Spigot Design » Software

Dropping MobileMe

Bryan Hoffman — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:57:59 +0000

10/21/2011 Update: This is an article from 2009 about moving from MobileMe to Google for syncing of contacts, calendars, and email. While I did move away from MobileMe at the time, I’ve since transferred nearly everything back to Apple’s iCloud (and loving it). If you’re looking for info on switching from MobileMe to iCloud, try here: MobileMe to iCloud. ~ Bryan

Is there life after MobileMe?

About a month ago I received an email from Apple informing me that my MobileMe subscription was coming up for renewal. I’ve loved the services that MobileMe provides since signing up over a year ago, and had planned on keeping it going. But with the holidays coming up I decided to look into the possibility of dropping MobileMe while retaining the capabilities that it provides.

Turns out that it’s not only possible, but pretty darn easy to replicate most of the services MobileMe provides, for free. I’ll go through each service, in order of importance to me. Note: These steps were all taken with an iPhone and a mac, but similar options exist for PC/Other Phone users.

Cut the MobileMe tether

First things first. Giving up on MobileMe meant turning it off across all devices. It may feel a little strange at first, like you’re hanging free in the wind, but it’s a necessary step. After one final sync to make sure everything was updated, I created a backup of both my calendars and contacts. Then I turned off MobileMe on both computers by opening System Preferences > MobileMe and logging out. I also deleted my @me.com account from Mail.app and on the iPhone.

Note: Anytime you monkey around with your contacts and calendars, it’s a good, no – GREAT idea to create a backup first. Just in case.

Contact & Calendar Syncing: Google Sync

The ability to keep contacts and calendars synced across all devices (Mac Pro, Powerbook, iPhone) was the single biggest reason to sign up for MobileMe in the first place. Google provides excellent documentation on how to use their sync services, for all kinds of phones and OS’s. The article explained nearly everything I needed to get my contacts and calendars synced.

Contacts

To sync both contacts and calendars, you’ll need a Google account of some sort. I’ve got a Gmail account, which includes a contact list. If you don’t have Gmail, Google has an article on how to manage contacts outside of Gmail.

Once you get a Google Contacts account set up, open Contacts, and in the General section of the Preferences, select “Synchronize with Google,” and enter your account credentials. Do this across all of your machines. If your contact lists on each machine differ, there may be a period of time that you’re asked to review duplicates, or resolve conflicts. Eventually everything will be synced and you’ll no longer be bothered with these notices.

Update: Apparently contact syncing only works if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and have synced with Google before. Fortunately, Lifehacker has a workaround for non iPhone/iPod Touch users.

Calendars

Syncing calendars follows a similar path as syncing contacts, using Google Sync. You’ll need a Google Calendar account, and you’ll need to already have your local calendar synced with that account. Here’s an article from Google on how to sync iCal and Mozilla Sunbird with Google Calendar using CalDAV (and here’s how to do it using Outlook). I use BusyCal, a more robust calendar app for the mac that allowed me to sync calendars with G Cal before Google Sync existed. It’s also a great upgrade iCal and I highly recommend it.

Once you get all your calendars synced with Google, consider all your calendars synced. Add an event to any of your calendars, and in a short while you’ll see them across all calendars.

iPhone

To get contacts and calendars synced on the iPhone, this article from Google explains the steps I took to get the phone set up. Once you get the account set up, you’ll be asked to select the services you’d like to sync. I selected them all, and when prompted, chose to delete the existing information on the phone. If you don’t, you’ll end up with duplicate contacts and calendar events. If you didn’t back up your data in the beginning, this step may prove a bit nerve wracking. Back up your data first, then come back and turn on the syncing services.

That’s all it takes, really. Your contacts and calendars are now synced between all computers and your phone. For free. Sweet.

Email

Since MobileMe had nothing to do with syncing email between my iPhone and my computers, there was nothing to do here. I have numerous accounts set up through Spigot Design, all set up as IMAP accounts. They sync just fine to the phone via wifi and Edge (it’s a first generation phone). I’ve never set them up for ‘Push Notification‘ but emails often come in on the iPhone before my regular mail app. In a year and a half, I received a total of 3 emails on the .me account, all test messages from myself. Nothing to see here, moving on.

iDisk: Dropbox

Having the iDisk show up in the Finder sidebar is an easy way to keep things backed up and share files that are too big to email. Dropbox does the same thing, for free. Well, sort of free – The free account only includes 2GB of storage, while the iDisk holds up to 20GB. I’d been using Dropbox before MobileMe came along, so there was no switch needed as I didn’t use the iDisk anyway.

