andreasviklund.com

While working on the new site design and the updated content structure, I have spent a lot of time going through my site statistics to learn more about the way this site is used. Out of all the tools I used for this part of the work, Google Analytics proved to be the most useful. Analytics has a "site overlay" feature that made it possible for me to browse my own page while the link popularity was visualized above each single link. Together with lists of navigation trails, landing pages, exit pages and time spent in the different areas of this site, I got enough information to learn how I should build the new site navigation - and which links I should highlight on the new frontpage.

For example, there is no use of having links to monthly blog archives in the sidebar since they are almost never clicked anyway. Instead, I could just highlight the link to the archive section where all the posts can be found anyway. The categories are not used very much either since most visitors click on the category links for the post that they are reading if they would want to read more posts from that category, but they are still useful to quickly find posts about specific topics - especially from non-blog pages.

I have started to make small changes now, so that I can see how it affects the usage of the site. For example, the montly archives are now removed. More changes will be made during the next couple of days, and you will probably see the new layout and content structure take form, piece by piece. Doing this detective work has actually been much more fun that I thought it could be. I've learned a lot from it, and much of it makes sense when I look at my own clicking habits on other websites. It will hopefully help me make this site a little better, but I will also apply the knowledge on my template design work to bring in some new ideas there. It may not make any major difference, but it is good for the inspiration…

The snowball is rolling, I'm back at work and feeling great. And I am actually getting things done which is a relief. Thanks for your patience and for all encouraging and friendly comments! It has been a great support…

Right now I am working on fixing a lot of things that are not really broken - just not very good. I'm working with template updates, site updates, layout re-structuring, advertisement management, music management, writing the FAQ… It is a whole lot of stuff to do, but I am actually moving forward now. I'm planning to make a major site reboot on January 1st, and then get back into doing good things again. If something on this site would not work or be missing or looking strange at some point, then it is probably only because I am turning the code upside-down as a part of this work.

There will be a few changes to the general site structure, some that I have written about before and some that are new ideas. For example, you will be able to download latest template release and the latest song directly from the frontpage - and then click into either the templates section or the music section where you will find more material - well categorized and organized unlike the mess I have today. The blog will be cleaned up and completely outdated information will either be updated, marked or removed. Categories will be refreshed, tags will be added and it will be easier to post comments on older posts.

On top of the wishlist: A site sponsor!

I will also add one or two new advertising options where a highlighted advertiser will finally be able to put a well-placed advertisement banner on all pages of this site. The interest from advertisers has been huge over the last year, and now that I will take the step into being a full-time template designer I will need the support of advertisers and sponsors in order to keep this site online and updated with new content in the future. With this post, I would like to ask anyone who may be interested in becoming a sponsor or advertising on this site to contact me - and do it as soon as possible since the interest will be high. And also, to be honest, since I would want to have everything set up before the holidays…

New wild number - new inspiration boost

Just for the fun of it, I went through the download statistics for my templates just to see what the numbers were. I found out that on OSWD.org, OWD, Open Designs and on my own free website templates page, I now have more than 1,5 million template downloads (wp-themes and modified blog/cms templates are not included). Now, I have stopped keeping track of all the wild numbers long ago, but the numbers are still a huge source of inspiration at times. I'm writing it here just to have the number documented…

And finally…

While I'm writing about the future, I would like to ask for some directions. I've started writing and recording music again, and I have noticed that the interest for older songs is getting higher. "Riders, Unite!" is getting attention from the Pump It Up PRO feature, and I may even be able to make one or two guest appearences at a eurodance party tour in southern Sweden soon. More about that later, I'll skip to the point for now.

I would want to make a music video for "Riders, Unite!" and possibly also for some other song. It doesn't need to be special, but it must be a bit better than the boring auto-generated photo slideshows that my limited skills would let me do. I have no video editing skills, but I do have some nice material from old musical adventures that could be used.If there is anyone out there who would be interested in giving me a push in the right direction (or maybe even help creating a video), then let me know! I would be happy to learn more, but I have no idea where to start and what tools to get. It is just a huge world of interesting possibilities - and knowing how long it took me to learn how to make music, I am almost ready to give up before I have even tried… Any help or tips would be great!

Local newspaper Norrbottens-Kuriren has an article about my work today, following up the current interest for website templates and for my ideas about making a living from giving away things for free.

The article is written in Swedish, but I recommend everyone to take a look at it anyway since there is a pretty photo of me, Johanna and little Elven in it! Johanna has done a lot of invisible work by helping and supporting me in many ways since we first met more than seven years ago. She is an amazing person and naturally a big part of everything I do, and the fact that she is getting into template design as well makes our project a lot more fun to work with. I am a lucky man…

Edit: The other local newspaper (NSD) runs a similar story today. It is a bit longer and more detailed, and since the interview was made more than a week before the NK interview I still have hair on my head. Summaries in English will be posted here in a day or two.

NK: "Snällhet lönar sig"
NSD: Webbdesign från lilla Jokkmokk

Yesterday I gave another interview, this time to Swedish technology news site IT24.se. The main topic was still templates and plans for the future, but the article also mentioned the new website that is launched within the Tjuvlyssnat network today: Tjuvtittat.se!

Tjuvtittat! is a simple photoblog where Damon and I will post funny and strange photos that are sent to us by the readers of Tjuvlyssnat. It will hopefully add another dimension of entertainment, a little bonus for everyone who enjoys the kind of humor that Tjuvlyssnat is based on. Damon explains more about it in this article (also from IT24.se).

Note: All links to sites in Swedish. But this photo on Tjuvtittat may work well in English as well…

Swedish TV channel TV4 made an interview with me a few days ago, and it was aired on friday night in the economy news. I talked about the templates and about the plan to launch a company together with Johanna where we would try to make a living from giving away work for free. I mentioned that this was a target for the nearby future, without explaining anything about the reason for waiting (the fact that I'm putting my energy right now on recovering from the anemia).

I also explained that the whole thing was possible thanks to the internet, that I was able to work from anywhere in the world and that we hope to bring in more designers into the project in the future.

The program can be seen on the Ekonominyheterna TV website. Look for the link that says "Ekonominyheterna fredag 18:33 (2007-10-26, 18:31)". Please note that it is in Swedish and that it is my little computer corner in our kitchen you see. I miss my old studio and I really look forward to getting an own office again some day…