Update on the Membership Drive and Giveaway

Additional Prizes

Over the past week a handful of prizes have been added to the giveaway:

• Photography prints from Joel Zimmer.
• Mac or Windows licenses of 1Password.
• Mac and iOS combo codes for Day One.
• Signed copies of Patrick Rhone’s upcoming new book, Enough.
• A Fusion Ads Burst campaign.
• Some Symbolicon bundles.

The complete list of prizes is here, along with all the info about who’s eligible to win, and how to put your name in the hat for a particular prize if you’d like.

Reminder About The Members Journal

The first edition of The Members Journal went out today and I think it turned out great. It was lighthearted, fun, and had dozens of promo codes to four top-notch iPhone apps.

For members who want to get The Members Journal (you have to sign up because it is an opt-in list) you can do so on the members info page. Your password for that page can be found in the info email you received from me after signing up for your membership.

Reminder About the Executive Membership

Last week I introducing a new subscription level that gets you all the same benefits as the $3 membership but for $12/month. This is for those who have offered to or who are glad to pay more for their membership.

There are current members who have “upgraded” their membership to an Executive subscription. If you want to do the same then you can cancel your current subscription and sign up for the new one.

Reminder About How Awesome You Are

As always, to all the current members: a million thanks for your support. And to the readers who continue to show up day in and day out: thank you for your time.

Membership Drive and Giveaway

Welcome to the 2012, PBS-Style Membership Drive and Giveaway for shawnblanc.net.

Yesterday I kicked off this years Membership Drive by introducing a new members-only perk (The Members Journal) and a new subscription level (the Executive Membership), and recording a new video.

For all the new members who signed up in the past 24 hours: thank you. To all the current members who have kept their membership going or who have upgraded to an Executive Membership: thank you. And to those who are about to join: thank you, too.

Members contribute nearly 50-percent of this site’s income. Needless to say there is no way I could be writing here as my full-time gig without the generous support of the members. It means the world to me that readers are directly supporting the work I do here.

Ideally, you are signing up to become a member because the value and enjoyment you get from shawnblanc.net is worth it to you, and the members-only perks are a nice bonus of course. But my job is to try and sweeten the deal as much as possible. And so, I’ve arranged for some things to be won if you sign up to become a member.

For those of you who have not yet signed up to be a member, there is, as they say, no time like the present.

The 2012 Membership Drive and Giveaway

Anyone who signs up for a membership before midnight CST on March 25 will be entered to win one of the prizes listed below. Current members who have signed up over the past year are also entered to win, so long as their membership is active.

There are a metric ton of top-notch prizes, all donated by friends of the site, with an aggregate value in excess of $4,200.

The List of Prizes

• Jorge Quinteros photography: Two 20×30 prints (winner picks which prints).

• Joel Zimmer photography: Two 11×14 prints (winner picks which prints).

• Doxie: 2 Doxie Go scanners.

• Idea Cafe: An Espresso Bundle and a Cappuccino Bundle.

• Smile Software: 5 licenses each of TextExpander and PDFpen for Mac.

• Fantastical: 7 licenses.

• Haystack Software: 5 licenses of Arq

• Reeder: 10 license each of the Mac app, the iPhone app, and the iPad app.

• Alarms App: 10 licenses.

• Red Sweater: A license each of MarsEdit, FastScripts, and Black Ink.

• Omni Group: A license of OmniFocus for Mac and a license of OmniGraffle Pro.

• Studio Neat: 5 Glif+ kits and 5 Cosmonauts.

• Typekit: 5 Portfolio Accounts (one year long).

• JetPens: A Portable Writing Kit, including: Field Notes Color Cover Memo Book, Red Blooded 3 Pack; Uni-ball Signo (DX) UM-151 Gel Ink Pen – 0.38 mm – Black; and Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Model Auto Lead Rotation Mechanical Pencil – 0.5 mm, Gun Metallic Body.

• Flickr: 5 subscriptions to Flickr Pro (one year long).

• Summermoon Wood Fired Coffee: 1 bag Velvet Blaze, 1 bag Inferno, and 1 bag Tri Roast. (Courtesy of Seth Goldberg.)

• Cuvée Coffee: 1 bag Las Trancas, 1 bag Dead Fingers Espresso Roast, 1 bag Espresso Medici. (Courtesy of Seth Goldberg.)

• 1 bag David Lynch Signature Cup Organic House Blend. (Courtesy of Seth Goldberg.)

• AgileBits: 10 licenses of 1Password from the Mac App Store (Windows license also available).

• Enough: 2 signed copies of Patrick Rhone’s upcoming new book.

• Day One: 5 sets of Mac and iOS app codes.

• Fusion Ads: A one-week “Burst” campaign spot. (Winner must have a relevant product / service to promote on the Fusion Ad network.)

• Symbolicons: 5 licenses for these icon bundles.

• Writing Kit for iPad and iPhone: 10 licenses.

How to Win, Etc.

• Anyone who signs up for a membership before midnight CST on Sunday, March 25 will automatically be in the runnings to win something.

• If you are already a member with a current membership, you are eligible to win.

• You do not have to live in the United States to win — international members are most welcome and most eligible (though some prizes are not available outside the US).

• The drive ends at midnight CST on March 25, and the drawing will be held sometime around last week in March. It will be random and I will email the winners at their PayPal email address.

• If there is a certain prize in particular that you’d like to win over another, please fill out this form. I will check it once the winners are drawn to try and get people a prize they prefer. You do not have to fill out the form to win, only to request a particular prize.

Membership Drive 2012

This time last year I was sitting at my desk with MarsEdit open and my mouse pointer hovering over the “Send to Blog” button. I remember my palms were clammy, like when you lean over a ledge, and I just sat there, hesitating, for what seemed like the entire morning.

The article was my announcement that I was taking shawnblanc.net full time. So long as that article stayed in my Drafts Folder, then things could continue on as they always had. But once I hit publish, I knew that I was committed.

Publishing that article was like announcing that I was jumping off a cliff and hoping to make it to the other side. And my only hope to make it was to humbly ask that you guys — the readers — be willing to support the site directly by becoming members.

I have been shocked and humbled by the incredible response to the membership — thanks to the direct support from the readers, I’ve been able to write this site day in and day out for the past year. It has been fantastic. And I’d very much like to keep writing.

Current Members

For those of you who have signed up for a membership in the past year: thank you. With no exaggeration, I mean it when I say I am honored and humbled by your support. As your membership renews I hope you will continue to stay on as a direct supporter of this site.

Two points of note for current members:

• Current members who want to subscribe to The Members Journal: it is an opt-in list. If you’d like to sign up you can do so on the members info page. Your password for that page can be found in the information email you received from me after signing up for your membership.

• Regarding the Executive Membership: I’m introducing a new subscription level that gets you all the same benefits as the $3 membership but for $12/month. This is for those who have offered to or who are glad to pay more for their membership.

  If you want to switch to the Executive Membership you’ll have to cancel your current subscription and sign up for the new one.

New Members

Excluding last year’s membership drive, I have done little to promote the membership over the past year. Primarily because, in my opinion, storing up all the attention of the membership for a big annual membership drive is more fun.

And so, for those of you who are new to the site, or who perhaps are long-time readers, but have not signed up for a membership, this is the time of year where I humbly ask that you consider signing up for a membership.

The direct support that comes in from readers makes up for nearly half of this site’s income. I literally could not continue to write here full time without the support of subscribing members.

Membership Perks

The primary membership benefit is that you’re allowing me to spend my full attention working on this site.

There are of course, some additional, members-only perks:

• Shawn Today: The member’s only broadcast. It’s short, uncut, fun, and often involves coffee. It’s intended to be a daily show, but it averages out to about every-other day (in the past 12 months since starting Shawn Today, I’ve recorded over 175 episodes).

• The Members Journal: This is a new-in-2012 perk that I’ve just launched. The Members Journal is an email sent out on occasion. It’s not a regular email (as in every week or every month) because I don’t expect to regularly have content for it. But, when it does go out it will contain things such as:

  • Giveaways and promo codes for apps (developers often send me these to give away to the members).
  • Links to apps, articles, videos, and other things which never made it onto the home page of shawnblanc.net for one reason or another. This is affectionately known as The Cut List.

If the value and enjoyment you get from shawnblanc.net is worth that to you, then I would love to have your support as a subscribing member.

A membership is just $3 a month — like a good cup of coffee — and you can sign up here.

A Quick Guide to Common Miscapitalizations of Tech Names

Below are listed the proper spellings and capitalizations of certain tech names which are commonly capitalized incorrectly.

One Word, Medial Capitals

• LaunchBar
• TextExpander
• MacBook (Air/Pro)
• TextEdit
• FaceTime
• TextMate
• MarsEdit
• WordPress
• AirPlay
• AirDrop

One Word, no Medial Capitals

• Launchpad
• Macworld
• Dropbox
• Xcode
• Facebook
• Typekit
• Thunderbolt

Two words, not Title Case

• iPod touch
• iPod nano
• iPod shuffle
• iPod classic
• Mac mini
• Home screen
• Retina display

Product Names That Don’t Even Exist

• iTouch

TextExpander Snippet Group

Download and import this TextExpander snippet group to help you properly capitalize these names for the times you accidentally miscapitalize them.

Regarding T-Shirt Shipments

On Friday I picked up the Tools & Toys t-shirts from the print-house and they look fantastic. Over the weekend Anna and I arm-wrestled PayPal, printed shipping labels, folded shirts, and packed the shipments. I am going to the Post Office this morning to drop everything off, which means the shirts will be arriving at your door within the next several days.

