You may have noticed a change in the way that FanaticSpace is structured. I finally got tired of trying to build a decent layout and bought one that I could tweak. I decided to use the magazine version of the Revolution theme for a couple of reasons.
My priorities were multiple layout options and site wide consistency. I even toyed with the idea of switching to a CMS like Drupal that could handle blogs, forums and any kind of page I might need. Another advantage of a CMS would be integration of everything into one account. In the end I decided against the all in one solution. While it does handle everything, it doesn’t handle it in the way that I want.
I decided that I would use the tools I’m familiar with. Now that I have a theme that I like, I can get back to work on content and community building.
I’ve got some good news for you today. There’s a chance that the blog will be updating more often in the future. Yay!
Have I found more time to post? Have I suddenly become less lazy? Have I become more organized?
No, no and hell no.
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I don’t know if you’re aware of what Google has been doing since October. If not here’s a short version.
Google decided to hide the Page Ranks of sites that made paid posts and linked without using the non-standard “nofollow” tag. They didn’t do this to all the sites that they could have, just the ones least likely to cause them trouble.
What does that mean?
It means FanaticSpace.com suffered a penalty. I’ve been honest about making paid posts to try and pay for expenses on the site. That’s just not enough for Google, even though their own guidelines tell you to write for people and not search engines.
Can it be fixed?
I’ve thought about this for a long time. Should I add “nofollow” to the paid links and ask Google to reconsider? Should I just accept the penalty and continue as if nothing happened?
I came to the conclusion that I need to comply with Google’s demands. No matter how much I dislike it, I can’t fight Google. They’ve got too many people brainwashed into believing it’s about search results. If I try to fight it, I’ll wind up like the guy from the picture up top.
I’ve added “nofollow” to all the paid links. I’ve also filed for reconsideration.
Now I just have to go to sleep and await the mercy of the pod people Google.
Full RSS Feeds on Fanaticspace.com
I’m switching to full feeds for FanaticSpace’s RSS. I was using partial feeds because I had it set up to display on the static pages of the site. The script I was using to do that had no option to cut the feed posts short, so I had to cut the feed itself short.
I switched over to Feedburner’s Buzz Boost option for displaying the feed on my static pages. It lets you choose how much of the feed you want to show. This lets me switch the blog feed back to a full service version.
What does this mean?
Well, hopefully it means that the feed will be more useful to you now. If you subscribe to the blog feed you should get the full post now.
I’m trying to make the site as easy to use as I can. That includes the feed.
Let me know what you think.
If you’re subscribed to the feed, either through RSS or E-mail, you may have noticed a strange post. The title was “Temporary Post Used For Style Detection” followed by some weird string of letters and numbers. I can explain what that was.
Pay no attention to that post behind the curtain.
I’m testing out Windows Live Writer, a blog editing program. One of the options is to let it make a temporary post so it can gather information on the styles used on the blog. Apparently it didn’t delete it quick enough and it went out on the feed. It did delete it though, so now that link in the feed leads to the 404 page.
So if you see anything like that in the feed, just ignore it. Nothing to see there.
I’m working on something for the site. Posting to the blog has slowed because of this. I do have a few good post planned, so keep an eye out.
In addition to the posts I have planned, I also have something else lined up. Someone I know is writing up a nice little fandom guide. I don’t want to say too much about it, but I think it’ll be good. I’m looking forward to reading it myself.
I’ve had some things I wanted to write that didn’t fit in here or on AnimeFansOnline. So I decided to start a personal blog for all that miscellaneous stuff. I’m lucky that I have a fairly unusual name, it wasn’t registered. Well, the “.eu” was, but I don’t live in the Eu. I’ve registered www.JasonWigley.com and I’m putting a WordPress blog up.
I’m hoping that it will give me a chance to write different kinds of posts and also make FanaticSpace better. At the very least it will move the non-fandom stuff out of here. That should help to keep this site on topic.
So say goodbye to meta-blogging on FanaticSpace. No more blogging about blogging here. Unless I’m writing about a fandom blog, because that still fits in here.
If any of my friends here want to link to it or review it, I’d appreciate it. Give it a little time first if you want to review it. I’m busier than ever now.
I’ve tried to monetize this site to make it self sustaining. One of the ways I’ve been experimenting with is sponsored posts. I’ve tried to make sure that the sponsored posts are on topic, or at the very least make them fun. I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ve controlled myself when looking for sponsored content. Sorry, I’m afraid you’re not likely to see a post about vaginal reconstruction on this blog.
Goin’ Postal.
I’ve been signed up to Pay Per Post since the tail end of July. It’s been pretty good to me. I’ve managed to make about 50 bucks with Pay Per Post. That will go a long way to paying hosting fees next year. One good thing about Pay Per Post, they seem to like openness. I’m updating you on how this part of my blog is going, and they’re paying me to do it. As long as they run things that way, I’ll probably stick around.
What are your thoughts?
What do you think about sponsored posts? Are they a good way for a blog to earn it’s keep? Are they a necessary evil of blogging? Are they a festering boil that should be cut out of any blog they’ve tainted?
Just taking a couple of minutes to let you know a couple things. There may be a possibility of audio files being posted sometime after Dragon Con. I did find a digital recorder that is supposed to record for a good long time, and has a usb connection. I can’t make any promises on quality though. We’ll see how it turns out.
If it sounds ok, then I may end up posting clips of some panels. If I’m really lucky, maybe even entire discussions. If it’s not good enough to post, I’ll at least have a recording to refer to when typing up my reports.
Keep your fingers crossed.
With Dragon Con coming this weekend there are things I need to get done. I’m afraid that posting on FanaticSpace will be more sporadic than usual. What does that mean? Basically that unless something happens and I just have to write about it, there aren’t likely to be any posts.
I might be able to do a few of short ones from Dragon Con. Maybe give you a peek at what’s going on, and what’s coming up on the blog. I’m hoping that my time at the con will give me plenty of material for the blog. It is a site about fandom after all.
I’ll be trying to take lots of pictures. I’m also looking into getting a tape recorder for the panels. If I can get one that will let me transfer to the computer I’ll see if I can post a few clips from the panels I attend. Even if I can’t find one with computer connections built in, I’ll see what I can do.
If by some bizarre twist of fate you see me at the con, come by and let me know you’ve read the blog. I might buy you a drink take your photo for the blog.
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