About Turn: DEXT Download Will Now Be Free
For weeks now I've been promising the details of how you go about downloading the DEXT app. The delay has been due to me not being sure how best to distribute it. My intention has always been to charge a certain (nominal perhaps?) sum of money which goes directly to a charity of my choosing.
I even went as far as setting up a page on JustGiving.com where I'd accept the monies and record the generosity of the donors. The target for the fund raising on that page is a (perhaps) overly-ambitious 10 grand.
Since then I've been doing quite a bit of thinking and have decided to make the charitable donations optional and the download of the application completely free. There are a few reasons for this.
Mainly it's that I don't want to suffer the disappointment of the whole thing falling flat on its face. If this were to happen it would probably make me question my devotion to this site and I don't want that to happen.
What I also want to avoid is starting off with a compulsory donation and then moving to an optional one, thus upsetting those who have already shelled out for it.
Another reason is that I want to make all the code I share available to as many people as possible. Requiring a payment would just mean that not as many people get their hands on the code as possibly could.
Something happened recently which brought home the fact that this site doesn't have the pull it once used to. I probably shouldn't but I use the number of comments posted on blog entries as a (very rough) indicator of the site's popularity. Eighteen months ago when Felix was born the Say Hello to Felix post got 140 odd responses. Last week the Say Hello to Minnie post got a less than half that!
While the Minnie post still got a lot of responses and I'm grateful of them all I can't help but feel the difference between the two number indicates that this site's readership has fallen in the 18 months since Felix arrived. It's inevitable that having children means I don't have the time I used to put aside for running codestore. I've tried my best to keep a certain amount of technical postings and code snippets flowing but there have been the odd week of silence here and there and that's bound to have an affect on the popularity of the site.
My plan now is to try and kick the site back in to gear. Despite the arrival of another child I should now - in theory - have more spare time. Whereas before most of my spare time (including down time with work) was spent working on the house, that's all over now, save for the odd little job here and there. I should then have more time to spend keeping up with emerging technologies and fresh techniques, as before. There should be some time left to put this knowledge on here in the form of demos and "How To"s.
The plan with DEXT is that all new techniques and demos are added to one central database (note that it no longer has anything to do with Ext -- see Ext.nd for that). Each time a new demo is added to DEXT a new release will be made available for download. This will make it easier for you (and me!) to find that demo you knew you saw on here somewhere. I too forget where a demo database is sometimes and the server is becoming a mess of demo databases that can be a nightmare to maintain and follow!
Stick with me on this. I need to do some house-cleaning but should be able to make a copy of the database available within a week or so.
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will for sure stick with you. Codestore is perhaps not anymore the blog presenting the newest techniques (aka XPages and so on)... but it's still the best presentation, best explanations out there.
As one of your so many long time reader, often, when i need to do something, i remember about something you posted, sometimes years ago.
i sometime read other blogs. I always read Codestore... and will continue.
Even more if you can again put more time in it.
Hi Jake,
The Say Hello to Minnie link in this article is broken - you might get a few more if it was working :-)
Don't lose heart Jake. I really don't think your readership is decreasing. For a start, most of us who read your site are "voyeurs". In all the years that I have been reading I think I have only commented 2 or 3 times. And, yes, one of those times was when Felix was born. I have 3 kids and it's hard to describe what it feels like when your first child is born. The second child is just as fantastic but because you have been through it all before, other people don't get just as excited. Maybe that's why I didn't comment last week on Minnies birth (sorry). But I DID read it - and every other post you have made in the last few months. So, I don't think counting comments is necessarily a good measure of your popularity.
Keep it up Jake, you are doing a great job... and congrats on the birth of Minnie!
Dec
Link fixed. Thanks Ben. I wrote the link from memory of her birth date, forgetting I wrote the blog the day after. Doh.
I thought that might be a factor too Declan.
The Minnie post is just one example though.
Another is the post from last week about generating files without unrestricted rights or using the disk.
To me this was something of a breakthrough and I got all excited about it. In posting it on here I was expecting a similar level of excitement from you guys. Although there were quite a few responses only two (maybe three) people actually said anything along the lines of "Great, that's just what I need, can't wait for the download". Without these kind of posts I can't tell whether what I'm posting is going down well or not.
