Archive for June, 2009

OH, YEAH. THAT PODCAST I DO.

Monday, June 1st, 2009

I was so wrapped up talking about, well, Up, that I completely forgot to remind you guys to check out The Triple Feature tonight.

In case you’re unfamiliar, it’s a podcast I host along with Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex.

We record every Monday night at 9:00 PM and you can listen to us record the show LIVE!

Not only that, but the show has a chat room where you can interact with other listeners or maybe even Joe or myself (when Gordon gets to ranting too much.)

Be sure to check us out this evening. We’ll be discussing Up and Drag Me To Hell!

THE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

I just wanted to collect some feedback on something site-related I’m toying with.

Under the comic, there is a link to the ShareThis! application that, on rollover, reveals dozens of links to different social bookmarking sites.

The other day I stumbled onto the Sociable plugin and really liked the way that it displayed the icons of the social bookmarking sites I choose.

My main problem with their plugin is the coding. Specifically the CSS. I want to put text around it to kind of explain what all these little images are doing there (“Bookmark this comic!”) but the way the code is written, it won’t let me.

At this point, I’m afraid I’m overthinking it.

So let me as you this: Does there need to be any text on the page explaining what those icons are for? Twitter, StumbleUpon, Reddit and the like? Or is it safe to assume that if people see those icons and the like the comic enough to bookmark it, they will?

I’m trying to get a sense of how you guys use these social bookmarking plugins (if it all) because I want to make it as easy for you as possible to help share Theater Hopper with others.

Right now I have a sneaking suspicion that the ShareThis! plugin I’m currently using is forcing you to jump through hoops by clicking on the link, then hunting for the social bookmarking service you want versus seeing the icon for that service front and center, clicking on it and getting it done.

What do you think? I could really use your perspective.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Hey, guys.

Having a bit of a problem with the site today. I was moving around the social bookmarking stuff along with the ranking and site page bookmarker and as a result, the ranking for the homepage image is showing up on all the comics in the archive. Also, the comic navigation seems to be broken.

Of course, like an idiot, I didn’t save a backup of the page I was editing. So I’m talking to my webhost guy to see if they can roll back the page to a previous version.

Hang tight and hopefully we’ll get this fixed soon.

EDIT: Okay, I was able to troubleshoot the problem. I guess the site doesn’t like the little comic bookmarking thing above the navigation. Not the social bookmarking, but the little buttons that let you save your place when you’re reading through the archives.

Does anyone have any idea why that might be? It’s a widget, I guess. But it’s PHP and I have no idea what to do with that.

TIME SINK

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Hey, guys. I was wondering if everyone who reads this could do me a quick favor.

My good friend (an Theater Hopper site administrator) Brian Arnold is running a tiny experiment gathering stats on different internet time sinks. You know what I’m talking about – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

Anyway, Brian’s experiment is very easy to participate in. Just fill out a tiny form and you’re set! Please trust that he’s not gathering any personal information. Like I said, it’s only an experiment.

If you’d like to participate, please click here.

It would mean a lot to me if you helped Brian out. Brian has been a behind-the-scenes champion for Theater Hopper, operating without recognition for years. Anything I can do to return his friendship, I’m more than happy to do.

Thanks, everyone!

AD SWITCH UP

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

I’m thinking about pulling the top 300 x 250 ad that’s to the right of the comic and replacing it with a 300 x 250 spot from Project Wonderful.

I sell advertising on the site, but I get the impression that people aren’t interested in peer-to-peer- ad sales anymore and I should leave an option for those who prefer the Project Wonderful interface.

Considering the financial situation I’m in now that I’m currently unemployed, I’m trying to diversify my offerings a little bit. I think by making available a Project Wonderful spot, people can more directly manage how they choose to advertise with me. Plus, I can promote it easier in the blog and (hopefully) see a more direct result from that promotion. This, versus the peer-to-peer arrangement that requires a few e-mails back and forth.

I’m kind of talking out loud with this, but I was curious if there are any of you who would advertise with Theater Hopper if there was a Project Wonderful spot available at the top of the page?

Let me know in the comments, won’t you?