Archive for September 2009

On Monday we showed you how to get more out of Twitter Search by using the advanced search form. Today we take you even deeper into Twitter search by talking about search ‘operators’.

A search ‘operator’ is a word or symbol used in conjunction with a keyword that specifies that you only want to find mentions of that keyword in a particular context. All search engines allow the use of ‘operators’, but they aren’t very well known.

For example, if you wanted to find mentions of the keywords ‘fast car’ on Twitter, you might type ‘fast car’ into the search field. The results will show mentions of the phrase ‘fast car’, but also mentions of just the keyword ‘fast’ or just the keyword ‘car’. This might therefore show irrelevant results. You might find mentions of phrases like ‘fast food’ or similarly ‘car servicing’. To be more accurate, if you wanted to find out when the exact phrase ‘fast car’ had been used then you’d need to use the operator “ “ in your search, as in “fast car”. The results will then just show when the words ‘Fast Car’ (those words, in that order) had been mentioned.

Operators perform many of the advanced search parameters used by the advanced search form mentioned on Monday’s post. The advantage of operators is that you type them directly into the search field, rather than filling out the form. They are popular amongst more advanced users, or those who come from a development or IT background, since they are a short cut but you do need to remember what they are.

Here is a list of all the advanced search operators on Twitter:

As you can see, an easy way to look for positive or negative mentions of a particular word is to use a :-) or :-( with your keyword.

Other operators include “near”,  to find out mentions of a keyword in a geographic proximity to a location.

For the most advanced, you can search for Tweets that just contain links to other websites, by using the operator “filter:links”.

If you want to find people who are just using Twitter from particular 3rd party applications you can do that too, by using the operator “source:Web” or “source:Tweetdeck” to find people just updating using the web, or Tweetdeck.

You can find a full list of operators here.

Have a go at using some advanced search operators on Twitter and let us know how you get on.

Wow-wee! As previewed last week, the new WebEden control panel and editing tools are now live, in Beta. Its an exciting time for us, and for you too (we hope!). This control panel is the result of months of hard work, and is the biggest update so far.

For those of you who missed the preview, this is what it looks like:

As we said, its the largest overhaul to the edit environment in the last 5 years, and sets up our website building platform for future development too. The long awaited HTML widget is now out of beta, works in all browsers (ooooohh), and opens up libraries of additional content. And you can now copy an entire site too…

New Toolbar (beta)
Some are calling it WebEden SiteMaker5, some call it WebEden+, all we know is we call it the New Toolbar. It’s been launched as an opt-in beta version, which means it’s fully functional, you can choose it, you can use it, but you’re not forced to. We’re looking for feedback – good and bad (constructive) – so that we can polish it off for a final release at a later stage. But it works and in our testing so far makes things far quicker and easier to do.

To get to it, login to your site and go to ‘View’ –> ‘New Toolbar (beta)’. Your site will reload in the new environment but you can revert to the old style toolbars at any time. The advantages of the new Toolbar are:

• Use the full screen browser for editing – you can move edit tools outside the boundary of your site
• Zoom in/out while editing – you make your site bigger/smaller to help ‘see’ it in full glory
• Sticky edit tools – the Toolbar remains at the top and the Editor will remain on screen as you scroll up and down
• Show off-screen objects – if you drag something off your site (outside the boundary), you can choose to hide or display off screen objects (new under ‘view’)
• Detailed insert menu – more objects can be added in one click, including some new HTML snippets (‘Insert’ menu)
• Quick pages menu – includes quick ways to add pages, copy pages and change page length, plus edit meta data (for search engines) more quickly (see ‘Pages’ menu)
• Links to other services – Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, AdSense can all be viewed without leaving your site (new ‘Services’ menu)

The major drive for this change was to better organise the features available and create the structure so that we can expand services further in the future. WebEden has grown to include so many features over the years, sometimes the most important ones get lost, so this is an opportunity to re-present them for how they are used today. When we started many years ago we built a ‘Page editor’ whereas today WebEden allows the management of your website over its whole lifecycle. From initial build -> monitoring traffic and performance -> developing community -> monetisation -> ongoing updates.

Copy/transfer site
Some new features in the ‘Admin’ section are the copy site and transfer site features. This allows you to create a copy of the design and structure of your site which you can use as the basis of a new site. Please note this isn’t a complete copy like backup, as some data is not copied, e.g. individual posts in comment feeds or forums. But the text, images, design, structure, etc., are all applied to the new site.

