Emhoo Blog

One of my favorite blog designers is Chris Pearson - the designer behind the newly released Thesis premium WordPress theme (which I reviewed here).

Chris has consistently produced great blog designs over the last few years so after the launch of Thesis I thought it would be worthwhile to do a short interview with him here at ProBlogger to talk about Thesis and blog design. I hope you enjoy this interview.

1. There are a lot of WP themes out there - why did you create Thesis?

After selling Cutline in March of 2007, I began to realize that I really missed fostering and interacting with a community of users. Running a theme and being immersed in the development, use, and feedback cycle is a uniquely fulfilling experience, and I suppose I finally came to terms with the idea that maybe this is what I ought to be doing.

Also, I spent the latter half of 2007 learning how to create dynamic sites with PHP, and in doing so, I began to realize some of the untapped potential of the WordPress theme market. The platform is set up in such a way that you can literally build just about anything you want, and I’m convinced that idea has legs. Because of this, I decided it was time to build Thesis and get movin’!

2. What part of Thesis most excited you as you were designing it? What is exciting those who are using it most?

For me, the most exciting thing about Thesis (and developing themes in general) is the idea that I can give users more functionality and more control over their sites than they’ve ever had. When a user who has little or no knowledge of HTML and CSS can use an options panel to accomplish tasks that would normally require coding, that’s a big deal. The sky is really the limit here, so as a developer, I find that to be a huge source of motivation.

I think my users are keen on the idea that I want them to be able to control even the finest details of their site, and that’s probably the thing that excites them the most. They want to know what elements of control they’re going to have next, and I’m just as excited to produce those elements as they are to receive them.

3. How much development can we expect to see on Thesis as a theme? Or will you be spending more time developing other themes?

I’ve still got tons of ideas for Thesis, so I fully expect to be developing it for quite some time. In fact, I’d go as far as to say I’m not even 40% finished with the functionality that I eventually want to achieve. In spite of this, I’m going to begin introducing new frameworks in August, and eventually, DIYthemes will offer an outfit of code platforms that should be adequate for just about any type of Website.

4. Where do you see blog design going in the next 12 months?

Blog design as we know it is going to change entirely, and this is probably the most compelling (and controversial) aspect of the philosophy behind DIYthemes. At this point, everyone is familiar with the notion of a “custom blog design,” but with each passing day, paying for a fully customized design (which includes code) is becoming a far less intelligent choice for bloggers and Webmasters alike. Not only is custom design prohibitively expensive for all but the most successful bloggers, but also, the odds of any designer/developer nailing a functional, flexible, easy-to-modify codebase from scratch on the first iteration are a zillion to one. In other words, it’s not going to happen.

Essentially, this means that people who have fully customized designs end up with far less functionality than people whose designs are “skins” of a battled-tested framework like Thesis. Because of this, the future of blog design is a complete abstraction of design and code. In this type of environment, designers can stick to pure design, which is something they’re way more qualified to do. In addition, savvy designers can develop a working knowledge of a few quality WordPress frameworks, thereby allowing them to focus on the art of skinning them for clients.

When people are able to focus on the things they do best, you end up with more efficient, cost-effective solutions all around. My goal with DIYthemes is to help push Web design (and Webmastering, for that matter) in this direction.

5 . What 3 blogs using Thesis do you think are using it best?

Lisa Firke (pictured top right) is a really talented designer who quickly grasped the concept of abstracted customization, which is something I’ve tried to push to the forefront with Thesis. Her site is a perfect example of how you can leverage a working knowledge of CSS to produce a unique design that is simply a “skin” of a solid WordPress framework.

Jennae Petersen (picture middle right) runs an awesome site about green (eco-friendly) home decor, and she has really taken to the art of creating a unified design “brand” with Thesis. She makes liberal use of in-post styling elements and images to help shore up her brand, and as a result, her site looks to be far removed from the humble framework it rests upon.

