Last night, a glitch in Feedburner’s system filled our Twitter stream with tweets from bloggers concerned about their site feeds.

Feedburner, a web feed (RSS) management tool, has been a valuable tool in the blogger’s toolbox for many years.

A few years back, Google acquired it, made some changes, and then promptly stopped developing and improving it. This worked fine, until it was announced that on October 20th, the API would be closing. This, along with the fact that Google had let the Feedburner.jp domain expire, and closed the Feedburner Twitter account over 60 days ago, led many to believe that their feeds were doomed.

So, what can you do?

First of all — don’t panic. While there is a glitch going on right now, Google is working on it and Feedburner has not shut down. Your subscribers are not lost.

With that said, given some of the recent actions/inactions on Feedburner’s part, it is probably a wise idea to look for a new RSS Feed Management tool.

I’ve listed some below, along with some brief summaries of each.  Be sure to follow the summary tips at the bottom of the post as well.

Feeburner Alternatives:

Feedblitz (paid)

While this is a paid service (fee-based; fees are based on the number of email subscriptions), it includes much more than just RSS. It brings together RSS feeds and email marketing into one

FeedBlitz is a service that monitors blogs, RSS feeds and Web URLs to provide greater reach for feed publishers. FeedBlitz takes all the headache out of converting feed and blog updates into email digests, delivered daily to subscribers’ inboxes. FeedBlitz manages subscriptions, circulation tracking, testing, and is compatible with all major blogging platforms and services such as Blogger, WordPress, FeedBurner, Joomla, Drupal and Typepad. Unlike other blogmail services, FeedBlitz is reliable, scalable and fully supported. No betas, wish lists or road map items here. You’re in production, and so is FeedBlitz.

FeedBlitz also enables end users to monitor any feed or blog, anonymously if they wish, regardless of whether the publisher of that feed is using FeedBlitz. FeedBlitz therefore provides a simple way for users to receive updates from their trusted sources using a familiar and ubiquitous medium – email.

Bonus: they also, they have a free Feedburner migration guide.

Feedcat (free)

This free RSS/ATOM service allows you to also track views, visits and other analytics.

Promote your feed content and measure audiences with FEEDCAT bookmarking, sharing and proxying service.

RapidFeeds (paid; free trial)

RapidFeeds is a web feed hosting and management provider founded in 2005. Services include traffic analysis (hits, feeds’ click-through rate, items’ click-through rate) and pinging to web-aggregators and directories. RapidFeeds not only manages but also hosts the feeds. RapidFeeds provides “browser-compatible” feeds so any browser will display the feed in a readable format with some subscription options. More sophisticated features include scheduling feeds to be updated with previously added content and password protection for feeds. The service also supports podcasting. Its iTunes Support offers an easy way to add more information about the podcast in the iTunes Store. (source: Wikipedia)

Feedity (paid; free trial)

Feedity is a revolutionary service for creating RSS feeds and generating podcast feeds from webpages. Feeds created with Feedity automatically update as new or updated content appears on the source webpage.

Feedity will take virtually any webpage and convert it into a fully formed RSS document for content publishing or subscription. Feedity aims to make it easy and possible for anyone to extract and reuse Web-based public content.

It might also be time to switch to a newsletter format

If your readership has really grown, or you are thinking about getting really serious about growing it, you might want to consider a newsletter instead. (Note: This is different from RSS, but might be a viable option for some)

Nourish
Sparklit
MailChimp

In the meantime

You will want to save your current Feedburner email subscriber list.

Log into your Feedburner account >> “Email subscriptions” >> “View Subscriber Details” >> “Export CSV”. You will now have a spreadsheet document on your computer that you will be able to migrate/upload to other feed sites.

Need help?

Contact us, if you need help making the switch. We’re happy to discuss your options with you.

https://twitter.com/Archer_Creative/status/213019863982145537

I was able to embed that Tweet onto this post by simply pasting the permalink of the Tweet into the post editor. Readers can ‘follow’, ‘reply’, ‘retweet’ etc without leaving the post.

Some additional features:

- Preview themes without actually changing the themes and make changes within the preview screen
- Use HTML in image captions for styling
- Add new comment from post edit screen

Read about all of the changes on the WordPress blog and watch this video for a quick overview:

Security issues can arise when plugins and platform software gets out of date, so upgrade. (Be sure to backup your site before you upgrade! )

*“Green” in honor of guitarist Grant Green

We became very interested in attending the 2012 Conference, which is being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this year, so that we could get involved and meet others dealing with similar issues. But we also noticed that there were certain skills that we could offer, that they might benefit from, specifically, a promotional video and a social media strategy and presence.

