It’s that time again…! Sunday’s a good day to take it easy.

I’ve decided that on Sundays I’m not going to do any blogging except for a very simple post series called “The Sunday Special” where you get to ask me anything.

You can ask about me about web technology, Wordpress, blogging, what I ate for breakfast… whatever.

I can’t promise that I’ll answer all of your questions, but feel free to answer each other’s questions as well.

I’ll try to answer all the questions throughout the coming week.

Simple enough, right? Go.

[Image from gshok]

I’ve gotten a lot of requests about eCommerce recently and I’ve recommended this little nifty solution a few times.

Anyways, I thought I’d share it here, especially since it’s been well done for a few smaller organizations and churches looking to sell a few things.

SimpleCartJS is really that simple. No databases, no programming, all javascript. Skin it the way you want it and voila.

Gearing up to sell some stuff for the holiday season? Try this on for size.

There have been a number of reports published within days of each other about technology and our ability to relate to others, both online and in the real.

One report suggests that New Technology is Making us more Socially Isolated and yet we have another report saying that the Internet is Leading Us to Become more Diverse in our relationships. We have (somewhat dogmatic) reactions from Mashable titled, Myth Busted: Internet Doesn’t Lead to Isolation and then another from the NYTimes that would suggest the opposite, that people that use these technologies are more socially diverse.

So, what’s the call? Does the internet and new web technologies make us (or help us be) more social or does it simply make more apparent the gross lack of basic social skills that many of us have?

Here’s what I think:

I’d say both.

It’s obvious that both the introvert and extrovert can thrive in the online environment: The former being able to now express themselves more comfortably and the latter simply doing what they did in meatspace but now online.

On the other hand the reaction and experience could be the complete opposite: The former can find the internet even more lonely than anything they’ve ever experienced and the latter could simply find it boring and not as good as their in-the-flesh community.

And this doesn’t surprise us, right? What’s more surprising is the “I told you so!” and the “I knew it!” mentality with either camp that’s being passed around.

Who cares. Really. Seriously. Who cares.

The internet either accentuates the fact that you lack social skills or it proves that you’re far too good at it (or so it seems). But whatever you do, do it for the Lord (Thanks @JeffHenderson and his new @Work Series!)!

That is all.

I’m going to now go crawl back into my dimly lit office hole and cry more because I’ll only get 2 comments on this post.

[Image from CV]

The waterproof Bible is almost a “duh” product. I can’t count how many times I’ve been frustrated after spilling something on my bible and then having to fan out the pages.

Argh!

Published by Bardin and Marsee, it’s available in both KJV and NIV versions and recently they’ve released a great campaign where you can “buy one and give one,” just like TOM Shoes:

“We believe every consumer benefits from the increased lifespan and durability of the Waterproof Bible. However, we are especially passionate about getting this better designed Bible into the hands of those in developing countries, where the people often face harsh environments and living conditions.

Through our BOGO program, these third-world citizens will receive the same long-lasting product that our customers get, but for free,” said Bobby Bardin, co-developer of the Waterproof Bible.

I love it.

This is an obvious need and I wonder why it wasn’t developed sooner. You have to love technology (not just web!).

Many of us know Chris Brogan and his accomplishments as well as the authority that he brings to the social media landscape. His new book Trust Agents (affiliate link) is acclaimed already being named a Top 10 from Amazon.

What’s fascinating is that he could probably build a “church” better than most of us. If we we’re to take out the spiritual-side of things, Chris has got it in the bag. And to a certain degree, he’s even said it himself.

It’s because Chris has managed to discover what his true gifts are and then has also managed to use them effectively to move people strategically. He understand how an effective platform can be wisely executed and how to manage and leverage people’s passions. He’s a genius at rallying people together physically (just Google “Podcamp” to learn more) and making the gathering’s not about him but them.

I’ve never started a church and God knows that I’d be terrible at it. But, if I were to start one, if I felt lead and called to do that, I’d probably borrow just as much (and perhaps a bit more in some areas) from Chris than from a lot of spiritual leaders today.

Just being honest.

[Image from Chris Garrison]

Watch this great video (embedded above) by Dana Byers about how to “Engage Your Kids in Church Online.”

I’ll tell you that I too was very skeptical with Church Online in general before diving deep into what and how it can be used for the Kingdom.

Take it a step further and even today with my 3 year old daughter, would I be willing to have Church Online be a significant part of her faith journey?

I’m thankful for people like Dana who is willing to experiment by faith with new technologies with her own children.

Way to go.

There are a lot of analytic programs and systems out there that are awesome but not many Wordpress Plugins for those systems that I trust to do a good job of, well, simply not breaking.

The fact is that I’d much rather insert the code myself instead of banking on a plugin that may become old, outdated, or deprecated. Not a risk I’m typically willing to take!

But, here are 5 Analytic Plugins that I’ve used historically that haven’t failed me (yet):

1. WP Stats Dashboard

This is an oldy but goody. Used on Wordpress.com sites this is a standard for most self-hosted Wordpress blogs as well. Get it, Got it, Good.

Download it Here.

2. Google Analyticator

This one is also pretty much a standard, especially for people not interested in adding the code themselves to their blog. It’s robust and I’ve used it on a dozen blogs+.

Download it Here.