Finally, I’d like to point out Eric Scouten (pictured right), a photographer and developer who works on Adobe’s Lightroom software. He’s used Thesis in a pretty unique way on his site, modifying it to power his portfolio, photoblog, and blog sections. On top of that, the site just looks fantastic, and I think it deserves a mention on that basis alone.

Check out the Thesis Theme Here

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Every 2nd blog about blogging today seems to be writing about a video showing how to get 2500 subscribers overnight using a Netvibes accounts and an OPML file with thousands of copies of your own feed in it.

I’ve had a lot of people email me to ask what I think about the technique. My response:

1. It’s not surprising to see that it’s Possible - I’ve seen a few bloggers play with this type of technique over the years.

2. It’s an empty Achievement - so your feedburner button is a few thousand more tomorrow than it is today - but ultimately all it means is that you hacked it - no one new is reading your blog.

3. Do something that Matters - Expend the energy doing something that draws in real new readers. Network with other bloggers, write some quality content, write a guest post for another blog, make your blog stickier…. do something that matters

4. Social Proof? - Yes, having more numbers in your feedburner counter might convince a few extra people to subscribe (social proof) but what happens next week when feedburner closes the loophole and suddenly your regular readers see that you’ve just lost a couple of thousand readers? Is there such a thing as reverse social proof?

5. Risk? - I’ve never really been into ‘evil’ tactics - partly because I just don’t get into them but partly because when you deliberately do something to abuse a service that is provided to you by a company - sometimes things come back to bite you. I’m not sure if Feedburner (owned by Google) would take action against people trying to inflate their numbers - but do you really want to find out?

Want to know how to really build the number of subscribers to your blog?

• 11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for your Blog
• A Secret to Finding New Subscribers for Your Blog (the start of a 3 part series)

OK - lets get back to blogging shall we?

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Security Telecom Italia. Tronchetti Provera, Tavaroli
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In May 2007, Intesa San Paolo, Mediobanca, Generali and Telefonica got rid of the unhappy Tronchetti and they bought the controlling package of Telecom for an exorbitant value. In July 2007, I wrote “Telecom shares are worth a bit more than 2 euro. The Piave line, the K2 of the analysts, is about to be breached. After that there’s the unknown. It’s nothing new. When Tronchetti demanded and got 2.9 euro per share, it was known to be an “ad personam” value. To get rid of him with a golden handshake. The industrial forecast for the share was between 1.5 and 1.7 euro.”
I was being an optimist.
Today Telecom shares are worth about 1.1 euro. K2 has been transformed into K1. The threshold of the euro is near. And after that?
If the shareholders cry (one or two have lost nearly everything). The bondholders are trembling. The Telecom debt, turned upside down in part onto those who own bonds, is 46 billion euro. Bernabè, the new CEO has denied there’ll be the sale of Telecom Italia to Telefonica, perhaps he would do it (or he would have to do it) willingly given the disastrous financial situation, but the government cannot allow itself to lose other Italian companies.
The decrease in value for the shareholders and for the System of Italy has been impressive under the Tronchetti/Buora management, allowed to go with millionaire golden handshakes, paid for years with salaries higher than the European companies in the sector.
Before the final crash, the Knock Out, it’s useful to ask a few questions:
- Who will compensate the Banca Intesa San Paolo, Mediobanca and General shareholders for having purchased Telecom shares at at least double their value? Everyone knew and they didn’t? The companies in the controlling group will have to devalue their shares by a few hundred million. Their patrimony will be worth less, their shares will be worth less. Who will pay for an out-of-market choice?
- The situation in which Bernabè found Telecom was (and is) dramatic. A plan to sack the staff is already underway, at least 10,000 (in relation to this, is Napoletone also included?) Telecom should take it out on the previous administrators, even for the vertical drop in Telecom’s image due to the wire-tapping. Will it happen?
- Telecom Italia cannot do it on its own. The white knight is called Telefonica. If there is a takeover bid, will it be the usual folk to gain? Only those who possess the controlling package, Benetton included, or even the small shareholders who represent the majority of the ownership? What will the Consob do?
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How I Use My iPhone for Blogging