Although I know that the majority of my readers are silent and that they enjoy and appreciate all the work I put in to this I still need feedback to judge how well I'm doing and what I can change for the better.
Maybe I expect too much in return for what I do...?
Maybe we should all say thanks every now and then, even when the stuff you are blogging about is not immediately useful to us.
That "generating files" article was cool but you have to remember that most comments on a technical article like that are from those who have recently worked on a similar problem or at least those who have something to add / gain from it in the near future. I thought it was a GREAT fix for a problem that I DON'T have right now. So I filed it in the "I must come back to that sometime..." part of my brain. Just yesterday, I was reading an article you wrote in Feb 2006 on Drag-n-Drop sorting using YUI. I won't be using your solution but I read it back then and I wanted to read again to remind me how YOU approached it - it's good to get another perspective.
So, some of your daily blogs have a much longer lifespan and a greater impact than you think.
Dec.
I know it's a little cheasy, but you could always add a "how usefull did you find this article" style rating at the bottom of each one...
I know you did something like this before...with the stars ?
Hi Jake,
For me it's been about doing work outside of Notes development - I'm learning ABAP, I'm going to Sharepoint training, and generally (sadly) not the full-time Notes developer I used to be. I still stop by, and while I never was a frequent commenter to begin with, I have dropped off from leaving even the occasional response.
Perhaps readership hasn't dropped, just comments?
And what if you asked visitors to rate a post, so that we didn't have to comment but could let you know what we think? Something like...
1. I'll use it today!
2. I'll use it eventually
3. I'll probably never use it - it doesn't apply to my business (ie: we don't have a need)
4. I'll probably never use it - I use something else.
I don't know... just tossing out an idea, since you could use feedback about the content you spend time posting here. I can certainly understand that.
Anyway, congrats to you all on the arrival of Miss Minnie. And thanks for all the work you do on this site - it truly is of value to the Notes community.
I stopped reading roughly 1.5 years ago as the tips started to think out slightly. Don't take the next part personally, but I found the ego presented in the blog just grew a bit too much for my taste. Whether you were 'in character' like some media columnists or just plain you, some of the replies to readers who were trying to make a point were too acerbic IMO. The addtion of the personal/family entries had no impact on my decision to bypass the blog. I'm just offering my feedback on why I don't regularly visit the site.
For what it's worth, there was a time when CodeStore and NSFTools were the only sites I followed... now I have 137 subscriptions in my feed reader (and that's been cleaned up a bit... recently pruned a few that had gone silent). I almost never click through to an actual article, because nearly every site I subscribe to includes the full body of each post in the summary. If an article evokes a reaction from me, I'll click through and comment; otherwise I glean what I can from it right in Google Reader, then press K to move on to the next. Likewise, if only a teaser displays in the summary, then I'll click through if that summary grabs me enough to interrupt my flow; otherwise I skip it. So I'll admit that I only read a small percentage of your posts now... it's nothing personal, and I'm probably missing a lot of good content, but it's gotten to where I'm consuming a huge amount of disparate information to keep up, and a one-sentence teaser is rarely enough to grab my attention.
I read Codestore daily. Directly, not through an RSS feed. I often come back to search for articles I have seen in the past or to look for specific solutions to problems I have encountered.
I don't comment that often as I file things mentally and am more likely to ask questions in a comment than leave a congratulatory comment (this one excepted!).
I know when I email you directly about anything your response is fantastic. As a working Mum with two boys under 5 I know all about juggling things: I'd say you do a fantastic job (and I love your garage/ office build!)
Surveys/ratings is something I might add. Thanks for backing the idea Karen.
Michael. I see you were a prolific poster for getting on 4 years then, as you say, stopped over a year ago. That's a shame and highlights what worries me. It's hard not to take what you said personally but I'm glad you're open enough to say it. I can see where you're coming from. I know I can bite a little too hard in my responses sometimes but that I think comes from having run the site for so long. I've talked before about feeling as though a lot of feedback I get is merely an attempt to knock me off any pedestal I might be perceived to be on. I do have an ego but I'm down to earth enough to know I'm nothing special as developers go. I don't know nearly as much as a lot of my peers but it seems sometimes people take pleasure it proving me wrong. Maybe that's the paranoid side of my personality coming through.
Hopefully one day you'll return. in the mean time I'll make an effort not to bite from now on.
