Dan Hall's Sourcing Seattle Blog

Simplifying Sign-Ups and Log-Ins from Smashing UX Design

Dan Hall — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:50:18 +0000

A great read on the sign-up and log-in process. A must for anyone who is a site owner or designing a site. From my experience on GunUp, the author is spot on with the exception using a ? button for forgotten passwords.

Innovative Techniques To Simplify Sign-Ups and Log-Ins | Smashing UX Design.

Wacky Buttons | Easy, Affordable, Quick Button Site for Conferences

Dan Hall — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:33:45 +0000

I’m headed to a large trade show next week in Vegas and I realized I needed something to identify bloggers in our network. Thinking buttons might be a good idea, I did a little bit of searching and after evaluating about half a dozen sites I chose to use Wacky Buttons: Make Buttons Online | Design Buttons Online | Make Custom Buttons.

A clean(er) website, with easy navigation, and a handy design tool to create your own design. 100 buttons were $40 bucks and they can get them ready to go in less than 48 hours with overnight shipping.

Bookmark this site, you never know when you might need buttons – fast!

Fueling Growth: Elance To Give $1 Million To Startup America Partnership

Dan Hall — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:08:20 +0000

I wholeheartedly applaud Elance for doing this:

“Online job marketplace Elance has just announced it will give $1 million to The Startup America Partnership, the national campaign that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship, which is chaired by Steve Case, co-founder of AOL disclosure: TechCrunch parent and Chairman of the Case Foundation.”

via Elance To Give $1 Million To Startup America Partnership | TechCrunch.

I will need to evaluate The Startup America Partnership but as I’ve stated before, I firmly believe technology and small businesses especially startups are one of the few bright stops in America with the ability to spur innovation, create jobs, and keep us great.

Dear Evernote, I think I love you but please…

Dan Hall — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:16:41 +0000

could you add a contextual auto-tagging feature? It would make my life so much easier. Also, a content recommendation engine based off my tags / clips and my social network would be awesome. Thanks.

Dan Hall

P.S. Why on earth would you create an iPhone app where I can’t add notes or clip while browsing? Sometimes, I feel like we are miles apart. That whole hacking together a JavaScript bookmark makes me feel dirty.

Online shoppers spent $37.2B during U.S. holiday season

Dan Hall — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:03:24 +0000

Ah, the land of consumers.

Online spending for November and December 2011 reached $37.2 billion, a 15 percent increase over the same period in 2010, according to comScore.

via Online shoppers spent $37.2B during U.S. holiday season.

Make your WordPress site mobile compatible with WPtouch Plugin

Dan Hall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:05:15 +0000

“WPtouch automatically transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Palm Pre, Samsung touch and BlackBerry Storm/Torch mobile devices.”

via WordPress › WPtouch « WordPress Plugins.

‘Nuff said.

SimpleReach Slide WordPress Plugin | A ‘read more’ footer widget

Dan Hall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:26:52 +0000

Since, I was reading the instructions on Mashable, I noticed their footer widget that encourages you to read the next article. Now, I’ve seen this type of widget before but I thought it might be a nice addition to the new project. After a little searching, I came across The Slide by SimpleReach.

According to their WP plugin site: “The Slide recommends related posts from within your site on a widget that “slides” in at the bottom of the page. You’ve seen a similar content recommendation widget on sites like NYTimes.com, and now SimpleReach is allowing anybody to take advantage of this awesome plugin for free.”

You can get it here: WordPress › SimpleReach Slide « WordPress Plugins.

They also have plugins for other popular platforms such as Drupal, Tumblr, and Blogger. It takes a while for them to index your site so you may notice a lag. I am waiting right now and will keep you posted.

HOW TO: Add the +1 Button to Your WordPress Site

Dan Hall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:02:13 +0000

I’m hacking together my latest project and needed to add a Google +1 Button to my WordPress site. I assumed (got to stop doing that) that there would be a nice easy plugin that would take care of that for me. And there isn’t (at least one I could find, let me know if you know of one). Fortunately, Mashable has some instructions on how to do this: HOW TO: Add the +1 Button to Your WordPress Site.

Scratch that. There are several options available, which I found after googling it. You need to use the search term “plus one” in the WP plugin search not “+1.” Kinda silly. I’m trying out Plus One and will let you know how it works.

****Update: Works very nicely. I will need to update this blog with it and some other features.

********Update2: Use Facebook Likes You! Instead. This handy WordPress plugin has both Google +1 and FaceBook Like buttons nicely aligned.

How to change your Admin Profile (Avatar)’s default picture?

Dan Hall — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:44:18 +0000

So, I decided to change that annoying Mystery Man default profile on my admin user account in WordPress. You really think WordPress would have the ability to change this embedded in the admin panel, but alas. You need to sign into Gravatar and change it there. Why? I don’t know. It makes no sense to me. Had to Google it to find this discussion: How to change Admin Profile (Avatar)’s picture?. Oh yeah, make sure to clear your browser’s cache before your reload the page to see your updated profile pic.

Getting Vets Jobs | Learning To Code | Codecademy

Dan Hall — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:16:36 +0000

One of the long term projects that I am working on is helping military Vets find jobs. The jobless rate for Vets is about twice as high as the national average.I am a combat vet myself and am still in the National Guard so I see the impact of this on a regular basis. I also was fortunate enough to have had a startup founder take a chance on me, giving me an opportunity to run Human Resources and Recruiting at Visible Technologies, a social media analytics company. This ultimately led to the founding of my own company which in term produced more jobs (and all my employees are vets).

The first iteration of this project will launch in the next couple of weeks. I’ve put together a great support network of experienced startup execs and founders for veterans to get advice and introductions (after being vetted, of course).

Long term, I would like to develop a curriculum for Vets to learn how to code that would combine on-the-job training with leading technologist, online learning such as Codecademy, and traditional course work at a local college or university. Software engineering and tech companies are some of the few silver linings in the economy. I truly believe entrepreneurs and small business owners are the answer to long term economic growth. Taking demographics who are otherwise limited in career path and providing training, education, advice, and resources is a win-win.

This looks like a cool idea, which I am going to try out for myself:

Still Looking For A New Year’s Resolution? How About Learning To Code … | TechCrunch.