Blog: January 2008

Vote (Once) for Truthdig!

January 30, 2008

Figure holding a Truthdig screenshotI know, it’s tempting to stuff the ballot box in support of your favorite person, place or thing.

And since I heard that our client, Truthdig.com, was nominated for three different categories of Blogger Choice Awards—Best Political Blog, Best Blog Design and Best Podcast, to be specific—the thought crossed my mind that voting, say, 100,000 times might be a nice gift to them.

But the irony of winning the Political Blog category by cheating would be too outrageous.  And my finger would get sore clicking the vote button that many times.  So I voted just once.

And you should, too.

Posted by Travis Smith at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

What a Web Site Looks Like Before it is Born

January 23, 2008

Before the painful miracle of Web birth is the equally painful planning stage. The Hop Studios whiteboard now shows the fragile prenatal form of the Film Radar site. Most of you who work in web design will find this cute, and be able to pick out its stubby, half-formed navigation. For the rest of us, this is just a blurry promise of sleepless nights to come.

This one is mine, and because I’m a literal minded fellow, I checked.

It’s a girl.

Whiteboard Image

Posted by Matt Gardner at 2:54 PM | Comments (1)

UBC Journalism Tells a New Story

January 18, 2008

The graduate journalism program at UBC needed a Web site overhaul; their site was stale and hard to update. They also happen to be a bike ride’s distance from Hop Studios world headquarters. How could we say no?

We moved them to a new server, installed Expression Engine, redesigned their site, developed the HTML and extra functionality and trained their staff to do simple ongoing updates.

The new site information structure is much easier for prospective students to navigate, and brings students, alumni and visitors to the information they need quickly.

It’s not just easier to update—in some cases, it updates itself.  Check out the headlines on the home page from other related UBC projects that offer RSS.  Nifty.

Posted by Travis Smith at 3:37 AM | Comments (1)

Get Reviewed in the Web Workshop on Lab with Leo

January 15, 2008

I’ve appeared on the G4 Tech TV show The Lab with Leo several times this summer and fall, and now I’m a fairly regular guest in the Web Workshop segment. It has really been fun to do the show, it’s such a different energy than Hop Studios and it’s fun to go and get the makeup on and talk with all the great tech guests that come to the show. The show has asked me back at the end of January, so you have a chance to submit your Web site for a quick review on television. It’s a chance to get a little free advice from me, and to get your Web site seen by all the viewers of Leo’s show—nothing wrong with that!

This video tells you how to get in on the action!

Posted by Susannah Gardner at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)