Staff of Geeks

BREAKING CHANGE on GeeksWithBlogs for Custom Domains - IP Address Change

Staff of Geeks — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:09:37 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2013/05/07/breaking-change-on-geekswithblogs-for-custom-domains---ip-address.aspx

UPDATE 05/08/2013 - IP address of 208.67.195.49 is also affected.

Hi Bloggers,

I’m posting this urgent message because we've decided to move the hosting of GeeksWithBlogs to Azure. This means that any custom domain names that are currently pointing to the old IP address of 208.67.195.100 or to 208.67.195.49 will break around June 1st when we do the switchover.

If you have a custom domain that points to GeeksWithBlogs, please change the DNS "A record" to point to the new Azure IP address of 168.62.30.182 as soon as possible. The GWB site is already live at this new IP address so you should continue to see your usual blog after you've made the switch. Please email us immediately if you experience any problems.

Thanks for your patience while we finish this important upgrade!

Ben Barreth – GWB Software Dev & Community Builder

Latest GeeksWithBlogs Release Today: Related Posts, Improved Category Tagging

Staff of Geeks — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:03:58 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2013/01/28/latest-geekswithblogs-release-today-related-posts-improved-category-tagging.aspx

We launched another release of GeeksWithBlogs this morning with the following changes:

Added a new “Related Posts on GWB” area to the footer of posts of blogs using the new Minimal template.

This allows visitors to your blog to see related articles that yourself and other authors on GWB have posted that happen to be tagged with the same category. It also is yet one more way that links to your own posts can be found via other bloggers in the GWB community!
Improved Category tagging in the admin tool. Check this out for yourself in the admin by editing an existing post and scrolling down to the categories field:
Moved the CodeProject RSS category tagging from a blog-level setting to a post-specific setting, allowing users to have greater control exactly which posts they wish to appear in CodeProject feeds:

If you have any questions or additional requests, please contact support @geekswithblogs.net and we’ll be happy to help you!

Thanks again for all your community support. Happy blogging!

Ben Barreth
GWB Developer & Community Builder

In Beta: New GeeksWithBlogs “Minimal” Template

Staff of Geeks — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:51:42 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2013/01/17/in-beta-new-geekswithblogs-ldquominimalrdquo-template.aspx

We’ve been working hard on a new template for GWB. We’re not there yet, but we wanted to release the Beta version for GWB bloggers to try out for themselves.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re already viewing the new template. It's called “Minimal” and can be selected in the GWB admin area:

The new template has several new features that you won’t find in any of the other templates on GWB:

New “My most popular posts” area:
Integrated linkedin/facebook/twitter icons when the Options > Information section is completed in the admin area.
Integrated social sharing icons for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Hacker News and Google+.

Click on “Share” …

… to reveal social sharing options.
New “Popular” and “Brand New” GWB posts highlighted on the right. This means when you write a new post that appears in the GWB main feed, it will also appear here in the “Brand New” area on every user’s blog that is using the Minimal template. If your post is also one of the most popular on GWB, it will be listed twice!
Improved search results that list blog-specific content first, GWB-wide content second.
A new “GWB content categories” area highlighted on the right
Built with Twitter Bootstrap and optimized for 1366x768 resolution viewing, with responsive design for some smaller resolutions.
Codeproject integration available for the template’s RSS feed

Go here for more details of how to integrate your blog with CodeProject. (Note: this is a beta feature still undergoing testing)
Category tags added to the RSS feed of blog posts listed by Tag.
RSS option added to Popular Posts on GWB area.

Remember, all features of this template are currently in Beta and subject to change in future releases. We’re also currently aware of an issue where posts appear “unstyled” when using Live Writer because it can’t import this new theme format.

Happy Blogging!

Upcoming GWB Site Maintenance & Downtime This Weekend

Staff of Geeks — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:01:49 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/12/06/upcoming-gwb-site-maintenance--downtime-this-weekend.aspx

We'll be performing routine maintenance and a code release this weekend, from late Saturday night to early Sunday morning. There will be moments of site downtime but we'll minimize this as much as possible of course.

We intend for the following fixes & features to go to production:

Over 30 Windows Update hotfixes & security updates
Bug Fix: Homepage of GWB currently listing posts by create date, but should be listing by first-time publish date. Thanks to Chris Gardner for alerting us about this.
Bug Fix: Broken thumbnail images in the Hot Topics and Most Popular areas. Thanks to .ToString(theory) for emphasizing this one.
Bug Fix: Not able to create/edit posts in the admin tool using IE 10. (Thanks Benny Matthew)
Bug Fix: Admin blog post rich text editor not working in IE 10.
Bug Fix: New Twitter connections cannot be established because the twitter API URL has changed.
Feature: New "Minimal" Template using fluid Twitter Bootstrap/Cerulean theme.
Feature: Integration with AirBrake exception handling.
Feature: Change bio pics in the GWB main feed to be hyperlinked.
Feature: Change hyperlink of MVP icons in the GBW Blogger List area to go directly to the Microsoft MVP search results page for that MVP's name.

