More feedburner

From the files labeled "I knew it was too good to be true," comes a post from the Known Issues for the New Blogger blog:

"The new “Post Feed Redirect” will occasionally stop redirecting clients when it is set to a FeedBurner feed. The workaround for now is to add an “?alt=atom” parameter to the feed URL in your FeedBurner settings." (Known Issues, 7/31/07)

I went back through all of my blogs, added this fix to each site feed, and now will wonder about another shift in the subscriber statistics displayed.

Updated: 12:45 pm

Taking a short break from shelf-shifting I worked a bit with the feedburner headline animator. The case of the magical missing post clip art, it's here - it's gone, is because I wanted to try my own background on the headliner; it didn't like the photo I loaded. I deleted the clip art and decided the headline animator was not necessary here. Play to work.

Tags: Known Issues for the New Blogger, Feedburner

New widget, old statistics

Blogger Buzz, news about Blogger, is strategically located directly below the blog dashboard after login. I do not pay close attention to everything posted there, sometimes it is simply part of the atmosphere, but lately there have been posts regarding Google, Feedburner, and Blogger in Draft that have snagged my attention - especially the new search box widget. Since the navigation bar at the top of each blog has a search box that allows users to search the web and/or search the displayed blog, I wondered what the widget would have to offer.

I logged into my account via Blogger in Draft and added the "beta" search box (it was simple, just follow the add a page element directions as if adding any other blog widget) to the sidebar below above the blog labels and did a sample search. What I like are the search result display properties; within the blog, above the most current post. It appears to actually be a "box" and includes the proverbial "X" to close it when finished and return to the basic blog layout. A more visually appealing option than the navigation bar as well as more efficient. What I don't particularly like is the specificity needed for the search. For example, I searched "cambridge whos who" and did not have a hit but searched a second time with cambridge who's who" and it retrieved the three posts pictured to the right. Overall I'm satisfied with the widget and may move it farther up in the sidebar for ease of use. This brings me to the second portion of this post, statistics.

While posts on children's literature, ALA, recreational reading, and dailing post information continue to be popular, far and away the most frequent search continues to be for Cambridge Who's Who. A quick look at my Statscounter account this evening reveals out of the last 100 search terms (keyword analysis, information rolls over and the log remains at 100), 48% of them are in some way, shape, or form looking for information on Cambridge. Sixty-six terms were used leading people to the blog, thirty-two of them were as follows:

• 11 cambridge whos who scan
• 6 whos who among executives
• 5 whos who cambridge edition
• 3 cambridge whos who
• 2 cambridge whos who among
• 2 cambridge whos who fee
• 1 reviews cambridge whos who
• 1 cambridge whos who among executives and professional women
• 1 cambridge who's who

It is the topic that does not go away, a never-ending-story (if I may). If their mailing budget is any indication of profit, they must be doing well. But I would guess for every person who purchases the service, there are an equal number of potential customers searching the web for information.

Tags: Blog widgets, Blogger draft search box, Blogger draft, Widgets

Statistical curiousity

No, this is not a post on any the three topics I introduced yesterday, but I do have one drafted and will be posting it later today. It is, unfortunately or fortunately, one more bow to my freakishly annoying fixation with blog statistics.

A couple of days ago I noticed that while I had burned feeds and added an appropriate number of "chicklets" to other blogs I use, for some reason I had not done so here. I quickly remedied that oversight (hence the addition of Hypothetical Feeds on the sidebar) and this afternoon determined it might be fun to see how the site states from Feedburner compared to my statistics from StatsCounter.

In the short amount of time it has taken my to create this post there have already been two visitors, eight page views, two visits defined as "incoming" (both from my blogger ID), and one visit defined as "outgoing." Neither of these options for blog statistics are infallible, but it might be fun to compare.

Yes, I know, it is a sickness of sort. But the first step is admitting the problem, right?

Tags: Blog statistics, StatsCounter, Feedburner

Another Milestone

This is blog post number 250, another milestone number (in my opinion at least). Had I posted on Saturday, I would have hit 250 on my birthday ... a numbered milestone I am not willing to share. I decided to share a few of the statistics I am so obsessed with viewing.


Statscounter: February has been the busiest month to date with 648 hits/page loads. Oddly enough, that number equals over 1/3 of the totals for the six months I have been using the counter. I continue to be intrigued by people actually reading this blog and being able to tell what posts people are most frequently hit and what search strings are bringing readers to the blog; to date the Cambridge who's who post(s), the Newbery posts, and several different children’s book reviews have the highest interest.


