Groovy Sputum

My Apologies

I want to sincerely apologize for the server debacle earlier today. It seems that all of the subscribers to the Groovy Sputum rss feed received this message:

RSS permission denied: WordPress has encountered xml syndication error x000564. Please re-subscribe to this feed by visiting lukeburton.us.

In addition, all visitors received this 404 error upon navigating to Groovy Sputum. I have sacked the technicians responsible for these errors and have hired a completely new, highly trained crew of chimpanzees as network administrators. Things seem to be running much better now.

Feel free to vent your anger about today’s events by leaving a comment on this post. I will be sure to pass them along to the guys I just fired.

Done…Finally

After much delay, our WordPress church web site is up and running. There is mostly static, for-visitor info on it right now, but we did manage to launch with 6 posts. There is a testimony, a message from the pastor, a brief summary about some recent events, and a few technical articles explaining how to use the rss feeds and explaining social bookmarks. Check it out here. I would love to hear some feedback about what you think.

The Blog That’s Not A Blog

Sunday was supposed to be our launch of the new church website, but due to many things, it has been put off until March 2nd. I think that date is pretty solid, mostly because Pastor Mike announced it from the pulpit on Sunday, gave out the web address, and said it would be up on that day. I figured that I would spend some time explaining a few things about the site that I think are rather unique.

When you think of a blog, even a church blog, you typically think of a Blogger or WordPress layout: a header image that changes with the seasons, one large column with the 5 or 6 latest posts, and a side bar filled with widgets and such. This is fine for a personal blog, but it’s not what I had in mind for our church site. I wanted to have an area where we could put static data (like service times, a map, statement of faith, etc.) but reserve the majority of the page area for posts. Here’s the catch: I wanted to display a number of posts from a variety of categories on the page in a way that readers could see them all.

After investigating many themes available for WordPress, I found that 99% of them don’t separate posts based on category nor do they display posts in multiple places. Then I discovered the phrase magazine style theme. After a Google search with that phrase, I found a number of themes that would do what I wanted. They all are built primarily for newspapers or magazines that display their info in separate categories. Some of my favorites are The Morning After, Mimbo, Structure, and Grid Focus. Others I found are Gridlock, Visionary, and a number of themes by Upstart Blogger.

After trying a few, I finally settled on the Mimbo theme due to it’s classic styling and use of custom fields. If you are a Seinfeld fan, you will recognize the name. Funny stuff. Anyway, I made a few changes to the sidebar and the CSS file, but not many. The first thing you see when you go to the site is the latest post from the pastor. Below it are the three latest testimonies as well as the latest post from the children, youth, and adult categories. The announcements are in the top right corner and are actually posts with only theirs title showing. The nice thing about this is that they show up on the page as bulleted lines, but are sent as posts via the rss feed.

When visitors come to the site, they have access to 12 posts from 6 different categories as well as navigation and special event banners. This is exactly what I wanted. A traditional blog format shoves all of the content to the bottom or the archives and the viewer has to search for the content they want. With a magazine style format, the viewer always sees the latest post from each category, regardless of when it was posted.

The static info that rarely changes is confined to pages and can be accessed via the drop down navigation bar at the top. The titles showing are the parent pages and the drop down choices are children of those parents. The only pages that will change much will be the events. I am planning to create a new page for each special event we have and then link the side banner ads to them. When the event is first presented, it will be written up and categorized into either the children, youth, or adult areas as a post. As the event approaches, I will create a post in the announcement category so that a reminder is sent to any one subscribing to the site feed.

So, that’s it. I think the overall visual appearance is nice (conservative, yet modern in a techie way) and it functions the way I had it in my head. I would love to hear what you think about the concept and design. We haven’t gone live yet, so who knows, maybe something you suggest will be worked into the final product!

T-Minus 5 Days

I met with Pastor Mike last week and showed him the initial build for the CFAC web site and he really liked it. I thought about providing a link for you to check it out, but because the content is just gibberish, I decided to wait until the site is up and running to reveal it.

