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WordPress: Content Plugins

By Creativity, Technology, The WebNo Comments

I’ve recently installed two content plugins on my blog: Random Images for WordPress and WordPress Related Posts. The aims for these plugins were to recycle older content and direct visitors to other posts/pages of interest. From the sites statistics they’ve been a huge success. So let me tell you about the plugins:

random-image-screenshot
(Random Image for WordPress Screenshot) 		Random Image for WordPress by Justin Watt
About:
Random Image for WordPress displays a random blog post title and image on the sidebar. It will only display posts with an image, those without it won’t display. But it has lots of customisable features, that are easily tweaked on a settings page (Settings – Random Image).

Features:

  • Sort images randomly or show recent images.
  • Edit the HTML template for how post titles, images and captions are shown.
  • Select from ALL or only specific categories/tags – very useful if I say only wanted to show book reviews. It’s set up for all at the moment.
  • Customisable image width and height.
  • Able to take images from galleries.

Link(s):
Plugin’s Page @ Justin Watts

This plugin is easy to install and use. It’s great because of it’s position on the sidebar. It catches the readers eye and if the title or image spark they’re interest, they can click for a view. It’s a brilliant way to recycle old content; but the randomness has it’s pro’s and con’s. The pro is that on the homepage, it’s good as you don’t know what the visitor is into so it gives a variety of content, changing on every refresh. The con is that on specific posts it doesn’t link to simliar posts.

Which is why I’ve installed WordPress Related Posts:

related-posts-screenshot
(WordPress Related Posts Screenshot) 		WordPress Related Posts
About:
WordPress Related Posts displays other related posts at the bottom of the post page the visitor is on. So for example, if you’ve come to a book review post, it will offer you other book reviews, possibly by the same author. It clearly links together appropriate posts and if you’re not satisfied with the results, you can choose which posts appear on that particular page. It has it’s own settings page (Related Posts on your Dashboard left sidebar) making it easy to customise the many features.

Features:

  • Highly customisable, you can choose to display or not: Title (before related posts links/images), number of posts, the number of comments, the publish date and an excerpt (max 200 words).
  • It can include or exclude a thumbnail image. I choose to exclude a thumbnail image, as I don’t want to distract the viewer from the post they’ve come to. I simply want to offer the viewer suggestions before they leave.
  • Choose a default image, for posts without an image.
  • Choose which posts are displayed on a post, if your not happy with the ones the plugin suggests. Although I have to say the plugin does it automatically very well.
  • CSS customisable.
  • Adjust the formatting for a mobile device.
  • Pageviews & click Statistics (if you sign up to it).
  • Choose to exclude certain Categories.

Link(s):
Plugin Page @ WordPress
Zemanta Ltd. Website

This plugin was easy to install and use. I’m still experimenting with this plugin, in terms of what format works best but it seems to be doing what I want it to do: directing visitors to other posts of interest. It’s useful for me as I write about the same sort of things. I guess if your content was varied and didn’t have simliar themes it wouldn’t be useful to you.

These plugins are helping to increase the time visitors spend on my site and helping them notice some of my other content. However, it means that I’ve got to create great, regular and orignal content that they will want to view.

Blog soon,

Antony



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Tuesday 25 June 2013

My Advice to Apple

By Technology, ThinkingNo Comments
Apple-logo Since The Death of Steve Jobs, Apple seem to have lost their way. The iPhone 5 was disappointing and in my iPhone 5 Review I wrote about the disappointments and missed opportunities. I’m no technology whizz; just a customer who wants Apple to build on it’s success. So Apple this post is addressed exclusively to you. Let’s start with the iPhone shall we?

Your next iPhone release should be an iPhone 6. Forget the ‘S’ models unless you are going add something new; something more than a bit of unnoticeable Speed. No more rehashing of the previous model.

On a hardware front you need to take advantage of new technology including Wireless Charging. You need to improve the features that customers want such as a bigger screen width. In the iPhone 5 Launch Key Notes Presentation you made a point about keeping it the same width as the iPhone 4 so that it could be operated by one hand; but is this really what customers want? It seemed strange that all your competitors have widened the width of their smart phones but you haven’t.

The great thing with all your devices is that the hardware and software work in synergy. But software wise you’re to slow at making the changes customers want. Think back to the copy/paste feature, it took you far too long to add it in an update.

You need to loosen your control on the App Store, especially when it comes to your competitors Apps. When you delayed the Google Maps App and made the shambolic Apple Maps App, customers were left frustrated at not having a decent Maps App. We live in a world of convenience; so inconveniencing customers is a good way to loose them. Some customers saw it as a cynical attempt to control which software they use and taking away customers choice is another sure way to make them switch to your competitors.