Gallery

The MobileMe gallery was another reason why I initially wanted the service. There’s no denying the design skills of Apple, and the Gallery is a great example. Easy to use and nice to look at. But I found myself not really using it. It doesn’t have the social aspect of Flickr, and it’s hard to get to unless someone knows the address. I wrote an article about how I was rethinking Flickr and MobileMe gallery options that might explain my thinking further. I used the gallery mainly to store pictures of the kids, and found that most of the visitors to their site preferred to stay on the site rather than be taken externally. I opted for a simple jQuery lightbox script that displays a slideshow on each individual post, and it’s been working great.

Bookmarks: XMarks

One small thing that MobileMe introduced to my world was bookmark syncing. I never really knew how important that was to me until it was gone. Fortunately xmarks comes to the rescue. Sign up for an account, download it to each computer, and your bookmarks stay synced. Xmarks for Safari installs itself as a preference pane item, and with a little configuring, I was able to let it do its thing pretty much in the background by disabling Growl notifications and taking the icon out of the menu bar. Xmarks for Firefox installs as a plugin and is set up in a similar fashion. Free free free.

Xmarks actually turns out to be a nice little upgrade over MobileMe, now that I can keep both Safari and Firefox synced.

Bookmark syncing on the iPhone is no longer done through the air, but I’m still able to keep them fairly well updated through the iTunes/iPhone sync. This isn’t an issue however, as my bookmarks are rarely updated and therefore don’t need up to the minute syncing.

Find My Phone

This is the one service I wasn’t able to replicate. There is an app called Undercover for the iPhone that allows for tracking of lost or stolen phones, but it costs $4.99. I’ve heard that this MobileMe services is the one that truly makes the $99/year worthwhile, but not for me…

Conclusions

MobileMe is an easy to use service with all the design and usability bells and whistles that Apple is known for. With a few extra steps, however, it’s entirely possible to have nearly all the services it provides, for free. There may be a day when I go back to MobileMe, but for now I’m getting along just fine without it.

What do you think?

Have you given up on MobileMe too? How has it gone? If you have any thoughts on this article, please let me know by leaving a comment below!

2009 MacHeist bundle review

Bryan Hoffman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:21:35 +0000

While there are quite a few people out there who detest the MacHeist event, I for one, love it. If you started from the beginning at The Giving Tree and subsequently participated in all the heists and mini-heists – and purchased the bundle – a total of 50 apps (at my count here) were available, for $32 (with the heist discounts). That is a ridiculous number of apps for a ridiculous price. $0.64 per app is perhaps too ridiculous… is that guilt I feel?

As exciting as it is to get that many apps at that low of a price, I wondered how much I used each, and how much each meant to me. So I thought I’d take a look at each one of the apps and write a short bit on the following criteria:

Short description – or what I think the app does
Do I use it or not
How I use it (if I do) or why I don’t

I’ll go through alphabetically, and if I miss an app, feel free to let me know and I’ll add it.

1Password

Desc: Password manager
Use: Use daily
Usage: 1Password was in last year’s bundle (or did it come in a heist??) and was one of the gem’s of the bunch. I use it for everything from managing web passwords to storing software licenses to keeping track of project data (ftp, database, website admin, etc.). It was great to see it in the loot again this year as I think its the best way to browse the web safely.

3D Hearts Deluxe

Desc: Card game
Use: Played once
Usage: I’m a huge Euchre fan, so Hearts should come naturally for me, but it doesn’t. If you know how to play however, this is one of those games that can be a quick diversion when you need a few minutes away.

Acorn

Desc: Image editor
Use: Never opened
Usage: At first, I placed this application in the “I don’t have the time or the need to learn an app I perceive as a Photoshop replacement” category. Then while putting this very article together, I found the need to open .icns files that the almighty Photoshop couldn’t open. Acorn was quick and intuitive, although all I did was resize and save as.