Tim. Good point. I'll add full content to the RSS feed. Something I've always wanted to avoid, but if that's what people want. The only problem is needing to make links and images URLs absolute.
Ask and you shall receive (Tim). RSS feed now has full content.
@Tim/Jake - I'm in definite agreement with Tim here, I have so many feeds that I try to filter through on a daily basis I wind up skipping a lot. Seems like if I miss something really useful, someone else blogs about the first article anyway :P.
Major props for flipping over to the full content RSS, I've always thought this was the best route.
Thanks, Jake.
@Michael - if he stopped reading 1.5 yrs ago, how come he picked up on this posting. (btw - great site as I think was shown this Jan).
I totally agree with Declan. I've been reading your site for as long as I can remember but I hardly ever comment, usually because other people have already covered what I would have said anyway (see Declan's comments :D). Also I figure you have better things to do than read the same things over and over again. Maybe I should write a script that simply posts "heya, me again: please see comments @x, y, and z. hope you're well!"
The work you put into this site is awesome and I owe you a great deal of gratitude for the effort you have put in - you've taught me (and others) a lot! In addition, the seeds of ideas I pick up here often turn into completely different things later on, and when I think about it I realise that I owe you another one.
I think I am a lot like many regular readers who dont have much time to comment, preferring instead to rip through their feed aggregator in the few moment I have available each day for such things. This is a rare exception but I think it's a worthy one.
After all this site should be what you want it to be. You are not owned by this blog or it's readers.
Jake - I, like most, am a silent reader but I read Codestore every day and find it hugely enjoyable. I actually stopped developing in Notes 3 years ago(.Net bod now) but still stop by because, well, its an entertaining/informative site ;-)
As for the donations part, why not just keep the justgiving site going and see how it goes? Some people will donate and others won't but even if you raise £10 its better than nothing and I suppose you will raise a lot more than that.
Anyway, enough of my ranting :-)
Col.
I've spent the last 2 years learning Domino using only the help files and Codestore.net.
Jake, you do good work. There is no other site that gives out the kind of "front line" approach that you describe in detail daily.
Thanks.
BTW, I'm looking forward to DEXT.
Jake, The chances of your articles being relevant to everyone all time are very limited. I always read what you publish, but like many others rarely comment. However when looking for ways to do something in Domino and needing help/inspiration your site is the first one I look at. Your blog is consistently well written, with clear examples and reasoned arguments.
Jake, I responded to the arrival of Felix, but I didn't when you announced Minnie was the newest member of the family. That doesn't imply that I don't read your site anymore. It still is a valuable resource in my toolkit, and I think you should not consider comments to be a good indication of your site's popularity.
As to why I didn't post a little congratulations comment? Beat me... I couldn't add to what had been said already, so by habit, I presume, if I can't add value to a blog post, I don't comment... Not that a second child is not as important as the first one... I don't know.
So, better late than never: congrats to you and specially Karen (after all, she's doing the hard work) for that cute little girl. I hope Felix is happy to have a sister, and that everyone is doing fine.
Take good care of them, and as I father of 2 myself, I fully understand that time is becoming
a rare item with a family.
Hang in there, we're a bunch that will read you anyways, no matter how many cool articles you write yearly!
Jake,
I think a little statistical modeling will allay your concerns and help you tailor your content in the future. To do this, you'll need to take a rule of weighted portions into account when looking at numbers.
Hits on RSS feed - now with full content, you can count this as a 'passive read'. Give it an arbitrary basis point of 1. That's how much you will weight this number when considering how your content is recieved.
Hits on pages - people coming directly to your page to read are a good indicator of dedicated readership. Lets give it a value of 5.
Comment, not positive or negative, 8 points.
Comments positive - 10 points
Comments negative - likewise - 10 - bearing in mind we aren't scoring, we're weighing the value of certain statistics.
Use your basis points as multipliers to start to draw out a meaningful representation of the data . Excel charts are great for visualizing this sort of thing. From there you can begin to get a picture as to whether your content is meeting your goals for it, whether you should change your content profile... it might also help you validate your assumptions. Plot your weighted numbers against time or numbers of articles or categorize by subject (personal, tech blog, tech article, lazy web ;-) ).
I'm sure there are many more ways to slice it, but abstraction has a way of removing the emotional component - strong sensitivity to one negative comment or to many positive comments on a sentimental topic - and flatten out spikes over time to get a better trend picture.