The transfer site feature allows you to transfer an existing site (or a new copy) to another user of WebEden.

Both features have been asked for many times, both by customers that want to build more sites themselves and by resellers who find they want to build similar sites for clients in similar industries over and over. These new features will help make that easier to achieve.

The HTML widget
You can’t add HTML to a Flash site, don’t be ridiculous! Or can you ;-) ? Some of you will have been using the Beta version of this widget for some time now, but for others this will be new. The HTML snippet widget allows you to paste in HTML code (or markup for the purists out there) that you might find elsewhere (Amazon affiliates, Youtube videos, Twitter feeds, etc.) into your WebEden website and use it seamlessly with our other features. The changes/improvements for this release are:

• The widget now works in all major browsers – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and on PC and Mac
• Works with all HTML snippets (probably – we can’t find any yet it doesn’t work with, but I’m sure you will ;-)
• Some regularly used services (Youtube player, Twitter feed, etc.) have some preconfigured widgets (snippets) available to help you get started (use the ‘Setup’ tab to get the HTML code)

So this new feature makes available all Google Gadgets, all Widgetbox widgets, all Amazon widgets and more. Happy hunting!!

But remember, this still only works if you have the Flash 10 player!! Currently FP10 has around 86% penetration according to Adobe but growing by 3-4% per month.

Product selling page templates
There are now some new product selling page templates with suggested layouts for creating easy to use product pages on WebEden. You can do this in the ‘Add page’ option in the ‘pages’ menu.

For those of you waiting, these are not the long awaited e-commerce updates, so apologies about that, but we are still working towards that goal and the interface lays yet further foundations for the e-commerce tools that will require these new technologies to work as well as they can.

If you’re not sure how, you can watch a video tutorial on how to switch to the control panel.

Anyway, so that’s about it. We hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think! Enjoy!

This is the first on a series of posts about how to use Twitter Search.

We’ve talked about Twitter search quite a bit on this blog. The chance to see what people are talking about in real time has been an exciting development in the world of search.

But searching on Twitter can give you so much more depth than finding out who is using particular keywords in their Tweets. Because thanks to Twitter’s Advanced Search Interface you can start looking for mentions of a particular keyword in very specific circumstances. And these can sometimes bring up very interesting results.

The place to start is the Advanced Search Interface, which can be found here and looks like this:

As you can see from the form, you can be very specific about your search. To start with, you can specify the keyword context. Are you looking for general mentions of a keyword, or only when it is used with other keywords?

You can then take a look at who is mentioning a particular word, and who is receiving this keyword in their @ Tweets. This might be an effective way of monitoring how your competition are using Twitter: Do they get asked for lots of price quotes? Or are they dealing with lots of support requests? Does this mean that they are using Twitter more effectively than you are? What can you learn from that?

You can also just look at Tweets that have happened within a particular time frame. This might be useful for trying to find out how a particular event has been discussed at the time of the event, compared to how it is discussed now. You could also use this to look at how your competitors are changing their use of Twitter over time.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of Twitter search is that you can also search for tweets that have a particular ‘attitude’. For example, if you want to find all the Tweets that mention a particular keyword in a positive way, then the results will show all those Tweets in the time frame that use common ‘Smilies’ and other positive statements. Once again, this might be a good way of finding out how you or your competitors are being mentioned.

Finally, it’s possible to specify the location of Tweets, and set a radius of miles around which you want to find all the mentions of a particular keyword. These use the location set by each user in their profile, but mobile users already have the option of including their actual coordinates. This might be good at finding out, particularly if your business has a fixed location (such as a shop), how frequently local people are Tweeting about you.

Twitter search can also go a lot deeper, but we’ll be covering that in tomorrow’s post on ‘How to use advanced search operators on Twitter‘.

Have a go on Twitter’s Advanced Search function and see what you can find out.

Another basic tutorial this week, but a good one nontheless. Building a website can take lots of time, and often involves a lot of repetition. Here’s a great little shortcut to cut down your build time, and make adding identical items so much faster. Have a watch:

What do you think? Leave us a comment below.

According to Accredited Supplier (a B2B research firm), more than 1 in 10 small businesses in the UK intend to stop using Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel and Outlook. They’re looking to make the switch to ‘cloud computing’ versions such as Google Docs and Gmail.

Accredited Supplier polled 1,400 Microsoft customers and found that 13% plan to swap to Google Apps within the next 12 months, and another 22% are undecided. Just 36% say that they are definitely staying with Microsoft.

