For Google, Test is the new Beta

Jun 21, 2006 | 0 | Google

It appears that Google is labeling at least one of their new services TEST instead of BETA.

Question: Does this mark a major shift by Google? Will it trigger a surge in their stock price? Does anyone care?

Answer: Probably not. Just something I noticed.

Lessons learned from a challenging Movable Type upgrade

Jun 21, 2006 | 1 | MovableType + Tips

As Ramit mentioned, I helped him upgrade his Movable Type blog and things did not go as smoothly as expected.

Ramit was running an older version of Movable Type and drowning in spam comments. I helped him upgrade to the latest MovableType version and get those spammers under control and learned a few things along the way.

Comment spam is worse than I thought

I knew comment spam was a problem, but I hadn't experienced it much myself. Iwillteachyoutoberich.com is a very popular blog and it attracts tons of spammers. There were 6500 comments in the system when I started and after purging the obvious spam only about 1900 legit comments remained.

The latest version of MovableType (3.2) has much better spam control built in. So far it seems to be catching most of his comment spam automatically.

Don't use Berkeley DB with Movable Type

You can power MovableType with mysql, sqlite, or Berkeley DBs. Berkeley DB is the easiest to setup, but the hardest to maintain and upgrade.

I ran into all kinds of problems trying to upgrade from Berkeley DB to mysql. (And I'm not alone.) It is also almost impossible to move a Berkeley DB from one server to another. Hope you don't mind being locked into your current hosting provider! :)

If you expect your blog to be around for longer than a year or expect more than a couple hundred entries and comments, do yourself a favor and start out with a mysql database or upgrade now!

Don't rely on MovableType import/export

The import/export feature build into MovableType should not be relied upon for backing up or migrating your blog (at least in the current 3.2 release).

The import/export button does not export all of your data. If you export your blog and import it somewhere else, you will lose some information like base names, moderation status, and authenticated users. The biggie there is base names.

It means that your entries will probably have different permalink URLs after they have been imported. This will break any links that are pointing to your site and could kill your search engine ranking.

The safer way to backup or migrate is to use mysql database dumps. (I told you that you want to use mysql!)

Lessons learned. I'm just glad we were able to get Ramit's site back up and running so he can get back to writing!

Project Launch: Washington Post - Post Global

Jun 20, 2006 | 1 | Projects

Another project I have been working on launched recently. Post Global is a blog platform that Washington Post writers are using to debate global issues. You can read more about this "experiment" in global journalism here.

Each week, Washington Post editors post a question of global significance on the main Post Global site. Over 30 writers from around the world respond to the issue on their own blog and readers chime in with their own comments.

I was responsible for creating the Movable Type templates that are used to combine content from over 30 different blogs to create the Post Global site. This was accomplished through heavy use of third party plugins like MultiBlog, Custom Fields, Arithmetic and MTSQL.

Many thanks to all of the fine folks who develop Movable Type plugins. Movable Type would not be nearly so useful without them.

Rack Attack has great customer service

Jun 14, 2006 | 0 | Customer Service

I buy a lot of stuff online. Usually, I know what to expect. I haven't had many terrible experiences, but rarely is the service so great that I would consider writing about it here. But, recently I had the pleasure of doing business with Rack Attack and they blew me away with their outstanding service.

I was in the market for a new bike rack for my car and did what I normally do when shopping online, start at Amazon.com. I quickly learned that bike racks have lots of components that must be compatilble with my car and each other. Amazon wasn't much help there, so I zipped over the manufacturer's web site and used their online tool that told me exactly what I needed.

When I got back to Amazon, I found the components that I needed and saw that Rack Attack sells through Amazon and had the best price. So I bought from Rack Attack. So far so good.

Ten minutes later I got an email from Rack Attack saying that they got my order except I hadn't ordered all the right parts for my car, so they were holding it until they could discuss it with me.

I called the number, got a real person on the third ring, and talked to the person who was handling my order. I told him that I was ordering what the rack manufacturer told me to order. He said, "Yeah, the manufacturer's web site is wrong. We have told them about it, but they haven't fixed it. What you really need is this."

Wow! Rack Attack saved me a lot of time and aggravation because they took an extra minute to review the order and bothered to let me know I didn't have everything I needed. Most companies would have just shipped my order and I would have had to deal with it.

Not Rack Attack. They know their stuff and they know how to treat customers. If you're in the market for a bike rack, buy from Rack Attack.

Project Launch: Big Red Network

Jun 14, 2006 | 0 | Projects

There hasn't been much traffic here on the Surprise Highway lately. I have been focusing on some side projects which have kept me pretty busy.

One project that I am really excited about is the Big Red Network, a site for Nebraska Cornhusker football fans. (There are more of us than you think. And we are fanatics.)

If you are a college footbal fan check us out. For the rest of you geeks, I'll be sharing some tips I picked up about using Movable Type and getting publicity for new web sites. Stay tuned.

Similarly...

Here are some other entries from around that time.

• July 2006
• June 2006
• April 2006