If you ordered a large shirt, they are unfortunately back ordered from American Apparel. The local shop that printed my order is expecting the shirts to arrive from American Apparel later this week, and as soon as they do your shirts will be the first to get printed.

Again, thanks to everyone that ordered a shirt. Wear it often, and wear it proudly.

— Shawn

T-Shirts Now Available

Buy a shirt and support shawnblanc.net

About the Design

Designed by yours truly. I have always liked the use and look of gears in design. They are a fun way to conceptualize creativity as something which requires work, thought, and momentum. Gears are also a great way to communicate the idea of computers as mechanical hardware.

Also, I very much like the slogan “Computers are for Creating”. It rings true for all walks of creative professionals — writers, podcasters, photographers, musicians, designers, developers, et al. It’s a phrase for folks like us.

About the Shirts

The shirts are dark grey, 50/50 blend, ringspun American Apparel Tees. These are very high-quality shirts (I prefer them over the 100% cotton shirts), and they offer superior screen printing results.

They will be hand-printed at a professional screen-printing shop located right here in Kansas City.

Orders will be taken until 11:59 PM CST on Tuesday, August 23. The batch will then be printed and will ship around the first week in September.

Pick one up today.

A Week-Long, In-Depth Look at How Writing This Site Full-Time is Going

It has been nearly two months since I began writing shawnblanc.net full-time, and it has been wonderful. I love this gig.

By far and away the most frequently asked question I’ve been getting is: How’s it going?

And so I am going to take this week and answer that question in great detail.

• I’ll be writing about the software I use to write this site and how I use it.
• I will be sharing what my day looks like and why.
• I’ll be bringing up some of the challenges and breakthroughs I’ve had as a writer since taking this gig full time.
• I’ll discuss how I’m balancing my work life and my personal life now that I work from home and am self-employed.
• And I’ll be answering some reader-submitted questions.

But to start it all off, I wanted to first say thank you. I would not be writing this if it were not for the support from all of you guys — the members, the weekly sponsors, the readers.

Those of you who have signed up as subscribing members are providing a critical income stream which has actually allowed me to publish this site full time.

To all the fantastic developers, companies, and other fine folks who sponsor the RSS feed or advertise on Fusion, thank you.

And really, to everyone — all of you nerds who continue to show up day after day — thanks.

Previous Entries

On the homepage of a weblog, when you’ve scrolled to the bottom of the recent posts displayed but before you get to the footer, what should you see?

Most commonly you’ll find a link for “previous entries” or “older entries”. A link that takes you to Page 2 of the site. And page 2 is always the same format as the homepage.

There are some unique dynamics to weblog design. You’re designing for three groups of people:

• Regular readers who check in daily, or near daily
• Familiar readers who check in occasionally
• New visitors

Regular readers tend to hang out at the top of the site or in the RSS feed. Since they are tracking with the weblog they are up to date with what’s been written lately. In fact, many regular readers may not even visit the site and read only from their feed reader.

Familiar readers who check in occasionally are likely to only peruse and read what’s on the homepage. They come to the site, look to see what’s new that they haven’t seen since last time, and then move on.

New readers are actually most likely showing up for the first time onto a permalink page because they got to your site via a link or a search result to something specific. From there, if they like what they’ve read, they’re likely to read more articles or click to the home page and see what is happening.

And so, when someone (who is most likely a new visitor) has scrolled to the bottom of the recent posts on the homepage, before they get to the footer what should they see?

Is a link to Page 2 the best option? I don’t know; the advantages and disadvantages vary based on the site.

Advantages of having a link to Page 2:

• It’s conventional: Lots and lots of sites use it.
• It’s familiar: Because it’s conventional.
• It’s simple: There is only one option: If you want more, click here. If not, see you later alligator.
• You stay in the same context: The format of page 2 is the same as page 1 which means the reader is not changing contexts from reading to lists to reading again.

Disadvantages of having a link to Page 2:

• On this site I post dozens of links to every one article. If someone is scrolling through page by page it means they are primarily scrolling through lists of links. And while that’s cool, links are not the premier feature of this site. Though they are the most common type of post, they’re not the most valuable.

• Some of the work I am most proud of may not have been in the past few weeks or even months. Someone browsing page by page may never get to what I am most proud of.

What Others are Doing

I wanted to see how other weblogs handle pagination navigation. I took screenshots of the bottom of the homepage of 31 different weblogs to compare how they’ve implemented pagination navigation, if they’ve implemented it at all.

I chose sites that are run as a traditional blog, meaning the most recent posts are at the top of the page and usually where several posts are shown at once. I also chose sites that are published by people who (most likely) have thought through this sort of thing for their site.

Of the 31 sites, 19 had some sort of “older entries” style pagination navigation and 12 had something else.

Weblogs with pagination navigation: Kottke.org, Jason Santa Maria, TechCrunch, Jeffery Zeldman’s Daily Report, dooce, Seth Godin, Andy Ihnatko, 43 Folders, Cameron Moll, Panic Blog, Liz Danzico, The Hickensian, Simplebits, The Brooks Review, I Love Typography, swissmiss, This is my next…, Waxy.org, and 37signals.

Weblogs with something other than pagination navigation:

• Marco.org: A list of all archives by month
• Subtraction: A list of all categories
• Shaun Inman: A list of all categories and all archives by month
• Ignore the Code: Infinite scrolling
• Daring Fireball: Full text of the two most recent articles that were not written in the past 7 days
• Airbag Industries, Kevin Kelly, and Rands in Repose: Nothing
• Veerle’s Blog: Featured article and recommended categories
• Zen Habits, Chris Bowler: Link to full archives list
• Paul Stamatiou: List of favorite articles

Trying Something New

Since the inception of this site I’ve had the common link to Page 2. I am now testing something new here: I replaced the link to Page 2 with links to recent articles, interviews, and reviews instead. I’ve also increased the number of articles and links that appear on the home page to 25 total.

The goal is to offer the best choice for the reader, based on what I, as the publisher of my site, consider to be the most valuable. Is a link to Page 2 the best way for a reader to continue exploring my site, or would they be better served by discovering the articles I’ve written and am most proud of? 1

Honestly, I’m not sure yet. Though I do think that if I only ever wrote articles it may be a different answer.

Membership Update

Six weeks ago I announced that I was taking the site full time and that to make it happen I would be offering a membership to the site. There was a month-long membership drive with the goal of promoting membership sign-ups before I started my first day as a full-time writer for shawnblanc.net. (Which was yesterday, by the way.)

Here is a quick update on where things stand as of today.

For starters, I’m sure you will be delighted to know, the membership drive was a success. There are two benchmarks I have for the membership subscription base:

• There is the minimum number of members which is needed simply to cover the necessities of life and the hard costs of running this site.
• There is an ideal subscriber base which would cover the additional expenses now equated with publishing this site full time.

Up until yesterday the income I got from this site was all “extra” income. I had a full-time job and didn’t need the income this site was generating. The Fusion ads and RSS sponsorships covered the hard costs (primarily hosting and my internet service provider) and then what was left over I used to pay for software, hardware, and the other things I write about here.

But now that I’ve quit my full-time job, the income this site makes has a new priority: food and shelter. Or, put another way, the RSS Sponsorships help me buy food to eat instead of software to write about.

Thankfully, the membership numbers have gone above that minimum level needed for me to sustain this site as my full-time gig. Moreover, people are still signing up — every day the membership base grows a little bit more. (Thank you!)

Once the membership numbers reach my ideal goal I will be able to budget for the purchasing of software and hardware as needed, and even set aside enough funds for things such as traveling to Macworld in 2012. I try to run a tight and frugal operation, but at the same time being involved in and writing about the design- and tech-savvy community isn’t exactly a free ride.

All this to say that the lights in my office will stay on, my internet service will not be disconnected, and if I skip lunch one day it’s likely out of forgetfulness rather than necessity.

I cannot express how very grateful to have this opportunity. I get to work from the comfort of my own home, keep my own schedule, and be involved in the things which I love and am passionate about. Not to mention I get to write for and interact with fine readers such as yourselves all day long. Thank you for helping make this a reality.

Regarding the Membership Drive Giveaway

For those of you who signed up for a membership during the membership drive, all the emails have been sent out to the winners. They were sent to the primary email addresses in your PayPal account, so if you don’t check that email often, you may want to.

There were 84 prizes in total, worth over $2,000. Many, many, thanks to all the writers, designers, developers, and friends who donated to the membership drive:

• Jorge Quinteros
• First & 20
• Brett Kelly
• Fusion Ads
• Michael Lopp
• Cameron Moll
• Idea Cafe
• Red Sweater Software
• Icon Resource
• Ryan Irelan
• Realmac Software
• Pixelmator
• Flux
• Sky Balloon Studio
• Attachment Tamer
• Flare
• Due App
• Clyppan
• TrackTime

Another Shameless Plug to Sign Up for a Membership if You Haven’t Yet

Membership subscriptions are still available and will be indefinitely. Membership to the site is just 3 bucks a month — like a good cup of coffee — and includes some very cool members-only perks. Primarily that you’ll be supporting the full-time writing and growth of shawnblanc.net, and you’ll get access to Shawn Today, the daily, members-only broadcast.

