Monthly Archives: December 2010

Contact Form 7 Textarea Wordcount, by Ninthlink

When one of our clients asked that their site’s Contact form (which I was building via the most excellent Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin) have a Max Word limit on the Comments textarea field, the quickest way I knew to achieve this was to create a plugin to add a bit more functionality to how CF7 handles Textarea’s. Thanks to WordPress & Contact Form 7′s use of hooks and filters, the plugin simply adds an extra text field in the back end, allowing admins to specify a max word count on any Textarea, and then on the front end, adds some jQuery magic to limit that text field to the given number of words.

Like it? Download the plugin to use on your own site. And please add any questions/comments/suggestions/criticisms below, or to the official page on WordPress.org!

By Alex Chousmith on December 30, 2010
Categories: Tips, Press/News, Develop, Market

WordPress Plugin Lets You A/B Test Your Headlines

Previously, we’ve discussed some ideas for what you should be A/B testing and at the top of that list was headlines. Headlines can have a dramatic affect on your site’s ability to persuade site visitors and improve conversion rates. Because of this, they should be one of your top priorities when it comes to testing. Fortunately for WordPress users, there’s a plugin for that appropriately named Headline Split Tester, which allows you to easily and simultaneously run two individual headlines and see which wins.

By David Lussky on December 29, 2010
Categories: Tips, Market

Google Zeitgeist 2010: How the world searched

At the beginning of December, Yahoo released their list of the Top 10 searches for 2010, which we posted a blog on earlier. A little over a week ago, Google released their own comprehensive report on the most popular search trends of the year in the Zeitgeist 2010.

The top 3 on the global list of ‘Fastest Rising’, which compares terms searched this year compared to last year, were Chatroulette, iPad, and Justin Bieber. The top global events included the World Cup, Olympics, Haiti earthquake, BP oil spill, and the ash cloud over Iceland. Since Google gets billions more search queries than other sites such as Bing and Yahoo, this is the list that truly can paint a picture of the biggest trends and topics of 2010.

Google also takes it a step further by breaking the list into numerous categories, even having a ‘Fastest Falling’ section for terms falling out of search popularity. There are a lot of ways to sort through Google’s report; in addition to getting a global prospective, you can sort the data into specific regions around the globe, by US cities, and even check out what’s been happening with popular videos on you tube. One of the videos specifically mentioned (and one we enjoyed in the office) can be seen here:

Yosemite Mountain Double Rainbow – never in your life will see someone this excited about a double rainbow.

By David Lussky on December 20, 2010
Categories: Culture, Press/News

It is not often in Life you Get to Try Hard at Something you Deeply Believe In…

For those that love the arts and love the culture that surrounds things important to you. A must see documentary about how Philadelphia robbed a Man (Albert Barnes) of his “Trust, Will” and life’s work. The Art of the Steal was shared with me from a dear friend Mark Murphy who is working his ass off to educate, share and empower artists across the globe. Please watch this movie and consider the amazing people in your community that may be working with artists, students, business’s and other creative minded individuals to become fully self expressed – once you have identified them… tell them you appreciate them and figure out how you can work together to do cool stuff!

Oh yeah. Try not be like be like the guys and gals that stole this guys “Will” & “Trust”.

By Jeromy Stallings on December 19, 2010
Categories: Culture, Design, Market

Flash. And you’ve been Branded by BMW.

Checkout this Ad Experiments from BMW that immersed the audience in some storytelling, then flashed some subliminal-retinal magic. Kind of cool/scary considering the many flashes of digital content we are absorbing daily from tv, phones and other fun stuff.

By Jeromy Stallings on December 18, 2010
Categories: Market

Do’s and Don’ts of A/B Testing

While A/B testing is a relatively simple and cost effective way to improve your site’s conversion rates, there are some important things to keep in mind to ensure your success.

By David Lussky on December 18, 2010
Categories: Tips, Market

Black Book Sessions #9. What Inspires You?

Save the date—Saturday, January 22—Black Book Sessions No. 9 at Westwood College located at 1551 S. Douglass Road in Anaheim, CA from 1 pm to 6 pm. Yes, the holidays are upon us and the good folks at Black Book Sessions are planning a big art event to give back to the community in January of 2011. Black Book Sessions is a non-profit organization that empowers and inspires young and emerging talent. Over the past three years, Black Book Sessions have sponsored a series of live events, “Sessions,” providing

By Jeromy Stallings on December 17, 2010
Categories: Culture

Ad Network Technology. Dymystified. Or Not?

So many people ask me what is happening behind the scenes of Banner Ad and Internet Ad placements. I sometimes – regret they ask this question as there is no short answer. This is the best graphic I have found to get the conversation started. Ad Networks have become very powerful channels for brands to promote and grow there offerings. So many opportunities – so little time. Enjoy and get your products online in 2011.

By Jeromy Stallings on December 17, 2010
Categories: Market

Are you an Online Killer, Socializer or Explorer? Take the Test.

As if I (or you) do not have enough going on right now , but in the vein of helping get some killer web strategies authored for 2011 – checkout some of these sites. My fascination and moderate participation in online games and social meta-universes has drawn me into some captivating trends in the world of MMORPG’s or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Player Games and Communities.

Share your Virtual Life
One of the interesting trends is Social Networks and Communities evolving around the social gaming and meta-universe’s. Social sites like gamerDNA allow you to connect with persons with like interests in game play, style and skill. Another interesting site is Koinup – that offers a social networking platform for all virtual world inhabitants to share images, videos and other stuff’ssss.

Take the Test
If you don’t know what type of game best suits you, try out the Bartle Test which is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences. Find out if you are a Killer, Socializer or a Explorer at Take the Quiz at gamerDNA. READ MORE

By Jeromy Stallings on December 16, 2010
Categories: Culture, Design

Connected World and Community. Wow!

Thought this image (infographic) was worth taking a quick timeout from working on strategies that are helping clients reach more customers through the Internet. For those that have not yet watched the “Social Network” about the amazing explosion of Facebook – the image above highlights for you how significant the participation and connection is between friends, families and cultures online. Really like the quote from editor….

“What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn’t represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships. Each line might represent a friendship made while traveling, a family member abroad, or an old college friend pulled away by the various forces of life… When I shared the image with others within Facebook, it resonated with many people. It’s not just a pretty picture, it’s a reaffirmation of the impact we have in connecting people, even across oceans and borders.”

Source: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662881/infographic-of-the-day-the-facebook-map-of-the-world

By Jeromy Stallings on December 15, 2010
Categories: Culture

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