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View Full Version : Feedback requested on how to improve a Ron Paul blog




KramerDSP
05-22-2009, 06:06 PM
For a couple of years now, I have been running the blog found in my sig. The focus of my blog has always been on content that is subtitled for the Deaf and hard of hearing people around the world. Thanks to RonPaul.Com, I have been able to get the transcripts, which allow me to transcribe the video on http://dotsub. I have a few comments/questions I was hoping to get feedback on. Before I get to that, I wanted to also comment that there have been a number of posters here who have volunteered their time towards subbing clips of Ron Paul footage (you guys know who you are!) and I am greatly appreciative of everything any of you have done for the blog.

The reason I am posting this is because I saw something on Digg entitled "How NOT to have a successful blog" and the one thing that jumped out at me was the fact that I don't have widgets on the page that would allow for posts to be digged or reddited or sent to facebook and other social networking sites. I'm no whiz. The blog I set up was the first I've ever done. I can't help but feel like the blog is somehow "naked". I was hoping for feedback on how I could improve the layout of the blog as well as making it more user friendly for the social networking sites.

IF Ron Paul does end up running for 2012, there's already a small but vocal minority of Ron Paul supporters within the Deaf community, and if there was a way I could make my site more user friendly, I'd love to hear it (pun intended). I was thinking of setting it up by some kind of keyword system, so that a first-time visitor could click on a specific topic of interest and be greeeted with all the relevant videos associated with the topic. Now that there are like 80-100 captioned/subbed clips, I feel a little overwhelmed with how I would be able to simplify all that into 6 basic categories or so. Suggestions ?

I'm also curious about what tools one would use to make movies like Aravoth made early in the campagin. I enjoyed Stop Dreaming and Don't Treat On Me, along with A New Hope, v. 2.0. It seems like there hasn't been a "great" one since then, and I have some ideas about various clips that could be streamlined together to create a more current version of that.

I'm getting off topic here, but I recently saw "Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man", and was floored by all the things he did when he was younger. It seemed like the documentary re-shaped people's perspectives on him. I get the sense from friends at times now that when I have a new RP video up and tell them, they (most of them being Obama supporters) sometimes will say to me "Why don't you do the public a favor and not do Ron Paul videos anymore?".

That's insulting to me, but at the same time, I've always been patient and I believe they will eventually come around. I say all of this because it feels to me that there needs to be a new video out there that can go viral that will reshape what people think about Ron Paul, as some appear to be fixated on their current impression of him, whether it be as a gadfly, a reactionary, or so forth.

Although I felt insulted by what some of my friends said, I thought about it and realized that they may be right (although not in the way they think they are), and now I think I'm going to focus on also subbing videos where Rachel Maddow bashes Obama and things like that. Long post, I know. I'll wrap it up by asking for suggestions on how to revamp the blog. I can take criticism, so bring it on.

angelatc
05-22-2009, 06:17 PM
I have no idea, but wanted to say Hi, and give you a bump. :)

KramerDSP
05-22-2009, 06:22 PM
LOL! I still lurk all the time, so I know you've still been active here. Hard to believe it's been two years since the Ron-Rudy incident at the SC debates got the Revolution rocking and rolling!

reagle
05-22-2009, 07:24 PM
Great blog !


I was thinking of setting it up by some kind of keyword system, so that a first-time visitor could click on a specific topic of interest and be greeeted with all the relevant videos associated with the topic. Now that there are like 80-100 captioned/subbed clips, I feel a little overwhelmed with how I would be able to simplify all that into 6 basic categories or so. Suggestions ?

You could use labels.

from Blogger help

Labels are handy if you blog about a lot of different subjects, since readers can then choose to view all of your posts on, say, dancing at once. Or politics, or knitting, or whatever you happen to be writing about. If you have a team blog, you could also give each member their own label, so you could easily read all the posts by any one of them. Feel free to come up with other creative new uses as well!
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44498

AddThis has a bookmarking and sharing button for social networks.
http://www.addthis.com/web-button-select

KramerDSP
05-23-2009, 03:52 PM
Much appreciated, reagle. I added the labels (but have another couple dozen posts left to edit/label. I also added the bookmarking and sharing button for social networks below each blog post. I feel like the site is way more navigatable now! Thanks again.