11
Mar
2011
Check me out, I just put my Jetpack on.
Automattic just released a new cloud-based set of utilities for WordPress self-hosted Blogs; Like this one. So how is this different then the current Plugins that are available? All of the tools that make up Jetpack are hosted via WordPress.com, so there is nothing to download, no Plugin updates with every new release of WP.
So Jetpack is a set of widgets with a cool logo? In a matter of speaking yes, but these are nicely grouped to make Jetpack a simple one stop shop for some of the most popular utilities. For example you get WordPress stats, a Twitter Widget, WP.me Shortlinks and one of my favorites After the Deadline which helps you write better by adding spell, style, and grammar checking to WordPress.
There is something that makes me think this is a move by Automattic to monetize the free and widely available WordPress platform. On each of the modules of Jetpack there is a little “Free” tag, of course most of these tools are available in some shape or form as free widgets or Plugins developed by 3rd parties. 
So I am guess at some point we will see a small cost associated with some of the more robust tools, possibly a move to scale to enterprise offering. Alternately this could be Automattic’s version of an App Store for the 32.5 million downloads of WP. A smart move since WordPress is used by over 13% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites.
19
Mar
2010
Intro: SEO your own name
Part 1 of a series where I will track my steps to properly Page Rank the domain and myself.
I know that I am not alone; in fact there are several other Kyle Ellis(es) out there in the world. I know because I’ve Goggled my own name, its OK to admit that you’ve done it too.
Things started getting awkward when coworkers would send me links to the 3 year old kid who had a tracheotomy. I felt bad for the little guy because he clearly had health issues but I was also a little mad that his parent bought the domain before I could. I recall thinking “Hey I’ve been Kyle Ellis longer then this kid, I should be able to claim my right to the domain.” Ok, that might be a little misplaced entitlement.
Years went by and my professional career began to take shape; I had been interviewed by Billboard Magazine, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, among others. Each time I was asked a common Press question “do you have a bio or a personal website.” While the bio was easy enough to forward along, I would recall the little kid with my name and the sad photos his parents posted online.
I wanted my name back and simply wanted to take control of my own personal brand, so I made a concerted effort to check the renewal date on the domain kyleellis.com. I did this every time I happened to be purchasing another domain, which was often. The strategy paid off and I was able to grab the domain while the registration had lapsed, or more likely the little kid with the same name got older and didn’t want his baby pictures online for the world to see.
I won! Or so I had thought… Check the Project: SEO page for updates.
3
Mar
2010
WordPress Gets Real-Time With PubSubHubbub
WordPress.com powers alot of blogs, millions and all those blogs are about to get a new real-time feature, thanks to alot of Hubbub.
WordPress recently announced that the company has pushed support for PubSubHubbub live, a new technology that will push blog content to RSS and ATOM services much more quickly.
This is a very clever way to allow WordPress blogs to distribute content as it’s published to 3rd party services, rather than waiting for those services to check each feed for new posts. It’s on and live for all WordPress.com blogs, though self-hosted blogs must add a simple plugin, here to go real-time with this feature.
PubHubSubbub as highlighted in the video above. However those of you who want to find out more about the new protocol can do so over at the PuSH project site, here.