And, what the heck? So long as we’re at it… Another fantastic way to support this site is to sponsor the RSS feed. Sponsoring the feed is a win-win-win situation: you get your product or service promoted to a large audience of design- and tech-savvy readers, the readers in turn get to discover something new they may have not known about, and I get to put food on the table.

My Growing To-Do List for shawnblanc.net Beginning April 4

• Write a review of LaunchBar
• Re-evaluate my approach to time management and how I get things done to best fit my new schedule and work flow
• Slightly refresh and update this site’s design and completely re-code the WordPress theme from scratch for better load times and valid HTML
• Write about the differences between how I use and approach Simplenote and Yojimbo
• Finish that review of Instapaper I started last Summer
• Write a review about the SSD I put in last Fall
• Begin asking folks for their participation in a new minimalistic interview series I am planning to launch
• Begin working on a long-form interview with… (?)
• Reply to the emails in my inbox from those who are interviewing me
• Join the Mac Developer Program
• Install [Redacted]
• Join the iOS Developer Program
• Begin work on Book Number One
• Design a t-shirt or two
• Remind everyone that memberships are still very much available and more awesome than ever

Membership Drive and Giveaway

Beginning the first week in April I will be writing shawnblanc.net as my full-time gig.

It is hard to put into words just exactly how excited I am about the days ahead — I’m equal parts giddy and petrified over here. There’s that feeling of: I’m actually going to do this! Um, wait. I’m actually going to do this!?

In order to make this happen for longer than a few months, I need the support of you, the reader.

And so, leading up to my first day on the job, I am hosting a PBS-style membership drive. Which means that, for the next three and a half weeks, I’ll be talking somewhat regularly about the membership. (Though I promise that it won’t be all I talk about between now and then.)

Ideally, you are signing up to become a member because you feel like this site is already worth 3 bucks a month to you. The members-only perks are a nice bonus of course (Shawn Today seems to be a smash hit already), and the fact that your membership will be a significant contributing factor to my ability to go full time is the icing on the cake.

But let’s face it: everyone loves free stuff. And, to be honest, I really do love to give things away. And so there are things to be won if you sign up to become a member.

If you haven’t signed up for a membership yet, here’s the link.

The Membership Drive

Starting yesterday, and running until midnight CST on Sunday, March 20, anyone who signs up to become a member of shawnblanc.net will be entered to win a prize. These are all top-notch prizes from some of my friends and heroes in the creative professional community.

• A 20×30 print from photographer Jorge Quinteros: The winner gets to pick any print they want. These are my three favorites: 1, 2, and 3. ($50)

• First & 20 t-shirt: 5 of these fantastic t-shirts. I’ve got one and love it. ($20 each)

• Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly: 5 copies of Brett’s definitive guide on Evernote. ($25 each)

• Fusion Ad Burst: The Fusion Ad network is giving away one Burst Campaign. This prize will only be given to a member with something relevant for the Fusion Ad network. ($500)

• A signed copy of Being Geek by Michael Lopp ($25).

• A signed copy of Managing Humans by Michael Lopp ($25).

• Cameron Moll’s 24×16 Signed Colosseo Poster: This thing is gorgeous. ($100)

• A Redeye Bundle from Idea Cafe: Includes a plain pocket Moleskine, Action Journal, and Dot Grid Book. ($40)

• MarsEdit 3: A license of the best blogging software on the planet ($40).

• Limited Edition, Pre-Production, Proof-of-Concept Coffee Mug From Yours Truly: I have no clue how much these will be selling for once they’re available, but I have an extra pre-production model that I’m giving away.

• Icon Resource: A video training pack of high-def movies, project files, photoshop samples, and more from the world-class icon designer Sebastiaan de With. ($130)

• Learning ExpressionEngine 2 by Ryan Irelan: Two bundles of the complete series basic training screencasts for EE 2. ($48 each)

• MySQL and ExpressionEngine by Ryan Irelan: Two copies of this screencast primed to help you do some customizing of EE 2. ($12 each)

• Securing ExpressionEngine 2 by Mark Huot: Two copies of this ebook which details the steps you can take to make your installation of ExpressionEngine even more secure. ($10 each)

• LittleSnapper: 5 licenses of Realmac Software’s popular screenshot library tool. ($25 each)

• Pixelmator: 2 licenses of this top-notch, image editing application for Mac OS X. ($60 each)

• Flux: 1 license of The Escapers Web-development software. ($113)

• Canned: 10 copies of Sky Ballon Studio’s iPhone app for sending pre-built text messages. ($.99 each)

• Canned Email: 10 copies of Sky Ballon Studio’s iPhone app for sending pre-built email messages. ($.99 each)

• Attachment Tamer: 5 licenses of Lokiware’s Apple Mail plugin. ($15 each)

• Flare: 5 copies of the brand-new photo effects editor from the Iconfactory. ($20 each)

• Due App: 10 copies of this great timer and reminder app for your iPhone and iPad. ($5 each)

• Clyppan: 5 copies of this clipboard history manager for Mac OS X. ($5 each)

• TrackTime: 5 copies of the time tracking application especially built for freelancers and creative professionals. ($25 each)

The total value of all these prizes is over $2,028. Thank you to all of you who have donated to make this giveaway possible.

How to Win

• Anyone who signs up for a membership by midnight CST on Sunday, March 20 will automatically be in the runnings to win something.

• You do not have to live in the United States to win — international members are most welcome and most eligible.

• I’ll be setting up a way for you to request a certain prize if there is one in particular that you’d love to get.

• The drawing will be sometime the last week in March. Winners will be contacted by via their PayPal email address.

If you haven’t yet signed up to become a member, now would be a good time.

A Quick Update

This morning, around 7:00 am, I was just sitting here in front of MarsEdit with the announcement written and ready to publish. And I just sat here. Too nervous to hit Publish. It was probably just a minute or less, but it felt like half the morning.

In some ways I thought today would never come. And for those few final moments before I published “Beginning” I had this uncanny feeling of sheer excitement coupled with total fear. I was giddy at the thought of letting you guys know about such a huge and exciting change. And simultaneously afraid at what trolls may come out of the woodwork to criticize my decision or poke fun at my (admittedly) bad video.

My wife, Anna, was this site’s very first reader back in July of 2007. She has proofread, edited, and given constructive feedback on every major article I’ve written — I never post those things without her feedback first (I figure if she likes it, and I like it, then it can’t be all that bad). Anna also helped me behind the scenes in the early days of this site by giving suggestions on questions I should ask certain interviewees — such as asking John Gruber what he eats for breakfast.

It was some time right after this past Christmas, just before the 2011 New Year, that Anna and I were having dinner at home and I pitched the idea to her about actually taking shawnblanc.net full time. I’ve tossed it out there before over the years, but it was always somewhat casual. But this time I meant it. And she meant it when she said she would be 100% behind me.

I brag about the readership of this site quite a bit. And I mean it when I write how amazing and talented you guys are. But, with all due respect my fellow nerds, this site would not be the site it is today without the support and encouragement I have received from my wife.

Thank you, Anna, for everything.

Also, I want to thank you guys, the readers. The support and positive feedback I received today has been absolutely phenomenal. Many of you have been helping spread the news on your website or via Twitter as well as writing in to say congratulations. Please keep it up, because so far sign ups are looking good.

It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet, so I really have no way to know if things are going really well or not. But I do know for sure that there is still a long way to go in order to make the memberships a viable enough source of income for me to keep the full-time aspect going for longer than the summer.

Those of you who have signed up already, thank you! If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

Current Members: Regarding your Perks and Info

For some reason unbeknownst to me, PayPal won’t let you build or customize the autoresponder emails that are sent when someone becomes a subscriber. Which means that the information about your perks as a member are given out on the final page stage of the subscription process. This includes the information on how to subscribe to the members-only broadcast, Shawn Today.

This was, by far, the most frustrating piece of the whole membership puzzle for me. There are many alternate options and workarounds, but I opted for what I felt would be the easiest for me to maintain and the easiest for you to access.

If you’ve signed up for a membership and accidentally missed this information during your subscription check-out, please email members@shawnblanc.net from your PayPal address and I’ll send you the info you need.

Coming up next: A Membership Drive With Some Sweet Giveaways

A little surprise for tomorrow: some extremely amazing and generous folks have donated a handful of prizes and gifts as bounty for a membership drive that will kick off tomorrow.

In short, between this morning and midnight on Sunday, March 20th, anyone and everyone who signs up for a membership will be eligible to win some amazing prizes. And these aren’t just hum-drum giveaways. They are top-notch, drool-worthy, items. But more info on that tomorrow morning.

Beginning

This is a sentence I never thought I would publish: Beginning the first week in April I will be writing shawnblanc.net as my full-time gig.

When I began shawnblanc.net in July of 2007 it was with the intention of enjoying and exploring that place where creativity and computers come together — I am fascinated by that blend of the artful and the technical. And for almost four years now I’ve been exploring that place while writing this site on the side, as I’ve been able.

But writing on the side, as I’m able, is no longer enough for me.

I simply have to go full time. And so I’m jumping in head first. I’m actually doing it. And I can hardly believe I’m saying this.

After four years and hundreds of articles it all feels like the beginning. As if the hundreds of thousands of words that I’ve written here so far are simply the prologue. I cannot wait for what is next.

The Next Chapter

In many ways, shawnblanc.net will be the same as it has been. The focus and direction of this site is not changing.

But in some other ways shawnblanc.net will be different. Or, at least, I hope it will be different. I hope that the quality and the pace of the publishing will rise to a new level of excellence. I hope that the community here will be able to grow and connect more. And I hope to expand to new communication methods in addition to writing.