Some of you may be wondering why I appear to have an obsession with WordPress. Well, when I first investigating CMS (content management systems), I realized that there were many to choose from. I had a list of criteria that the CMS needed to have, and as I began to investigate the possibilities, a few platforms really stuck out. Here is what I was looking for:

1. Open Source (i.e. free)
2. Well supported and tested
3. Large community of users for support and the sharing of layouts & customizable features (because I an not that creative)
4. Built on an open source database (again, free)
5. Easy to use login and user interface (if it is too difficult to change, the site will never be updated)
6. Blog ready, but not necessarily blog only
7. Able to be self hosted with my domain name (I didn’t want third party ads or logos on the site nor did I want my domain name to be whatever.blogityblogblogblog.com)

Based on these criteria, I narrowed my choices to Joomla! and WordPress. They are nearly identical platforms and fit my criteria to a tee, but I eventually chose WordPress because of the out-of-the-box blog features. Although Joomla! can be used as a blog, there is much more set up and customization involved to get there.

The more I have used WordPress, the more impressed with it I have been. It uses MySQL as it’s database and runs on Linux servers. It uses the scripting language php to access the database, although some programmers have complained that it is not a true php, but a modified version of it. I honestly don’t care because it is fairly intuitive and anyone with the slightest bit of scripting background can figure out the syntax. WordPress also has a huge following of users and that means tons of extras like themes and plugins (a small program that provides an extra service not normally preformed by the CMS). The main WordPress site also has a large resource area to assist people like me in customizing.

In my research leading up to our church web site, I came across many churches using all kinds of blog software. In my opinion, those running Joomla! or WordPress were by far the nicest. They just seemed to strike the right balance between and online billboard and an online community. I think that is really what I am going for. Too much of either and the site becomes a static ad or simply a church forum. I am not interested in either of those.

So, we are set to go live on Sunday. When you see it, I hope your reaction is, “Wow, that doesn’t look like a WordPress blog.” I am planning on explaining what we did with the layout in a future post, so stay tuned for more!

We’re Online

I recently got the ok from Pastor Mike to build a website for our church and last night I got the ball rolling with the purchase of a domain name. I also loaded WordPress onto the server and set up the MySQL database, so we are ready to roll. At this point, we just have to settle on the content, layout, and overall look of the site. Since we are going with WordPress, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

I also discovered a little plugin that is handy if you use WordPress. It is called Maintenance Mode and when active, it takes your site off line and replaces it with a customizable front page. As the name implies, this tool is used when you are doing maintenance on your site. It is nice to be able to quickly take down the site and put up a temp page. It is also nice for visitors to see a real page while you are working and not get one of those nasty “server not found” message. Check out the site and see what I mean: clearforkalliance.org. I just put up the church name, location, and meeting times. It will work for now and we can be working on the build behind the scenes and as soon as we are ready to go live, we can deactivate MM and BAM!…have an official web presence.

I thought about putting a spinning gif of a stick man digging with a message that says “under construction” (demo), or simply this icon (I like the backhoe), but I thought the simple page was more appropriate. The sad thing is, even in my 10 minutes of work getting the site up, it is probably better than 90% of the church web sites out there right now. I particularly like this site (check out the dancing Jesus) and am thinking of contacting the web master for some design tips.

Useful Plugins

I hope you have enjoyed reading my Top 5 Greatest OSU Moments the last few days. I have been doing some research about the WordPress platform and wanted to share some of the useful plugins that I have discovered and am using presently. I have found that these plugins really help me as I am blogging.

• Simple Tags: this is a great little tag manager. You can rename any of your tags globally (great for the times you misspell a tag and end up with 3 of the same thing, i.e. word press, Wordpress, and WordPress), have tags automatically generated for each post, or get tag suggestions from Yahoo and the web using the click tag feature.
• All in One SEO: this is a search engine optimizer, hence the name SEO. This will generate unique meta information in the header of each page of your blog based on the content of each page. For instance, instead of every page having the top 10 tags and basic blog description, each page will be tagged with the tags you created for that post and the page description will be the excerpt of your post.
• CyStats: logs just about every data you might want about your blog. Number of unique hits/visits, number of bot hits/visits, search query returns (both internal and external), page usage, trackback data, and on and on.
• WP-Polls: my latest plugin addition, this little guy enables internal polls and is very customizable. I am not a huge fan of external blogging services for things like polls, calendars, and galleries. I just don’t like to log in to a gazillion sites to do something simple.
• Search Everything: this extends the search capabilities of the standard WordPress search bar. The default WordPress search form only searches post content (as far as I know) but this plugin expands that form to tags, categories, image titles, post titles, comments, and more. Basically, it allows your viewers to search everything, hence the name.