I bought an iPhone - and in this post I’m going to tell you how I use it (so far) in my blogging…

A few weeks ago I ranted about the sorry state of Australian mobile carriers and how they (particularly the one I used, Telstra) make buying an iPhone a crazily expensive. In the days after writing the post I decided to bite the bullet and switch carriers to the one offering the most affordable option (Optus).

I settled on a black 16GB model and after waiting for 9 days for it to come into stock it arrived last Thursday.

I’ve been Tweeting a little about my initial experience of the iPhone and quite a few of my Twitter buddies have asked me to write a review of the iPhone as a blogging tool. I am not writing a general review here of the iPhone as a phone - but want to focus this upon it as a tool for bloggers.

My Review of The iPhone as a Blogging Tool

I should start out by saying that I didn’t buy the iPhone with the hope that it’d ever become my primary blogging tool - however I did hope that it would assist me in some areas of my blogging.

Blog Post Writing

The primary task of a blogger is to write and publish content. I do not see the iPhone as playing any real part in this task for me (with one exception which I’ll write about below).

The main reason for this is that my style of blogging is to write posts that go into a reasonable depth and which often go over 1000 words. The thought of having to write 1000 words on an iPhone is enough to make me want to curl up in the fetal position and start crying.

I know the speed and accuracy in which I’ll be able to input text into the iPhone will increase with practice - but this is not a gadget that has been designed with the goal of inputting large amounts of text. The on screen keyboard does the job well for small amounts of text (for Twitter it’s perfect) but unless Apple (or one of their partners) develops a keyboard that can be connected to the iPhone - I don’t see me using it to write posts.

The other reasons that I don’t see it as being that useful for writing posts is that my style of writing a post is one where I tend to use images, screen captures, flip between windows while writing etc - while some of this can be done on the iPhone it isn’t ideally suited to my posting workflow.

The WordPress Application is excellent. As you’ll see from the comments of my Twitter friends below, it is one of the most used applications that they’re using.

The exception to this would be for breaking news when posts need to go up quickly and need not be long. The iPhone will be very handy in this case.

I do think that some other bloggers will use the iPhone more for writing posts (for example Wayne Sutton has a blog where he’s ONLY posting with the iPhone) but it’ll be suited more for those who write shorter posts (or those with more patience than me).

All is not lost though fellow bloggers - let me share how I DO see myself using the iPhone as a blogger:

Capturing Ideas

I’ve written before about how I am a big user of notebooks and try to carry one with me everywhere so that I can capture ideas for posts as they hit me. I could definitely see the iPhone as replacing my Moleskine notebook as a tool for capturing ideas.

I’m still testing different applications for this type of task - however there are a few that are promising including Evernote (to be able to capture ideas as pictures, voice, text etc is very attractive), Younote (similar) or even just the default ‘notepad’ that comes with the iPhone (and there are a lot more that I’m going to test before settling on one).

Other Task Management

I suspect that whichever application that I choose to capture ideas for my blogs will also be used as a more general ‘task managing tool’ also. This is the other thing that I use my notebook for. This includes creating ‘to do’ lists, making notes for presentations, making notes for email newsletters etc.

Monitoring Stats

There are times where it can be particularly useful to know if there is a ‘traffic event’ happening on one of your blogs. For example it’s good to know when a post gets a rush of traffic from a social media site or another blog linking up. On the other hand it’s also good to know when your blog is down.

I saw the power of the iPhone as a monitoring tool this weekend when Sitemeter had issues and didn’t allow my blogs to be viewed by IE7 users. I knew of this problem within an hour of it happening because I received emails and tweets on my iPhone and also noticed stats were down when I checked them on it. I found all this out while out shopping with my family and was able to take action reasonably quickly all while away from my computers.

