Your own website making machine Powerful and simple cutting edge networks of websites for schools HomeHome pageThe front page, the diary, the jumping off point for everything StoriesMain list of pages All our main pages, jump into who, what and why DiscussJoin our discussion group Come on in and start communicating those ideas, just join up or log in MembersA list of all our site members If you want to be anonymous with-hold your name, use something like Mickey Mouse, or Anonymous Coward Email usNeed to tell the webmaster... Get in touch straight away! If we need to we'll pass on your comments to the right person About usEverything about us Read more about who we are, and why we're doing this
Birmingham, West Midlands, UK. An LEA of around 275 primary schools. A network of blogs especially for the area.
Site structure
Home
Create About
How much? What users say Legal Legals 4 kids More Stats Educational uses of blogs
Bloom's taxonomy & blogs
Members
About us
We want to and will make it easy for schools to keep their staff, pupils, parents, partners, other stake-holders and wider community informed, updated and engaged.
Now, by merely typing in the text you can do it too!
It's so easy even 7 year old children can do it. If you are able to move a mouse, click a few buttons and string a few sentences together you can maintain a cutting edge site.
We'll give you all the training you'll need, support you on the phone or with email, all to make sure you get the best out of your investment.
Our killer features are:
Superb content management and blog software. Excellent Google optimisation.
An email to weblog interface, making updating your school blog a doddle.
Top draw support and feedback.
Try a demo or build your
Now, by merely typing in the text you can do it too!
It's so easy even 7 year old children can do it. If you are able to move a mouse, click a few buttons and string a few sentences together you can maintain a cutting edge site.
We'll give you all the training you'll need, support you on the phone or with email, all to make sure you get the best out of your investment.
Our killer features are:
Superb content management and blog software. Excellent Google optimisation.
An email to weblog interface, making updating your school blog a doddle.
Top draw support and feedback.
Try a demo or build your
30 day free trial
school website yourself. What will you write today's school news to be?News Departments
Archive page for Wednesday, 12 March 2008
We, Mar 12, 2008YouTube new API
YouTube.:
"We do all of the hard work of transcoding and hosting and streaming and thumbnailing your videos."
This looks cool. For me to receive and serve video isn't trivial. Videos can be big. Very big. 100Mb big! If I were to handle the number of videos that I do of pictures on one site, take Bodnant for example... She uploads 30 pictures in one news item post, sometimes there's 20 out of 30 that have images. Sure, you're only going to see one screen shot per video, not the whole video, unless you watch (and download) the video. But still, bandwidth and processing power would be hugely expensive.
;newWindow.focus())
Video usage is going to go up and up. It's on nearly every modern digicam now, and in high quality—640 x 480 x 30 frames per sec.
It'll be neat to use YouTube to serve video. For you to just press the upload button and have the news item in your pending items ready to go when it's uploaded and been processed. One click video blogging, rather like the one click video emailing. Currently, using Google Video, it's a bit 'copy/paste clunky' to add to your website.
My only worries:
- The click throughs to adult content—can I control the interface to hide the click through?
- Would there be ads inserted into a school's video? Can we opt out of ads? Are there ads in the first place? I'd guess so, how else would YouTube/Google pay for this?
Buy now, pay later
;newWindow.focus())
It's the mantra for the consumer society. But here in Walsall Schools we're doing the same thing!I know budgets are refreshed in April, but that shouldn't stop you buying a website now.
If you want one, have one and I'll bill you in April.
N n n n nineteen LAs
As it says in our FAQs:
"We now have sites in 19 LAs: Conwy, County Londonderry, County Tyrone, Coventry, Denbighshire, Doncaster, Havering (Essex), Leeds, Lincoln, Northampton, Morayshire, Powys, Staffordshire, Stockport, Suffolk, Tameside, Walsall, Warwickshire and Worcestershire."That's England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Bonus link. Paul Hardcastle's Nineteen.
Email marketing
I send emails to schools, legally. I've built up a list from many places, some, from a school's own website. I think it wrong that they publish email addresses publicly on websites, other spambots take advantage, I should too.