Following Google’s recent ‘Go Google’ campaign that targeted small business, Google say that around 1.75m businesses are using its applications. That of course is just a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of millions using Microsoft Office.

The main difference between traditional Microsoft office and Google Docs are that whilst you need to install MS Office onto every PC in your company, Google Docs can be accessed by any computer connected to the Internet.

Why Cloud Computing and Google Docs are good

It brings lots of benefits. To start with there is the cost. Whilst Office can cost up to £200 per PC, Google Docs are free.

Second, Google Docs allow more than one user to work on a document at any one time – no more emailing a single version backwards and forwards between you and a colleague.

The third main benefit is safety and security. Since all your documents are stored in Google’s DataCentre, you don’t need to worry about your PC crashing before you can save vital files. Google automatically backs up and stores any Google doc you have.

Why Cloud Computing and Google Docs ain’t perfect

Cloud computing isn’t all good news. To start with, it means that you can only access your documents when you are connected to the Internet. That’s fine if you work in an office, but if you ever take a laptop out and about, reliance on wireless hotspots and 3G dongles mean your connection is at best patchy.

Second, whilst Google Docs are good, there’s no doubt that you do lose some of the functionality of an excel spreadsheet. They’re just not quite as good.

And the third thing is in the nature of the system. Even the mighty Google has downtime occasionally, and this means that there will be occasions that you can’t get at and work on your files.

Perhaps the biggest barrier to Google docs is that they require you and your team to learn a whole new way of doing things. No more storing documents on your PC or local server. And when people are learning, they often make mistakes.

But the in the end Microsoft may well win this battle. The next version of office out next year is rumoured to be ‘cloud compatible’, which may well mean that users get all the benefits of a collaborative, secure online solution, with the ease of use of having the software on a local machine. It sounds similar to Microsoft’s email system ‘Hosted Exchange’ where your local emails are mirrored in the cloud.

Have any of you made the switch from Microsoft to Google Docs or another ‘cloud computing’ solution? Would you prefer to stick with the tried and tested Office software? Leave us a comment below.

Its been a while since we had an update of our Website Building system. A few months ago we let you know about the social networking tools integrated into WebEden. And lots of you have got to grips with the HTML snippet, to great effect.

But here comes the biggest update of the year. The Sitemaker developer team has been burning the midnight oil to come up with a major overhaul of the entire control panel.

For years now we’ve been adding on bit and bobs, new tools and widgets. We’ve stuck them in places that seemed logical at the time. But it has sometimes meant that the really cool stuff is buried deep inside the control panel.

So we’ve reorganised it to make sure that the best stuff is the easiest stuff to get your hands on. Its a time saving move for all you pro website builders out there, and also it will be much easier for beginners to get to grips with the system.

It’s not going to launch for a few weeks, but take a look at the preview and then us know what you think!

General section

Page section

Admin section

What do you think? Leave us a comment below.

For the first time ever, more people in the UK are visiting Twitter than MySpace. According to Hitwise, this milestone was reached in the last week of August. This is the first of the major social networking scalps that Twitter has claimed.

Of the complete list of most visited websites by UK users, that means that Twitter now ranks 27th, one place ahead of MySpace.

For the social networking category, Twitter still has a long way to go. In the UK it lags behind Facebook, YouTube and Bebo. But with such a phenomenal growth rate, Twitter will shortly overhaul Bebo and must sure have YouTube in its sights. We all know what ambitious plans Twitter has.

Of course, these figures may mask a much larger userbase, since many people access Twitter through applications such as Tweetdeck, and through their mobile phones. And since Twitter has an open API, many choose to update it through other websites such as Facebook. As you know, its possible to send updates to Twitter from your WebEden website.

Whilst Twitter can do no wrong, it’s a different story over at MySpace, whose popularity is in sharp decline. If ambition counts for anything, it is MySpace who are cutting jobs at the moment.

Have you tried – and then gone off – MySpace? Which other social networks do you use? Time to face the inevitable and sign up to Twitter? Leave us a comment below.

As some of you will be aware the Google Map widget on your sites have come up with a zoom error.

This is due to Google changing it’s API (and failing to let everyone know) recently and throwing our maps into disarray.

Our tech guys are onto the issue and will update you soon with any info on when they are likely to be back on-line.

Last month we invited everyone to submit articles and ideas for a guest posting on the WebEden blog. Here’s another entry by by Alison Cross from AlisonCross4Webs.co.uk on how having a contract can help smooth the relationship between website builder and client. Over to Alison.

