been a while ...

[humeniuk]

Hello all -

I guess this is more of a re-introduction than an introduction, but it's been quite a while since I've been around.  Been busy with life and all that.

It looks like everything has come a long way.  It's great to see - much credit to everyone involved.

[COBOLdinosaur]

Welcome back stranger. :^)

It looks like everything has come a long way.  It's great to see - much credit to everyone involved.

Yes things are getting better every day.

In case you haven't noticed the forum and content side have been split onto seperate domains.  There are a number of reasons for that; not the least of which is that it is what Duz recommended for SEO.

The forum got a facelift, and Matt has made a bunch of improvments.  We are finally starting to see membership grow. The content side is way ahead of projections for traffic.  We are moving toward a common interface and database for the two parts of the site, but we still have lots to do, now that we are getting good traffic.

The promotion and SEO efforts have done a nice job of getting up into alexa rankings, and the 1200+ page views a day are about 50% Google most days.  Of course that is mostly because of the quality of the content. We have put a couple of articles on the front page of Digg and we have another one in the works right now.  See http://www.expertsrt.net/main/forum/topic,938.0/ if you want to help make coral famous.

If you have the time, to do an article, tutorial, or any sort of content contribution you will find willing hands to help you polish it for prime time, and ERT IS prime time now.  In addition to Digg we grab front pages on a regular basis on Dzone and pixelgroovy, we are also well represented on redit, Netscape and other community news/information sites.  We also get heavily blogged and bookmarked (over 1000 bookmarks on deli alone). 

If you want people to see what you have it to say then ERT is the place.  Some articles have been read by over 30,000 users, and I guarantee you from experience that you don't get even 1% of that exposure from even the biggest forums; you also don't drop off the radar after a week.  Content we put up months ago gets a steady flow as it is discovered by new user visiting off a search; or from an article featured on one of the large community sites and forums where our links are posted.

We are on the margin of web2.  The place I think it will all come back to when the bubble next bursts and the ads that fuel the blogoshere dry up; and the quality rises to the top.  Anyway that is another topic.  Glad to see you back on the site.  If its just a visit; enjoy.  If you want to get into the action; we are happy to have you on board.

Cd&

[rdivilbiss]

It looks like everything has come a long way.  It's great to see - much credit to everyone involved.

Nice to see you too. Everythings golden, except you have to log in every darn day.

[humeniuk]

Good to see you both :)

I've been looking around a bit.  Lots to read, but it's the only way to get caught up.

If its just a visit; enjoy.  If you want to get into the action; we are happy to have you on board.

The plan is to hang around and get involved.  I'm trying to take my time & get a sense of what I can contribute and where.  But ultimately, I've never been too good at keeping my opinions to myself and don't see that changing in the near future.

If you have the time, to do an article, tutorial, or any sort of content contribution ...

I would definitely be interested.  I have to be a bit careful about writing anything too similar to something I've written for a client for obvious reasons.  Something to think about as I'm wandering around the place.

... what Duz recommended ...

A pretty good reason to do just about anything.

Everythings golden, except you have to log in every darn day.

I'll keep my eyese open for a suggestion box.

Again, a big pat on the back for everyone involved.  Consider me officially impressed.

[nicholassolutions]

Hey great to see you humeniuk! I thought we'd lost ya ;-)

Rod, About the logging in everytime, I'd love to say I'm working on it, but I just haven't been able to find the time lately. I know you're busy too -- maybe we can try to get someone else to volunteer to have a look.
 
About ERT being prime time now -- it's a fact. A warning abou t that though -- don't write an article on here that includes your email unless you want to be flooded with thank you's and questions ;-)

[COBOLdinosaur]

don't write an article on here that includes your email unless you want to be flooded with thank you's and questions ;-)

Matt, we can pull out the email address if it is causing a problem; or replace it with a dedicated email to keep it seperate from business stuff.  Now that I have the "join us in the forum" box add to the pages, the user have a place to get follow up.  I don't know if those add on boxes have contributed, but we do seem to be getting a little more interest in teh forum since I added them.

But ultimately, I've never been too good at keeping my opinions to myself and don't see that changing in the near future.

The best topics on the site are the ones with strong opinions and heated discussion.  It would be dull as hell if we just agreed about everything all the time.

I have to be a bit careful about writing anything too similar to something I've written for a client for obvious reasons.

