Every few months I try to update The Merchant Stand with new plugins, widgets or layout adjustments. I do this for a few reasons:
- To keep myself thinking about how readers use blogs. Plugins tend to follow trends and best practices. A blog exists for the community and the spirit of discussion. So to stay in tune with use of blogs and content is to stay in touch with part of the core purpose of the blog.
- To keep my blog looking refreshed and recent. Not all of the changes are visual, but its good to keep the look and feel refreshed to maintain a professional image.
- To look for ways to automate, improve processes, or create further integrations. Having data integrations with other sites like Twitter or Disqus provides a convenience to some readers who also use those services. My aim is to keep the blog participation process as simple as possible while covering a wide breadth of capabilities.
This week, I updated my blog with two new plugs for usability and speed; WP Super Cache and WPtouch iPhone Theme.
You should notice that page load times increase with the WP Super Cache working. It keeps pages cached once loaded or stored in quick access HTML. The WP iPhone plugin provides an easy to read digest of posts where viewing on mobile phones such as iPhone or Black Berry Storm.
I’ll continue to look for ways to make the appearance responsiveness, and usability of the blog better. But nothing substitutes for good content. So I will provide my thoughts on eCommerce, Internet marketing, business processes, and other insights to help spark ideas for your life and business.