Technorati: I've really moved up in the world with Technorati links! From zero to the current statistic of 8 (yes, you read correctly) links from six different blogs. I have learned this number is obviously not infallible since several of the links back I have on the sidebar do not show up in Technorati, but did appear in Statscounter.


ZoomCloud: I still have the word cloud located in the sidebar, but am not as happy with the product as I was when first placing it in the blog. First, people clicking on particular words does not register with great accuracy. I had to remove the first incarnation of my word cloud from the side bar and it continued to garner hits a month after it ceased to exist. This brings me to the second point of dissatisfaction. I tried to delete the first ZoomCloud to no avail, it will not go away regardless of what type of connection the computer has (dial up, network, or cable). I find that aspect of the service very annoying. To be fair, it is a free service and I guess you get what you pay for.


LibraryThing: I am not getting any specific statistics from LibraryThing but I still love the site. I did a bit of tweaking with the sidebar widgets (big shock there) from LibraryThing this afternoon so I could add a recreational reading widget beyond the my library book mash. Now it is going to represent the most recently read recreational titles.

As noted in the last post, I did receive and read the newest J.D. Robb book on Friday. I will be posting about it tomorrow.


Tags: Statscounter, ZoomCloud, Technorati, LibraryThing

Post 200: Shameless self promotion

Today I moved, a conservative estimate, 60 shelves of children's books in the juvenile stacks. After underestimating the amount of room necessary to have at least 6 inches of space at the end of each shelf, I shifted the first 1/4 of the collection another two sections to the right. About half way through the move I decided to take a break and check mail from last Friday (I was in Columbus for a meeting) and meandered down to the director's office. Inside my box I found a large, padded, mailing envelope. I didn't think much of it until the boss said, "Now that you are published, will you still talk to the rest of us?"

Hooray! It was my very own personal copy, actually copies, of my peer reviewed journal article! I had almost forgotten about it, the article was accepted for publication in May of 2005 after all, but the envelope contained two copies of the journal itself and an interesting bonus, several copies of just my article bound alone. It's odd seeing my name in print, beyond what we do in the library. I find it even stranger that I will be able to search a database and find my article. Yes, I am a bit giddy, maybe even disproportionately so, about the whole concept.

I was glad it came today because I really did not want my milestone post #200 to be my Thanksgiving horoscope from blogthings.

Tags: Publishing in a library journal, First article published, Academic Library, Academic Librarian

198 and counting

After getting one hundred posts under my hypothetical belt several months ago, I determined it would be interesting to look at the second hundred and see how thing had changed. I cut my teeth on blogging through this personal effort and have since created three job related blogs, one collaborative blog, and continue to work with a professional organization for two others. Shouldn't that be enough?

I just spent a few minutes looking back through my first 197 posts and noticed, beyond being extremely fickle, things changed around post 53 when I found something worth blogging about consistently. Consider this trip down memory lane:

• 5/9/06: Hit the wall
• 6/6/06: To blog or not to blog
• 6/12/06: ALA: Libraries Build Communities
• 7/13/06: Advance Reader Copies
• 7/31/06: That last ALA conference session

I was questioning this blog every few weeks before the ALA conference in New Orleans. The post from July 31 is the turning point; it is when I changed the format of the blog somewhat and decided to blog what I know ... libraries, children's literature, library technology, and pretty much whatever else I decided would be interesting (hence the post yesterday on the Monkees). So with this post, I am now two from two hundred. I am tempted to find two more things to blog about this weekend, besides how much I could care less about the "big game" this afternoon.

Tags: Hypothetically Speaking, Blog retrospective, Blogging with purpose

Help! Addicted to my statscounter

Today it's the other me. Or is it two sides of the same me? Either way, instead of blogging about books, my first love, I am going to blog about technology obsession. No, not about the article I read this morning on the Chronicle Wired Campus Blog, Email is for Old People, but about counters and (gasp) statistics. I placed StatCounter, the free invisible web tracker, on this blog and three different professional blogs about the same time last month. Since I am not dragging out the stats I printed, I would say my best guess is early September. I have been looking daily, yes she says sheepishly, daily, at the statistics for three different accounts and four different projects.

There were and are good reasons to place counters on the professional blogs. First is the ability to verify usage beyond posted comments and blogger profile views. Often people read blogs, sometimes daily, and do not comment. They are lurkers! I, myself, was a lurker for quite some time before joining in the fray with various blogs. I remain a lurker with some blogs because that is what I want to do. Why not comment? Sometimes I don't want to, sometimes I have nothing to say, and sometimes I have no interest in leaving my two cents worth for God and everyone to see. In many cases, I am reading for content as opposed to participation. Since I am happily average, I realize the average person may be reading my professional blog offerings (two just me, another a collaborative effort) with the same attitude. No matter the reason, someone is reading and utilizing the information presented on these professional blogs. StatCounter lets me see how people are finding the professional blogs, whether via Technorati Tags or Google blog searches.

