Since the last post was a bit of a downer I thought I'd close on an up-note for 2011.
A quick update on the spammer: We reported them to our hoster for DOS who took a look at the logs and banned him. I was very impressed with the speed this occurred: many virtual jaffas to the tech team at Hostingzoom.
So with that good news, on to the subject of this blog. I tried to switch from Google Adsense to Project Wonderful on a few of my blogs (and a couple I admin) earlier this year. I made a basic mistake and believed that each domain and sub-site had to have it's own ad, which broke the traffic down to a level where no individual site could get enough to keep the ad box active.
Project Wonderful has a solution to this: creating a networked ad. You can set your ad in an iframe and then add the iframe to the sites they have approved. This requires a few tweaks at the PW backend, including submitting the iframe URL for their robot.
As far as I can tell the process is:
1) Get your site approved
2) Create the ad. Don't activate it.
3) Create an iframe holding page on one of the approved websites.
4) On the edit screen, under Name and Location look at the box at the bottom("URL to ad box code") and out the iframe URL in it.
5) Put the ad code on the iframe, and the iframe on the websites.
6) Activate your adbox.
The only drawback using this method is that the stats only shown which of your pages called the iframe, not where a user visited from. If you have stat tracking of your own on these sites anyway (e.g. statcounter), that's not a problem. It also makes it easy to see if any sites start staying above the limit on their own, so you can customise advertising for them.
I'm testing this with a 468 banner on four sites, but might add more sites to the network if it takes off - or more adboxes to the range. Since all the sites were under by one or two unique visitors on average, this should aggregate the visitors, making bids more valuable, and keep the ad visible.
It's early stages yet, but initial indications are promising, and the agreggate traffic is over the required level. It seems like a good way to make some ad revenue from newer sites, ones with niche markets, or fluctuating traffic.
Overall I am optimistic. If it works, it will be a very good way to start the New Year!
Saturday 31 December 2011
Friday 30 December 2011
Pet Hatchery and spam
http://www.pethatchery.co.uk is one of our new sites.
The hatchery was live two days when it was hit by a Ukrainian auto-spammer. He got IP-blocked but hasn't taken the hint - he's still visiting every minute even though all he can see of the site is a 403 refuse page.
So after 24 hours, in which serving the fail pages was still using up our bandwidth, we decided we could put him on silent blocking. On the other hand this is a hatchery and meant to get views...
His fail page now has dragon eggs on it. Merry Christmas!
The hatchery was live two days when it was hit by a Ukrainian auto-spammer. He got IP-blocked but hasn't taken the hint - he's still visiting every minute even though all he can see of the site is a 403 refuse page.
So after 24 hours, in which serving the fail pages was still using up our bandwidth, we decided we could put him on silent blocking. On the other hand this is a hatchery and meant to get views...
His fail page now has dragon eggs on it. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Smashwords Tools
My latest coding project:
http://www.raggedangel.net/smashwords-tools
A set of smashwords widgets to help authors promote themselves and their books. They've passed a closed alpha (with no website) a closed beta (with no website) and are now in open beta with a website and simple links. The install scripts are down to one line of code and take one piece of user supplied data (a book or author name).
No, the website isn't pretty - nor will we be wasting dev time on it until the beta is over. It's only there to hide an industrial strength datafeed production system, scrape and RSS generator with the homebrew PHP library that runs it all, and make sure that testers can a) see the things running and b) get the URLs to get their own.
Can I guarantee these work everywhere? Hell no. The applet set that are in development might, but the current javascript ones are subject to the several hundred browsers, javascript installs, user settings, even Greasemonkey and personal user scripts that people have which can break things. This is why iframes are offered...
Personal experiences? I've the javascript one on some of my blogs. One of my blogs won't run the javascript widget, so I use the iframe one - with a resulting increase in downloads. The Squidoo one works a charm and looks better than the HTML links that were there. The RSS is on one of my lenses and works fine. The fan button is blocked (like all dynamic or animated images) on one of the messageboards I use so I saved it locally and uploaded it.
Effect on downloads? Significant. There's certainly been a recordable increase in clickthrus.
All I can suggest is try them and see - but let us know if they break or what tweaks you need to make. This is after all a beta test.
Whether we roll out applets and flash which involve much more complex development will depend on whether there's any interest in these.
http://www.raggedangel.net/smashwords-tools
A set of smashwords widgets to help authors promote themselves and their books. They've passed a closed alpha (with no website) a closed beta (with no website) and are now in open beta with a website and simple links. The install scripts are down to one line of code and take one piece of user supplied data (a book or author name).
No, the website isn't pretty - nor will we be wasting dev time on it until the beta is over. It's only there to hide an industrial strength datafeed production system, scrape and RSS generator with the homebrew PHP library that runs it all, and make sure that testers can a) see the things running and b) get the URLs to get their own.
Can I guarantee these work everywhere? Hell no. The applet set that are in development might, but the current javascript ones are subject to the several hundred browsers, javascript installs, user settings, even Greasemonkey and personal user scripts that people have which can break things. This is why iframes are offered...