Introduction

I get a huge amount of satisfaction seeing a client’s business take virtual shape on my screen.  The Sitemaker software is so easy to use, building is a breeze these days.

However, dealing with clients is not always straightforward and it can be exceptionally stressful when you’ve quoted for work and the client keeps changing their mind about what they want.

The solution is to have a contract

Don’t be scared! I’m not suggesting that you should rush out to the lawyers and get something legally binding drawn up (although if you want to you can).  But if you take the time to create a document that sets out quite clearly what both sides are expected to do/supply, you’ll see your website building life become much more straightforward.

Get your client to be specific

Many clients have only the vaguest idea of what they want for a website. Even those with definite plans have been known to back-pedal right at the last minute.

I find it very beneficial to set out, right at the beginning exactly how the game is going to be played and who is responsible for what.

Create a Mood Board

For me, this involves the initial creation of a mood board, just like an interior designer.  They send me images, quotes, colours, fonts…anything really…that lets me understand how THEY see their website.

This gives me a clear indication of what the client is after. After studying the board, I make a presentation in which I make my pitch to clarify the scope of the job.  This presentation is basically my contract and it helps prevent future slippage in the content of the job.

1. Agree on the number of pages
We agree number of pages and costs for additional pages that the client might ask for later.

2. Agree on a Design theme
Based on mood board, I have a design for them to inspect.  If they agree to this design, any significant revisions (what is ‘significant’ may change from design to design) should be priced accordingly.  How many revisions are acceptable to you?!

3. What images will be used, and where will they come from?
Images/music cost time and / or money, and if supplying them then it is a cost for me to supply. I also need their written agreement that anything they supply to me is within their copyright.  Will you need to have the images/music supplied in a particular format? Named? Sized? License limits on the images – one time only use?

4. What domain name are you going to use?
Domain names can be a thorny issue, and there are lots of questions that you need to ask. To start with, do you need to buy one? Do you need to transfer one? Repoint one? How much are you going to charge for this?

5. Will it be an ecommerce website?
E-commerce – will there be a shop requirement? How much work is that likely to involve for you? Or is it just a couple of items that need linked through to a PayPal account? Setting up an ecommerce website, along with a payments system such as PayPal, can add a lot of time (and therefore cost) to the website build.

6. Who is supplying the written copy?
The main question to answer is: who is supplying what and when! You do not want 30 pages of longhand being delivered to you for an agreed completion date the following day, do you?!

7. How is your client going to pay you?
Whilst we all love building websites, you can hardly start designing for clients for free! When it comes to payment, there are lots of questions that need to be answered. To start with, do you want paid up front? In stages? At the end? Agree these terms right at the beginning and asking for payment becomes a breeze.

8. Ongoing maintenance of the website
Building a website is just half the story. Once its up and running almost every client will require additional updates and adjustments to their website. When it comes to this maintenance, are you offering it? How much? Payable when? Starts from when? If they don’t want annual maintenance, will you charge for a brief tutorial in editing? Or would you simply hand over to client on completion with a cheery wave and hope they don’t screw it up?!  Be ready to discuss what you actually provide in an Annual Maintenance contract.

….and what if your clients DO screw up your beautiful design once you’ve handed over responsibility? Include a fee for having to take the site back on and fix it. You might not need it, but I find it helps on the uptake of an annual maintenance contract – if you price it right!

Do you need a Critical Path?
Depending on the complexity of the site, you might need to agree some kind of Critical Path with your client – agree various milestones in the job’s progress.  But that’s really for the Big Boys, not us!

Who is going to ‘own’ the website?
The ownership of a WebEden website is limited. It cannot be lifted and moved onto someone else’s servers – hosting and building come together in the package.  This must be pointed out right at the outset.

Go through the contract / agreement with your client
I go over every paragraph with my clients and we initial at each one, to show that we’ve both read and understood it.  Then we sign and date at the end.

Summary
The above suggestions are not legally binding, I don’t think.  However, if you had to go to court to claim monies due, or face copyright infringement charges, ANY kind of contract that shows you made an effort to clarify the position will help your case.

Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, if you want something legally binding, please see your own lawyer.

This list doesn’t claim to be complete and I’d love to hear from anyone else who has additional clauses that I’ve overlooked.

About Alison Cross
Alison Cross lives on the Isle of Bute where she has built over a dozen websites using our software. She also helps people use Twitter to market their business. For more info or advice, visit her website alisoncross4webs.co.uk.