Thanks once again for your patience as we strive to improve the site!

Ben Barreth

GeeksWithBlogs Community Builder/Software Developer

Announcing the Virtual Blogger Hub!

Staff of Geeks — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:14:55 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/05/11/announcing-the-virtual-blogger-hub.aspx

TechEd 2012 Orlando Blogger Hub

We are proud to announce today that Geekswithblogs.net will be at Microsoft TechEd 2012 in Orlando, hosting the Blogger Hub for the event. This area in the Expo Hall will be dedicated to blogging.

If you need a spot to gather your thoughts, grab some power, and write a blog post, we will have it.
If you need to talk with a veteran blogger to help you gather ideas for your blog, information on how to get started, or how to find your blog’s voice, swing by and we will be ready to help.
If you would like to interview a TechEd influencers or speakers for some quality content for your blog, we will have a schedule ready for you.
And if you just need a place to hang out with other bloggers (and even play a few backyard games), come on by.

As the event gets closer, we will publish more information about setup, hours, and what to expect. If you are planning to attend, let us know.

One more thing….Announcing the Virtual Blogger Hub

We know not everyone can make it to TechEd and most of us who will be there will be blogging about the event, speakers, sessions, keynotes, parties, etc to let the rest of the world know what is going on. This year, we will be offering a site as part of the Blogger Hub called the Virtual Blogger Hub. This is where you can go to get content specific to TechEd 2012 Orlando. We invite you to visit the site and signup if you are a blogger who will be at TechEd or signup if you would like to participate in rating the content and building your own feed based on the categories you like.

Here is some more information about the site:

The Virtual Blogger Hub is an aggregated community of bloggers who are attending the TechEd North America event in Orlando this year. The content is aggregated by a team of bloggers from the site Geekswithblogs.net, but not all blogs are equal. We need you to let everyone your opinion one what content is relevant by using the rating buttons next to each post. If you have reviewed a post, make your voice heard and give it a rating. For more information, visit the About page.

Keep you eyes on this blog to find out more about the event, we will have some really exciting announcements over the next month. We don’t want to let everything out of the bag at once.

http://virtualbloggerhub.com

Technorati Tags: TechEd 2012,Geekswithblogs.net,Virtual Blogger Hub,Blogging

Staff of Geeks will be in London in March

Staff of Geeks — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:54:15 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/02/22/staff-of-geeks-with-be-in-london-in-march.aspx

John and I will be making a visit to the UK in March for a week and we are very excited. If we have any London based bloggers or readers, please let us know if you would be up for a gathering while we are there. We have a few meetings during the days, but will be around the area from the 13th to the 18th of March.

Launch of Geekswithblogs.net Short URLs | wblo.gs

Staff of Geeks — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:37:27 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/02/17/launch-of-geekswithblogs.net-short-urls--wblo.gs.aspx

Today we launched a new feature on Geekswithblogs.net to make it easier to share your posts with short URLs. The domain we are using is wblo.gs and you can share individual post or you can share you main blog page through the shortened URLs. To share your blog URL, use your blog application name like this:

http://wblo.gs/jjulian – Jeff’s Blog
http://wblo.gs/ – Geekswithblogs.net Community Page

If you would like to share a post using a short URL, you can find the URL in two places. The first is on the post itself at the end of the post next to the “Share This Post” links.

The second location is on the admin page where you edit your post. You will see it at the top next to the traditional link.

The “Share This Link” buttons have been updated to use the new short URLs to help save characters in your Twitter posts.

Well let us know if you have questions or see any issues while using the short URLs.

Technorati Tags: Short URLs,Geekswithblogs.net,Staff of Geeks

Comment Spam | Results After Akismet Launch

Staff of Geeks — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:44:16 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/02/15/comment-spam--results-after-akismet-launch.aspx

Just a few months after the launch of the new total site spam tools, I have some very good early results. Right now about 45% of all feedback left on the site has been flagged as spam by the service. That is a lot of spam!

The service is not perfect and quite a bit of spam still gets through, but I am very happy with the tool thus far and I wanted to share the results with you all. If you have further suggestions on how we could make Geekswithblogs.net better, please feel free to leave feedback on our UserVoice site.

Spam!!!!!! We hope to end you soon!