AgentCraig

Desc: Craigslist & eBay desktop search
Use: Tried it twice
Usage: I tried a couple of searches, and when both turned up wonky results, I wrote it off. I don’t purchase much on Craigslist or eBay anyway.

AllSecure

Desc: Stuff encryptor
Use: Never used
Usage: Every now and again I think I should be encrypting things, but I’ve never found an application that does it well. Or maybe I’ve never really looked hard enough. I’m not too worried about someone breaking in, so it still isn’t really on my mind.

AppShelf

Desc: Serial number manager
Use: Never used
Usage: I use 1Password (MacHeist 08) and love it. No need for a replacement.

BabelBloX

Desc: Block based game
Use: Used once
Usage: Played it once, didn’t really get into it. In general, I don’t have enough time for games. In particular, I don’t have any time for dull games.

Big Bang Board Games

Desc: Collection of 7 classic games
Use: Played a few times
Usage: I come to find I never learned how to play Mancala, Reversi or Backgammon. Connect-4 and tic-tac-toe aren’t too bad. The AI is goood (against me anyway) in chess and checkers.

Blitz

Desc: Application focusing
Use: Opened once
Usage: Opening this app for the first time was a mistake. It promptly shut me out of all applications including the Finder. Had to perform a hard restart. Will not be opening this app again.

BoinxTV

Desc: Video creation
Use: Never opened
Usage: I don’t do much with video. Actually, I don’t do anything with video except watch it.

Colloquy

Desc: IRC chat client
Use: Used a handful of times
Usage: I don’t chat on IRC channels much, but this came in handy to keep up on Macheist things until they put out their own chat app.

Cro Mag Rally

Desc: Racing Game
Use: Used a handful of times
Usage: Fun little race game set in prehistoric times. I played for a couple of days, got stuck at a certain level, and gave up. Still wondering why my player is the only one who’s required to collect the arrowheads.

Delicious Library 2

Desc: Media cataloger
Use: Used once
Usage: I spent ten minutes cataloging a few items I have like my copy of Medal of Honor. Then I realized that it would take me no small amount of time to try and catalog everything. Then I began to wonder why I’d want this stuff cataloged anyway. Finally I came to the conclusion that I don’t have the time, need or interest.

DEVONthink

Desc: Free form database
Use: Used once
Usage: Tried it for 10 minutes, didn’t ‘get it’ and left. I’d categorize this app as spending an hour to save 5 minutes. I’m hooked on The Hit List instead.

Enigomo 2

Desc: Drippy puzzle game
Use: Used a couple of times
Usage: Fun for a short while, until it got too hard. I only seem to have time for quick and easy games these days.

EventBox

Desc: Social media black hole tool
Use: Never used
Usage: There’s a run on these all in one apps these days, and I just haven’t really bothered. I don’t need to be checking in on Facebook every 5 minutes. Twitter, on the other hand…

Espresso

Desc: Web development app
Use: Used a handful of times
Usage: This was the app I was most looking forward to out of the bundle. I use Coda, a similar app, nearly everyday. So I was excited to see what a competing application (that’s received a lot of buzz in the community) could do. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like I think it should. I haven’t figured out how to use it to edit an existing site. I can start a project locally, and then upload it… but… I should write more about this elsewhere… A real bummer overall, really.

Fresh

Desc: Finder replacement, file storage, something or other. Maybe.
Use: Tried once or twice
Usage: I honestly don’t know what this app is supposed to do. There’s two green bars across my screen, and I’m supposed to put stuff in them, or take them out maybe? No real clue here.

Headline

Desc: News Reader
Use: Opened once
Usage: Another news/rss reader. No time to learn a new system, or import my feeds.

Hyperspaces

Desc: OS X Spaces enhancer
Use: Opened once or twice
Usage: If this app does something more than put the name of the ‘space’ I’m using in the lower left corner, I missed it.

iConquer

Desc: RISK style world domination game
Use: Play periodically
Usage: This is a great example of a game I enjoy playing. It’s quick, it’s easy, I can beat the AI once in a while. It also helps that I happen to love RISK.

iSale

Desc: eBay desktop app
Use: Never used
Usage: I haven’t bought or sold anything on eBay for so long, I forgot they were still around.

iStock

Desc: Stock tracker
Use: Never used
Usage: If I had stocks, perhaps this app would come in handy. Actually I take that back. If I had stocks I’d probably have shot myself by now.