It is hard to put into words just exactly how excited I am about the days ahead. I’m equal parts giddy and petrified over here. There’s that feeling of: I’m actually going to do this! Um, wait. I’m actually going to do this!?

An Invitation

And so, in order to make this happen for longer than a few months, I need the support of you, the reader.

I am inviting you guys to join me on this journey, and help me take shawnblanc.net full time by becoming a member.

A membership subscription is just $3 a month — like a good cup of coffee — and includes some members-only perks. You can read all about the membership and watch a video I made by checking out the membership info page. But here’s the gist of the members-only perks:

• Supporting the full-time writing and growth of shawnblanc.net
• Access to Shawn Today, a daily video/audio broadcast of ideas plus what coffee I’m brewing that morning
• The Members Showcase
• Ability to ask questions, get advice, etc…
• Possibility of winning some cool stuff

Hopefully the value and enjoyment you already get from shawnblanc.net is worth $3 a month to you and these perks are just icing on the cake. But however you slice it, I would love to have your support as a subscribing member.

Thank you

Surely shawnblanc.net has one the most amazing readerships out there. Because of you guys this site has been able to grow and mature into what it is today. And that is what is enabling me to take this leap and go full time.

And so now, I’m humbly asking, will you take this next step with me?

Sponsorship Opportunities

One of the greatest assets a publisher has is the attention and trust of their readers. It is something cultivated over time as a person or publication slowly becomes a trusted advisor for the things they write about, link to, and share. In short: my RSS Subscribers are my truest fans. They’re the ones who have volunteered to let me share ideas, links, and more with them anytime I want.

And this is much of what makes an RSS Sponsorship so valuable — the sponsor gets exposure to an audience who’s already paying attention.

Placing ads into RSS feeds is laughable. The ads often look horrendous (if they work at all), and offer a minuscule return on investment for both the publisher and the advertiser. Sponsoring an RSS feed however is a fine idea. It provides the promoter with a high-impact way of getting exposure, and allows the publisher to keep their feed clean from ad clutter.

On Monday I began offering sponsorships to this site’s RSS Feed. Yes, the sponsorships help me to continue writing here, but long-time readers of this site know what an advocate I am for the freelance designer, the 3rd-party developer, et al. I am not exaggerating or lying when I say that part of the reason I set up sponsorships was to offer a top-notch promotional channel for designers, developers, writers, and more.

And so good news: for those looking to promote their product or service, shawnblanc.net is not the only site offering Sponsorships for its RSS Feed.1

• Monday by Noon: a gem of the Internet. Jonathan posts a well-written, well-informed article on Web design and development every Monday. And now, just before his weekly article is published, you have the chance to be endorsed by Jonathan to his healthy readership of Web professionals.

• Minimal Mac: a site that has taken off like a rocket over the past year. Patrick Rhone is a trusted advisor to many a Mac nerds and minimalists. He is offering you a chance to sponsor his RSS Feed as well. You get a promotion on Monday and a thank-you post on Friday.

• The Brooks Review: regular, insightful writing about Apple, technology, and the Web. Ben Brooks is quickly becoming a must-read among many well-known technology sites.

Why am I promoting these other guys? Because sponsorship opportunities are a fabulous channel to promote you app, your book, your freelance business, and more. I get frequent requests from app developers asking me to check out and hopefully promote their app. I get emails from web developers asking me if I know any good designers, and vice versa.

There is certainly no shortage of top-notch products and services worthy of being made known. If you’ve got something you’d like to promote, book a sponsorship on this site. But I also recommend Minimal Mac, Monday by Noon, and The Brooks Review. I believe your promotion would do well there also.

Announcing RSS Feed Sponsorships

Up until this morning the only way to promote a product or a service on this site was through ads placed with Fusion. The Fusion ad network is fantastic, but ads placed there are shown across its entire network. But now, if you have a product or service you’d like to promote directly to the fine readers of shawnblanc.net, you can sponsor the RSS Feed.

Feed sponsorships are week-long, exclusive, and very affordable. Your promotion will reach a handsome audience of tech- and design-savvy Mac nerds. This is a fantastic opportunity for freelancers, developers, designers, and anyone else with a product or service in need of exposure.

More info on pricing, reach, and schedule can all be found on the sponsorship page.

To book your sponsorship, or if you have any questions, please email me.

(dv)

I’ve been hosting with Media Temple for three years, and this past weekend I finally upgraded from the (gs) Grid Server to a (dv) Dedicated Virtual server.

The (gs) gets a lot of flack, but in my experience it has been a good service. It’s inexpensive, easy to set up, and will keep your site ticking through moments of extreme traffic. In the three years I’ve been on the Grid my site never had a problem being Fireballed or other similar link-tos.

I have been wanting to upgrade to the (dv) for a while. For one, a (dv) is actually cheaper than my (gs) hosting because of some memory upgrades I added on to my Grid’s database. Secondly, the (dv) is just a better hosting environment than the (gs).

In spite of the fact I should have migrated I kept putting it off. Why? Because I am not a developer — working with databases, ssh commands, and nameservers makes my palms sweaty. However, as of a few months ago the traffic on this site has outgrown what the (gs) is meant for. So I had to migrate.

All in all the migration was not as difficult as I had feared, and chances are most visitors to the site never even noticed. There were only a few hiccups I encountered. The biggest was that the /etc/hosts file needed editing to work properly with wp_cron.php and the Super Cache plugin (so far as I can tell this is a very common edit that most WordPress installs have to make to work properly on a default (dv) server from Media Temple). Also I encountered an error when importing my Mint database and after troubleshooting ended up losing about 36 hours worth of incoming traffic data.

Some articles and references I used:

• Backing up and restoring a MySQL database
• Editing the /etc/hosts file for WordPress
• How to flush your local DNS Cache
• Media Temple’s step-by-step instructions for Migrating to a (dv) server

Now that things are settled I am so glad I upgraded and only wish I had migrated sooner. I’ve quickly learned my way around Plesk (the hosting control panel for the (dv)). I’ve always liked Media Temple’s account center dashboard for the (gs) — it’s nice and simple — but there is significantly more power and flexibility with the (dv) and Plesk than I ever had on the (gs).

And the speed. It is instantly noticeable when navigating this site. The (dv) is loading uncached pages at least 3 times as fast as the (gs) did, and in some cases it’s 14 times faster (these are unofficial benchmarks based on statistics from the WP Super Cache Plugin).

Finally, I cannot say enough good things about Media Temple’s customer support. I exchanged emails or spoke on the phone with TJ, Ryan, Jason, Paul, and Chris. They were all extremely friendly and brilliantly helpful.

If you’re looking for hosting, I recommend Media Temple. I don’t have a partnership with them, but if you set up your new service using this link I will get a small kickback.

Share This Post on Twitter

It is surprisingly simple to add a little bit of code to your website to allow for sharing of posts on Twitter.

In WordPress using the_title and the_guid functions you can build a dynamic “retweet” link for each post that works on your home page and on individual post pages.

The code I’m using here looks like this:

<a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=<?php the_title(); ?> - <?php the_guid(); ?> (via @shawnblanc)">Retweet.</a>

The advantage of using the_guid instead of the_permalink is that it’s the shortest URL your WordPress site automatically generates. And assuming you use clean, human-friendly, URLs set in your WordPress preferences, these post ID URLs will simply re-direct to your desired permalink.

For example, below are two different yet legit URLs for my review of Yojimbo. The first one is what’s generated using the_guid and the second is the actual permalink URL and is what’s generated using the_permalink.

• http://shawnblanc.net/?p=1455
• http://shawnblanc.net/2009/09/yojimbo-and-anything-buckets/

The second link, which is the standard, permalink address to the Yojimbo article is more human friendly and makes for better search results. However, it also has 29 more characters than the first link listed. The second link is best for normal use, the first is best for Twitter.

What I like about this way of implementing a Twitter-sharing feature is that it uses plain and simple code, rather than a plugin. Plugins are great, but I like to keep their usage here to a minimum.

I have yet to see anyone really use these Twitter-sharing links yet. In the past few weeks of testing this, I’ve seen amongst my own little readership that people are much more inclined to re-tweet something already tweeted. Which leads me to my next point…

I have added the shawnblanc.net RSS feed to my Twitter using Alex King’s Twitter Tools plugin. Which means all new posts (articles and links) on shawnblanc.net are automatically tweeted. (Example.)

For months now I have been finding the most interesting news and best reads via Twitter (much more than via my RSS feeds). Even though much of the content I’m being told about in Twitter is the same content that’s being delivered to my RSS reader, I interact with Twitter much more than my RSS feeds.

And so I assume it’s more than likely that you’re doing the same. There will certainly some overlap for those of you who follow me on Twitter and get my RSS feed, and if that bugs you I am sorry. Nearly every RSS feed I am subscribe to I also follow the author on Twitter, And I have never once been bugged to see them plug their own content.

How to Disable FeedBurner From Uglifying Your Clean URLs In Order to Track Clicks as a Traffic Source in Google Analytics

A few weeks ago I noticed FeedBurner was adding metadata to my permalinks. In Mint I could see that those of you coming from your feed reader (Google Reader especially) were landing on pages with extra code added to what is an otherwise clean and crafted URL:

?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20shawnblanc%20(Shawn%20Blanc)&utm_content=Google%20Reader

This excess metadata is added by FeedBurner when you click through their feedproxy, and is used in Google Analytics. This way, you can track your feed’s click-throughs right alongside your other statistics.

