Archive for the 'spfldbloggers' Category

Update for spfldbloggers.com

Published
by
shoo
on 9/28/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 0 Comments

Sometimes you just want to get to the meat. No breading, no fluff, no salad. Just the meat please.

Replace asparagus for the meat, if you’re a vegetarian.

So I created an option to hide the summary of a post.

Just below the spfldbloggers.com logo, look for a tab that says “Min.” Click it and wa-la, no more blog summaries. And… if you want them back, just click it again.

It’s based on a cookie stored in your browser. I believe they’re chocolate chip. I’ve tried it out in Firefox, Opera, IE 7 and Google Chrome. So far, so good. Let me know if anyone has any problems.

I am working on some additional improvements, so stay tuned.

New blogs on the block.

Published
by
shoo
on 9/18/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 3 Comments

Hey, it looks like some hooked up the dial-up internet for the Illinois Times (note: wearing shorts, but posting from the basement).

Brand spankin’ new Red Cobblers was just featured in the Cap City section of the Illinois Times.

Which is another great excuse to highlight the number of blogs that have been added to spfldbloggers.com in the last few weeks.

Blogs added for the month of September:

Moments of Clarity by Gretchen - Gretchen was just featured in the SJ-R along with fellow Spfldblogger 411 Mommy.

Second Street

Message in a Bloggle

On Par

Don’t know if you noticed.

Published
by
shoo
on 8/24/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 0 Comments

Don’t know if you noticed, but last week spfldbloggers.com was hit with a bunch of McCain ads. This week it is Obama?

BTW - Feel free to click the ads… multiple times.

Update: Nevermind, now displaying ads for both parties.

Still free to keep clickn’

Spfldbloggers Maintenance

Published
by
shoo
on 7/24/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 0 Comments

I am moving the site to a new server tonight. Worse case scenario it won’t be up till tomorrow morning.

Blogger night with the Sliders.

Published
by
shoo
on 7/14/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 8 Comments

IMG_0650

Lessons learned when planning a night out at the ballpark.

1. Pick a designated section to meet up at - especially if you never seen these people in real life.

2. A roster of people to look for.

3. A big sign “Spfldbloggers” and free tickets from Country Market.

It wasn’t a bad turnout considering that the people from Humzoo didn’t show up because of a mishap with a bounce house. Picture above: gotshoo, Unpainted Huffhines, Johann Drops a Blog, (back row) angry commenters from sj-r.com. Missing from the photo, Dan from BFS and family, and top commenter Nancy.

Unofficial Spfldblogger night with the Sliders!

Published
by
shoo
on 7/9/2008
in Springfield and spfldbloggers
. 12 Comments

Yes, that’s right bloggers, commentators, lurkers of the internet, July 13th (this Sunday) has been designated as the meet-up date. The game begins at 6:05. Check out the Sliders page for more info or Johann’s blog post.

And just for a roll call so we know who to look out for, can those attending leave a comment? I think the plan is to show up early and get seats all in the same section. Unless you want to be creepy and sit by yourselves. And since everyone hasn’t posted their mug for the world, just look for me.

Again, everyone is welcome to join us.

If anyone has questions - gotshoo -=at=- gmail -=dot=- com

I am not in my underpants, yet.

Published
by
shoo
on 3/27/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 5 Comments

A somewhat lofty summary of the local Springfield blogging scene from the Illinois Times and a plug for Spfldbloggers.com.

With a follow up from John at Just-Two-Guys. I like John’s version better.

Yup, still wearing pants.

Follow up to the new design.

Published
by
shoo
on 3/24/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 1 Comment

I didn’t get a chance last night because I was dead to the world and didn’t want to have sit down and type out a blog post, but better late than never. Here’s a summary about what’s new with Spfldbloggers.com.

feature.jpg

  • Much easier to read; both in IE and FF. The last version had a bug where there would be a much larger gap between the headline and the posted by section in IE rather than Firefox. For those of you curious - 50% of viewers use FF, 48% IE, 2% Safari.
  • If you click the blog’s title on the posted by section, the site will display posts from the linked blog in the same paginated fashion as the main site. A little hard to explain, just click it.
  • I am still trying to figure out a way to work photos into the mix. Matt Penning, Dave Heinzel, and myself all have a daily photo. I was trying to work them in somehow, but that will be a project further down the road. Right now I have pictures from the Sangamon County Flickr Group displayed on the right column.

Umm, what else? I’ll be going through the blogroll soon retiring some blog sites and cleaning up the list. I’ll figure out some way to archive the removed sites.

I coded all the CSS from scratch, so if something displays weird let me know. Ohh, and if you’re still using IE6, it looks totally funked up - time to upgrade folks.

Of course I’ve got a few more ideas on the drawing board, I just need the time. Tell me what you think. Am I missing anything here?

New Spfldbloggers design.

Published
by
shoo
on 3/23/2008
in spfldbloggers
. 6 Comments

spfldbloggers.com new design

Well, it’s up. I finally finished the redesign of spfldbloggers.com.

Blogging for higher ed.

Published
by
shoo
on 2/5/2008
in Wacky Internet, development and spfldbloggers
. 5 Comments

Congratulations to Brad Ward and Matt Herzberger for releasing their new site Bloghighed.org. Bloghighed is a RSS driven site that aggregates blogs focused on higher education, hacky sack tournaments, and college keggers. The site looks suspiciously similar to another blog aggregating site?

That would be because good ol’ Shoo lost to Brad in a PPPO - see comments - (Puppy Picture Post Off) and had to fork over the code to Spfldbloggers and work tirelessly for 2 months to help them build the site.

