Jake is excited to announce the release of our first publicly available WordPress plugin.

WordPress is one of our favorite content management systems to use because of its quality and flexibility—traits that result from countless hours of development by its dedicated community of programers. After developing numerous proprietary plugins custom-tailored to meet the needs of our clients, we decided that it was time to get more actively involved with the WordPress developer community and convert one of those for public use.

About the Plugin

Our Post & Pages Admin Renamer plugin does just that—it allows users to rename “Posts” and “Pages” within the WordPress administrative interface to terms that are more suitable for their particular website. This comes in handy when they are using the Posts section for “News Items” or “Quick Tips” or “Articles.” Renaming these sections provides our clients (and now you) with a much more intuitive backend interface.

It’s a basic tool, but we find that the seemingly simple details often make a big difference for system usability in general. The Post & Pages Admin Renamer plugin can be downloaded from the WordPress plugin repository at the following link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postpage-admin-renamer/

In the simplest technical sense, cloud computing refers to the use of a network to provide on demand access to data and data processing applications. But this definition differs little if at all from the concept of the World Wide Web as it has existed for almost two decades. Indeed, the websites, email, and online database interfaces that we use every day all qualify as cloud computing in this sense.

Much like ‘blogging’ or ‘Web 2.0’, ‘cloud computing’ is a buzzword that is more indicative of an evolving approach to how the Internet is used rather than a technology unto itself. What defines the cloud computing trend is the migration of data storage and application services that have traditionally resided on end-user hardware to the Internet. From an end-user perspective, this represents an evolution of the Internet from a ‘dumb network’ simply linking user to user, to a highly configurable and ubiquitous source of data and services.

With this in mind, the National Institute of Standards and Technology provides this definition:

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

This trend will have powerful ramifications for many industries, including hardware manufacturers, software developers, data security and privacy providers, IT consultants, online communications professionals, and others.

What do people mean when they refer to the cloud?

The concept of the “cloud” originated in the telephone industry and was used to distinguish the line between the responsibility of telecommunication provider and that of the customer.

With respect to computing, “the cloud” really has no different specific technical definition but ostensibly, it may be used to describe the entirety of data, applications and other resources available throughout a particular network. It is also increasingly being used as a marketing term when referring to advanced services.

The “Intercloud” extends the concept of cloud computing globally. This refers to a “cloud of clouds” sharing data, applications and resources, similar to the Internet as a “network of networks.”

How does this differ from the traditional concept of the Internet?

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing structure has two major components, the front-end and the back-end, which correspond with the end user and network-based service providers.

Front End

• Computer terminals: Hardware devices need not possess the processing power or range software packages that they have in the past, because they’ll be getting these from the network. Netbooks and smartphones are examples of devices that are cloud-oriented.
• Access software: Software to access the data, applications and other services provided through the cloud. Web browsers, email clients, and phone apps are examples of such software. A fully-cloud enabled device would theoretically use just one web browser to access all online services.

Back End

• Servers and data storage devices: Hardware within the cloud that provides access to data, applications and processing power. A website server is a very basic example of a back end resource, however in most cases cloud computing will be utilizing a network of devices each playing a particular function.
• Administrative servers and protocols: Communication between network elements must still be organized as it has been on the Internet through a network of servers that handle traffic management according to IP protocols.

Devices and the Cloud

Examples of cloud-based services

Applications provided in a cloud-based environment are also know as Software as a Service (SaaS). Some examples are:

• Google Apps: Word processing, spreadsheet and other productivity applications.
• Amazon Cloud Drive: Online file storage, including for media files purchased through the Amazon store, thus creating a cloud-based music collection that can be played through Amazon Cloud Player.
• Mint: A personal money-management service that integrates daily budget data with bank accounts, investments and other financial information.
• Facebook: Personal networking program which provides data and media storage and distribution as well as applications.
• Microsoft Sharepoint: Online work collaboration system.
• Salesforce: Cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software.
• Carbonite: Online automatic file-backup system.