My 4 cents US.
I look for your posts every day. I like that you're putting the full text into the RSS feed now. Thanks.
I never comment on your personal posts about your family. Personal stuff in technical blogs seems unprofessional to me.
Sorry. I lack Internet social graces. If we met face-to-face I'd ask about your family, but would you think I cared ... really? I also don't understand the fascination with MySpace, FaceBook and their ilk. Do these people think they have thousands of real friends?
In my life I find that intimacy takes time. I spend a lot of time with my immediate family to maintain that intimacy. I have a few close friends with which I spend some time with to maintain that friendship level. Then there are the many acquaintances with which I spend a little time with.
The wife of a very good friend and colleague of mine died suddenly. He created a separate blog to keep friends and family informed. He has continued this blog which is strictly about his family. Since I'm close to them, I do read it regularly.
So my advice is that, if you want to write about your family, charities, politics, etc. then make a separate blog.
Don't get me wrong, I do think you keep personal postings at an appropriate level. I guess this is a hot button for me. There is another Notes blogger that puts a bit too much of his personal politics into his blog. And, even though I agree with his points, that's not why I read his blog.
Well, I guess I've said enough ... I hope not too much.
Peace,
Rob:-]
Thanks all. As ever this wasn't meant as a plea for praise. Although it's always gratefully received.
Jerry. Sounds like a good idea but I'm intelligent enough to apply it. I don't even check my stats that often. Number of responses is the rudimentary way in which I gauge success. I really should stop thinking like that though, as the comments above have shown.
Rob. If this were blog.rockalldesign.com then I'd agree but it isn't and I can't agree completely with you. I agree that there has to be a balance and it has to be about 80/20 tech/personal. There are lots of blogs I've "unsubscribed" from as the ratio flipped the other way and there seemed 20% or less tech content.
This is however my own *personal* website and so I can't help but talk about my life. That said, apart from the "Hello Minnie" post (and discounting posts about the new office) when was the last time I talked about my private life? Ha. That's got you hasn't it ;o)
"Best Lotus Blogger 2008"
Need I say more.....
Jake, its very easy write more get more readers write less ..... Isn't there a way for you write more in the business way instead of doing it all for free in your spare time? I know many of us readers are willing to pay for your examples, snippets, tips etc etc... Or even product advice. I see you as an senior advisor on many domino/web related parts.
Best domino blog by far. - I come here every day.
Don't change your style or hold yourself back, or it wouldn't be you.
I remember dear old Stan used to get a bit acerbic on notes.net at times, but he wasn't half worth listening to.
If you follow lets say more than 100 blogs you have a birthday, blog jubilee, new born child or something else to congratulate every day. First you try to keep up with it, then you miss some and worry about it and then maybe you finally give up and let it slip (that is what I normally do).
For the site statistics, I would not be surprised if they went down. Developing with Domino for the web has been a pain as the last technology refresh with R6 was October 2002. I admire that you are still not tired to get around the various limitations of the platform but I think that new developers ignore Lotus Notes and Domino if they can. Domino 8.5 has some points that might freshen the experience.
I visit Codestore twice a week and still read everything you have to say. It still is an awesome place. I do not use a feedreader anymore because running behind my unread counter took away some of the fun that I now have with just surfing the web. Keep up the excellent work. All the best for you, Minnie and your whole family.
I'm a Domino administrator/infrastructure architect, not a developer.
I still read this site to see what I can learn. I have it added as one of the RSS feeds in My 8.5 beta 1 client.
I have never commented, up until now, but wanted to comment now to let you know that people like me are out there reading. :)
Sometimes Jake, there is nothing one could add in the form of comments to improve the post. I'm sure you don't want your comments full to the brim with "jake, you rock" or "opps you did it again".
PS, you rock! :p
Jake,
I am a regular reader of CodeStore from Dec' 2000 (if I remember correctly). I find your articles very well written and easy to understand.
This site is very informative and my first stop for domino development. visiting this site not only helps me in learning but also makes me think out of the box to come up with solutions in my projects. One thing I can say for sure is comments does not give you the real picture of readership. This is my third comment in 7 years.
I am sure there are tons of developers out there who might have either got their contracts extended or moved ahead in their careers by using the knowledge they gained from your articles and must be thanking you in their hearts. I think that should mean a lot than the comments that you see on this website.