KavaTunes

Desc: Website building tool for iTunes like websites
Use: Never used
Usage: I really have no idea why I would want a iTunes like website.

Kinemac

Desc: 3D animation app
Use: Never used
Usage: I’m sure this would be awesome if I were a 3D guy who didn’t have Maya or 3D Studio Max.

Little Snapper

Desc: Screen capture app
Use: Used once
Usage: Once in a while I’ll do a scree grab for something, but not often. When the day comes that I step up my screen capture skillz, I’m sure this app will be my go to.

Lugaru

Desc: Rabbit Ninja game
Use: Played a couple of times
Usage: This little Rabbit Ninja game put the old Rabbit Ninja game out of business. Fun to play, after a bit of a UI learning curve. Would be more fun if I didn’t have a 2 year old to chase around the house.

MacDust

Desc: Mac Cleaner of some sort
Use: Used once, lost some data
Usage: End user types like myself ought to know better than to open an app like this and let it go to town. I lost enough non-critical data to convince me not to open it up again.

MiniOne Racing

Desc: Racer game
Use: Played a handful of times
Usage: Fun and quick to play. Kind of buggy with a crash or two here and there. My two year old likes to watch the cars race around, so maybe I’ll install it on his future machine, which is now my wife’s iMac that is in desperate need of replacement. How about that for some useless information.

Multiwinia

Desc: RTS game
Use: Played a couple of times
Usage: With time and patience this game could be fun. Get past the UI learning curve and you’re halfway there. Got my ass kicked by the computer and gave up. I used to really love games like this, that were engaging and challenging. Now I have a 2 year old who fills that role.

Overflow

Desc: Application launcher
Use: Never used
Usage: Back in my day, if something ain’t broke, why try and fix it? Butler for the mac worked for me last year, no reason it wont work again this year. Now get off my lawn.

Pandora’ Pests

Desc: Swy Flotter game
Use: Played once
Usage: About as an annoying and un-fun game as there could be. If this game is being ironic, the irony must be lost on me.

Phone View

Desc: iPhone utility thingie
Use: Never used
Usage: I long ago forgot about using my iPhone as an external disk. I think I have 8gb and it’s about half full. Perhaps I’m not using the full potential of the iPhone… might be interesting if I opened it up.

Picturesque

Desc: Pretty picture maker
Use: Never used
Usage: This app will add things like a reflection or perspective you your pictures, and then let you save them as a .png file. Let’s hope for this apps sake the reflection look stays in style a little longer.

PocketMac Ringtone Studio

Desc: iPhone ringtone maker
Use: Used once
Usage: I’ve chosen the most basic, old skool ringtone that came with the phone. And since a ringtone is often a direct reflection of your personality, I’ve never thought I could describe myself fully with one single song.

Pop pop

Desc: Breakout style game
Use: Used once
Usage: I’ve never been a huge fan of breakout style games. Just never have. I suspect I may never.

Process

Desc: GTD style outlining app
Use: Used once
Usage: I’ve tried many GTD and outliner applications, and most disappoint. I can’t say I gave this one a chance, but when an app like this makes me do things their way, I usually lose interest pretty quickly. If only I were a true follower of the GTD mantra.

Santa Snaps

Desc: Christmas themed, PhotoBooth clone
Use: Never used
Usage: I don’t have a web cam on my machine, and if I did I’m sure I wouldn’t use PhotoBooth, let alone a Christmas themed PhotoBooth.

Scribbles

Desc: Vector based drawing app
Use: Never used
Usage: I’ve heard good things about this app, but it’s hard to imagine taking the time to learn this app when I know Illustrator so well.

Shovebox

Desc: Information organizer
Use: Never used
Usage: All these little organizer apps are probably good, if you have the time to learn to use them, or can fit into their scheme. I don’t and I can’t.

SousChef

Desc: Cooking/recipe app
Use: Never used
Usage: Since my wife is the resident foodie, I rarely bother with what’s for dinner. I get the sense though, that she’d like me to step it up a bit. Since I can look in the fridge and be clueless on what I can make, this app might be very useful with it’s “what’s in your fridge” feature.

