Made short videos for three 5 star written reviews of FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS (the first is here, the second and third are here) into short videos to further promote the book.
Added Related Videos and Related Images sections to all of my book’s pages.
Added a CAPTCHA to my newsletter form to prevent bots from signing up and updated some server settings so that the newsletter would continue to send to readers.
Updated the contact form due to server security changes.
Updated my books banner to reflect FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS:
Made another short review video for a 5 star review on Amazon, which you can watch on Youtube here.
Added Related Videos and Related Images sections to all of my topic content pages, where I have related videos and images.
Over the years my blog theme had become out of date and the CSS had been cannibalised. So I was looking for a WordPress expert to do a complete redesign of the current theme. I found Tia from from TRH Development on people per hour.
I explained to Tia what I wanted, we agreed a price and she got to work. My role was to give her feedback as we went along. Here’s a list of work Tia did for me:
Complete redesign of my blog using a child theme of Twenty Fourteen (to allow for theme updates).
Coded to the highest HTML5 and CSS3 standards. This CSS3 was essential as the style sheet on my old theme had been cannibalised over the years and was full of conflicts.
WordPress Menu Functionality – including support for sub-menus. A major reason for this update was to allow me to use the added functionality features of WordPress.
A mobile/tablet version of the site.
The ability for the reader to Switch between the Desktop/Mobile versions, which is possible by using a link in the footer.
Removal of the ‘Go’ button with the search input field.
Archives expand to include post titles.
Photo caption boxes have been slimed down at the sides, making them stylistically look better.
Various minor tweaks based on my feedback to make the theme’s look as close as possible to the old theme.
Tia also added two great new features:
Pagination – which is the page bar under the blog posts on the home page. I really like this page browsing experience for readers.
Lightbox image viewer with play/pause slideshow. I love this. I have some great photos. Now if you click any image on a photo post or page (such as Photos) it brings up the image full size without leaving the page and allows you to play/pause a slideshow.
To follow on from Tia’s superb work, I also made a few minor tweaks to the blog myself:
Changed the font from Arial to Verdana.
Removal of the large Amazon banner on the sidebar.
Added book cover thumbnail images on the I’m Reading and On My Bookshelf sections on the sidebar.
Awesome. Brilliant. Excellent Communicator. Job done to the highest standard. I can’t heap enough praise on Tia for the expert knowledge & skills along with her professionalism. Am already planning my next project with her.
So if you need a Developer for a website, I highly recommend Tia from TRH Development.
Reading Time: < 1minuteThe internet giants like Amazon, ebay & Google only make small tweaks to their sites, rather than design overhauls. The reason for this, is that it gives visitors a sense of familiarity. Over the years my blog has had many designs (see Geeky Post: Website Development). I love the current site design of my blog, but like any design their are flaws and things that could be improved.
So here’s a list of minor tweaks I’ve recently made to the design and functioning of the blog:
WordPress Menu functionality added.
Booklist pages now have book image covers, along with a link to Buy The Book on Amazon. Pages include: Book List 2014 & Book Lists.
Older Book Review blog posts now all have had image book covers.
Rearranged layout of comment form, including: changing title to ‘Your Comment’ and adding ‘Name:,’ ‘Email:’ & ‘Website:’ labels before respective textfields rather than after.
Removed spam-stopper Plugin, which required an extra question on the comment form to confirm that you’re human. This was removed as already have Conditional CAPTCHA for WordPress which is sufficiently effective. This overall makes commenting/interacting on my blog easier.
On comments, Authors websites (appear as link on their name) open in new window/tab.
On sidebar, added an Amazon banner that isn’t java based. This increases compatibility with Apple devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone.
On sidebar, shorted About Me section to less than 50 words (46 words to be precise).
Reading Time: < 1minuteThis is my four hundredth blog post since I went back to using WordPress about five years ago, before then the site existed in other various formats see Geeky Post: Website Development for previous formats. Whether you’ve been following my blogging for the last five years, had a browse through the archives or are a relatively new reader I wanted to use this post to reflect on some of my life experiences and my growth as a person in this time.
I’ve had many Good Times some of which have been watching various comedians and musical performers. I’ve seen Dylan Moran, Russell Howard, French & Saunders, The Feeling, Tina Turner, Pink, Kylie, John Barrowman and Steps. These experiences have been shared by the most important people in my life my friends and family.
At the beginning of this WordPress blog I wrote about people that inspire me, explaining how my friends and family inspire me. It’s as true today as it was then. Among my close friends I’ve wrote about good times with Simon & Chrys, Sye, Steve, Jayne and Kay. A few recent good times that spring to mind are a trip with Simon & Chrys to Liverpool and visiting Anglesey with Simon.
There have been a few new additions to the family including Shaun the long lost brother, his wife Sarah (see The Wedding of the Year) and their family unit. Dylan and Russell, my two gorgeous bengal kittens have been brought home and added to my family unit. I’m so thankful to have the love and support from my friends and family.
My love life has included dates, relationships, relationship problems and break ups involving several different men. I’ve moved to Spain to start a new life with someone and then moved back when it didn’t work out. I’ve learned from the relationships and although I’ve not yet found that someone special to spend my life with; I’m sure I’ll meet my Mr. Right eventually.
Happy times have to be balanced with sad times; saying goodbye to M and experiencing grief after my younger brother Alex passed away are among the few truly sad times in the last 5 years. These events in my life along with others have helped my paganism and spirituality flourish. This has been seen with my Reiki One qualification, my work with Apollo and through me fully embracing pagan festivals such as Samhain.
My writing has developed with changes to subject matters, style, editing, grammar and spelling. Subject matters have changed, from writing purely about me and my life to an increase in reviews of books and films. I feel I’ve managed to keep a careful balance between writing about my life and reviews. I have retained and continue to retain that this is a personal blog, that I write more for me than anyone else. A place to write about experiences I have, memories I want to keep and thoughts that I want to share or reflect upon.
My own individual writing style seems to be unfolding although I’m not sure quite how, or what it will look like when it’s fully formed. I do know my writing is increasingly descriptive and seems at times to have a voice. I used to a write blog post and hit the publish button, whereas now I spend more time editing the post than writing the first draft. This has hopefully led to better grammar and spelling – although I don’t claim these to be perfect. In the past my blogging was a spontaneous event, now I try to write a little each day and this change has probably led to the improvement in my writing.
As I have continued to experience life I’ve certainly grown and developed in many different ways. Life’s events have influenced the way I think, feel or act in situations as they do for everyone. I have enjoyed writing about these events and continue to do so, so here’s looking forward to the next four hundred (plus) posts.