So far as I can tell, this tracking code was automatically turned on by FeedBurner for shawnblanc.net about a month ago.1 Since it’s been running for a few weeks, if I look in my Google Analytics account I can now tell that my top three traffic sources (and mediums) are:

1. Direct (none)
2. Google Search (organic)
3. FeedBurner (Feed)

There are additional feed stats as well. Such as what feed reader people are using, the bounce rate and average time on your site for reader visits, and more. It’s fantastic feature if you’re into excess data and you don’t mind the URL invasion. But personally, I don’t care. I prefer the simple broad strokes: how many visits? how many subs?

And so today I finally got around to logging into FeedBurner and turning off the Feed Click Tracking option. And you can too if you want.

• Go to: Analyze → Configure Stats
• Uncheck: “Track Clicks as a traffic source in Google Analytics”
• Save

A Public Service Announcement

Lately I haven’t been doing much writing (online) or reading (online). But today I opened up Fever for the first time in a few weeks and with my fresh cup of coffee spacebared through quite a few interesting things, and some very link-worthy ones.

If you too have not been reading (online) lately, I’ll be curating some worth-while stuff for you today from my reading this morning.

Ordinary and Uncomfortable

While I wasn’t looking a lot of random categories managed to sneak their way into the post meta. I noticed it’s taking longer and longer to peruse the list of categories, finding just the right twenty-seven that match the post. Too much!

It’s funny, because I don’t even make a big deal of categories here. The WordPress search engine does a great job of finding any and all instances of a longed-for word or topic.

Even if I did parade the list of every post’s category you’d be sure to ignore it — as even the names are redundant and ordinary. For instance, there was Software, Software Reviews, and then, just, Reviews. There was Apple, and iPhone, and Technology; even a Life and Journal category.

Looking deeper, I could see how nearly every post was mingled within in a slew of uneventful definitions; far from simple and enticing. So this morning I deleted all but ten categories and renamed the unimaginative ones.

Journal and Life got the axe as Life in Full Color emerged in their stead. (Speaking of which, this is a category I very much want to add more to. I think this site would do well to have a more personal touch and some transparent stories. Posts such as “Marketing Shoes” and “Josephine” come to mind as the type of writing I’d like to do more of in the future.)

While shoring up the categories I also took time to read through a lot of older posts. And I remembered how I try to forget that so much of what I used to write is riddled with embarrassing grammar, poor attempts at wit, and a generally dull use of the english language.

I like to assume that I’ve always written as I do now. Though I suppose from my own point of view I have — insofar as I have always written as well and honestly as I can at that moment. But now, when I read what two years ago I thought was well written, I want to edit the snot out of it. But I restrained; I want to leave my previous links and articles as-is.

Hopefully in another two years time I’ll look back at what I’m writing now and feel the same abashment I felt this afternoon.

Testing a New Design for Link Posts in the shawnblanc.net Feed

Link posts outnumber articles on shawnblanc.net three to one. And I’ve been considering a change for how link posts show up in the RSS feed.

Up until today, a link post could be identified in my RSS feed by its duplicate “sub-title”.

If you arrow out or click on the item’s primary title link you arrive at the post’s permalink here on shawnblanc.net. Clicking the “sub-title”, which is in the body of the post, takes you to the linked-to article.

This isn’t a new technique. And how it’s done is actually quite simple — the sub-title is hand written into the post’s body, and on shawnblanc.net link posts are coded to not display the main title.

What I like about this design for the RSS feed is that the default <link> element for the article points to shawnblanc.net/example-permalink/ rather than to the linked-to article. (This is the same as how kottke.org, Subtraction, Justin Blanton, and many others do it, but is the opposite of Daring Fireball or Waxy Links.)

More and more weblogs writers are adapting link posts as part of their publishing routine. But most of them do not post dozens of links every week.

This past July, John Gruber posted 200 linked list items to Daring Fireball. Andy Baio posted 136; and Jason Kottke, 146. I, on the other hand only posted thirteen. If you add June in there too, then John, Andy, or Jason each posted more (or nearly as many) links as I have in the entire life of this weblog (367).

Which is why, in my opinion, the behavior of a link post in its RSS feed should not be defined based on the type of post it is, but rather by that post’s relationship to the website publishing it.

Authors who publish only a handful of links may want to consider a different type of link post behavior in their RSS feed, as compared to those who post half-a-dozen per day.

In my interview with John Gruber, his attitude towards his Linked List was that it’s not the individual links that are important so much as it is the whole day’s worth:

As for what I link to and what I don’t, it’s very much like Justice Stewart’s definition of obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” There’s a certain pace and rhythm to what I’m going for, a mix of the technical, the artful, the thoughtful, and the absurd. In the same way that I strive to achieve a certain voice in my prose, as a writer, I strive for a certain voice with regard to what I link to. No single item I post to the Linked List is all that important. It’s the mix, the gestalt of an entire day’s worth taken together, that matters to me.

The intense frequency of the Daring Fireball, Waxy, et al. links warrant a more direct-to-link style of RSS behavior.

I am not convinced that this is also the best feed behavior for shawnblanc.net. But based on a lazy poll I did on Twitter it seems a lot of people wish it were. The advantage to the DF-style link post behavior is primarily that it saves a click. But according to the shawnblanc.net feed and click-through stats, the majority of this site’s readers seem have no trouble clicking directly on the sub-header and going directly to the linked-to article from their feed reader if they want to.

Moreover, the primary reason I prefer this site’s current link post behavior is that it falls in line with my own feed reading habits.

The way I read online is that at some point in my day I will open up my aggregator and read through what’s new. I rarely read an article in my reader. Instead I open up the interesting stuff in Safari in the background, and then go to Safari’s open tabs and start reading.

At this point it’s common to have a dozen articles ready to read. Which is why being sent directly to someone’s linked-to article is not the best design.

Since I’m reading articles by folks I’m familiar with, the majority of the open tabs in Safari are websites I recognize. But when I come to a tab with a site I don’t recognize my first thought is usually, “What is this? How did I get here?”

Not because I’m confused, but because I don’t always remember exactly who’s link post I read and clicked through to that sent me to whatever it is I’m now staring at. Nor do I remember what it was they had to say about this link that prompted me to visit. It is very much like coming back to the middle of a conversation without being able to ask, now, where were we?

Through an email dialog, Sean Sperte gave me some wise input, saying that when someone clicks on the title link it indicates their desire to read more. Which means it is up to the author to decide what “read more” means. Does it mean, go to the link I’m talking about right now? Or does it mean, this trail is best begun on my site. On shawnblanc.net I think the latter is more appropriate.

Which Brings Us to the New RSS Format Experiment

Though I’m not too keen on moving to a DF-style format for my link posts, I am certainly wanting to move away from the duplicate “sub-title” design. My desire is to make the link-posts very easy to use and read while maintaing a clean design and logical behavior.1

In truth, I have always had these goals but they were not easily attained in WordPress. To implement this new feed and on-site post formatting required the use of custom fields. No problem if you publish from your WordPress web interface. But I don’t. I am a hard and fast MarsEdit user.

Unfortunately, MarsEdit has never had support for custom fields in WordPress. Which meant that for me to change my link-post behavior in the RSS feed I would have to publish all link posts from my WordPress Web interface. And that just isn’t going to happen. But praise the Lord, the latest builds of the 3.0 alpha, which I’m fortunate enough to help with testing for Daniel, now support custom fields in WordPress.

Which means that with this new feature in MarsEdit all I needed was a simple plugin, a few tweaks to my site’s theme and RSS code, and now a world of opportunities for RSS link post behavior have opened up.

The previous formatting for a link post in the RSS feed looked like this (as also seen in the screen shot at the beginning of this article):

• Main Title (pointed to http://shawnblanc.net/example-permalink/)
• Sub Title (duplicate text as Main Title, and points to the linked-to item)
• Commentary, additional content, etc.

The new, experimental, formatting looks like this:

• Main Title (points to http://shawnblanc.net/example-permalink/)
• Commentary, additional content, etc.
• Visit This Link ➚ (points to the linked-to item)

The design and behavior on shawnblanc.net has remained unchanged. (Though the back-end code has not.)

Since this is a new design, and the duplicate “sub-titles” were very good at allowing for quick identification of a link post, I am debating over the need for another way to quickly and easily identify a link post versus a full-length article. Sean Sperte does this by placing check marks next to his “asides” posts; Gruber places a star next to his articles. As of yet, I haven’t implemented any type of identification.

Feedback Please

As readers who interact with this feed every day, I would be delighted to hear your guys’ feedback (positive or negative) on the new format. And especially if you encounter any problems with the feed.

Subscribe to the RSS Feed here: http://shawnblanc.net/feed.

Email me here: sbnet@mac.com.

An Invitation for Reader’s Mac Setups

There has been an unexpectedly great response to the Sweet Mac Setup posts. Quite a few people emailed just to say how much they were geeking out over the series. And many also suggested that I feature a broader demographic of people in various professions — which I think is a great idea.

But instead of hunting down more people, I thought it would be fun to feature the setups of those who are already reading the same site you are.1

If you want to showcase your (cool/dorky, clean/messy, old/new, etc.) setup to other shawnblanc.net readers, send an email to sbnet@mac.com, and I’ll reply back to you with the details.

Thanks for reading, and, as always, thanks for being awesome.