StickyNotes

Desc: Like Stickies, but better?
Use: Never used
Usage: I hate post-it notes in real life, and even more so all over my desktop.

Synergy

Desc: Menu bar iTunes controler
Use: Never used
Usage: Pretty happy just using iTunes to control iTunes. Also my menu bar feels too full already.

Times

Desc: Newspaper style news reader
Use: Never used
Usage: I should take a closer look at this app, but I’ve been using NewNewsWire for a while now and have been happy enough with it.

The Hit List

Desc: Kick Ass To-Do List (GTD)
Use: Use all day, every day
Usage: Each year there is at least one application that really stands out and makes the bundle a no-brainer. The Hit List is that app this year. I’ve finally found a to do list that works for me, and keeps me on track. I can’t say enough good things about it.

Timepost

Desc: Time tracker
Use: Never used
Usage: I use a web based app called Harvest. They do time tracking better than anyone, and no desktop based app will convince me otherwise.

Typinator

Desc: System wide spell check, correction and shortcut tool
Use: Use daily
Usage: This is a great little app that will correct spelling as you type as well as allowing you to create keyboard shortcuts for often typed items. I use the letters bhe to automatically enter my email, for example. It even has a cool little clickety sound when it makes a correction.

Webbla

Desc: Bookmark manager
Use: Never used
Usage: I like keeping things simple, and adding another application to keep my bookmarks in order seems like piling on. I keep a lot of bookmarks, and they are already well organized within my browser. Both my browsers, actually. Might be nice for people with less bookmarks.

WireTap Studio

Desc: Audio recording and editing
Use: Use periodically
Usage: Last year’s loot included a license for WireTap Pro, and my guess is WireTap Studio is just the upgrade. It seems pretty much the same, although now all my recordings are saved in a library within the application. I can then easily send the recordings to various places like iTunes, and in various formats like .mp3. I’ve been recording the noises my kids make and posting them on their site.

World of Goo

Desc: Globular Game
Use: Used a couple of times
Usage: Very fun game where you move goo around to make other goo do things and build structure.

Overall the bundle was absolutely fantastic this year, with The Hit List coming out as the biggest gem IMO. I also really like Typinator and am hoping I figure out how use Espresso. Which were your favorites?

Shane McConkey 1969 – 2009

Web design business tools

Bryan Hoffman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:36:51 +0000

How SD gets the day to day business done.

When asked what I do for a living, my response is generally, “I’m a web designer.” And while it’s certainly true that I spend the majority of the time building websites, I also spend a lot of time running my business. I don’t have a full time business manager or accountant, so finding the most efficient and effective systems are a priority (see this post on my dream system). I thought I would outline my business related workflow here by following a fictitious client, Joe, as he travels through a typical Spigot Design job flow.

Joe is looking to get a website created. He searches in the Google for local web designers, and is impressed with the great work we do (yeah, it’s my story, so I’ll embellish it a bit). So he sends us a note through the contact form to inquire about getting a quote for his skydiving company. He’s in the System.

Enter the Matrix – Step 1: Highrise

Tool description:

: Highrise is a web based CRM, or Customer Relationship Management tool.

The website contact form sends me an email with Joe’s request. It also contains his email address. The first thing I do is to get Joe’s info into Highrise. I enter his name and his email, but that’s all I’ve got so far, so the rest of it, like company name and phone, will have to come later. I also enter his request into the notes section. Here is where I keep a running list of notes about Joe – how I first made contact, what my response to his request was, what his response back to me was – all listed out by date, with the latest note at the top for easy reference.

Making contact – Step 2: Reply from Highrise

Highrise allows me to respond via email directly (sorta) from the system. I click on Joe’s email address, which opens my email client (Apple Mail) with a message to Joe. In the BCC field appears an email address that looks something like this: dropbox@12234.youraccount.highrisehq.com. This is a nice little feature that sends a blind copy of the email back to Highrise, and lists it in the same notes history section I mentioned before. Sweet!