Staff of Geeks — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:38:21 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2012/01/02/spam--we-hope-to-end-you-soon.aspx

We are really getting tired of spam. They get past the captcha and keep posting. We have decided to pay for an Akismet account for Geekswithblogs.net globally and have integrated it into the system. We hope this will take spam down by 50%. My hope is you will see a dramatic decrease in spam and we hope to continue to build the system further in our fix to end minimize the spam on Geekswithblogs.net. I will also be going through the old feedback and running it against the Akismet system to see what should be labeled as spam. Akismet is not perfect and it still lets a lot of posts through, but it definitely helps!

Technorati Tags: Akismet,Geekswithblogs.net,Spam

Geekswithblogs.net Admin Editor

Staff of Geeks — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:50:17 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/12/27/geekswithblogs.net-admin-editor.aspx

Over the past few months we have been tweaking the usability of the Geekswithblogs.net Admin Tool for editing posts. We definitely suggest using Windows Live Writer for publishing you blogs due to the awesome plugins and support of image uploads, we understand the need for a non-Windows editor for posts or updates. One of the bugs submitted to us in the usage of our text editor was reformatting of posts when you publish from WLW and then make changes from the admin tool. The tool was eating up all that good formatting and making the post ugly. Well we fixed the bug and now it should keep the nice editing from WLW. The example plugin I have used to ensure the good formatting is “Code Snippet” for WLW, which is totally awesome.

Sample Code:

     private void SetCommentControls()

    {

        if (!Config.CurrentBlog.CommentsEnabled)

        {

            chkComments.Enabled = false;

            chkCommentsClosed.Enabled = false;

        }

    }

If you see any other bugs on Geekswithblogs.net, please submit them to support@geekswithblogs.com

Thanks,

@StaffOfGeeks

Geekswithblogs.net – Small Update to Skins and Share Link

Staff of Geeks — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:40:02 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/12/27/geekswithblogs.net-ndash-small-update-to-skins-and-share-link.aspx

Over the past few weeks we have been cleaning up the skins to support most modern browsers and monitor resolutions. This will cause your content area to have more space and support larger images. If you see any problems, please email us at support@geekswithblogs.com and we will get back to you ASAP.

We have also added some changes to the “Share Link” feature to make it a little cleaner and support for Facebook, Twitter, and Technorati. We will add G+ once they support the ability to publish from a link without their plugin. It is hard to fit the plugin into all the skins.

If you would like us to make another modification to the system, please let us know as well. We are always open to suggestions. We really want to bring the homepage into the 21st century as well as publish some video tutorials for new bloggers and members.

Technorati Tags: Geekswithblogs.net,Update

Few New Features Added to Geekswithblogs.net

Staff of Geeks — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:27:42 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/11/25/few-new-features-added-to-geekswithblogs.net.aspx

After reviewing some of the feedback from our bloggers we added a couple new features to Geekswithblogs.net and there are still more to come. Here is a list of the features we added.

Fixed the Twitter parser to better support URLs and Hash Tags
Added some hooks behind the scenes to tags posts with common keywords automatically
Added Facebook likes and Tweets to the bottom of every post
Cleaned up a few skins
Images on the main page for bloggers who use Gravatar or Twitter integration
Random bug fixes based on Log

We are definitely working to make Geekswithblogs.net faster and better. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them with the team. On a side note, if that suggestion is move to WordPress, I will reply to you with stop writing ASP.NET for your day job and move to PHP. That request is the equivalent in my eyes. If we have enough bloggers leave the Microsoft .NET Platform for their main source of income, we might consider it.

Technorati Tags: Geekswithblogs.net,Features,Version 4.0

GWB | MVP Awards Refresh!

Staff of Geeks — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:26:03 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/10/03/gwb--mvp-awards-refresh.aspx

It looks like the MVP renewals went out over the weekend and we want to congratulate all the renewed and new MVPs for this quarter. If you are new, renews, or removed from the MVP program and are a Geekswithblogs.net blogger, please let us know @StaffOfGeeks and we will update our system accordingly. Congrats again!

Technorati Tags: MVP,Geekswithblogs

GWB | Site Down Yesterday Due To DoS Attacks of ISP

Staff of Geeks — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:54:03 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/09/20/gwb--site-down-yesterday-due-to-dos-attacks-of.aspx

“Utt ohh, someone’s got their frowny face on”

Yesterday we were part of the group of Internet sites that were down for a few hours due to a DoS attack from Saudi Arabia. The site should be up and running just fine again and we apologize for the outage.

Tech-Ed 2011 Top 5, Tuesday | James Hare & Jeff Julian

Staff of Geeks — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:01:02 GMT

Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Administrator/archive/2011/05/19/tech-ed-2011-top-5-tuesday--james-hare-amp-jeff.aspx

Tuesday, Jeff Julian (@StaffofGeeks) and James Hare were featured in the TOP 5 of Tech-Ed videos! Tomorrow watch for Chris Williams!