happy new year! i can't believe it's 2009 - it seems only a few moments ago that we entered a new millenium.
so i have redesigned the blog and here's a few headlines about the new approach
1. presences
i realise we all have different digital habits to manage the flow of information and friendships and hang out in different spaces and places - facebook, twitter, flickr, or whatever. it's partly taste and partly what we have time for and partly where our networks of friends hang out. so i have created a set of presences ( a term i stole from jenny brown who is personally responsible for catalysing these changes by suggesting my blog or blogs in general were a bit 2004!). this is simply a set of icons in the middle column. so if you are in any of those worlds you know how to find me there. and yes i know - first facebook, and now twitter!
2. incarnation and the digital self
ok i admit utterly pretentious title! but here's what i mean. most people do not want to visit my blog even though i have just spent a few days making it look wonderful (please come once and let me know what you think!). why should you come to my world? life's too short. but it should hopefully be easy enough if you want to follow my stream of consciousness for me to flow in your world/sphere/network/set of presences. so click the feed or add me in twitter or facebook or myspace or bloglines or your newsreader and the latest blog posts or titles will appear automatically.
3. categories
typepad which i use to blog and am still a big fan of has categories - i have singled out 5 main areas that i blog under that are the buttons in the navigation section on the right hand side, but all the other categories still exist so if you are interested in a particular category then just click on it and scroll through the posts.
4. recycling
i started blogging in 2002 which is a scary thought in itself. but it means that there is a ton of stuff buried in the archives. now a lot of it was in the moment and is best left buried but actually there is also a ton of stuff that is worth recycling. so there is a section on the home page with 10 recycled items and on the (new) faith, photo, and create (yet to be done) pages is a ton of recycled links . this may be of interest - it's actually pretty useful for me so it's as much for my benefit as yours.
5. upcoming
one of the cool and weird things about writing a blog is that it has definitely connected me with you - readers all round the world which i have loved. and i have been invited by people who have never met me to speak in various places round the world. this has amazed me and i have loved it! i have signed up with upcoming.org (haven't added much to it yet) to post places i am speaking/leading/hanging out and there is an automatic feed of those on the front page right hand column so you can see where i will be.
6. simplified
the front page has less stuff - or at least it's better ordered. if you really liked something that has gone or wonder where it is now let me know... the blog is as ever a work in progress. but two big things were a huge list of blogs and a list of other things. they can be found by clicking on the two icons in the middle column under the title linkage. the other links are now simply going to be my favourites in delicious. i haven't been that up to date with it but intend to improve my habit there.
7. new look
the black look was fun for a year but i have changed to white as a background as in the end it's easier to read and looks cleaner. i have also gone for something colourful as a header and buttons - not sure why - was in a bright mood! if you are a typepad user and wondering about the technical side of it, then i have simply use a 3 column right template but had to add some extra css code to get the central column the size i wanted so i haven't had to go to the advanced template and can work within typepad's design system. happy to share that if anyone is interested - i am really pleased with it anyway.
8. it's all about you
it amazes me still that people read my blog - i should be used to it by now. i am busy so blogging is a habit that i manage to keep going but sometimes don't give enough time to you the readers though i do try and respond to comments. but hey thanks for your interest/friendship/tolerance/fellow travelling/reading/comments. i haven't finshed everything off but that's detail now... hope you enjoy the new approach and see you in some digital presence or other. and thanks jenny brown and bob carlton for kicking my digital backside in 2008 into another gear for 2009!
best love one and all xxx
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