When Joe emails back to say he’d like to meet, next Monday at 11, I immediately copy the contents of that email into Highrise. So far, I have a complete history of my dealings with Joe, kept neatly in one place. He’s also given me the rest of his contact info, so now I’ve got that entered into Highrise as well.

Time and place – Step 3: Schedule the meeting.

Tool descriptions:

: iCal is my calendar application (Mac only).
: gCal (Google Calendars).
: BusySync allows automatic synchronization between iCal and gCal.
: MobileMe is a service from Apple for sharing all sorts of stuff, calendars included

iCal is Joe’s next destination. I’ll enter there the date and time of our meeting, into my ‘Spigot Design’ calendar (iCal allows me to keep multiple calendars). Joe then gets to take a wild ride as all of my various calendars get synced-in: From iCal, BusySync sends Joe’s meeting event to gCal, Google’s free, web based calendar. I use gCal to allow easy sharing of calendars with my business manager, who also happens to be my wife. And since we share our gCal calendars, she’s now up to date as well, including her iCal since she’s also using BusySync. And if she needs to make a change to Joe’s event, updating it in iCal starts the process again, back through BusySync, to gCal to my gCal to BusySync to iCal. Whew.

And since I use MobileMe, my iPhone calendar is updated almost instantly with ‘push’ notifications. Any calendar I look at now will tell me when and where I’m meeting Joe.

Update: BusySync is no longer necessary for syncing iCal and gCal. See Google Calendar CalDAV/iCal syncing now official from TUAW for more information.

Let’s get this project started – Step 4: The PMS.

Tool descriptions:

: Project Pier – Open source project management system

I skipped over the part where we present a proposal for Joe’s project, so let’s just assume that he’s psyched to go with us – he’s accepted our proposal and signed the contract – and handed over some green.

The next step is to get Joe’s project set up in the PMS, ProjectPier. PP is an open-source and self-hosted application that keeps me abreast of everything that’s going on in a particular project – including messages, comments to those messages, file uploads, tasks and deadlines. And since it’s open-source, I am able to build my own theme, with the look and feel of my own website.

Setting up Joe’s project is a snap. I create a new client, Joe’s Skydiving, add joe as a user – which will send him an email with his login credentials, and then I create a new project – Joe’s Skydiving website. I’ll create a welcome message to Joe, orienting him with the PMS and encouraging him to have a look around.

As the project progresses through the design process, the PMS is where comps get uploaded and discussed, and it is where Joe uploads items such as copy or images. Once the design phase is complete, and Joe is head over heels on the design, I create a special message titled – Final Design Sign-off – to which Joe will reply that he approves the design, and we can move on to the development stage. This is an important message, as it’s now ‘in writing’ and any changes to the design from here on out are beyond the scope of the contract – and charged at an hourly rate. Luckily Joe and I went through the contract carefully beforehand, and he understands the consequences of changing the design once development has started.

Keeping the train on track – Step 5: The time tracker.

Tool descriptions:

: Harvest – Web based time and expense tracking

Even though I bid Joe’s website on a project basis rather than by the hour, I still want to know how much time I spend on it. That’s where Harvest comes in to play. Joe gets plugged in there too, as a client, and as a project. Within his project I have several tasks already set up, such as – Comps, Comp Revisions, Programming, Project Management, etc. This allows me to track time spent on Joe’s project in great detail. I’ll know how long the design phase took – how much time was spent in meetings – how much time was spent internally on the project. This information has been invaluable in bidding projects accurately.

Harvest also allows me to track any expenses Joe’s project may incur, such as stock photography, or fonts. I also have an internal project set up, so I can track expenses that aren’t directly attributable to Joe. That new Apple Cinema Display I’ve been coveting comes to mind.

I’ve written before about how much I like Harvest, and I’m still hoping that Iridesco comes to the rescue and builds my dream app.

Rolling the dough – Step 6: Get paid.

Tool descriptions:

: Quickbooks – Lesser of all evil accounting software

I’m going to say right up front that I hate Quickbooks. It is what it is, and until Iridesco comes to the rescue and builds my dream app, it’ll have to do.

Invoicing and accounting get done through QB, and Joe will be getting a pdf version of the final bill.

And that’s all I really have to say about Quickbooks.

Checking the feedback – Step 7: The follow-up.