We understand the need to update hardware; but let’s never have a repeat of the Lightening Connector fiasco. Support your existing customers by providing an adapter free of charge; as charging £25 for a tiny connector was seen by many as an exploitation of your customer base. Give accessory developers early access to the iPhone 6; so that when it launches customers can buy compatible accessories such as cases, speaker/dock devices, car handsfree kits, etc. It’s now several months since the iPhone 5 launch and there still aren’t many accessories around for it.

A really good way to emphasise value for money would be to put product packages together. So buy the iPhone 6 and get the latest iPad for a reduced price if bought together. For the iMac you could put a reduced price Time Capsule and so on. This would encourage your customers to spend more and give them an added sense of value for money.

imac-2012 Take the new iMac as a good example. You’ve slimmed it down, made it lighter and added loads of great features. My iMac (Part 1) is the the older version. It’s become everything I use technology for: I write on it, play music, view photos, watch DVDs/TV on it and surf the web. I won’t be upgrading as you’ve removed the DVD player and I watch DVD’s on my iMac daily. You’ve assumed that I want to download or stream all the films, TV and other media. Most people won’t spend the price of an iMac that doesn’t meet their requirements. They’d choose a different machine instead.

The key message is that you need to ask and listen to your customers. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the iPhone 6, iPod Touch, iPad, etc. you need to do market research for them all. You need to find out what customers want and need, rather than assuming you know what we want. You need to make sure your products are value for money; otherwise you’ll price yourself out of the markets.

Wishing you luck,

A Customer

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Saturday 30 March 2013

Technology Review: The iPhone 5

By Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
iPhone 5 White I recently upgraded to the iPhone 5 (white, 32GB) from my iPhone 4 (black, 32GB). The upgrade was free as I sold my iPhone 4 back to the network.

I was excited when iPhone 5 arrived and as soon as I got my hands on it I noticed it was a lot lighter and slightly taller than previous iPhones. But this excitement soon turned to frustration as I tried to transfer my Apps, Contacts, Photos, Music and other data over to the new iPhone 5.

First I tried to Backup my iPhone 4 on iTunes to Restore on the iPhone 5, but apparently when I’d set up the iPhone 4 I hadn’t checked a box in iTunes and it wanted to erase my iPhone 4 before it could Sync it.

I managed to workout how to Transfer my Purchases on iTunes, then I completed a Backup of my iPhone 4 and Restored it on the iPhone 5. I thought I’d cracked it; but then I noticed that all my Apps weren’t organised how they used to be on my iPhone 4. Now I know that my Apps being unorganised doesn’t seem like a big deal but I love Apps and have hundreds of them organised in folders. The folders help me find the right App quickly and efficiently. After browsing the web I finally found a solution an iCloud Backup & Restore.

The iCloud Backup & Restore was a slow process and once it had finished it had to download all my Apps again, but at least it put them in the right places. I had to sign into all my Apps (like Facebook, Twitter, etc.) again and put my music back on. So the switch from iPhone 4 to iPhone 5 was a right hassle and I couldn’t help but be disappointed with Apple who usually make things so easy.

Once it was finally set up I began to look for things I like. Firstly I like Siri the voice controlled Personal Assistant. Some of his answers to questions were funny and below are some Siri funnies:

Siri Funny Happiness Siri Funny Family
Above: Siri’s definition of happiness.
Above: Siri thinks of me as family.
Siri Funny Meaning of Life 1 Siri Funny Meaning of Life 2
Above: Siri defines Life 1.
Above: Siri defines Life 2.
Siri Funny Flirting Siri Funny Marriage
Above: Is Siri flirting with me?
Above: Siri and I discuss marriage and his/her gender.

I like the taller screen although I think Apple could have used the opportunity to make it wider as well. I thought the retina display in the iPhone 5 would make a massive difference to my user experience, but it didn’t. This is presumably because of the size of the screen.

The iPhone 5’s camera is brilliant and I particularly like the new panorama feature. The headphones look & feel revolutionary with the sound being of a excellent quality, but they do take a bit of getting used too. Apple’s experience of making hardware & software compatibile means that the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 work together to give a noticeable increase in speed. It also feels like Apps crash less often.

iPhone-5-Lightning-connector The Lightening Connector is slimmer and able to go into the iPhone 5 either way which is handy when trying to plug it in before bed in the dark. But it soon came a source of frustration as the new connection meant it now longer worked with my speaker/dock device. I bought an Apple Adapter, but unfortunately this only allowed charging and not audio transfer.

