Well, we have one post under our belt and “that ain’t bad”. (Think Jack Nicholson in the movie Mars Attacks. After Congress was destroyed he said “I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for them, and that ain’t bad”. The “that ain’t bad” was in that “Typical Jack Nicholson” sarcastic voice making it all the more funny.)
ANYWHO, after bringing the blog back to life we began to make lots of changes to the look and layout as well. Here are some of the changes made so far:
- The Blog Theme – We went with a more bold and crisp, up to date theme. We are still working on other changes to it but it is LOADS better than what we had before. We may change it again, and again, and maybe even AGAIN. But it is better, and that is the general idea.
- The Front Page – We changed the display of posts on the front page to short previews. This makes the front page more like that of a newspaper where you can quickly scan for topics that are interesting and click for the full article. (Well in the case of a newspaper you have to physically turn the page, but we couldn’t figure out how to do that cost effectively.)
- The Content – We are going to write as if we were writing an email to a co-worker. You get the same sarcastic language as everyone else around here. Hopefully it will be interesting too, which certainly mirrors what goes on inside our 4 walls.
- Author Bio’s – We added author bio’s to the bottom of full post pages. It is a work in progress and only mine has been completed so far (and yes I wrote it myself in the 3rd person. Craig likes to write in the 3rd person. Sometimes he even orders that way at McDonalds. “Mr. Haynie would like a #3 with a coke”. : )
- Social Media – We added a lot of social media links and gadgets like the Tweetmeme Twitter button thingamabobbie (technical name) that appears at the top right side of posts. There is also a big line of links below the post that allow you to “share” the post through social media sites. I have facebook on there twice, DOH! Fixing now.
- De-Badged the Template – Yes, we used a pre-designed template. It was super fast to implement, looks good, and saves precious precious money. We removed the designer’s link from the bottom of the footer and paid him the $20 he was asking for the rights to do so. We thought it was a bargain, even though we will make a lot of modifications to it. A man’s work is worth his wage; at least that’s what I keep hearing around payday and when its time for performance reviews.
- Other things – I don’t remember what they are, but we did them. Trust me.
What’s next?
- I am going to Drink a Coca-Cola. It is Delicious! Refreshing! Invigorating! Exhilarating! The Ideal Brain Tonic, it revives and sustains, and is good til the last drop. I want to Enjoy life, Refresh myself, and it had to be good to get where it is. It is as Pure as Sunlight, Around the corner from anywhere Ice-cold sunshine. Whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of ice cold Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is Coke!, and is the Passport to refreshment. Coke knows no season and where there’s Coke there’s hospitality. What you want is a Coke. It’s For people on the go. It’s the sign of good taste and things go better with Coke. It’s the real thing and I’d like to buy the world a Coke. Coke adds life. Have a Coke and a smile. Coke is it!, America’s Real Choice, and Red White & You. You Can’t Beat the Feeling so Enjoy. Life tastes good, Make It Real. Live on the Coke Side of Life. So go ahead, Open Happiness and Twist The Cap To Refreshness, I am! (huh??)
- Change the Header – We haven’t messed with this yet, but we are gonna! The plan is to make it match the site and at the same time, give the site/header a little face lift. Thats the plan anyway. But, who knows what we will actually do. All I can say is stay tuned! And hey, if you have any suggestions be sure to send them my way!
- Post some Staff Bio’s – We think it would be cool to let you get to know us better. We are still mulling over the best way to post people’s info on here (to just do it like a normal post and put them in a “Meet the Staff” category, or design some “page” or area just for that. We are checking to see if our Analysis Paralysis vaccine is up to date also to make sure we don’t “never do this”.
- Things I dream about – I wake up some mornings with ideas as clear as bottled water. So whatever those may be, expect them.
In the words of Porky Pig, thabada thabada that’s all folks!
Till next time,
Craig Haynie – CEO
CablesAndKits.com
craig@cablesandkits.com