Following up with Joe is important, thanking him for his business and checking in to see how happy he’s doing. I’d also like to get a testimonial if he’s willing, so I’ve put a nice reminder to myself in Highrise to send him a thank you note a week or so after the site is launched, as well as a note to contact him in a couple of months to get feedback.

Conclusion

The best part of my job is the design part. The business part I’m not so good at. Thankfully I have a system for that. It may not be the best system or the most efficient – I often find myself wishing there weren’t so many tools to keep updated – but the important thing here is that I have a system. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without it.

Giving MarsEdit a test drive

Bryan Hoffman — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:33:00 +0000

I find that the WordPress Admin window for adding a new post is much too small. Yes, I know you can make it bigger by dragging the form window open, but it messes with the layout of the site and feels more like a band-aid solution than a robust answer. Add the fact that I like the comforts of my own desktop, I find myself writing new posts in a text editor.

Now, as much as I love a good text editor for programming websites, writing a new post and adding the html markup by hand feels somewhat archaic, and I thought there must be a better way.

So that’s why I’m giving MarsEdit a go. I’m sure there are others out there, but I’ve head good things about this one, and I’ve heard that Gruber uses it.

So this post is being written using it, and so far so good. I’m able to easily add html tags to headlines and paragraphs as well as easily add a link. There was no unordered list tag in the default set, but adding my own ‘custom markup macro’ was a snap. I now have a list item tag opening and closing tag as well as an unordered list set.

The other thing I’m concerned about is adding an image. The MarsEdit logo above was submitted through the app, so we’ll see if and how it gets posted. I wasn’t offered an alignment options, so I had to manually add an “alignleft” class.

Ok, so here goes. I’ll leave the layout and styling as is, published directly from the app. If anything looks funny, feel free to blame Red Sweater Software, makers of MarsEdit.

No related posts.

First Hand: How to begin a blog

Bryan Hoffman — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:56:35 +0000

When starting a section on your site that you intend to update on a frequent basis, its a good idea to ask yourself a few questions first. As this is my first real post, I’ll go ahead and use myself as a real life example to the process.

Step 1: Pick your audience

Often you’ll hear that the first thing you need to do is figure out what you want to write about, but I think the first thing you should do is decide who your readers are, and who you’d like to have visiting your site. In my case, I’d really like to have local people who are interested in buying my services visiting my site. Since I don’t have a specific niche picked out, I’ll say its small to medium sized business owners. Very vague, yes, and I worry about how much surfing of the web these types of people do. But this is my main target, so I’ll keep them included.

I’d also like to increase traffic overall so as to help my search engine rankings. Its very popular in many fields to write articles that would attract your peers. It will help to establish some credibility in my field, and the articles will be easier to write as its something I’m already interested in.

So, my target audience is:

Local business owners
Web/Graphic Designers

Step 2: Decide what you want to write about

Now that you have your audience picked out, what the heck are you going to say to them. There’s lots of advice out there about how you should pick one theme, and stick to it. Research, research, research and become an expert. I couldn’t agree more. I will more than likely be breaking that rule however. Since I have two distinct audiences, I’ll think I’ll be splitting up what I write about between business related articles, and design related ones. I imagine I’ll be sometimes writing about the business of design too, just to have some overlap.

So, my theme(s) are:

How the web relates to business
Web Design

Step 3: Pick your voice

I haven’t come across any advice on how to write. Writing is a creative talent that needs honing and practice. Write naturally is my advice, and thats what I’ll be doing here.

So, my voice:

Casual and natural, light humor

Step 4: Set up your blog

There are lots of ways to set up a blog, but the best way is to hire a quality designer. Custom beats templates always. Why? Because I’m a custom web designer and that’s my biased opinion. There are free set ups out there, however, and I encourage you to check them out. Then come on back and I’ll set you up right.

So, Set up:

Do it custom, do it right.

Step 5: Write regularly

Even if no one is reading your great prose, keep writing. By the time you catch on with your audience you’ll be a better writer. This is the advice I’m going to follow.

So, write regularily:

Yes, do.

Step 6: Have fun

If you’re not enjoying it, you wont write, and your blog will languish, and for sure no one will ever read it except your family and only because you make them. So have fun.

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