If you have never used plugins on your WordPress site, I highly recommend trying them. They are easy to use, easy to install, and very helpful. One thing to note: it is a good idea to get your plugins (and themes, for that matter) directly from the WordPress web site. There have been reports of malicious code being inserted by third party download sites and that is no fun. Get the genuine stuff here.

My Obsession

If you know me at all, you probably know that when an idea gets into my head, I tend to go overboard thinking about the details. I can’t tell you how many times I have dreamed of starting a coffee shop, a racing team or business and have literally spent hours thinking about any and every little detail of the project. From color schemes to shoe sponsors, font styles to floor plans, I planned EVERYTHING. I used to just write my ideas on scrap paper or napkins, but when the technology revolution happened, I began to use graphic editing programs to “flesh out” my thoughts. I particularly enjoy creating logos or icons to “brand” my ideas. You know, make them more marketable. Right.

I thought I would list a few of these thoughts and ideas for you so that you’d have a glimpse of how I think. The more recent ideas may have a logo that have I created, while the older ones don’t. Now, keep in mind, many of these are quite old and have been gurgling in my brain for quite some time.

• The Mud Puddle

This was a coffee shop idea that hit me while I was trying to stay awake during my Tuesday / Thursday afternoon Educational Philosophy class back in college. Or was it Philosophy of Education? Who cares. All I know is that it was…(yawn)…a very interesting class. The concept for The Mud Puddle was based on John 9:6 where Christ spits, makes mud, and puts it on the blind man’s eyes. The tag line of the place was going to be “Opening the Eyes of the Blind” and the place would be all the rage with teens and singles…a place to turn troubled lives around. All of the menu items would have “dirty” names. You know, cup of mud, dirt pudding, gravel latte, etc.

• Groovy Sputum

This was going to be the monthly newsletter for the coffee shop mentioned above. It would contain poems and thought provoking proverbs from local writers as well as a list of the upcoming live entertainment that one could hear on the weekends. Raw acoustic, of course. “Where’d you come up with the name, Luke?” Glad you asked. I was taking microbiology the same semester The Mud Puddle hit me and at one point were running sputum cultures. I realize that sputum and spit (which Christ used in John 9) are not exactly the same, but they are close enough in my book to make a connection. Besides, Groovy Sputum just has a ring to it. As you know, Groovy Sputum has morphed into my personal blog.

• Extra Mile Racing Team

This idea here was to merge racing with ministry. I planned to round up some Christian runners & cyclists to travel around on the weekends with me to local races and triathlons. We would set up a tent / booth and, after the race, share our faith with people. We would give out water bottles, socks, and t-shirts with our logo and web site on it. I had even thought of giving away “In Quest of Gold”, the autobiography of Jim Ryun. The concept for the team was not to just race, but to go the extra mile and tell people about Christ.

• Intelligent Web Design

The now defunked web design studio, this idea actually existed. I purchased my first domain name and had absolutely zero people visit the site for a year. Eventually, I changed the domain name to lukeburton.us but the result was the same. Darn you, WordPress! Just like Wal*Mart, you have kicked the small business owner to the curb.

• myCathedral

This was my original blog. Chris Rice’s song and Apple Computers inspired this idea. You know, we have the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iBook…why not have myCathedral. Work with me here, people. I actually did the layout and styling myself and intended to use it as a spiritual journal. This took place during a time when I was just learning web design. I wanted to try out my new found knowledge of CSS (table-less design) and see if I could create my own blog. I quickly discovered that it is nearly impossible to archive and hyper link a blog without a well written scripting language and database.

