about viral marketing.

9. What is the relationship between your web site and your blogs? How are they interconnected? How does the blog expand upon your website?

My blog allows me to discus topics related to my core business in a editorial manner – I can be informal. In addition, the blog is a great place for me to fill in the gaps that I may have missed in the main site and it creates another contact point for my readers. Blogs provide another style of presentation that appeals to a different audience than the main site.

10. What do you think is the future of Blogging?

I think that blogging will continue to become more and more important because of how easy they make building a website and because they provide an informal bridge between a business and the public.

Beyond traditional text based blogs, I think that video and audio blogging are moving mainstream.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com