Cloud Computing Costs and Benefits

The move towards cloud computing has at least in part been driven the pursuit of more efficient hardware implementations by larger operators such as Amazon, Microsoft and AT&T, as well as by product innovation by end-user providers such as Google. Combined, some of the perceived benefits of cloud computing include:

• Potentially ubiquitous access to data and applications regardless of location of user;
• Potentially reduced costs for both consumers and providers, including hardware, software and IT services;
• Opportunity for device innovation due to reduced need for onboard computing power;
• Opportunity for innovation in end-user applications (e.g., mobile application markets);
• Shared-processing power/grid computing system processing power.

But cloud computing is not without its potential drawbacks, which may include:

• Threat of major security breaches due to consolidation of data and services;
• Risk of widespread application outages;
• Reduced ability for end users to maintain privacy;
• Increased reliance on network connectivity for productivity;

Unanswered Questions

In addition, the evolution of cloud computing raises some as yet unanswered questions:

• Who owns the data in a cloud system, the end user or the service provider?
• Is there a need for standardization in order to facilitate integration of data and apps, and if so, how will that come about?
• Increased centralization of data and software is a move away from the original philosophy of the World Wide Web. Will this move ultimately limit the de facto ability of end users to participate as more than consumers? What long term effects on innovation and security will this have?

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cloud-computing.htm
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372163,00.asp
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html
https://www.mint.com/
http://www.facebook.com
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031?page=0,0
http://cloudtimes.org/top-7-cloud-based-service-offerings/

The Jake Group recently produced a series of rich media ads for placement on TalkingPointsMemo.com, one of the millions of websites that are members of Google’s Display Network.

The Google Display Network is the non-search-related portion of Google’s AdWords advertising platform. The Display Network is comprised of millions of websites, blogs, and email newsletters and has a total reach of about 80% of all internet users. Read More …

For an introduction to Google Analytics, see my earlier post. In this entry I will focus on an advanced feature of Google Analytics: Advanced Segments.

What are segments?

Segments are non-destructive filters that you can apply to your data for advanced analyses. Segments are non-destructive in that they do not affect the actual process of recording data from your website. Actual filters applied to a particular website profile, on the other hand, permanently affect the data that is recorded. For example, if I want to know statistics related to visitors from South America, I can create a segment that will display only information for these visitors. Data from all visitors in all countries is still recorded. By creating a filter for the same purpose, I could also see information related only to South American visitors, however Analytics wouldn’t record the data for any visitors outside of South America. In short, segments are filters that are applied after all the data has already been collected. Both segments and filters are valuable for particular applications, however this post will focus solely on segments.

How are segments used?

Segments are extremely powerful for running comparative analyses. Segments allow you to split up your Analytics data into different groups, and you can in turn compare these groups with each other. Google Analytics includes several basic segments like New and Returning Visitors. Your segments can be accessed and applied by clicking the “Advanced Segments” box in the upper right hand corner of the screen. By splitting your data between visitors that have previously been to your site and those who haven’t, you can discover important behavioral differences.

Example:

Our website OnlineStore.com just redesigned the checkout process. Without segments applied, the data looks good. The number of visitors exiting the site after adding items to their cart has dropped… good news? When we split our data into new vs returning segments, we find that the number of new visitors exiting from the cart page has dropped a fair amount, but the number of returning visitors exiting from the cart has risen dramatically. Our changes to the checkout system have clearly alienated our returning customers. Further analysis shows us that our returning customers’ purchases are about twice as large as purchases made by new customers. While a basic analysis would suggest that our changes were positive, analysis with segments has shown us that our cart redesign needs further consideration.

Google Analytics also features the following preset segments:

• Paid Search Traffic
• Non-paid Search Traffic
• Search Traffic
• Direct Traffic
• Referral Traffic
• Visits with Conversions
• Mobile Traffic
• Non-bounce Visits

The “Visits with Conversions” segment is an important tool that allows you to track usage statistics for your most valuable visitors.

Custom Segments

Google Analytics’ preset segments are valuable and easy to use, however custom segments are necessary for more complex analyses. To create a custom segment, click on the advanced segments box in the upper right hand corner of the screen and click on “Create a new advanced segment”. The following page lets you choose any dimension or metric as the basis for the segment. If you are unfamiliar with metrics and dimensions, see my post on custom reporting in Google Analytics. Your custom segment isn’t limited to one metric or dimension; you can create segments combining two or more different criteria for specialized data analysis.

