Here’s a horrible logo for my website, created by horriblelogos.com. Funny? Sure. Worth $5? I submit that it was not.
What do you think, should I use it? I was thinking about making it my favicon…
Upon publishing this post my blog will be up to 440 posts in its seven-year history. With a library of content so voluminous I’ve created an interesting problem: How would a new visitor to my blog find my best content? I recently visited the blog of one Shawn Blanc, and I was so impressed by his solution that I’ve decided to employ it on my website.
I’ve created a Start page and featured it prominently in my navigation bar. This page includes:
- ways to be automatically notified when I publish a new post
- a list of some of my favorite posts
- my active ongoing post series
- notable collections of posts from the past
- links to my About and Archives pages
Yes, I already had an Archives page, but this new page is a little less intimidating and organized more organically. I considered just putting this new info on my About page, as I’ve seen several other bloggers do, but I like the strong call to action a page titled “Start Here” presents to visitors.
Let me know if you stumble across anything you really like as a result of my Start page.
I’ve been using WordPress since 2007. In 2010 I started developing and managing WordPress websites professionally. Hands down, my favorite theme for WordPress is Standard Theme. It’s really simple to use and very well coded. Mashable listed it as one of the eight best premium WordPress themes. I highly recommend it to anyone hosting their own WordPress installation. Let me show you the three websites I’ve made with this theme.
My Personal Blog
Ironically, it’s my personal blog that’s received the least amount of tinkering of the three that I’m showing off today. Almost everything you see on my website comes with the theme straight out of the box. I added two major customizations. One is the big footer (which are actually sidebars and widgets, similar to what you’ll find in the 2010 theme). The other is all the buttons under the post titles to Like on Facebook, tweet on Twitter, read later with Instapaper, and clip with Evernote. Don’t worry though; the theme comes with social media sharing options of its own.
I had a great time leading my workshop at #navsignite. I love watching student have a-ha moments.
@jaledwith
Andrew Ledwith
@jaledwith Hopefully it evens out all of those "...oh no" moments you always cause.
@realbryanzhang
Bryan Zhang
A Twitter conversation after my spring conference workshop. My friends are so supportive.
So it’s possible that I’m using my phenomenal cosmic powers for my own amusement at this point, but I’m going to take that chance. Lots of big conferences choose a hashtag for its attendees to use so all tweets about that conference can be easily found in a search (and, if the conference is big enough, it could even become a trending topic). Twitter isn’t too big amongst my Navigator peers, but I’m going to push forward and pick a hashtag for our event.
Anyone planning to attend Ignite 2011 should include #navsignite in all tweets about or during the conference.
In eight days I’ll be teaching a workshop on the subject of identity in Christ at a state-wide collegiate Navigators retreat. As I’ve been preparing, I’ve been listening to different songs that speak about the subject. I’ve always found music to be an excellent tone setter, so I’ve been putting together a playlist in iTunes to listen to as I write my notes. I wanted to share one of those songs with you: “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates” by Andrew Osenga.
What I love about this song is its honesty. He’s hurting. Nothing Osenga is singing about is unique to his experience. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t struggle with these questions, whether they’ve met Christ yet or not. But as someone who has met Christ, Osenga’s hope is heavenward. The third verse, in particular, paints such a beautiful picture. “One day I believe // I will open up my eyes // Just to see the good work that was begun // And I’ll be the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be // And I’ll know that I belong!”
I first stumbled across this song a couple years ago. I included it on my 2008 soundtrack. If you like it, it’s available on two of his records: Letters to the Editor and Choosing Sides (though I prefer the former version). You can read the lyrics here.
Check out the new addition to my desk. It was a thank-you gift.
Who would have thought I’d blog about coffee mugs twice in the span of seven weeks?
UPDATE: Here’s the movie trailer.
I finally got around to creating and sending out a new newsletter for my ministry with The Navigators at FSU. It’s been 22 months since I sent out my last one (which is embarrassing). It’s one of those things I don’t make time for, and since it’s not required of volunteer staff it’s often the first thing to slip through the cracks.
I had my friend Bryan Zhang take some photos at a Nav Night I was teaching at last December so I’d have some pictures for this newsletter. He did a great job! Here are the shots I included.
My “I mean business” shot.
When I was a college senior I had various people ask me the question:
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Guess what? It’s five years later!
Back then I would have thought I’d be working professionally in ministry and (among other things) making websites in my free time. Instead, I’m making websites professionally and ministering to college students in my free time.
Funny how that happens.
Dropbox is an application that allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically. It creates a special folder on your computer. Anything you place in that folder is automatically synced to your Dropbox account.
It’s easily the most important tool for my day-to-day work flow. Here’s how Dropbox benefits me.