What I would like to do is set up some way to be notified of ‘traffic events’ on my blogs. For example to have some sort of notification service (SMS or email) when a post gets a lot of traffic or when servers go down for XX minutes. I know some hosting services offer this but it’d be interesting to see an analytics package develop one for smaller publishers.

Micro Blogging

My use of Twitter and Plurk over the last few days has probably increased slightly. While I still tend to do these activities in ‘batches’ being able to jump on these social messaging services in a spare minute when you’re out and about is quite handy.

Of course you could use these services to simply have fun, fill in time etc - but when services like Twitter are an important part of your blogging then it is effectively helping you to be a more productive blogger.

Networking

One of the things I played with over the weekend was instant messaging on my iPhone. I got on Gtalk and while I was just jumping on to ’see if I could’ and test the app I ended up having a conversation with another blogger which was really productive.

I don’t foresee me using IM much on my iPhone - but to know I can is handy.

Moderating Comments

Moderating comments is a job that needs to be done regularly and on the iPhone it’s a relatively simple job. I actually did it this morning over breakfast and it took me just as long on the iPhone as it does on my computer.

Again - I probably won’t do this daily but it’ll be handy to be able to quickly moderate comments when traveling.

Probably more useful will be when you have some sort of a situation in the comments on your blog that needs you to oversee it. For example when you have a flaming war happen between two readers and you need to step in.

Email Triage

One of the things that I’m enjoying most about the iPhone is being able to quickly flip through my email to do a little ‘processing’. Over the weekend it was great to be able to quickly scan the latest emails to see if anything was urgent (and to respond to these quickly), to spot any emails that could be deleted quickly (social media notifications for example) or to see what needed to be marked for ‘later’.

Being able to do this task quickly on the fly frees up time later when you’re actually on your computer for other important tasks.

Post Editing

Another task that I did a couple of times over the weekend was to edit posts. On one occassion it was simply logging into the back end of WordPress to set the time to publish for a post that I’d already written and on another occasion it was the editing of a spelling mistake. These small editing tasks are no brainers on the iPhone.

Feed Monitoring

I follow 600+ RSS feeds so I doubt very much whether the iPhone will ever be my primary place to read them all - however I’ve already used it to follow my ‘A-list’ (a handful of blogs that I read religiously because they are either so useful or consistantly break news that is relevant to the niches that I follow). I’m currently doing this via Google Reader directly - but am told that the Byline Application is useful and syncs well with Google Reader.

Concluding Thoughts and My Wishlist for the iPhone as a Blogger

The above list is simply how I’ve used the iPhone after a few days. I’m sure as I continue to use it I’ll discover that some of the above will be more important to me than other parts of it. I also know that as new applications are developed for the iPhone that other uses for it will arise.

In conclusion, as a blogging tool, the iPhone meets the expectations that I had when I bought it.

I didn’t expect it to be ever be a primary blogging device - and it isn’t - however it will be a very useful device to use as a secondary and supporting blogging device. It will save me time, allow me to be aware of important events that are relevant to my blogs and help me to connect better with readers and other bloggers.

I’m certain that other mobile devices can do similar things (in fact some like the Nokia 95 have a number of the things in my wishlist below) but for me, at least for the next little while, it’s the iPhone that I’ll be carrying in my pocket.

My Wishlist for the iPhone:

How could the iPhone be more useful for bloggers? Here’s a few ideas:

• External keyboard - without it I think I’ll rarely write posts on the iPhone. It’d also be handy to have for note taking at conferences.
• Video capture - I’d love to have the ability to record video on the iPhone, it’d make it a killer blogging device for me (till then I’ve just ordered a Flip which much more portable than my current camcorder).
• Copy and paste - almost every review of the iPhone that I’ve read has asked for this. As a blogger it’d be hugely useful.
• Battery life - I’m yet to go far from home with my iPhone but on those days when I’m out and about a lot I could see how I’m either going to have to take my power adaptor with me or really be careful how much I use it.
• Unlimited Data Plans (Australia) - I know many of you have these in your countries but here in Australia data remains ridiculously expensive (even on the cheaper carrier that I’m with). I currently have a 500MB allowance which on most days will be fine - but as soon as I travel I’m going to be in trouble).