I eventually found a work around by plugging one end of a AUX Wire into the back of the speaker/dock device and the other end into iPhone 5 headphone socket. But this turned out to be the first of a few dislikes.

Since the iPhone 5’s launch a few months ago there’s still a lack of speaker/dock devices with for lightening connection, as well as other accessories (e.g. cases, car hands free kits, etc.). This is a disappointment as I hadn’t realised how often I listened to music on my speaker/dock device or how often I had my hands free set up in the car.

The positioning of the aerial in the iPhone 5 regularly causes interference with my stereo in my car. This interference lasts more than a couple of seconds and interrupts my enjoyment of whatever I’m listening to. Something my iPhone 4 never did.

The iPhone 5 touchscreen is less sensitive sometimes requiring multiple taps for it to sense what you’ve pressed. Although only minor, at times it is frustrating and is another of my dislikes.

We live in a world where we are required to multi task. Yet the iPhone 5 still doesn’t allow me to actively run multiple apps and flick between screens. This is something I dislike about the iPhone, especially as other phones can do it.

Many reviewers have dubbed the iPhone 5 as an evolution rather than revolution; I would have tended to agree with this statement if there had even been enough evolution to warrant the cost. As it is, the iPhone 5 was a huge disappointment from Apple with only very minor changes (not all of are which good!) from the iPhone 4. I would seriously encourage people thinking of upgrading to speak to people who have already upgraded/bought the iPhone 5 to hear about their experiences.

In a post coming soon I’ll give my advice to Apple around how to make the iPhone 6 successful, as well as my thoughts on what else they could be doing better.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 3 March 2013

Christmas Card Letter: 2012

By Books & Authors, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, TechnologyNo Comments


Contact Me

Monday 19th November 2012

Dear Reader,

Another year passes us by, time flies by so quickly doesn’t it? For me this year has been a mix of passive times with periods of immense activity. In January I bought myself an iMac (see iMac Part 1 & iMac Part 2), promising myself to write creatively more often. In April I went to watch Steps to relive my youth with mum, Ian & Jodie.


(Above left to right: Ian, Mum & Jodie. Steps Logo on MEN screen. Jodie & Mum.)

In May I had two weeks of annual leave and celebrated my birthday at Alton Towers. If you’ve never been to Alton Towers…you must go; it’s a brilliant day out. During my time off I also visited Chester Zoo for Steve’s Birthday and visited Steve’s family in Hastings.


(Above left to right: Steve in Giant Turtle Shells. Two Cheetahs sunbathing. Me, Steve’s Friend & Steve in Masks at the gift shop.)

My Degree in Nursing results were released in June and I got a Upper Second (2:1) Honours. I felt a sense of achievement and a sense of relief that it was finally over after I previously had to put the final module back a year.

Sye came to stay in July for the Summer. With his arrival I felt a renewed level of motivation to get things done. He returned to Uni. in Salford in the Autumn, it was good having him to stay but I am glad that he’s back where he wants to be.

I had a day trip to Liverpool in August with my good friends Chrys & Simon. Chrys being a proper scouser (minus the accent) showed us round the beautiful city and for the first time I understood why people love the city: the architecture, the culture (music) and the seemingly relaxed nature of the people.

Just before the day trip to Liverpool I started experiencing some severe back pain. After seeing my GP I had an x-ray, was given some painkillers and was referred to Physio. My back’s still causes me some grief now, but the combination of co-codamol and physio exercises have massively reduced the amount of pain I experience.

Having continued to blog throughout the year including several book reviews, I was surprised in September when I had caught the eye of a Publicist (who works for several publishers). This Publicist, from Publishers Group UK asked me if I would review one of their books. I had a bit of a confidence crisis, as I had absolutely no confidence in my writing but Sye encouraged me to go for it. So I did…

The Publicist was that pleased with my review that he sent me another five books to read and at one point stated “a career as a book reviewer beckons!” This was a huge complement and has given me a little more confidence around my writing.

About a week or so ago, I was approached by a Publicist Manager for Headline publishers who have asked me to review a copy of Fuse the second book in a trilogy.

Among my plans for next year is to develop my writing further. But for now I’m focusing on Yule and Christmas. Things are changing this Christmas; for the first time ever Mum is working on Christmas Day, I am off work for the whole Christmas period and I am going to attempt (with Steve) to make Christmas Dinner. Ha ha should be fun at the very least.

Have a joyful festive period,

Antony, Dylan & Russell (the cats)

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Sunday 9 December 2012
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