Example:

OnlineStore.com has gone global. We need to know how our customers in Japan are finding our website. We create a custom segment with the dimension “Country” “matches exactly” “Japan”. We then add an “AND” statement, and include the metric “Goal1 Completions” as “Greater than or equal to 1″. We’re done. When applied, our segment will now show us all statistics related to Japanese visitors who convert Goal1, which in this case would indicate a purchase.

There’s no limit to what custom segments can show you. Test out the many available metrics and dimensions to gain a fuller understanding of how your analyses can be improved using custom segments.

What are Photoshop Scripts?

Scripts serve as a great tool to assist designers in increasing their workflow by automating repetitive tasks, customizing commands and even adding new features. Although they debuted way back with version 7, it is surprising how few people even know they exist. Originally scripts were an optional plug-in available via download, but today they come built into the program with a few useful scripts preloaded.

Scripting allows you to combine the power of Photoshop’s tools with custom programming. The feature allows users to write scripts using JavaScript, VB Script, or AppleScript, to do what you can’t with your mouse and keyboard—or simply don’t feel like spending your time on. The scripts are fairly basic, but for those of us not up to the challenge of learning to write custom scripts—there are plenty of freebies available online.

Why Scripts, Not Actions?

Photoshop Scripts are way more powerful than actions or batching and can be as smart as you make them. Some examples of the powers of scripting include:

• You can add conditional logic, so that the script automatically makes “decisions” based on the current situation. For example, you could write a script that decides which color border to add depending on the size of the selected area in an image: “If the selected area is smaller than 2 x 4 inches, add a green border; otherwise add a red border.”
• A single script can perform actions that involve multiple applications. For example, you could target both Photoshop CS2 and another Adobe Creative Suite 2 Application in the same script.
• You can open, save, and rename files using scripts.

Installing a Photoshop Script

Installing scripts is super simple. First download the script (or create your own), then save it into the specified scripts folder.

• PC: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Presets\Scripts\
• MAC: Applications > Photoshop > Presets > Scripts.

After copying a script to this folder you’ll need to Quit and then Restart Photoshop before the script appears in the File> Scripts menu.

Examples of Pre-loaded Scripts

Photoshop comes with a few useful scripts right out of the box. Once the program is installed, you can find them under File > Scripts. One example includes:

Layer Comps to Files
This one does exactly what it says, outputting your Layer Comps to separate files. Layer comps are an easy way to create “snapshots” of your comps in various states. Using the script, you can output the comps to various files types PSD, JPG, and GIF. If you have clients who like to see everything in PDF format, there’s also “Layer Comps To PDF” which outputs the layer comps into a single PDF document with multiple pages.

Examples of Free Add-On Scripts

As mentioned previously, you can find tons of free scripts online. Some scripter sites will even write custom scripts for you on request. A few timesaving scripts include:

Remove Copy From All Layers
If you create multiple comps and layers sets in your files and are anal like me, having the word “copy” in half your layers is an annoying Photoshop feature. It takes time to go through each layer and manually remove the word “copy”. Luckily, someone else thought the same thing and created a script to remove them all at once. It removes the word copy and also the number next to it, so “mylayername copy 12″ becomes simply “mylayername”.

Download the script here

NOTE: CS5 now has a built in option to turn this off, so you don’t need the script. You can set it in your layer palette options.

Text Export
This script will export all your layers to a text file so you can easily convert to HTML without having to copy and paste. For example, if you have 3 text layers:

(Layer 1) Lorem ipsum
(Layer 2) This is a headline
(Layer 3) Submit

You run the script and you get a text file with these contents:

Lorem ipsum
This is a headline
Submit

Download the script here

Links and References

Here are a few useful links to learn more about Photoshop scripts:

Trevor Morris Photographic

Jeff Tranberry

Adobe, Photoshop Scripts

PS-Scripts

Kirupa Tutorials