Since it’s too hot to go outside for very long, what better place to be than behind the keyboard? OK, I can think of other places that I’d rather be, but my web sites have needed some updates for a while. I’ve made significant progress on just this site alone, but mostly I’ve just been updating the framework of each site, adding little tweaks here and there.
One of the coolest things I did, that most folks will never see or appreciate, is add iPhone icons to each site. I’ve done this before, but it was only after purchasing Reeder for the iPad that I knew I needed to do it again. Reeder is a slick RSS reader for the iOS, but unlike others I’ve used, it’s superior both in looks and functionality. It doesn’t have some features that I’d like — for example, the ability to tweet an entry or save it to Delicious — but Not only does it look great, but it has the ability to post to Delicious, Twitter, Instapaper, and other social networking sites; it’s a great app and one that I use everyday.
My favorite part of Reeder has to be the icon presentation. Each group of feeds looks like a stack of cards; each feed a single card, marked either with its favicon or its iPhone icon. Most web sites by now have the former, but fewer have the latter, though it’s a simple addition to the site as Dave Taylor explains on the last link. Not only does this add a cool icon to the home screen of your iOS device, but Reeder uses them in its feed display. Here are mine:
Pretty slick, no? I’d just like to add one thing to Dave Taylor’s otherwise good tutorial. I made my icons 150×150 pixels, rather than the 45×45 he suggests. Trust me, the larger sizes look much better on the iPhone 4′s retina display and the iPad’s bigger surface. Also, you need to add the code to the <head> portion of your index file. If you don’t, the icon won’t work.
I’m still working on this web site, but I think it works much better as a portfolio — the way I always envisioned it. WordPress 3.0 with the help of WooThemes has made this very easy. I like it, though I don’t think I’ll ever be totally happy with the look of this site. A couple of things I’m likely going to change include the blog font; I hate sans serif fonts as entry text. This shouldn’t be too difficult with a bit of CSS kung fu; I might even try one of Google’s web fonts. Also, I need to find a way to use the media portion of the front page. Currently, it displays random entries under the “Photography” and “Video” categories. I think I’m going to use them to display the icons that I’m associating with their respective web sites. However, when a user clicks on one, I want it to be able to take them to the site. As I said: I’m still making some adjustments.
I’ve updated and upgraded the Norman Mailer Society web site. It’s now running WordPress 3.0 and uses the Canvas theme from WooThemes. I added the banner graphic after a bit of Photoshop play. Also, I opened a Twitter account for the society, something that I’ll probably find easier to update regularly. If you have Twitter, follow us and we’ll reciprocate. This year’s conference is in Sarasota, and I’ll be speaking on the iPad and the future of books. My tentative title is “Cutting Up Norman Mailer.” More on this soon.
So these are the most readily noticeable updates; all others involved theme and WordPress upgrades, keyword and meta description tweaks, and widget additions, subtractions, or movements. I still need to work on my Moodle install, not to mention the long-neglected Humanities web site (not that anyone cares).
Now I’m going to see if it’s cooled down outside.
