Social Media at the AYSO EXPOs

It's almost January, which means it's nearly AYSO EXPO season!

If you haven't heard the news, AYSO Section Meetings have been revamped and revitalized; hence the new name. And this year, I'm happy to report that a social media course will be at every single EXPO location!

Also, for the more seasoned social media people out there, I've been working on an advanced social media course that I will personally be teaching at select locations (as of now, it's Section 6 and the big EXPO in Las Vegas) so if you've taken my webinar before, this advanced course would be the perfect next step for you.

Learn more about AYSO EXPO and register for yours here.

See you there!

Lock it up: The best ways to secure your Wordpress site.

 

 WordPress, I can't think of a website CMS I like better, it's ease of use and incredible sophistication make it the best place to go for amateurs and professionals alike when it comes to building and maintaining a website. Now i've used a lot of different software and languages over the years in building more than a few websites (cold fusion anyone? Hello Tom are you out there?)

If you get the reference, you rock.

Granted there are times when a starting from ground up on a build is obviously the best choice for your needs, but what most people don't realize is a lot of those reasons have to do with security.
When you have a one size fits all kind of application like WordPress security is going to be a issue. Fortunately Wordpress has a amazing market of free to download plug ins that can not only add some incredible features and SEO options to your site, but it is also the place where you can go to get all your security needs squared away.

In my humble opinion when it comes to security, there is no better plug in than "Better WP Security" it is by far the most robust and secure, that I have used. Best of all; like most WordPress plug-in's, it's completely free. Remember if you do download this plug in make sure to keep it updated otherwise you will throw that security right out the window. Click the the link below to connect to the WordPress Marketplace to download "Better WP Security" Happy coding!

Click Here

Do You Have a 5-Star Region?

Facebook is rolling out another fun new feature for its business pages: ratings! Much like the popular ratings-driven site Yelp, Facebook ratings allows visitors to rate your company with a star rating, from 1 to 5 (see example below).

How do you activate this feature? Simply put in your Region’s address information under Page Info and check the provided box, and that will allow visitors to your Facebook page to rate you. Users can also leave comments with their ratings and “check-in” to your Region, which is a way of sharing with their friends that they were on your fields, participating in an game/event.

WebRTC and the bleeding edge.

Have any of you heard of WebRTC technology? anyone, anyone, (the sound of crickets ensues...) Of course you haven't basically no one has this stuff is the bleeding edge of web development, but fortunately for you dear reader I love the bleeding edge, I have a house there year round.

I see nothing wrong with this...

WebRTC is a technology that is currently being looked at by the W3C (the grand high poobah's of web standards) into becoming a standard with the goal of providing a web-based set of tools that any device can use to share audio, video and data in real time. It’s still very much in the early development stages, but WebRTC has the future potential to replace technologies like Skype, Flash and many hardcoded native apps with web-based alternatives that work on any device.

Updated: Social Media Webinar Includes New Features

Next week, I'll be hosting the webinar "Social Media 101: Using Facebook and Twitter to Increase Registration." If you haven't already taken this webinar, it's a great way to become more familiar with these social media and learn how they can help your Region succeed.

If you have already taken this webinar, now is a great time to re-take it! With all the recent changes to Facebook and Twitter, the webinar is revamped with a lot of new info and best practices (not to mention exclusive details on all of the new Facebook features).

It's happening Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 6:00 p.m., PT. Join me! Sign up here.

Web development language, and how to understand the technospeak of the Internet.

Whilst swimming these wide waters we call the internet, we come across various codewords, secret-speak, jargon if you will, that can make it feel like you stumbled into the halls of some clandestine coven of need-to-know code speakers, as opposed to a message board devoted to the glory of puppies. More relevantly; if you are building a website, or if you are having someone build you a website, the people developing or using your site will start speaking to you using these words and terms assuming a familiarity you just may not have. 

When he said azimuth, I thought we were talking about a demon.

Fear not intrepid reader of blogs for we have your salvation, what follows is a glossary of the most common web developer and user lingo. So for anyone who ever wondered what the heck a CAPTCHA™ is and why it matters, or what is CSS and why you should never use it in your email blasts, this handy guide shall steer you in the right direction so you will be able to effectively communicate and understand when building or using your and others websites.

Web Design Glossary

White Space in Design (and why it matters.)

White space is the blank space, the empty space, between your content. Many people think this empty space is just a opportunity waiting to be exploited, eagerly awaiting the chance to cram as much content as possible into what’s left.

 

This is not a land to be conquered.

If that is your thought process STOP, back away from the keyboard slowly. White space or "negative space" is actually a tool in the fundamentals of both print and web design and is as easily as important as the content it surrounds.  It’s the space we leave between all of your elements to give a layout elegance and clean form.