So, come on, members of Extra Mile Racing. Let’s go down to The Mud Puddle, get a mud mocha, read Groovy Sputum, and save the world. Later, we can write about it on myCathedral…

The WordPress Driven Church

I was at prayer meeting a week ago and one of the requests that has been on the list for a while is for a person to coordinate community relations for the church. I inquired about this and found out that it is primarily a need to promote “Experience Bethlehem”, the church Christmas ministry. Anyway, the conversation lead to discussion about a church web site and I discovered that Clear Fork Alliance does not have one and the creation of one is not eminent. I told Pastor Mike that I have done that kind of thing before and would be interested in working on it if needed. He said he would check with the person who had been working on a site and get back to me. Well, last Wednesday at prayer meeting, PM said that I could have at it.

For some time I have been thinking about how to make a church web site into more than just a virtual visitors guide. I mean, let’s face it, that’s what the majority of church sites are. A static list of data that never is updated. Since Joe average visitor prefers to find info via the web, the site is used the way a yellow pages ad or newspaper listing was used 20 or 30 years ago.

Then I watched my wife blog. Man, can Valerie blog! I’m proud to say that there are no Google Ads adorning her blog and she is in it purely for the relationship building value blogging brings. It is the growth in her relationships that really started me thinking about having a church web site be a ministry.

That’s when the light went on. Why not make the church site a blog? Why limit the content of a church site to static data like times, locations, and a list of core beliefs? Why not allow the people in the church to express themselves by posting about their lives…what God is doing, how He is working, their faith in Him. Readers (church members and potential visitors) would be able to better know the body of believers and see what the church is REALLY about. Let’s face it, can a person really know what a church is like by looking at a picture of the building and reading their mission statement?

I think it would be great to have two main areas: static info that will serve as an advertisement for potential visitors and a blog area where there are new postings daily or weekly. Obviously, in order to have new posts, we will need writers to submit work and topics for them to write about. Here are some possibilities I have thought of:

• Testimonies: church members can write their testimonies out and we could post a new one each week. What a great way for church members to get to know each other. This would also be a great witness for unbelievers about how God reaches and changes lives.
• Pastor post: the pastor could submit a weekly post about whatever is on his heart. It could be a message to the church, something that God is doing in his life, or whatever. This would be a way for people to know the “lead dog” better.
• Age group posts: church members might write about various topics for children, youth, singles, family, seniors, etc.
• Discipleship: these could particularly be posts about topics that pertain to new Christians to help them grow.

I think if we had 2 or 3 regular people submitting posts weekly and then asked people for testimonies (we could post a new one each week), we could have enough new content to keep the site fresh. If people wanted to subscribe to the RSS feed, they could even get the posts delivered to their in-boxes! Also, if there is anyone into photography or video production, this could be a great way for them to express themselves.

I will post on how this church blog goes. I think the biggest challenge is going to be to make it visually look like a church site rather than a blog. Also, getting writers on board with the concept of it being a ministry may be a challenge. We’ll see how it goes.

Tags and Categories

I am fairly new to the blogging realm and so it is natural for me to have lots of unanswered questions. One question that is no longer a mystery is the difference between tags and categories. I used to think of them as one in the same with the differences being that there are more tags and that fonts on tag clouds get bigger the more times that tag appears. After doing some research and adding a nifty WordPress plugin called Simple Tags, I am pleased to say that you will now see a tag cloud on my site.

Here’s a great analogy when thinking about tags and categories: categories are analogous to the table of contents in the front of a book and tags are likened to a word index or glossary at the back of book. There may only be five or six chapters in a book, but key words may be used throughout. Keep in mind that the ultimate purpose of tags and categories is to aid readers in finding what they want to read. If a person wants to look generally at a topic, they should use categories. If someone wants to read about a specific topic, they should navigate using the tags.

Ideally, there should only be a dozen categories at most, but tags should be numerous. One programming blog I read recently had about 50 categories. I then looked at the tag cloud and discovered the same 50 words used there. I thought, what’s the point. If you are not going to differentiate between tags and categories, then why have them both.

So, if you want to read about my family, click on my family category. But if you want to specifically read about Valerie, you can click on her name in the tag cloud and filter out the post’s that don’t include her. Also, you may find that I wrote about Valerie in a post that didn’t fall into the family category.

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle!