I decided to throw in a little featured spot on our portfolio page to highlight what recognition we have received and a few extra special accomplishments. So far this includes:

• Successful transfer of 9,000+ posts from Powerblogs to WordPress
  » The Moderate Voice
• We have had our designs featured on the following websites:
  » Magnolia
  » Kloobik
  » One Pixel Army

I also included a bit on the services page which highlights why Blog What Design stands out from many other blog design studios out there:

• Clean, structured, and valid code
• Slick and modern design
• Gain access to a personal project management system accessible from any internet connection
• Near 24/7 customer service
• ...plus answers to all your questions, no matter what they are!
• And finally… designers who love their jobs and what they do!

Voila! Have a happy afternoon everyone!

Currently at BWD we’re juggling a bunch of projects that we absolutely LOVE and can’t wait to show you. We just ventured into the market of wedding websites and have had a great time jumping into it. We also are designing three very “niche” specific blogs along with a medical practice’s company website - the designs are looking great and we’re more than excited to add them to our portfolios. I’m also very happy to start a redesign of an e-commerce website for a returning customer of mine.

All of these projects are scheduled to conclude around the end of February/March. Currently, we’re taking design requests as they come from the contact form. However, once we finish all of these projects we will finally be posting the project order form. Our starting prices may also be revised (so get your quote requests in while you can!)

It’s still cold down here in good old New Jersey and we hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Enjoy your chocolates! For the Valentine’s Day non-enjoyers out there, we think you’ll like Despair Inc.’s ”Bittersweets."

“For most, there is no crueler day of the calendar year than that of Valentine’s Day. While a tiny fraction of the population can look forward to a holiday of wine and roses, poetry and song, the vast majority of us can anticipate a day of nausea and grimacing, trauma and grief. A day in which minutes seem like hours, and hours like days, as we reflect sorrowfully on yesteryear’s romantic indignities, today’s loneliness, and the unknowable but certain heartbreak that will be visited upon us repeatedly in the years to come.”

“‘Dysfunctional’ sayings include:
RUMORS TRUE | PRENUP OKAY? | HE CAN LISTEN | GAME ON TV
CALL A 900# | P.S. I LUV ME | DO MY DISHES | UWATCH CMT
PAROLE IS UP! | BE MY YOKO | U+ME=GRIEF | I WANT HALF
RETURN 2 PIT | NOT MY MOMMY | BE MY PRISON | C THAT DOOR?”

So you’ve heard about the whole “blogging” thing and you want to get in on the amazing amounts of money that everyone seems to be making. Slow down there partner, breaking into the blogging world is harder than it looks.

We bloggers lovingly term our world the “blogosphere” and each and every writer enjoys their job. Why? Because in order to create a successful blog, you must want to blog. This might sound like common sense, but it is one of the important things you need to know before you start to blogging. Here are some more:

• Find a topic. Blogs that are extremely focused and subject oriented tend to be the most successful. Blogs hosted on prestigious communities like b5media all have a defined niche… so you’ll probably want one too.
• Find a voice. Are you going to be witty? Funny? Sarcastic? Quirky? It helps if you can create a personality for your blog- it allows for one more aspect to make readers want to come back. The “split-personality-the-world-hates-me-voice” tends to only attract the “split-personality-the-world-hates-me-readers.” We’re not quite sure you want that.
• Draft a plan. Again, this might only be common sense for some. Do you want to start small, and then work your way up? Do you have a list of communities you’d like to break into? Are you going to spend a lot or a little on creating a brand for your blog? How much are you going to advertise (if at all). What demographic will you be writing for? How often are you going to blog? These are just a few of the important questions that must be answered in a plan before you start blogging. Generally, it’s a good idea to create a list of all the possible questions you can think of… and then answer them. In terms of a blogging schedule, if you keep your blogging to a preset pattern readers will know exactly when to come back and how often; follow this practice and you’re bound to generate some loyal visitors.
• Create a brand. It’s certainly fine to test out the blogging world by using some of the fantastic free templates out there, but to get the ball rolling going you’re going to want to create a brand for your blog. Nearly every successful blog on the internet today has a distinct look or feel about it. Lucky for you, we can help you with this. You’ll probably want to get yourself off Blogger and onto your own domain name if you really want to shoot yourself into blog-stardom. (We help with that too.)
• Hit the ground running. Just because you are a brand new blogger does not mean you have the right to turn out sub-par content. Your first post may define the type of blog you’re going to run for other bloggers within your niche. Make it perfect and create some respect!

We’ve written a guide to help you decide whether or not you are ready for bloggin. Remember, not everyone’s cut out to write excellent content every other day (or any other scheduled time for that matter) and that’s ok. It’s certainly alright to “adapt” these rules for your own needs as well. We all break the rules sometimes.

So to finish off, BWD hopes to see you blogging successfully soon!

The long-awaited and updated version of WordPress is finally here and is ready for download. Since it’s release a little more than a year ago, the new WP 2.0 has only undergone a series of minor security and bug fixes. However, 2.1 has a lot to offer in terms of new features.

Auto-Save: Finally, your blog posts won’t be lost by the accident click of a link. The auto-save feature runs on Ajax and does not require a page reload. However, be sure to type in a post title in order for your work to be saved.

Easier Image Uploading: Ever find that annoying little menu slightly confusing? Well you’re not alone. The new system uses simpler radio buttons and allows bloggers to edit the image attributes after it is uploaded.

New Post Editor: With 2.0’s release came the fancy post editor powered by TinyMCE. Although very useful for those unfamiliar with web languages, it was a real hassle for code-savy bloggers. The feature is now significantly improved, and offers two tabs: “Visual” and “Code.”

Privacy Features: If you’re looking to keep your blog away from the prying eyes of popular search engines or curious family members, WP 2.1 offers a feature to support many privacy options.

It is also important to note that there are many back end changes and modifications in WP 2.1. However, the only notice that readers of this blog should take is that many plugins which previously worked in WP 2.0 will not work correctly in WP 2.1 Although many have made the cut, clients should still take note of the approved 2.0/2.1 plugins before upgrading their blogs.

And, just on a side note: the new version was dubbed ”Ella" after the famous jazz vocalist, Ella Fitzgerald.

If you would like these awesome features with an upgrade to 2.1, drop us a line and we’ll add you to our work queue and take over from there!

Thank you to Technosailor’s ”10 Things You should Know About WordPress 2.1” for much of the information included in this post.

The very talented people at Kloobik.org approached me a few weeks ago requesting to interview me and then compare the workings of French design companies versus American studios. I was flattered! They just decided that they’d like to include their whole community in the process, so they asked me to create an account on their message boards: kloobik.org/blabla/ and reply to all the questions on a special post that they created for Christian and I. They even have this spiffy announcement displayed across their forum (excuse the strange characters):

Webdesigners franco-américains
Le premier jumelage graphique franco-américain !
Venez discuter et poser vos questions à Lara et Christian de l’agenceblogwhatdesign.com sur le topic dédié à cette première expérience !

Google Translation:
Webdesigners Franco-American The first Franco-American graphic twinning! Come to discuss and put your questions with Lara and Christian of the agency blogwhatdesign.com about the topic dedicated to this first experiment!

The actual post and interview is all in English, but it was quite an experience trying to fill out the registration form! Haha. Anways, go take a look and join if you’d like to make a comment.

I’d like to note that I am by no means a total expert on the subjects they’re interviewing me on, but I was very honored to fulfill such a request! Please add a comment if there’s something you’d like to mention there! It’s been a lot of fun so far. So, go check it out and read my “broken” French!