Many schools block my mail, many LAs block my mail wholesale. Many people never open my mails, they either delete it before opening, or that mail box is never checked, because it's full of spam. But some finally get there.
I've learnt that Liverpool block my mails if I use my surname (Hooker). I've learnt that many LAs won't allow links. Or, won't allow HTML emails or pictures embedded or linked to.
Some schools are insulted by my mails. Rather some one is insulted. This can be the web designer, insulted that teachers and me can do a much better job. A Head, because I'm right when I say their school's site sucks, even though I've never seen it—just guessing. An ITC because they've a fantastic website, but they do it all themselves, leaving the children and the rest of the staff to wonder when they can have a go?
Of course, I make mistakes in my mails. I should never have said 'nervous secretaries' in the last mail. I should have written the 'after the demo' email better. I should not have said. 'nur nur nu nur nur' in one email last year. Some people get irritated by my mails. I guess they read all of them. Email me back the code and for sure, I'll unsubscribe you.
For a few months, many years ago, I sold cable door-to-door. I was taught, in training, that you never know what's going on behind that door, but as you knock, you're about to find out. Smile nicely, and hope they smile back. They could be having an argument, be in a bad temper because of their boss... At that moment, you knock the door. Or, these days, they open your email...
Some, only read one mail. They like what I'm saying and respond, usually with questions. Usually, they're considering a new website and add me to the list of potential suppliers.
This time, I'm sending a bunch of nice things users have said about this service. Hopefully, there's nothing in there that will insult, irritate or annoy.
Occasionally, I do send slices of dead trees with stamps on to some schools. Though it seems ritualistic, witch-doctory. And it costs a packet! Were I ever to stop sending emails, I'd have to triple the cost of my websites as the cost of gaining a new customer would rise astronomically. And the number of dead trees sent to land fills... Shudder. I don't want to send 30,000 glossy brochures out to 30,000 UK schools.
;newWindow.focus())
Many schools block my mail, many LAs block my mail wholesale. Many people never open my mails, they either delete it before opening, or that mail box is never checked, because it's full of spam. But some finally get there.
I've learnt that Liverpool block my mails if I use my surname (Hooker). I've learnt that many LAs won't allow links. Or, won't allow HTML emails or pictures embedded or linked to.
Some schools are insulted by my mails. Rather some one is insulted. This can be the web designer, insulted that teachers and me can do a much better job. A Head, because I'm right when I say their school's site sucks, even though I've never seen it—just guessing. An ITC because they've a fantastic website, but they do it all themselves, leaving the children and the rest of the staff to wonder when they can have a go?
Of course, I make mistakes in my mails. I should never have said 'nervous secretaries' in the last mail. I should have written the 'after the demo' email better. I should not have said. 'nur nur nu nur nur' in one email last year. Some people get irritated by my mails. I guess they read all of them. Email me back the code and for sure, I'll unsubscribe you.
For a few months, many years ago, I sold cable door-to-door. I was taught, in training, that you never know what's going on behind that door, but as you knock, you're about to find out. Smile nicely, and hope they smile back. They could be having an argument, be in a bad temper because of their boss... At that moment, you knock the door. Or, these days, they open your email...
Some, only read one mail. They like what I'm saying and respond, usually with questions. Usually, they're considering a new website and add me to the list of potential suppliers.
This time, I'm sending a bunch of nice things users have said about this service. Hopefully, there's nothing in there that will insult, irritate or annoy.
Occasionally, I do send slices of dead trees with stamps on to some schools. Though it seems ritualistic, witch-doctory. And it costs a packet! Were I ever to stop sending emails, I'd have to triple the cost of my websites as the cost of gaining a new customer would rise astronomically. And the number of dead trees sent to land fills... Shudder. I don't want to send 30,000 glossy brochures out to 30,000 UK schools.
Gritty Guinness
An Irish council estate reply to Guinness's "laboured, unoriginal retread, completely spoiled by over-editing and with all the rustic authenticity
of a Stella Artois commercial." You know the one.
I'm not going to embed it because it's a little too gritty, though still work safe.
I'm not going to embed it because it's a little too gritty, though still work safe.