We reached out, offered to help, and they accepted. We will be filming throughout the conference and interviewing speakers and attendees in order to create a promotional video for future events. We are also helping them plan and implement their use of social media from the promotional aspect to the post-conference follow-up. Karla will be leading an Intro to Twitter for attendees on Thursday night for attendees who want to understand how to use Twitter during a conference.

Equally exciting, is that we will be able to take our two oldest, so that they can attend the children’s portion.

We are honored to be a part of the conference, and absolutely thrilled to be able to give back to an organization that has given us so much. Stayed tuned for more information and updates.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@KarlaArcher, @RandyArcher , @Archer_Creative, SENG_Gifted, #SENG12) and Facebook for more information and for updates during the conference.

The end result is a well organized, soothing website that is appealing, functional and well-organized.

Before:

Need a makeover for your existing site? Let’s talk!

]]> http://archercreative.com/2012/05/before-and-after-margaret-mcsweeney/feed/ 0 http://archercreative.com/2012/05/finding-images-for-posts/ http://archercreative.com/2012/05/finding-images-for-posts/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 12:45:37 +0000 Karla http://archercreative.com/?p=327 I recently had a discussion with a fellow web designer about images used on a client’s site.

Her client contacted her after receiving a $1400 invoice from the image’s license holder, for unauthorized use of an image. He thought that because he had found the image on Google Images that it was free for him to use.

Just because it is on the internet, it doesn’t mean it’s yours.

If you have a budget that allows, and you need the “perfect” shot, there are many stock photo sites where you can find and purchase images, thereby obtaining a license that allows you to use it on your site, in your logo, on your promotional material.

But let’s say your budget is limited. Or that all you need is a photo for a blog post.

What are your options for free photos?

Below you will find several sites worth bookmarking. I have highlighted some of the options to be especially aware of as you search. (click on images to enlarge) Always be certain that you read any license information. As my fellow designer mentioned, “Ignorance is not an excuse for theft” in the eyes of the license holder.

Google Creative Commons Image Search:  (*Please note that this is not the same as ‘Google Images’. ‘Google Images’ is not a free image site. It is still up to the user to verify and obtain image rights prior to using)

Check “Usage Rights” on the Advanced Image Search to filter your images.

Flickr’s Creative Commons Image Search: Flickr is filled with amazingly stunning photos from photographers around the world. Just about any and every keyword is covered.

But be sure to check the license. To do so: Go to “advanced search”, scroll to the bottom of the page and search within the creative commons content. You will still need to check the requirements that each user stipulates for their photos. Some allow a simple attribution, others still require that you ask for permission.

EveryStockPhoto.com: A search engine for free images from various sources. As always, check the license for each photo.

Stock.xchng: Owned by Getty Images, this site contains over 350,000 free images. Your search will also show premium photos from other sources.

As you search, be aware of the restriction information presented in the Download / Image Use Related Questions section of the FAQ page.

FreeStockPhotos.biz: Over 16,000 “free images available in a variety of commercial and editorial licenses, including public domain, creative commons, and custom agreements.” Check the FAQ page for usage information and check the ‘license details’ link on each photo.

 All of the sites listed above have different license details. But all of them are excellent resources. Just be aware of the usage rights and restrictions. Educate yourself and you won’t have to worry about receiving a surprise $1400 invoice.

But what if you want to explore something else. Or you’ve reworked all of your old posts?

Don’t fret – you’ve still got plenty of options.

Here are some of my favorite idea-joggers for those times when I’m, once again, staring at a flashing cursor :

• If you use Google Analytics (of course you do, right?) check the search terms and keywords that bring visitors to your site. If it’s relevant to your business, give them what they want: write posts using those terms for your topic. (*I’m not talking about ‘keyword stuffing‘ – that is something entirely different, and you want to absolutely avoid that.)

• It may sound obvious, but stay informed. Read magazines, newspapers, books, websites of all kinds. Sometimes inspiration comes from reading something that seems completely unexpected.

• Is there something that clients regularly ask you about? Write your answer and explanation in a post.

• Don’t shy away from a topic that is industry related, yet controversial. You might choose to take a neutral stance, offering up all positions and viewpoints, or, if you are comfortable, go ahead and write up your own well-thought-out stance on the topic.

• Pay attention to your social media accounts. What are others talking about? What questions are people asking? What are they looking for?

• Always keep a notepad or voice recorder close by to jot down ideas and thoughts or to journal. I can’t begin to count the number of fabulous blog posts I’ve come up with while in the shower, only to forget them by the time I was done. You never know when an awesome blog post will form in your mind.

• Where do you see your industry headed in the next 5, 10, 40 years? How is it different from 5, 10, 40 years ago? Reflect on trends and speculate on what lies ahead.

• Know of a good topic already, but don’t feel comfortable writing on it yourself? Ask someone to guest post, or interview them and write up your Q & A session.