Personal experiences? I've the javascript one on some of my blogs. One of my blogs won't run the javascript widget, so I use the iframe one - with a resulting increase in downloads. The Squidoo one works a charm and looks better than the HTML links that were there. The RSS is on one of my lenses and works fine. The fan button is blocked (like all dynamic or animated images) on one of the messageboards I use so I saved it locally and uploaded it.
Effect on downloads? Significant. There's certainly been a recordable increase in clickthrus.
All I can suggest is try them and see - but let us know if they break or what tweaks you need to make. This is after all a beta test.
Whether we roll out applets and flash which involve much more complex development will depend on whether there's any interest in these.
Friday 23 December 2011
Thoughts on comments
I have my guestbooks and comments on full moderation and it is just as well.
So far in 2011 I've had to moderate comments from some charming individuals. So far ones that never went live included details on where to get pirate books, some outright racist comments (on a thread about children's games? Where do these people come from) and the grand prize, a person who mistook my fan page for the official company website and tried to score free giftcards.
So why have guestbooks at all? Because sometimes the comments make it worthwhile. The Lancastria guestbook is an excellent example, where survivors and their relatives have got back in touch, or found the official organsation.
And yesterday, this went live on the Jervis Bay guestbook Dec 22nd
Merry Christmas!
So far in 2011 I've had to moderate comments from some charming individuals. So far ones that never went live included details on where to get pirate books, some outright racist comments (on a thread about children's games? Where do these people come from) and the grand prize, a person who mistook my fan page for the official company website and tried to score free giftcards.
So why have guestbooks at all? Because sometimes the comments make it worthwhile. The Lancastria guestbook is an excellent example, where survivors and their relatives have got back in touch, or found the official organsation.
And yesterday, this went live on the Jervis Bay guestbook Dec 22nd
Merry Christmas!
Sunday 18 December 2011
A new Lens - Sample Sunday
A new lens, focusing on a hashtag. SampleSunday is a weekly hashtag focusing on authors providing samples, free downloads and exerpts from their books.
Each Sunday, the tweets can be found under #SampleSunday, and they often have a second hashtag for format e.g. #ebook, #print etc, and another for genre e.g. #thriller, #kids. and provide a few details and a link to the sample.
Since it is such a busy hashtag, a lot of samples go by too fast to read, so I've split it down by genre. I look forward to seeing how it does today.
Each Sunday, the tweets can be found under #SampleSunday, and they often have a second hashtag for format e.g. #ebook, #print etc, and another for genre e.g. #thriller, #kids. and provide a few details and a link to the sample.
Since it is such a busy hashtag, a lot of samples go by too fast to read, so I've split it down by genre. I look forward to seeing how it does today.
Saturday 17 December 2011
Smashwords widgets
I'm busy coding again. A few widgets for Smashwords to display books etc, which are now in closed beta. I'd forgotten what a pain cross-browser issues could be , but on the bright side Smashwords have been very helpful indeed.
For anyone wondering about the API issue with accessing the data, I can confirm that the API is not currently in use. However I have built my own feeds, and if you want to do any dev work of your own with them, drop me a line. For example I don't code Python or Flash, but if someone wanted to build a Google App or Flash widget using the RSS, I'll happily throw it open. Just let me know, since it is currently on a test server, so too much load is not a good idea...
There's a fan button also available, and some more tools coming shortly.
For anyone wondering about the API issue with accessing the data, I can confirm that the API is not currently in use. However I have built my own feeds, and if you want to do any dev work of your own with them, drop me a line. For example I don't code Python or Flash, but if someone wanted to build a Google App or Flash widget using the RSS, I'll happily throw it open. Just let me know, since it is currently on a test server, so too much load is not a good idea...
Thursday 15 December 2011
Pethatchery
I got an early christmas present. It's a URL. I think that makes me a techie (certainly a happy techie!).
http://www.pethatchery.co.uk
My little pet hatchery appears to be taking off, to the extent that it used up unacceptable amounts of my test server bandwidth. This despite the fact it is still in testing.
So now there is my little test version behind a wall for me to work on, and this one live, publicly available and incubating nicely.
This also means I need to fix things for robustness, get the RSS egg feeds up and running, and have a lot of work to do before christmas. It's nice to be busy!
http://www.pethatchery.co.uk
My little pet hatchery appears to be taking off, to the extent that it used up unacceptable amounts of my test server bandwidth. This despite the fact it is still in testing.
So now there is my little test version behind a wall for me to work on, and this one live, publicly available and incubating nicely.
This also means I need to fix things for robustness, get the RSS egg feeds up and running, and have a lot of work to do before christmas. It's nice to be busy!
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Smashwords project
A fairly major project now is Smashwords. I couldn't find an API or RSS that supplied what I wanted for a widget, so I haven't yet got to the widget bits. Instead I ended up building a supporting package - three types of XML file and a lightweight PHP library to expose the data in a convenient array.
This is all still in testing, so there may be minor changes, but it is working well enough to support flat html widgets and php-generated banners.
While Smashwords offers general banners for the site, I'm working on ones specific to authors, individual books and searches.