A second reason for counters on the professional blogs is to be able to see what people are reading. What is of interest? And, if we want to drive more traffic to the blog, focusing upon reader interest is a good way to start. My library blogs have very different reasons for existing. I have one blog that is simply a news and update blog that includes all of the book purchases made by me for my area, the college of education and resource center. I do not expect or even care about comments on this blog, its purpose is informational only. Another work blog is children's book reviews. While I would like to have comments from students using books reviewed in the classroom, just knowing they are actually reading the reviews is enough for now. I have also recruited professors and another librarian to write reviews as well. A third blog is a recent project, a collaborative effort with another academic librarian at a different institution. In all honesty, I would like this one to evolve into a more public forum than the others, but since we have only been working on it for a month, time will tell.

Then, I slapped a counter on this blog at the same time. Just as a test subject of sorts. I fully expected the others to out perform this lovely little personal blog, run rings around it if you will. Much to my surprise, the interest in this blog is almost three times that of the others. What a hoot! With the StatCounter free account having a 100 log minimum, it rolls over at 100 and you only see 100 at a time, this blog is well on its way to 300 and the professional blogs hit 100 this weekend. I am sure there are varied reasons for the differences and I undoubtedly will peruse and look at them all. Just not today; though, I am sure to look at the stats once more before signing off later tonight.

Tomorrow will be a day away from the computer, at least the Internet and blogosphere. I am heading to Columbus, The Ohio State University to be specific, for the first of two workshops on using Dreamweaver MX 2004. I am dreading the early morning drive, who starts a workshop at 8:30 am, but am also looking forward to the instruction. My library web page redesign project looms in the near future and I need actual instruction as opposed to learning on my own. I am basically self-taught with any sort of web design (one whole class in grad school) and am lucky to have a bit of aptitude for the project. I am also a serious crank with a plethora of snarky comments waiting to be uttered if I hear one more web page bashing remark from peers who don't know the first thing about web design.

Addendum: 10/3/06

Do not be misled by my comments about profile view and think I don't keep track of them as well. Like that's going to happen. I have weaned myself from weekly checks, limit myself to bi-weekly, and am aiming for once a month. It's easier to disregard these numbers because they lack specific rhyme or reason regarding when it is updated or what kind of logarithm, system, blah, blah, blah, is used to establish the numbers. Profile view numbers will be stagnant for weeks and then change by leaps and bounds. Yes, yes, yes; I know the more comments I post on other blogs increases the number of potentially curious bloggers looking at my lovely profile, such as it is. I digress somewhat. A case in point, in the last two weeks I have not been more active, nee opinionated or mouthy, than in the previous month. During that time period, profile view stats have jumped by 58.

Go figure. I can't.

Tags: StatCounter, Free web tracker, Blog statistics, Personal vs. Professional Blogs, Tagging blogs, Tracking blog use, Blogger profile view

Viewer Profile, just had to look

I couldn't help myself.

OK, maybe I could have. The fact that I chose not to is a more honest assessment.

I just took a quick look at the viewer profile numbers for my blog again. Since I last looked on June 11th it's gone from 114 to 214 (100 in a little over a month). I have seen a comment or two and recieved an email or two - or three - since adding an email link to my viewer profile. I find it interesting to look at the numbers.

Whatever.

That viewer profile thing again

Friday at work I had part of my lunch hour to kill. Well, okay, let's be brutally honest and say I had the last half hour of the day to kill after I finished up with a couple of sterling additions to the children's book review blog I've ignored since leaving on vacation. Anyway, just for kicks I took a quick look at this blogger profile, deleted a few things (what was I thinking), and checked out the profile viewed number. It's been at 74 for a while, so I was curious. Still the same.

After finishing my mini-rant on all things 2.0 a minute ago I looked again and it was 114. Does that seem a bit ludicrous? Or is it just me? I only post on a couple of blogs using this profile and didn't have anything profound to say in the last two days that would signify that jump. I mean, for heavens sake, that's not people reading this blog, just people clicking on the profile for one reason or another(huh, a lot of comma's in this sentence - tough).

Yes, I click on the other people's post links as well. I'm curious.

OK, nosy.

The blogger viewer counter thingy must work once a month or so. If I were that curious, I'd keep track.

Or not.