— Shawn

For an iPhone, By an iPhone

For an iPhone, By an iPhone

A new website by yours truly. It’s a gallery of iPhone wallpapers shot with my iPhone Camera.

(You can expect the nerdy details on the unique differences between designing an image-based website and a text-based one in the near future.)

A Shave and a Haircut

Sometimes a little design element on your own site pops out to you as suddenly being not quite right. And from that moment forward it’s as if your site has a huge zit right on its nose, and everyone is staring at it, unable to see anything else, anxiously waiting for you to pop it already.

For the past few months I was seriously considering a complete redesign of shawnblanc.net. When I finally sat down to begin the project I decided against a total re-do from the inside out, and went for a bold but familiar realign instead.

The Header

The idea to pull the header down was originally inspired by Phu Ly’s WordPress theme, Ambiru. That theme is now 3 years old, and I’ve always admired it. My thoughts to go with a tall header were encouraged even more by the fantastic designs of A Working Library and Designing The News.

My initial Photoshop mockups were with a shorter, 235-pixels tall, header. (235 pixels being one-half the measurement of the text column.) But I didn’t like that height. It felt as if it was reaching for something unique and bold but not quite landing it.

When I launched the design on Monday morning, the header was 350 pixels tall. I liked how bold and un-apologetic that size was. Not only did it look particularly great in a large browser window, but even those viewers with the shortest browser-window height of 410 pixels (according to my Mint stats), could still see the first post’s heading.

However, after letting it sit for a few hours and then coming back and staring at it, I got to thinking about those 350 pixels; that perhaps they were, in fact, a bit too much. As if they made the statement that the header was the most important element on the website — which it’s not. I then dropped it to 313 pixels (two-thirds of the text column’s width) but it still felt like too much.

The header is now 300 pixels tall, and, like Goldilocks’ 3rd bowl of porridge, is just right. Though 300 pixels does not fall onto the grid of the site, the baseline of the masthead and navigation menu sits at 255 pixels from the top, which is one-third the site’s total width of 766 pixels.

The header has been, by far, the primary topic of feedback; a lot of people like it, but a lot don’t. I wonder how much the power of suggestion influenced their opinions? My previous post which announced the new design was titled “A Very Tall Header”. What if instead the post had been titled “Finally, Some White Space and Breathing Room”? Perhaps the negative response would have been less? Who knows? Nevertheless, the negative feedback about the header has ceased. Perhaps shrinking to 300 pixels tall was all that was needed.

Ultimately, what I like most about the header is that it’s so big it’s polarizing. It is such a stand-out design element that people seem to either really love it or really not. And I’m o.k. with that because, like it or not, the thing has personality. And that is precisely what I wanted.

Color and Texture

As mentioned earlier, for a long time I considered a total overhaul of the site, which would have meant taking it to a dark on light color scheme with serif body text. The colors and fonts that people like Sean Sperte, Pat Dryburgh, Mandy Brown or Daniel Mall use on their sites kept teasing me to abandon the current branding of shawnblanc.net for something on the opposite side of the spectrum…

But I just couldn’t do it.

This site is nearly two years old, and even though I had the itch for something totally new with this refresh, I felt that keeping the visual familiarity was important for two reasons:

First of all, when you read someone’s site you are imagining their voice. Not only is that voice influenced by the style of their writing, but also by the design of the site itself. Drastically changing the colors and fonts of a site can have serious impact on the reader’s pre-established and familiar voice of your site.

Secondly, not everyone subscribes to a site the first time they visit. It could be months or years in-between visits, and most likely not by the same channels. Having a familiar element is, in my mind, crucial to a visitor thinking “Hey… I’ve been here before. This site must be pretty amazing; I think I’ll subscribe.” 1

What I did do to improve readability was take the texture that used to sit behind the content and move it into the header. I then made the header a little darker, and lightened up the background color for the main content.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the same text with the previous, darker background on the left and the new, lighter background on the right:

An Aside Regarding Fonts

One negative about light text on a dark background is that, in general, the font weight often appears to be more bold. It is not actually bold, but the color-contrast as the stroke blends into the background is more harsh with a light-colored font on a dark background than the opposite.

Compare these two screenshots of the same title, in the same font family and size, but on flip-flopped color schemes. The darker letters on the right look thinner:

Looking at this cross-section of the “H” from the “Hello” zoomed in to 1120%, and comparing the stroke width, you can see how the darker colored letter blends into its light background much quicker, giving the appearance of a thinner stroke, though in reality the light and dark legs are both 5 pixels wide.

Styling of Links

Continuing on the issue of color: I got a couple questions regarding my rhyme and reasoning behind the seemingly sporadic styling of links.

If you count them up, there are about 10 uses for links on this site — each one with a unique placement and/or styling. But I see them all as just two types of links: expected or unexpected.

Links such as the navigation bar, the article titles, the word “Permalink” at the bottom-right of a post on the index page, and others are expected — the reader sees that word and they don’t need it to be orange to tell them it’s a link. Simply due to its context on this site and the consistency of the web, the reader is rightly and easily able to identify it as a link.

Since the orange is such a bold color (and too much of a good thing can spoil it), expected links, when in their un-active state, are the standard body-text color. Hover over those links and you’ll see the orange right away — proving your assumption was right.

Those links that are unexpected — such as words in the middle of a paragraph — need to be highlighted and styled so the reader knows they are links. Welcome to web-design 101. No further explanation needed.

And why the inconsistency between underlined and not underlined? That comes down to my personal taste. You’ll notice that only links in body text are underlined. I think the underline looks great there but not in the sidebar or footer (where I think it looks cramped). Thus, for the sake of design rather than consistency, not all links are underlined.

The Sidebar

A primary goal of the realign was to clean up and simplify the sidebar without loosing any of the elements in the process.

The previous sidebar’s contents were center-aligned. Though it looked good by itself, when looked at in context to the whole site it felt, to me, that the contents were floating and cluttered rather than securely and carefully placed. Left-aligning the sidebar helps the contents feel more secure.

Shrinking the sidebar from 232 pixels wide to a more slender 219 not only tightens the whole thing up, but also gives some additional breathing room between the left edge of the sidebar and the right edge of the content.

The “Get the Best RSS Feed Known to Man” button has been removed and replaced with a simple “RSS” link in the navigation menu. I am banking on the fact that those who want to subscribe to this site’s RSS feed don’t need me to remind them by placing a big button in their path. If they don’t already have a bookmarklet set to add a site’s feed to their reader, they are using a browser that identifies and provides a link to the site’s RSS feed right in the address bar.

I will admit that I was a fan of that button. It, too, had personality. It will be interesting to compare RSS readership growth over the next few months and see if it’s effected or not. My guess is it won’t be.

The previous sidebar had two typographic images highlighting some quality archives. In the original mock-ups I toyed with some new revisions of those designs, but I couldn’t land a concept that I liked. I still wanted a way to point people to some of the quality articles I’ve published here over the years, but I didn’t want to simply post a list of articles right in the sidebar. So I decided to try the route of a Popular Articles page. Unfortunately those are quite common and not always viewed as exciting or interesting.

Ironically, the content on my 404 page is specifically built for the uncertain, first-time visitor. (Though I will admit it still needs some help.) And being challenged to check out a 404 page is much more intriguing than a popular articles page any day.

However, I have a feeling that there is still a better solution out there, I just don’t know what it is. Reworking the 404 page? Making a dedicated “favorites” page after all? Something else all together? I’m not sure at the moment.

An Element of Style

Link posts now no longer have a dash after the title. My original intention for doing that was to help distinguish the title of a link post from the commentary underneath it, and to set it apart as being its very own post title, and not just a link that is part of the previous article.

But I learned that the dash after the title is poor form. And more than that, I don’t think it’s necessary. The link-post title is clearly identifiable as-is. I should have stopped doing it a while ago, but just never did.

A Very Tall Header

Shawnblanc.net got realigned over the weekend and now sports a somewhat new look.

The site still feels familiar since the colors, fonts, and general layout have hardly changed. A few areas have been polished (specifically: the sidebar and the navigation), while the most noticeable change is obviously the very tall header (I figured go big or go home).

If you’re in your feed reader, please come over and check things out.

If you see something that looks busted, please let me know. And for those who look forward to geeking out on the what-and-why details of the realign, I will have a post up in the near future.

Slight Updates

I recently made two minor, yet highly significant (to me) changes on this site.

The first is that I reversed the layout of the default title tag. For the past year and a half, the title shown in the browser bar has been the WordPress default. It is incredibly ugly and I’m ashamed I left it the way it was for as long as I did.

When fixing it, there were many options I considered. Including:

• Shawn Blanc: Slight Updates
• Shawn Blanc :: Slight Updates
• Shawn Blanc – Slight Updates
• Slight Updates :: Shawn Blanc
• Slight Updates | Shawn Blanc

The final one in the above list is still a good option in my mind, but as you can see, it currently reads like this: “Slight Updates – Shawn Blanc”.

They say that by putting the article title before the weblog’s name it makes for better SEO. Which is nice. But my main reason for updating it (aside from the ugliness of the default) was that I figure everyone already knows they are on Shawn Blanc’s website, and even if they don’t, it’s not like my name is very important. Therefore, let the article title get the most attention.

Secondly, I have modified all the permalinks. Until now, the each have had a simple “…/year/article-name” structure, like this:

http://shawnblanc.net/2009/slight-updates

I remember purposefully setting them up that way in order to keep the URL as short and sweet as possible. When I am reading other weblogs I often glance at the URL to reference when the post was published. And I now feel that having my posts liked by their year of publication alone leaves a bit to be desired by the reader.