Once I'm confident I'm not dumping broken code out there, I'll throw it open for anyone else who wants to promote their books or Smashwords in general. The RSS and PHP libraries are also going to be publicly available, since there seem to be a few people I know trying to build for them.
If you want the link, leave a comment here.
This is all still in testing, so there may be minor changes, but it is working well enough to support flat html widgets and php-generated banners.
While Smashwords offers general banners for the site, I'm working on ones specific to authors, individual books and searches.
Once I'm confident I'm not dumping broken code out there, I'll throw it open for anyone else who wants to promote their books or Smashwords in general. The RSS and PHP libraries are also going to be publicly available, since there seem to be a few people I know trying to build for them.
If you want the link, leave a comment here.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Christmas changes and teddy bears
It seems to be the week that web companies annoy me enough to do things I should have done ages ago.
The Regretsy debacle finally got me closing my Paypal account. There's been nothing in it since someone sent me money by mistake and Paypal charged me the money I'd saved in it to return the transaction to the legal owner.
I've advised a couple of businesses to look at Amazon checkout as an alternative now it's available in the UK, and I think that is now going to be a long-term policy change for me. The paypal-only accounts have been thrown in with a local business who handle transactions and disbursements.
The only good thing? Paypal just caved and gave the Regretsy charity money across (see here).
And now Gmail's new look, which is unfortunately unreadable (half the mail message disappears off the edge of my screen on a 17" monitor, and I can't tell where the mail message ends and the ads begin) has driven me to get a personal account against my own domain name - something I've planned for the last six months and never quite got round to.
On a bright note, heres a new lens. Nick Davis, former White Dwarf writer, has come out with a children's book, A Teddy Bear Tale. It is Tristan the Teddy's last night guarding his child from the monsters under the bed before the boy grows up. Unfortunately the monsters know this too and tonight they have big plans...
The Regretsy debacle finally got me closing my Paypal account. There's been nothing in it since someone sent me money by mistake and Paypal charged me the money I'd saved in it to return the transaction to the legal owner.
I've advised a couple of businesses to look at Amazon checkout as an alternative now it's available in the UK, and I think that is now going to be a long-term policy change for me. The paypal-only accounts have been thrown in with a local business who handle transactions and disbursements.
The only good thing? Paypal just caved and gave the Regretsy charity money across (see here).
And now Gmail's new look, which is unfortunately unreadable (half the mail message disappears off the edge of my screen on a 17" monitor, and I can't tell where the mail message ends and the ads begin) has driven me to get a personal account against my own domain name - something I've planned for the last six months and never quite got round to.
On a bright note, heres a new lens. Nick Davis, former White Dwarf writer, has come out with a children's book, A Teddy Bear Tale. It is Tristan the Teddy's last night guarding his child from the monsters under the bed before the boy grows up. Unfortunately the monsters know this too and tonight they have big plans...
Wednesday 7 December 2011
A new lens: Indie Firsts
Another new lens, this one about an Indie Magazine. Indie Firsts offers first chapters from books by indie (small press and self-published) authors.
Published by an imprint of Bards and Sages publishing, this is a good place to find new authors among the huge tide of ebooks and print books coming out.
Published by an imprint of Bards and Sages publishing, this is a good place to find new authors among the huge tide of ebooks and print books coming out.
Tuesday 6 December 2011
Loveblinks.com - a backlinks site
No, I haven't gone soft and fluffy on my readers despite the name. This is a very useful site.Would it make things clearer if I said Loveblincks is short for Love Backlinks?
With shetoldme going commercial, many of the major sites now being nofollow, and link directories being deprecated by search engines, Loveblinks fills a very useful gap. It's free, it is dofollow, and it is easy to use. That said, they are very new, so I don't know how much traffic they get.
LoveBlinks works by allowing users to write articles along a theme which include a number of their links. This extra unique content makes the links more valuable to search engines.
Here's my first blink, 4 Famous Steam Engines which links to four of my squidoo lenses.
There is an affiliate scheme, but as I only signed up yesterday I don't know much about that yet.
On top of all this, it also allows revenue sharing through google Adsense, so it can produce funds in its own right. About the only thing you can't do is link directly to products, so no affiliate link stuffing, but if you are just after backlinks it looks like this might be a very useful site.
Have a look at loveblinks below:
With shetoldme going commercial, many of the major sites now being nofollow, and link directories being deprecated by search engines, Loveblinks fills a very useful gap. It's free, it is dofollow, and it is easy to use. That said, they are very new, so I don't know how much traffic they get.
LoveBlinks works by allowing users to write articles along a theme which include a number of their links. This extra unique content makes the links more valuable to search engines.
Here's my first blink, 4 Famous Steam Engines which links to four of my squidoo lenses.
There is an affiliate scheme, but as I only signed up yesterday I don't know much about that yet.
On top of all this, it also allows revenue sharing through google Adsense, so it can produce funds in its own right. About the only thing you can't do is link directly to products, so no affiliate link stuffing, but if you are just after backlinks it looks like this might be a very useful site.
Have a look at loveblinks below:
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