What My Friends Said:

I asked on Twitter and Plurk how my friends there are using the iPhone in their blogging. Here’s how just a few of them responded:

@preneur said - “Taking photos (& autoposting from flckr), making notes for future posts, approving comments via the wodpress apps”

@RealitySEO said - “Since I usually write lengthy articles for one blog, not willing to use iPhone - but have used it for a daily money quotes blog”

@mayken said - “Just started using it myself, been twittering a bit, but the wordpress app is a great little program to use so far.”

@DrCris said - “Using iPhone to read feeds - means I get that when I sit down I already have all my information and all I have to do is post/”

@kriskarkoski said - “Right now mainly using my iPhone for keeping up on my email and feeds and doing some live blogging but hard w/o c&p”

@GrantGriffiths said - “blog editor with WP, RSS reader with netnewswire and Instapaper, check stats with Mint, twitter with twitterrific.”

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Many people have written to me to say the signatures have been no use. That they will do what they want to anyway.
The signatures are useful to count us.
Many people say that the V-Days have been a "wham bam thank you ma'm".
The V-Days have been useful for us to see each other, to touch each other, to smile and to affirm our right to shout out that we are alive, we are still alive. They have not beaten us and they will never beat us.
Many people say that all this has served no useful purpose if Berlusconi is still there, if the P2 and the Mafia are in Parliament.
But they are the past, can’t you see them? They are living in fear, in special laws, in the army.
The future is beauty and they do not form a part. This is why they are sad. This is why we will win by taking them for a ride.
Jacofo Fo has sent me a poem for V3 day.

”We are winning
But this day will we do a Vaffanculo Day of laughter?
We are winning
Don’t let yourselves be bowled over by the TV News images!
We are unhinging the immobile mud from the frozen spirits.
We are making love more.
We are beating the dawn drums more.
We are thinking up colossal jokes.
Berlusconi’s new laws, Veltroni’s sadness
Don’t fall into the trap.
They are about to fall into the wide open mouth of the past
Like drops of rain
It will still last a bit longer but then we will say: do you remember the fear?

The oil is finished, we must change.
The information monopoly is finished
On the Web, you can’t forbid me to tell
It’s like when they invented the telephone.
After a bit they didn’t use the carrier pigeons.
The world changes.
Just think once upon a time sex didn’t exist, just single cell asexual organisms
They multiplied by parthogenesis, that is they split in half.
And it was not a pleasant experience.

Now we are extremely sexual pluri-cell organisms, we can make love and sing.
But it has to be clear there’s need for a bit of a push to make the inexorable wheel of History keep turning.
We have to launch a total offensive, it’s our historical task as progressives.
We do nothing else: we start general mobilizations one after the other, every time we have the breath to do it. We like it like that. You get to know loads of interesting people and at times you also get satisfaction.
And today the total offensive on today’s agenda is to make more love. A tiny bit of effort, we can even get better.
Write a poem for the person you love.
Tell a friend you are fond of them.
Draw a flower on the wall in front of their house so every time they go out they’ll remember that you love them.
Do something extraordinary, reckless
Kiss her on the lips as though it were the first time
It’s enough to put behind you the line of the past.
And to live in that instant just before the first time that we kissed. And to remember that for an instant, while the mouths are getting closer you picked up the perfume that was rising from her neck.
Let your lips part, your tongue is waiting for a taste that you have never experienced.
A flavour that contains the sound of rice leaves that unfurl in the humidity of the water.
…. "
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Thomas Crampton emailed me links to a series of video interviews that he did with three fairly prominent bloggers (that’d be an understatement) which might make some interesting viewing this weekend for some of you with 20 or so minutes to spare:

The interviews are:

• Corey Doctorow (from BoingBoing) - How to be an uber Blogger
• Robert Scoble - 5 Tips for Better Video Blogging
• Erick Schonfeld (from TechCrunch) - Hot to TechCrunch

The experience that those three bloggers have together is pretty amazing - hope you get something out of the videos.