Actually that’s all a lie, but I bet Buddy would give away the secret code like the dog from Busch’s Bake Beans commercials.

It only took about a week to port over the code and get everything up and running. And most of the work was done on their side tweaking a few issues and customizing the CSS. Pretty cool stuff seeing something I created for leisure aggregating more than just YADP posts of Buddy and Clancy.

Good job guys!

One thing I forgot to tell you about, the secret back door…  Ehh, don’t worry about it. Like anyone uses ‘password’ as the password.

Code monkey.

Published
by
shoo
on 1/22/2008
in dailyphoto and spfldbloggers
. 1 Comment

IMG_6487

Books, man they can make you look smart. Truth be told, I haven’t read most of these books. It always seems easier to hit the web when I’ve got a problem with code or database stuff. But they’re great bathroom brainstorming material.

Talking about nerd stuff –

I updated Spfldbloggers.com tonight. Nothing ground breaking, but some improvements.

  • The RSS feed now displays the last 20 posts instead of 10.
  • Pages on Spfldbloggers now display 20 posts per page.
  • There is a link to the mobile version on the menu on the right side.
  • Posts that have a time stamp of the future (got to be a time zone issue) are not displayed till they are in the present
  • The Wifi Map has been updated with a few new locations. Thanks to Mr. AC for the updates.
  • More ADs. Buddy has to eat some how.

Custom webclip icon.

Published
by
shoo
on 1/16/2008
in iphone, ipod and spfldbloggers
. 7 Comments

Custom webclip icon for iphone, originally uploaded by gotshoo.

Apple’s newest release of firmware for the iPhone and iPod Touch allows users to create a custom home screen with rearrangeable icons. Also new is the functionality to create webclips, or URL shortcuts on the home screen by bookmarking sites. If you are a site owner, you can create a custom icon by following these steps.

I just created one for gotshoo? and spfldbloggers and m.spfldbloggers.com. Dave Heinzel has also got his signature H

Pretty cool.

His dogs tend to be the stars.

Published
by
shoo
on 1/14/2008
in YouTube and spfldbloggers
. 2 Comments

Part 2 of the TV 20 interview.

Dave, thanks again for hitting the record button.

And the one day that I didn’t post a daily photo was yesterday.

First Daily Photo

Published
by
shoo
on 1/3/2008
in dailyphoto, iphone and spfldbloggers
. 5 Comments

Daily Photo

I’ve been wanting to a daily photo for some time now. What time better than now? Well, I guess I should have wiped off the smudges first.

For other daily photos:

Dave Heinzel

Denny Deaton

Matt Penning

By the way, the mobile spfldbloggers site is now working with external links in the iPhone interface.

Blog 2007.

Published
by
shoo
on 12/30/2007
in Blatant Recollections, blogs, daveheinzel and spfldbloggers
. 8 Comments

Being the numbers guy - at least in my household - I was curious to how many posts hit spfldbloggers.com. Below - Not bad. I believe these numbers go back to December 12th 2006, when I finished the RSS feed fetcher, and end tonight December 30th 2007 around 10pm. Wow, 298 dog posts for Gotshoo… ok not all Dog posts.

I usually posted about improvements about the site here. You can check them all out here.

In a way, I feel like there is some sort of ‘community’ for bloggers in Springfield. I hired Dave Heinzel as my photographer for my wedding and had him as teammate for trivia night, I’ve done computer work for Marie, and shared drinks with Russ, Dan, John and Micah, and spotted this guy in Panera. Hopefully 2008 I’ll get to share more drinks with more bloggers. WhereIsDave, I’ll buy you some Natty Light.

Well, I hoped everyone enjoyed the run because I am pulling the plug…. No, no, no, to say the least. I still have a bunch more stuff planned. I might even throw on a new design.

So the question for 2008 - What would you (you as in me, unless you work for free) do to change Spfldbloggers?

Ohh by the way, if you’re feeling bored some night do me a favor and click the ad on the side. I’ve made $14.10 since May. I’m a long way from becoming a dot com millionaire.

Also, I want to send credit and a thank you to Marie who originated the first Spfldbloggers list. She did a lot of the foot work in getting the ball rolling.

Below, the top 50 posters.

The Capitol Fax Blog:937
The Eleventh Hour:759
Illinois Channel:616
Disarranging Mine:428
Iggy Uncensored:422
Techno-News Blog:391
Blevins Blog:369
Matt Penning Images:348
gotshoo?:298
Jerome Prophet:277
honey & quinine:277
Springfield Illinois Yahoo Group:243
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way:235
Where Dave Is:235
Bradjward.com:191
Just Two Guys:185
UIS News Bureau:181
Grace Uncensored:181
Anonymous Communist:163
Illinois Issues blog:128
Unpainted Huffhines:122
Realm of The Black Knight:117
CES Blog:114
OMIGOD - Im ThirtyWHAT?:104
Podcasting and Vodcasting:97
Springfield Photos:93
Photos Et Cetera:82
BlogFreeSpringfield:79
Gurel.us Blog!:78
Springfield Rewind:69
daveheinzel.com:68
The Jim Leach Show:65
Energy Tough Love Blog:65
Johann Drops a Blog:61
BriBlog:56
A Shareware Life:50
Pretty Good Jewelry:49
The 26th Man:45
My Alibi:42
Spfldnet:39
Occasional Potato:37
Roger U Roundly:36
The Insane World of Hilton Hightower:36
Misc.:34
The Johnson Blog:33
Moving Forward:31
The Cushy Blog:28
A Salute to Some Stuff:27
The OEs Blog:23