andreasviklund.com

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 The blog will be cleaned up and completely outdated information will either be updated, marked or removed.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!