• Worst case scenario (or maybe, it’s the best place to start?): take a walk, go for a run, drive through the countryside. Just step away from the computer and allow your mind to relax.

photo credit

When I started blogging, I had a million-and-one blog posts swirling around in my head at any given time. It seemed the ideas would never dry up. Fast-forward 4 years, and I found myself struggling to compose one good one a week. It may have been caused by the (false) notion that everything under the sun had already been written, or it may have just been the overwhelming prospect of coming up with the next great blog post.

It got hard. And it became a struggle.

So what do you do when you fall into those times of writing drought; when the ideas no longer flow, or even trickle?

If you’ve been blogging for any length of time, you already have a stockpile of topics sitting on your blog.

Not only does revisiting old posts help generate new post ideas, but it allows new readers to become familiar with some of your older postings.

Some ideas for making your old posts new again:

• Revisit what you’ve written in the past and freshen it up. Write a completely new post, based on the original (be sure to link to it) and update it with new information and statistics. Or include excerpts from it, and use those excerpts as a starting point for explaining any new views or positions and why they have/haven’t changed due to new evidence/support/data.

• Rewrite old content to address current/relevant events. You may have a fantastic post that stands completely on its own, but it’s buried under a mountain of old posts. Use current events as a reason to revisit the post. Write a brief summary of how a particular current event relates and simply link back to your post within it.

• Have you written a post in the past that targets a certain audience? Why not use the same topic and write a post that is relevant to an entirely different one.

• Create a roundup of some of your favorite posts. Usually this is a great way to end the year, but it can work during the year, on a smaller scale. Writing a post to highlight posts that may have been overlooked in recent weeks, creates another opportunity for readers to see and connect with them.

Blogging does require dedication and thought, but coming up with new posts doesn’t always require completely new thoughts. The ones you’ve already written can be some of your best springboards.

The countdown is on, and SOPA is expected to pass through the Senate on January 24th. (*UPDATE 1/19/2012 : Key Supporters of the bill have backed down after Wednesday’s protest)

Tomorrow, January 18th, 2012, many of the most popular sites on the internet will be taking part in a ‘blackout’ of their sites to protest this bill.

While none of our sites are equal to Mozilla (Firefox), WordPress.org or Wikipedia‘s traffic (<<< those links will take you to posts on their stance on this bill), we are taking part, to show our disapproval of this bill in its current state.

Our own sites will be blacked-out.

While we sympathize with those who have their work stolen from piracy sites online, this bill is not a good compromise.

It will change the internet as you know it.

Please educate yourself on this topic (in addition to the links above):

Stop American Censorship
Strike Against SOPA
WIRED.com – Black out your site the Google friendly way
SOPA Blackout rebuffed by bill authors (*duh…)
and on…
and on…
and on…
and at this point of my list [not trying to be rude] but, I say, just do your own Google search on SOPA Blackout (see how there are currently more than 2600 (!!) news stories on this?)… There is so much info out there…

And if you are so inclined, please add these plugins to your WordPress sites:

SOPA Strike (you will see out black-out tomorrow, January 18th, 2012)
Stop SOPA Ribbon (you can see this in the upper right-side of this site)

On that note — all of our sites will be on ‘blackout’ tomorrow.

Educate yourself.

(*this post is being cross-posted on all of our sites: Archer Creative, Living The Life Fantastic, Karla Archer )

as always — please feel free to include your own links on this issue…

Next weekend, January 14th and 15th, make plans to attend WordCamp Birmingham (nicknamed “WPY’all”). The speaker and sessions lineup has been finalized and, WOW -I’m excited about going!

I had already planned on attending, but I am also going to be speaking. My topic is Blogging and Dating: Not so Different. What your business or brand needs to know for attracting visitors.

Sara Cannon has done a superb job of organizing it, and there are plenty of tickets left (for now!) so makes plans to attend! And if you do, please make sure to introduce yourself to me.

For more info:

Schedule
Sessions
Speakers
Register (there is a student pass available; same access as the regular pass, but special pricing just for students. Sweet.)

I’ve been playing around with it some, and thought about writing up a brief ‘what’s new’/how-to, but there have already been several written. So why reinvent water…

Some overviews and quick start guides:

Twitter: Meet the New Twitter
FoxNews: Everything You Need to Know about the New Changes
Mashable: The New Twitter – everything you need to know
Cnet: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ : Three-way brand page shootout (yep – brand pages are coming to Twitter as well)
Hubspot: Twitter Launches Brand Pages for Business Accounts

Additionally, if you have the apps on your smartphone, be sure to update those as well. And Mac users: you can now download the new Tweetdeck app directly from the app store (free).

Have you had a chance to try out the new Twitter? What do you think of the changes?