Comparing two articles — one written on December 31st, 2008 and the other on January 1st, 2009 — it may seem as if they were written an entire year apart, instead of one day. And similarly, two posts — one written January 1st, 2008 and the other on December 31st, 2008 — may seem chronologically near, but are actually not.

Thus, the permalinks now look like this:

http://shawnblanc.net/2009/01/slight-updates

By adding the month of publication to the URL it is still short, and there is now an added reference to aid the savvy reader. Additionally, the new permalink structure is a three-in-one tool for reading. You can peel back the layers of the URL to dig deeper into this site.

If you delete the article name from the URL you will find yourself at the archive listing for the year and month of that article’s publication date. If you then delete the month from the URL you get the archive listing for the whole year.

Implementing the new permalink structure for all posts was as easy as selecting a radio-button in the WordPress Dashboard. Old links will be kept intact and redirected Automattically.

RSS Feed Subscription Drive

For the next two hours shawnblanc.net is hosting an RSS Feed Subscription Drive. Join in by:

1. Subscribing to this site’s RSS Feed
2. Sending in a favorite feed of your own

Ads Powered by Fusion

Advertising is a tricky thing.

The Internet has opened wide the possibilities to get a product in front of millions of potential buyers at a fraction of what it used to cost to get that sort of exposure. The problem is that the vast majority of online advertising does not see much return on investment. And there are not many options to get a genuinely great product in front of a relevant group of people.

Secondly, for the weblog author who doesn’t want to clutter their site with several generic advertisements, their options are also slim.

This is why I am proud to join and support a new online advertising network, Fusion Ads.

Fusion Ads displays just one, tasteful advertisement on each page with a small amount of text (as seen in my sidebar). This format not only offers zero competition for the advertiser, it also keeps the design of the site clean; solving two major issues right off the bat.

Moreover, Fusion Ads is able to offer targeted and relevant advertisements because membership to the ad network is by invitation only. This keeps the demographic scope in-line with the advertiser’s target audience and maximizes the relevance of a campaign run on the Fusion Ads network.

If you’re interested in advertising here, and on all other marvelous sites in the Fusion Ads network, visit the Fusion website or just email Michael Mistretta directly.

Refreshing the iPhone Tips & Tutorials Page

Since last July I have loosely been maintaining a tips and tutorials page for the iPhone. The page is basically a categorized list with some helpful links to popular web apps, how-tos, articles and hardware accessory stores — all for the iPhone.

In light of tomorrow’s rumored “iPhone! iPhone! iPhone!” keynote announcement, and the upcoming release of OSX iPhone 2.0, I figured it was time to update the page. But with your help please.

If you know of a link or two (or three) that you think would fit in, please send it on by emailing me at sbnet@mac.com.

Thanks in advance.

— Shawn

Perpetual Devotion

I read in a quote book once that perpetual devotion to one thing can only be sustained by the perpetual neglect of another. As much as I love publishing this weblog there has been a lot of changes around the Blanc household lately that have necessitated I neglect sbnet for a bit in order to keep my mental sanity and my marriage in good standings.

For one, the Jeep has been taking a ton of my free time. The time I used to be devoting to researching and writing I’ve been devoting to wrenching and off-roading. And I’ll say right now, learning how to adjust a back axle’s stance on the leaf springs feels a lot more manly than learning about UI verbiage. Though I certainly enjoy both realities, it has been a nice change of pace to be outdoors working with my hands — especially with the weather starting to warm up.

Second time stealer has been my job. Not only has there been a massive influx of design jobs keeping me busy pushing pixels, but I recently got a massive promotion. I’ve been asked to take over the entire marketing department as the new Marketing Director. I am super excited about the new job. Although it means I’ll be spending less of my time actually designing, and more of my time with budgets, it also means I’ll be able to serve some fantastic designers and developers that are already working for the department and hopefully draw their creativity and passion out even more.

Per a close friend’s recommendation I picked up Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. It’s about 11 companies that were mediocre for 15 years in a row and then had a shift and went to fantastic for 15 years in a row. I’m still in the middle of it, but Jim Collins identifies some fantastic principles that will help anyone who has any involvement and/or leadership with a business, church, etc… — even a multi-authored weblog.

To sum up, things are moving around and the reality of life is kicking in. For this next season of my life I won’t be publishing on here as often as I used to be, but I will be publishing. And thanks to all of you who have sent in emails to say ‘hi’. I very much appreciate them!

—Shawn

My Apologies

I want to apologized for my note yesterday regarding the now free NewsFire. Though I didn’t mean to, what I said clearly came across as smug and anti-NewsFire. That is not what I intended, nor is it an attitude I ever want to see in my writing.

I am sorry if I offended any NewsFire users. I have edited yesterday’s note to be more on par with the attitude I expect from myself.

Everyone has their opinions about the things they like and dislike. But casting something in a poor light simply because we prefer its alternative is not the most mature way to go about sharing our views.

Server Updates

I’m doing a few updates to the server and database. If you’re seeing this then so far so good, though it’s highly possible that things may be a bit “glitchy” for some people today.

Results From the Short Shawnblanc.net Survey

Thank you to all who took the time to reply to the short Google survey I posted earlier this week. I was expecting about 200 replies and got (at the time I downloaded the stats) 389.

A little bit of context: I posted the survey mostly for fun. I thought it would be a great chance to get some feedback from you guys, and I figured many of you would enjoy filling it out and seeing the final results.

The nature of posting these results for the public necessitates I talk about this site. While I’m sure some people are interested to read the info and my thoughts on it, it is a bit awkward for me.

From my point of view, I always enjoy reading about the statistics and what is going on behind the scenes of the websites I follow, but I always fear when posting my own information it may come across as arrogant; hopefully that will not be the case here.

Top Answers

Of the 389 people who took the survey, here is the general consensus:

• 45% found my site through Daring Fireball.
• 87% are subscribed to the RSS feed. (Which means about 15% of this site’s total subscribers took the survey.)
• 58% of those subscribed to the feed, chose to because of the overall content.
• 48% most like the articles because of my writing style.
• 48% like the link list type posts because they are a good “filter” for other content on the web.
• 41% would most like to see a continued combination of topics on freelancing, reviews, design / web / trendy stuff and interviews.
• 81% are nerds.

I was surprised to see Daring Fireball as the number one referrer. Most of the reviews I’ve been writing lately have been linked to by TUAW and Daring Fireball — but not on the same day. The day after TUAW would link the article my subscriber stats would jump by about two or three hundred. However, the day after a DF link, the numbers would only jump by about one hundred.

My assumption was that the majority of current feed subscribers came from TUAW. I suppose there are two possibilities: (a) Those referred from Daring Fireball are over-represented in the survey, or (b) many found this site via DF and TUAW, and chose the DF affiliation.

But here’s a head-scratcher: as you’ll see in the detailed breakdown below, TUAW came up as the 2nd to least referrer.

Other than that, the rest of the top answers were about what I expected. I am glad to see that most people enjoy my writing style, though I’m bummed that my wit and humor isn’t more dominant. (ha!)

Individual Answer’s Breakdown

I got quite a few emails from readers stating they wish they could have have chosen “all that apply” on certain questions instead of having to pick one. But I did it that way on purpose; I wanted to get just one answer. Since you had to pick just one, which one?

Under each question are the various answers, the number of ‘votes’ each one received and the percentage of the total that number represents.

1. How did you find shawnblanc.net?

• Daring Fireball: 174 (44.73%)
• Don’t Remember: 98 (25.19%)
• Other: 52 (13.37%)
• TUAW: 35 (9.00%)
• The Fight Spot: 30 (7.71%)

2. Are you subscribed to the RSS feed?

• Yes: 338 (86.89%)
• No: 49 (12.60%)
• No answer: 2

3. Why did you subscribe to the RSS feed?

• I liked the overall content and topics: 225 (57.84%)
• I liked the detailed reviews: 84 (21.59%)
• I am not subscribed: 49 (12.60%)
• I liked the site’s design: 19 (4.88%)
• I subscribe to every feed I see: 10 (2.57%)
• No answer: 1

4. What do you like most about the articles?

• Writing style: 186 (47.81%)
• New information: 118 (30.33%)
• Tips and tricks: 49 (12.60%)
• Wit and humor: 27 (6.94%)
• Pictures: 6 (1.54%)
• No answer: 3

5. What do you like most about the shorter link list style posts?

• They are a good “filter” for finding cool new stuff: 188 (48.33%)
• I don’t pay much attention them: 87 (22.37%)
• I like the commentary that goes with them: 83 (21.34%)
• I have N.A.D.D. and need something to click: 27 (6.94%)
• No answer: 4

6. What future topics would you most want to read?

• More software reviews: 84 (21.59%)
• More design / tech / trendy stuff: 58 (14.91%)
• More freelancing advice: 41 (10.54%)
• More interviews: 11 (2.83%)
• All of the above: 161 (41.39%)
• I’m impartial: 33 (8.48%)
• No answer: 1

7. Are you a nerd?

• Yes: 314 [80.72%]
• No: 75 [19.28%] 1

A Short shawnblanc.net Survey

A Short shawnblanc.net Survey

I’m taking advantage of Google Docs’ new spreadsheet forms and put together a short, seven-question multiple-choice survey. It will take you about 30 seconds to fill out. The last question on there is my favorite.