I am a father of two 9 year old son and 4 year old daughter. I can understand how much effort you put in this site.
Just want to remind you that this site is a great source of information and inspiration.
Keep up the good work Jake.
"All time best blogger of Domino"
Mahesh
Jake:
I disagree with Rob completely. I've been visiting your site for about 5 or 6 years now and have commented only couple of times. Mostly about your bike. I didn't post about Minnie - not sure why exactly...
However, I am at a new company who is stuck in R5 world and I am trying to change this. They just discovered that you can read things via the BB!! Your site helps me find new ways to put some "bling" into Domino apps. I also find that the bit about your family makes me realize that you are human and that you have more to your life than your computer. Your advice seems somehow more honest? and your questions make it seem like we're all in this together.
Facebook and Myspace-esque information is the way things are going. Kids these days think this is normal and will expect certain features in things as they grow up and get into the business world. Personalities always come into play - even in the computer geek world. That's what separates us.
Keep it up. I will keep reading. And congrats on your new little miracle. She is beautiful!
Jake,
Been reading your blog for quite a while now, (still remember your first blogathon) but haven't commented for a long time, mainly because I couldn't add anything new.
I learnt so much about domino from here, maybe it says something about you/the blog that It's been a good 4 years since I touched domino in a work environment (moved over to MOSS- don't spit) but still read here.
get some google ads on here and the revenue will keep you interested even if we don't feedback directly!
Oh, no no no -- reduced readership in blogs and websites today isn't because less people find your site useful -- it's because there's _so much more_ content out on the internet today.
How many Domino-related websites do you think there are today compared to a year ago? Two years ago? Eight?
My current blog gets a fraction of the readers that a blog I had five years ago does -- this doesn't mean that my content is any less readworthy (I'd argue just the opposite) -- it's that there's so much more on the Internet to see these days, the chance that someone's going to come across my blog has been drastically reduced.
Hi Jake,
I know this wasn't a plea for praise post, but I do want you to know how much I appreciate this site. I've been coming here to read your posts since I began in Lotus Notes/Domino development and have always found the information here helpful and informative. (I would definitely buy any book you wrote!)
I don't always comment--often because of time. Which is pretty lame of me, really. If I have the time to *use* the information you provide, I can *make* the time to thank you for it. And I resolve to be better about that in the future.
The personal posts don't put me off in the slightest. If I don't comment on them, it's mainly because I don't know you and your family personally. Recommended Solution: the Howlett family US tour '08! There's a great bar in Seattle where the drinks are strong and cheap (my favorite combination)! I'll buy!
Maybe you shouldn't take it as any reflection on you or your site or your contribution to advancing Domino development. Maybe its just a reflection of the fall in the number of Domino developers. None of the Domino developers I knew 5 years ago are doing Domino development now. Or maybe it is just a more discerning audience: for years I used to read a large number of domino-related sites, but now I only read yours, Andre Guirard's and Ed Brill's (for the general overview).
Jake
I have returned to Domino development after a gap of some years and your site is a great resource, as it used to be all those years ago.
Seriously some of the articles from your site, I used in 2001-02 e.g. CSS/HTML look are still proving handy.
You are an inspiration for keeping the commitment going all these years and the best/most usable/most effective source of Domino knowledge out there.
Keep it up.
R
Maybe it's because the coffee machine is broken or maybe just me ... but I cannot find anyway to downlaod the DEXT db (or did I read the article too fast).
Pardon my bad English...
DEXT download is coming "soon" Ron. Your English is perfect!
Tankx al lot
I agree with everyone. Your site, and only your site, has gotten me to where I am in my knowledge and understanding of Notes databases on the web.
I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that you have made my job more enjoyable, my appreciation for Notes sky rocket and my desire to become a better Notes developer be at a level that I never thought possible.
As far as interest for this site goes, please don't base it on how many post's that you get. Me for example, I don't like to post idol comments because I know that there are developers on here that don't need to things that I have to say because they already know it. So I feel out of place suggesting things. And I can't be the only one that's like that.
Okay, I'm off of my soap box. Anyway keep up the good work. Remember that family comes first and should be our driving point, not work.
Hi Jake - Been an anonymous browser for about a year and it has been of incredible value to me. I'll definitely make a donation in any case - just because!