It a different game.  For clients you solve problems; here we teach people to solve their own problems.  The articles are general.  They don't try to solve a problem, they provide information that can be used broadly.  Part of the reason that they have been so popular is that They have information that can be used for a wide variety of applictions.  Rod's AJAX related stuff and scripting get a lot of action because they are easily adapted. 

Coral gets action because he is writng with a comfortable style that speaks to the  basement or garage, techies.  Matt scores because he is a good writer, who makes difficult stuff easy to understand.  None of us are trying to answer specific questions or solve a problem; we are just organizing some of the information we have accumulated into digestible chunks that leaves the users hungry for more. 

The trick is getting it positioned so it gets found by those who need it.  So White hat SEO, cultivation of good relations on sites that post our links, and making it easy for users to bookmark us and submit us to community sites. A lot of our users do a quick hit on the page google of Digg gives them, but then come back later to look at other stuff.  On the average day 35% of our visitors are returns, lookin at new stuf or just coming to the tech news page because they like the selection and organizatin of it.

So we are an information provider, not necessarily a source of answers.

[humeniuk]

Hey great to see you humeniuk! I thought we'd lost ya ;-)

Great to see you, too.  Lots of unexpected curves in the road of life, huh?  Wasn't sure if was going to end up back here for a while myself :)

don't write an article on here that includes your email unless you want to be flooded with thank you's and questions ;-)

That's what Gmail is for - making sure I can't see that stuff while I'm working.

It a different game.  For clients you solve problems; here we teach people to solve their own problems.  The articles are general.

Point well taken.  To clarify, much of the work that I do is writing.  Commissioned articles, website content, ad copy, etc.  I was working as a writer long before I even knew what IT was.  Much of what I write falls under the category you're talking about, organizing information and presenting it in a way it can be generally understood.  So, if someone pays me to write an article about XYZ, it might not be appreciated if I cover similar XYZ  info here a week later.

It's not a major concern, though, as there are endless topics to choose from/write about.  But I do have to be mindful of those who fill my pockets if I choose a topic.

[nicholassolutions]

Matt, we can pull out the email address if it is causing a problem; or replace it with a dedicated email to keep it seperate from business stuff.  Now that I have the "join us in the forum" box add to the pages, the user have a place to get follow up.  I don't know if those add on boxes have contributed, but we do seem to be getting a little more interest in teh forum since I added them.

No, I don't mind em -- it was actually a joke -- I really enjoy hearing from people, getting suggestions for improvements, etc. It's also a good way for me to recruit people over here -- I think they appreciate the fact that they get a response from a real human with an invitation to the forum. Even the emails that are just a simple "thanks" are worth getting -- it reminds you that you're helping people...and since it all goes to my info@... account, it doesn't get in the way of other stuff. IMO, getting flooded with thank you emails after writing an article is a pretty good reason to write one  Like humeniuk said, that's what Gmail is for ;-)

[COBOLdinosaur]

So, if someone pays me to write an article about XYZ, it might not be appreciated if I cover similar XYZ  info here a week later.

I actually have a similar situation with my employer.  I have always been restricted in some areas like DB design and security, in case a client should feel compromised.  So in the forums I post, I sty to client side stuff and stay away for server side and applications.  I also work the Web as COBOLdinosaur to maintain an isolation through anonimity.

Cd&

[humeniuk]

I actually have a similar situation with my employer.  I have always been restricted in some areas like DB design and security, in case a client should feel compromised.  So in the forums I post, I sty to client side stuff and stay away for server side and applications.  I also work the Web as COBOLdinosaur to maintain an isolation through anonimity.

A good approach.  Too late for me a this point :)

[humeniuk]

... so who do I speak to about article submissions, etc. ?

[Huntress]

That would be me.  You can post your idea in Content Submission or send it to me via email.  Good to have you aboard Andrew!  :-)

[humeniuk]

Nice to 'see' you, Huntress :)

I'll be in touch in the next day or so.

[COBOLdinosaur]

:^)

[coral1]

Ahhhhh.... another lost lamb that wandered back in.   : )

You might want to give the Journal a try (top-left menu), for writing your articles.
Then just post the link in Content Submission when done, and Huntress or whoever can grab it from there.

FWIW:
I am not having any login problems.
Intermittent notif problems, but no login problem.   : D