Adding Tags to all of Article19 sections is progressing as planned and we have fixed a error that had disabled our subscription feature following an upgrade to the content management system.
Tagging of News and Evil Imp is complete and you should start seeing Tags appear at the bottom of all entries across all sections over the next week or so.
If you don't know what a Tag is them I'm afraid we can't help you, all is lost!!
We are currently adding some minor new features to Article19, some of which will make life easier for us and some that will make using the site easier for you.
Tags are being added to all of the data on Article19 to make things easier to find within certain categories (like funding, companies, etc). This will take a bit of time but you can see the tagging appear at the end of each item on Article19 starting with the news pages. The process should be finished in a week or so.
Yes, ads have appeared on some pages using the dreaded Google Adsense system (or Makes No Sense as we call it).
Advertising has become a necessary evil on many websites but we will not, and we can't stress this enough, place generating revenue to support the site ahead of the content or how that content is presented.
We will be hacking around and retooling the placement of these ads so as not to cause any problems for our readers. There will be no 'click ad to watch video' crap on here or similar forced ad watch nonsense. If the ads from Google don't generate the revenue (for maintaining the site) to justify their presence then they will be gone faster than they appeared.
We still don't like Google's behavior in China but the money we get doesn't come from them which is small consolation but not much. We are working on getting a sponsor but that it's difficult and takes time, so bear with us!
TheLab™
We have added feedback forms to almost all of the major feature sections to try and encourage a little more feedback from readers about what they think of a particular piece, editorial, video or otherwise. At present the level of feedback, despite tens of thousands of visitors, is, to be blunt, completely crap!
This should make it a little easier for folks to spontaneously make a comment, we would hope. The additions create no impact on load times or other operations on the site. To keep the code clean there is no Javascript 'jammer' on the form, but the default from the good folks at Dotdragnet works like a charm. We've been using their form submission script for years so it's time it came in from the cold and showed it's face!
;o)
Well at least it will be when the Article19 Podcast is listed on iTunes, which at the moment it's not. Now this is not going to be a Lab™ radio show or anything (heaven forbid! Ed). Instead it will be audio interviews conducted either in person or over the phone.
We're using podcasts for some interviews because they are quick to format, easy on bandwidth and simple to use. The podcasts will be 'enhanced' with chapter markers so you can shuttle about them as you see fit! Subscription will also be possible with auto downloads for iTunes users.
At present we are building them into iTunes only (which is both Mac and Wintel compatible) we shall test them out on other software but not for a while.
Video interviews will still be used as and when they are practicable. The only other thing we need to figure out is whether or not podcast comes with a capital 'P' or not!
Now built into the written features section, built into the remaining sections in time. The Upcoming site itself is still under development and we are expecting a lot of changes over the coming months to make it even easier to add events for direct inclusion on Article19 and other sites.
We're currently beefing up the RSS integration on the entire site. Every section of Article19 has RSS (really simple syndication) facilities on it but we have been keeping it to ourselves a little bit. Time to move it out font and centre.
All will become clear with the new RSS page to keep you informed about what it it is, where it is, and how to use it.
Transition should be complete by the end of the day (UK time).
We will be running some tests on new layouts over the next few days so you may notice some odd things going on in one or more sections of the site.
We're not plotting a major redesign just some layout changes to clear things up a little. It's all part of the development of the site.
Image galleries were a good thing here at the Lab but then a year went by without a decent photo op, they are few and far between it would appear, so the section became somewhat neglected.
We will try very hard to get some new dance related imagery online in the very near future but in the meantime we are upgrading the old galleries that have been a lost soul since the new design was introduced back in January.
A snazzy new Flash based viewer has been deployed which you may have seen already on the Closer and Ballet Lorent galleries.
It takes a bit of time to go through the image archives and pull out the pictures, reformat them and then import them but it will get done, eventually.
We are currently looking into integrating Upcoming.org functionality into Article19. If you haven't heard of it before, Upcoming.org is a website that lets users build groups of people to actively promote events at common venues anywhere in the world.
Now what possible use could that have to a dance related website? Yes, performance listings!!
Listings have appeared and disappeared from Article19 several times over the years. The main problem is they are a complete pain in the rear to keep up to date and present in a usable format. Of more use, and far more practical, would be to allow anybody to create events, publicise them, and automatically have those performances added to Article19 with automatic email updates letting you know when shows were coming soon, so to speak.
Upcoming seems to be the way forward for just such a feature. We shall investigate the integration over the next week or so and keep you posted on just how it's all coming together.
The service itself, Upcoming, is an internet startup that was recently purchased by Yahoo. New features and development are ongoing and we will be keeping a close eye on just how those features can help the wide world of dance.
Integration at present is limited in terms of how much detail can be displayed on Article19 and how much is displayed on Upcoming. In its current incarnation the vast majority of data would be held by Upcoming so clicking on performance info would take you out of Article19 and onto Upcoming but that's a minor issue at present and as the site develops new features will undoubtedly be added to augment the feature-set.
Allright, enough disruption at the back settle in and we'll tell what this is all about.
It may appear that not much is happening on Article19 from time to time but nothing could be further from the truth. We are always either working on actual writing for the site, maintaining the beast so it keeps ticking over nicely or looking at ways to bring in new features.
But of course to you, our dear readers, it may appear that nothing, nowt, zip, bugger all (delete as applicable for your region), is happening and we know that can be frustrating.
So this maintenance blog is here so we can keep you informed of new features, downtime, fixes, bugs and other things, feel free to leave comments here so we know what you think but we understand if you don't. After all, we hardly ever leave comments or send emails to other websites so why should you lot be any different?
we'll be in touch!!
Filed by Article19 at 5:39 PM | 