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foto di edoardo.baraldi

A three-act comedy:
Topo Gigio Veltroni to the rescue
Main actors: Antonio Di Pietro, known as Kryptonite, Walter Veltroni, known as Topo Gigio and the shadow Government of the Pdwithoutanel.
Off-screen prompt (inaudible): Berlusconi, known as the Psychodwarf
Act One:
Antonio Di Pietro begins gathering signatures for a referendum calling for the abolition of the Alfano Draft Bill. This is an unconstitutional Law that makes four of this Country's citizens more equal than all the rest. Their names, in alphabetical order, are as follows: Berlusconi, Fini, Napolitano, Schifani. One of these has been involved in court cases for the past fifteen years. The other three have not been accused of anything, but they nevertheless went along for the ride. Kryptonite Di Pietro is asking for help from his allies in the Pdwithoutanel in order to gather 500,000 signatures by September 2008 so as to be able to hold the referendum during the spring of 2009.
Act Two:
Topo Gigio Veltroni convenes a meeting of the shadow Government on 31 July in order to discuss the referendum. Topo Gigio quotes Oscar Luigi Scalfaro: “Depending on the outcome, a referendum will always results in greater visibility for the party promoting it. However, should it be a failure, even as a result of the failure to reach a quorum, the entire opposition would land up looking bad”. Addressing his shadow Government, Topo Gigio highlights “the very wise words uttered by Scalfaro”. This is a quantum leap in terms of Veltroni’s terminology. He has moved on from the use of multiple adjectives, such as his unforgettable “intellectual, rational, reformist camp”, and on to the use of superlatives. Topo Gigio will not agree to a referendum because “it could fail”. This is his favourite strategy, which he once again adopted during the last elections. Don’t take part in order not to lose. Veltroni explained to the shadow Government that: “there are other priorities, such as the social welfare crisis, salaries and the Country’s growth”. Finally he concluded in truly statesmanlike fashion, but also as a refined diplomat and filmmaker that: “We don’t want to focus the main attention back on the Berlusconian controversy”. The applause from the senior members of the PDwithoutanel moved him. Follini is overcome and sighs: “You are right and you are wise, well done Veltroni…”. Rosy Bindi added that: “Notwithstanding the fact that the PDL is undoubtedly busy raping the Constitution, the path chosen by Di Pietro is wrong”.
Act Three:
In the 2009 European elections Veltroni is rewarded by the voters for his “very wise”, but also “intellectual, rational and reformist” political line, with a new Walterloo. The PDwithoutanel splits in two out of joy. Veltroni steps down as party secretary of the PDwithoutanel, reiterating a previous statement he made on 19 February 2008: “You will never hear me launching any sort of attack against him (Berlusconi - Ed). The one involving him is a joyous controversy, but that’s okay. The Italians tired of all the improprieties, only to land up with a Country that is immobile”.

As part of a little research I’m doing for a post (or a short series of them) next week here at ProBlogger I’d like to ask readers to answer this question:

How Long Do You Take To Write a Blog Post?

I know each post varies depending upon what it is - but on average how long would you say you take to write a blog post? I’d be interested to not only hear the time it takes you but also you usually write posts in one sitting or come back to them over time. Also it’d probably help a little if you told us the type of posts you generally write.

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”No dal Molin” – response to the Cabinet’s decision