Tag: web tools

Categories
Digital

Winchester Web Scene

Proof positive I was there tonight (and I know, I have a bit of a backlog of other blog material on this blog). My other blog has gone crazy today after that New York Times article yesterday, and yes, I am behind on my tasks for today (and yes it’s nearly tomorrow)! See more about the Winchester Web Scene, formed in November 2008, growing monthly I do believe – not a networking business-card exchange kind of evening, but a chat with people who have shared interests – some coders, some developers, some content writers, some social media types…

Categories
Digital

Digital Fingerprint

Since 1997, I have had “mydesigna” as a catch-all for the websites that I’ve designed. As I move more and more into social media, I have set up a new WordPress site, which will become the new, up-to-date site, far more appropriate! I’m faffing around with Blue Host, and hopefully will learn how to upload my own CSS/use my own domain name, then I’m all set to help other people with the same! I’ve just had a fun day helping Deborah Kerslake of Serenergise gain an understanding of some of the possibilities for social media, I think the one she’s most looking forward to using is Twitter! As a result of teaching Debs about fan pages, I have also set up one of my own for Digital Fingerprint!

Categories
Digital

Winchester e-network

To go, or not to go?
I’ve signed up to go to a talk tonight at Winchester School of Art (room unspecified!). I’m not sure that this is as valuable as checking through my interview preparation for tomorrow, 2 hours to decide…!

Web Analytics: An Entrepreneur’s Tale. Professor David Jackson.
David Jackson is the Chief Executive of Site Intelligence Ltd www.site-intelligence.co.uk . Site Intelligence are a leading developer and supplier of Business Intelligence software systems to international blue chip organisations including Dyson, Open University, SAP, B&Q, Tesco, Boots, and Cancer Research UK. David has a proven track record of business development and international management, having played a leading role in taking Oxford Molecular Group plc from start up to a major international company. He has operated at Board level as Chairman, Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer and Business Development director in a number of private and public companies.

With a PhD in Natural Product Chemistry, he built an internationally recognized research group at the University of Nottingham specialising in the application of advanced biophysical and computational methods to the issue of rational drug design based on natural product templates. The group raised over £3M in funding in 1990/91 and was regarded as one of the leading European groups of its kind and played a significant role in the department’s 5* research rating. He has over 200 publications in recognized journals and currently holds an honorary professorship at the University of Nottingham.

Given the massive global shifts in advertising spend towards the internet and the power of web analytics to measure and model the impact of web communications, David’s presentation has much to offer entrepreneurs in start-up businesses through to multinational organisations. For the School of Art, David’s work and thinking have major implications for the worlds of Web and Advertising Design. In 2007 he was appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art.

Site Intelligence Ltd
Site Intelligence is a market leader in web analytics, providing a range of enterprise level products and services that deliver a measurable and quantifiable return on investment for online marketing and e-business initiatives. The highly adaptable core application, VBIS (Visitor Behaviour Information System) is available with standard tools or can be tailored to fit precisely to customers needs, and transforms online business data into accurate, adaptable and actionable information – enabling customers to gain the insights they need quickly and cost-effectively.
Site Intelligence products and services are used by organisations across a wide range of industry sectors and span all types of website, including transactional e-commerce sites, brand communication channels and portals, online publishing, extranets and intranets.

Comment from Paul Wright, Website Manager, Dyson plc
“We changed our existing web analytics provider to Site Intelligence, having looked at four of the leading vendors in the UK. Perhaps the most powerful element which convinced us about Site Intelligence was the VBIS SiteViewer which is very easy to use through its intuitive design and clearly identified core ‘hotspots’ on our website.”

www.e-network.org.uk/

Categories
Life(style)

Working at It…

After a morning trying to produce a skills-based CV (bits of it are slowly emerging!), and trying to extrapolate what I’ve actually done this week towards my jobsearch, I was offered some work which involved getting to grips with a new CMS system.

Joomla
Joomla! is a free open source content management system for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets. The system includes features such as page caching to improve performance, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, website searching, and language internationalization. Joomla is licensed under the GPL, and is the result of a fork of Mambo. (Text from Wikipedia)

Much more to learn, and deadlines are tight, so I need to focus on that for a few days.

Life Coaching
On Saturday/Sunday I will start a life coaching certification with Serenergise. Very excited as been talking about doing something like this for 2 years. It’s great to move from talk to action, and even better to hear today that they are the first course in the UK to be accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

Categories
Digital

Image Sources

Arranging a photo-shoot can be an expensive business, but websites look rather stark with no imagery (although I always believe the information must come first). Taking photos through e.g. Google’s image search generally means that you are using illegal images.

Microstock Photography
There are many different microstock photography sites, in which you can purchase Royalty-free (free from licence restrictions) images for as low as $0.20 per image if you sign up to a subscription plan. Pay as you go images are more expensive per image, and credits usually need to be used within a year, although the image is then yours to use. Check the small print as, for example, Shutterstock says that an image must be first-used within 6-months of download to prevent stockpiling.

Purchasing Credits
It is rare that you will find a site which will only let you buy a single image credit, so expect to buy several photos from each site if you sign up, usually with a credit card, sometimes with PayPal. All will let you sign up and add images to ‘lightboxes’ for free… in the hope that you will return and purchase them!

  • Bigstockphoto approx $20 for 10 images
  • Dreamstime approx. $20 for 22 images, but also provides free images
  • Fotolia from 57p – £3.99 for a single-image
  • iStockphoto starts at £9.00 for 10 credits, cost per credit decreases as more are purchased
  • Shutterstock £29 for 5 images, or by subscription
  • Snapvillage images from $1
  • Stock.xchng offers free images or refers you to Stock Expert where small web images are around $1 each. 
  • Photobucket mostly designed for the MySpace user, but has some gems tucked away through the search function

For historical (and very creative recent) images Getty Images comes highly recommended. To search for images created in a particular era search for e.g. “Image created 1940s”. Royalty free images start at £39 for web-use only.

You Tube
You Tube is of the course the ubiquitous video-posting site, so I’ve set up an account there and just uploaded one small video!

Just a thought on Social Networking
Finding the Tagged site slightly freaky in that people (well, blokes) vote ‘YES’, send messages and WINK at me (I guess it makes a change from pokes), especially in the 20 minutes after I’ve just checkeed the site!