UPDATE: Survey Says…

Dear Readers,

When publishing a weblog with comments disabled there are a handful unique scenarios which can arise amongst the readership. Primarily that you, the reader, has to go to a little bit more effort to give your feedback.

Albeit, only a small amount of extra effort is needed because you have to write an email instead of just post to a contact form, but still. The slightly extra effort means quite a few of you will read a sans-comments-weblog without ever giving feedback; even if that feedback would only ever be, “Nice article. I enjoyed reading it.”

Or you may assume the author (in this case: me) has comments disabled because he doesn’t want feedback. And when you, the reader, don’t give feedback it becomes slightly more difficult to connect with the author.

I have personally found that the websites I look forward to reading the most are not only those with interesting content but are also published by folks whom I feel connected to in some way.

Since there has been quite a bit of readership growth over the past month – with RSS subscribers more than doubling in the past 5 weeks – I not only wanted to take an opportunity to say hi to those of you who are new, but to give you all an open invitation to say hi back.

If you are new here, welcome.

And please, feel free to take this opportunity to say hi back, and introduce yourself, (even if you’re not new).

May I also recommend you follow me on Twitter. When I’m not publishing here I am tweeting there.

— Shawn

More Realigning on sbnet

It’s a tipoff to myself that when I start tweaking, editing, and adjusting my site’s design I am slowly becoming tired of it. Not that I don’t like it, but perhaps, somewhere in the unknown recesses in the back of my head there is a much better design waiting to be coded.

My point is, shawnblanc.net got another refresh over the past few days including:

• New “popular” post typographic links in the sidebar
• General cleanup of the Sidebar and Footer
• New body font-size: 11px instead of 100%, which should make it a tad smaller in most browsers
• New Colors: I ditched the green for the same orange as I had before, but I went with brown and cream hues for the text and background instead of the old greys.
• New Masthead

If you’re in your feed reader come on over to the site and take a peek.

Refreshed

ShawnBlanc.net got a live refresh over the past 24 hours. If you’re in your feed reader, come on over and see for yourself.

Dear Readers,

On Sunday I had around 450 readers subscribed to my RSS feed. Today there are just over 750, which means quite a few of you reading this are new, and I wanted to say hello.

And you of course are welcome to say hi back (even if you’re not new).

Thanks for reading.

• Shawn

A Series of Reviews: Some of The Greatest Software Available For Your Mac

“In Mac OS X, you vote with your dock.” – Michael Lopp

Who doesn’t love great software? I wanted to write these reviews for two reasons: (a) I love to brag on the things I use and enjoy, and (b) perhaps you’ll find something you can spend your lunch money on.

The apps I’ll be reviewing are:

1. NetNewsWire – Arguably the best desktop feed reader on the planet.
2. Mint – The site stats application for people who love great (and tasty) things.
3. Transmit – Yellow Cab, Purple Box, FTP. What more could you ask for?
4. Coda – The One-Window Wonder.
5. MarsEdit – Helping the Personal Publishing Revolution.
6. SuperDuper! – Hard drive backup for mere mortals.
7. iCal – People think I actually remember all my meetings.
8. Apple Mail – You’ve got mail!
9. My Task Notebook – How I get things done every day. (UPDATE: Not any more.)

The first five are related to this site, and I thought it would make sense to “start here” and work my way “out”. The sixth app, SuperDuper!, is sort-of in a class of it’s own within the list, so I thought I’d put it in the middle.

The final three are free apps (heck, one isn’t even an application at all), but since I use them constantly I thought I would share a bit of how I use them.

Flitter

Well, well, well. Things have been a bit quiet around here lately.

One thing that I – as an avid weblog subscriber – have come to appreciate is sites that don’t post all the time. There are only a small handful of websites that I allow this massive influx of information from. The rest that do it, I just surf for the good stuff.

So in no way do I feel the need to apologize for not posting anything for the past two and a half weeks. In fact, perhaps you may want to thank me?

I feel a bit like Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail after he finds out Shopgirl is Meg Ryan at the coffee shop, and the next day he has to explain himself in an email to her about what happened. He paces back and forth staring at his AOL dial-up screen, finally logs on, and writes this lame lie. Then hits the delete button 199 times in a row (just use the mouse!) because he can’t think of anything good to say.

And so here I am with nothing of consequence to share but a few random tid-bits of my life as of lately and a resolve not to hit the delete button.

Something iPhone

The iPhone continues to amaze me. I discovered last week that when using my phone as an alarm clock to wake up from an afternoon nap, if I put it in Airplane Mode it won’t ring or buzz or beep. It will stay turned on and chime the alarm without any other interruptions to my nap. Fantastic.

Something .Macish

3 years ago when I ordered my G4 PowerBook I signed up for a .Mac trial account as shawnblanc at mac dot com. After 30 days with no apparent reason why I would use .Mac without another computer I did not subscribe.

Apple kept that username and email in their system.

About four months ago when I purchased my 2nd Apple Computer, I signed up for another .Mac trial account and used it for 60 days to milk the free syncing. When the trial was over I subscribed to .Mac but used my old username and email from three years ago.

All is fine and dandy except when Mail.app deletes my current active .Mac email and sets up my old, trial email instead. After trying all I knew to do I finally emailed Apple Support. (Did you know you can’t call Apple Tech Support with a .Mac issue? They tell you to go to the website then hang up.) I had to unsubscribe both computers. Clear the .Mac online cache, re-subscribe the first computer, use it’s info to delete the online info. The re-subscribe the 2nd computer and sync it using the online info to delete the computer’s info.

So far so good. Except for one little thing: I can’t sync my email accounts on my iPhone. The old (wrong) email address is listed instead of the actual active .Mac email. So for now, I just set up the email account manually, don’t sync email accounts and it’s no big deal.

Something Leopardish

Ordered a 2nd HDD for my Mac Pro and a copy of Leopard from Amazon.com (where it’s cheaper).

I’ll be in Canada when Leopard comes out so I won’t be able to install it until the 5th, but I’m looking forward to a clean install with a fresh OS optimized for the Mac Pro.

Something CRish

I was born and raised in Colorado. I remember when the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls. I remember when the Avs won the Stanley Cup.

And I remember when the Rockies first started. I snuck an FM radio into my 5th grade lunch hour to listen to the inogurral game when Eric Young hit the first home run. I had a Rockies hat, wind-breaker and even had purple and black braces for a few weeks.

And now they’re going to the World Series. I should have kept those baseball cards from 15 years ago.

Flitter

Although I haven’t been updating shawnblanc.net I am still actively on Twitter and Flickr posting witty comments and information about what I’m eating and where I’m in transit to.

Welcome

Shawnblanc.net has gotten a bit of attention over the past week. In fact, since I posted my delightful interview with Brent this site has gotten more traffic each day than it normally sees in a week. (Much thanks to John, Brent, and TUAW.)

Instead of pretending like nothing out of the ordinary is happening I thought I’d take this chance to say hi.

Hi.

Although I have been publishing to the Web for almost two years, this here website is only 7 weeks old. After exactly 100 posts, it looks as if I am focused on excellent writing, design (print and web) and Mac geekery.

If you like, you can read all sorts of fun things about myself and Shawnblanc.net on the Colophon page.

Additionally, I’ve taken the liberty to suggest a few things you may want to do while you’re here -

1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed

2. Follow me on Twitter

3. Read the review I wrote about my Mac Pro

Thanks for reading. Good luck and God speed.

— Shawn

The Shawny Nash Show

The “Unofficial” onething Videocast launched tonight. Hosted by your’s truly and co-hosted by onething marketing director, Candace Nashman. It’s extremely raw, but that’s what makes it “unnoficial.”

We shot the first two episodes tonight using a Canon PowerShot A85 that could only record 3 minutes of video (you’ll see in episode 2).

Watch the Pilot Episode Here, and Episode Two here.

Backup

If you don’t already have one, now is as good a time as any to get an external hard-drive to backup with. Lord knows how sad you’ll be if your computer crashes and you lose all your data. Especially now that you’ve read this post; you’ll be extra sad. Like Alanis sang about in that one song.

External hard drives are, in fact, quite cheap. Get a LaCie. I’ve owned a few and they’re bullet proof.

If you’re a smart shopper, get a refurbished LaCie. That’s what I have plugged into my Mac Pro right now. A LaCie d2 Extreme – and they’re not kidding.

I back-up every night. At first I tried Carbon Copy Cloner, which is a free backup software that lots of folks swear by. I had trouble with it so I bought SuperDuper!. Now I sleep well every night, knowing my John Mayer albums are safe and sound.

Postscript: If you don’t want an external drive – and you have a speedy internet connection – you can backup with Mozy. Backup everything for $4.95 a month, or 2GB worth for free.

Grand Opening

Today is my 26th Birthday. To celebrate I have launched Shawn Blanc {dot} net.

Welcome

This irresistable weblog is officially opening today – July 2nd, 2007.

Quick Tour

1. RSS: http://shawnblanc.net/feed
2. COMMENTS: You may notice that comments are disabled. Not because I don’t want to here from you. Because I want you to read the posts and articles for no other reason than simply because you want to.
3. ASIDES vs ARTICLES: Asides are posted with smaller, sans-serif headings. Articles are posted with big, fat Georgia. Expect a few asides each day, and a few articles each month. And the only guarantee is that nothing on this site is guaranteed.

Hello world!

Getting my own domain was innevitable. And no, this is not just another WordPress blog.