3. Blog Stats by W3Counter

Connecting to the free analytics service W3Counter, it adds a dashboard to your blog admin that includes real-time tracking. The reason I’ve used this in the past is because lots of people have this analytics package already running and want to keep it through a redesign, etc. It works.

Download it Here.

4. Blog Metrics

This is a personal favorite as it displays a host of information about your blog, especially your post count, word count, and even other author’s and their respective information. If you’re running a blog with multiple authors this one is a no-brainer.

Download it Here.

5. Feed Stats Plugin

Like Feedburner? Want to know what’s happening with your feed without logging into your account? This plugin’s for you. And if you don’t use Feedburner… then… I have nothing to say to you except start using Feedburner…!

Download it Here.

6. All the Rest…

There are tons of others out there, but again, these are ones that I’ve personally used that have not failed me (yet). What other one’s have you used that you’ve been happy with?

Comments, for many blogs, is the lifeblood and metric for success. And this makes sense. But have you ever thought of ways in which to improve on the comment system as a whole?

Even though there are a number of 3rd party systems, like Intense Debate, Disqus, ECHO, and others that enhance the commenting experience, the core elements haven’t really changed: Name, Email Address, URL, and the Comment.

Here are a couple things that I think could really help engagement and provide a better user experience as a whole. I can’t imagine that all of these would apply to all blogs, just a few:

• Better Anonymous Commenting Features – Even though you can do this somewhat today it forces people to make up email addresses or include bogus information other than the comment. It would be nice if we could provide a way for people to provide their comments anonymously but be able to provide a legitimate email or contact info without it going public. Sensitive blogs covering sensitive information would definitely reap a significant benefit.
• A “Did You Actually Read the Post?” Feature – I sit on the fence a bit here. On one hand I wish people would actually fully read the blog post before commenting. Now, I know there’s almost no way to manage this but there has to be some way where it would give the commenter a time to “pause” and reflect. Even though this may cost comment count and numbers there are some blogs out there that really could use more reflection. This could doubly help with spam management.
• Categorization of Comments – In the future I see this ability and functionality being created. Perhaps “categorization” isn’t the best word for this, but I’d like to see some way where I can categorize and organize comments either automatically or by the commenters choice.
• Force White-Space Creation – Some people forget that it’s really hard to read comments when they don’t hit the “Enter” key. It would be nice to force a carriage-return after a certain number of words or the completion of a sentence. Make the comments look pretty!
• A “Think Again” Button – It would be nice to have something like Google’s “Beer Goggles” for comments, asking the commenter one final time whether or not they want to really make that comment permanent.

What do you think? Any ways you’d improve blog commenting?

[Image from Dharma]

An article yesterday from the Associated Press and Yahoo! News stated:

The World Wide Web has become the hottest place to build a church.

Fascinating.

Citing Flamingo Road (which has a new homepage btw, and looks fantastic!) and Brian Vasil as examples, they bring up a great point that everyone is wrestling with:

The move online is forcing Christians to re-examine their idea of church. It’s a complex discussion involving theology, tradition and cultural expectations of how Christians should worship and relate. Even developers of Internet church sites disagree over how far they should go. Many, for example, will only conduct baptisms in person.

The definition of “Church” is one of the most significant discussions that we can have today because what we do technologically will reflect these perspectives and beliefs.

I think there is a definite correlation between a local church’s online expression and how they theologically view the Church and how this pragmatically plays out in everyday life.

What do you think? Where are you standing in the mix?

[Image from TonyVC]

This is a Guest Post by Chris Ames.

Now we’re moving.

You’ve identified the undertapped resource of the online volunteer, and you’re ready to make it official with the right people for the job. The first thing I recommend is to terminate them. Right up front. Hand that pink slip across the table and say, “You’re fired.”

If you can get your hands on a Donald Trump toupee, then I give you +100 points for style.

That’s a bit overdramatic, but what I’m trying to say is that one of my best practices for managing online volunteers is to identify and set term limits for your online positions.

Ready for some schooling? After the jump:

Volunteers Have Expiration Dates

Remember how I said online volunteering can happen within the cracks of everyday life? It is a tremendous benefit that we are trying to exploit.

The problem is that your ministry or non-profit isn’t the only thing vying for that time. It is in competition with a thousand other contenders like Hulu or World of Warcraft or a million other things. And sometimes, these other entities are going to creep in and start winning the war of attention span with your people.

Eventually, everyday life is going to fill the cracks of everyday life. This shift in priorities is called burn out.

Your volunteers are not going to tell you when they are burning out and you aren’t going to remember to ask them. Chances are you won’t even notice the signs at first.

On a long enough timeline, for most volunteers, authentic enthusiasm becomes forced enthusiasm. They will still want to be enthusiastic, but they won’t be. The flame will have extinguished. They will dread that email or phone call to tell you they quit. They will either deny it to themselves outright or procrastinate.

The result will be a disenfranchised volunteer doing a poor job serving your ministry. Without even knowing it, you’ll be losing quality. But if the first cost is quality, the second is opportunity. Because it’s likely that some other person is sitting on the sidelines wishing they could fill that position and be of service to your non-profit… if only it was vacant.

But Don’t All Volunteers go Through Lulls in Enthusiasm?

Some volunteers will go through a lull in enthusiasm.

This can be caused by an unexpected busy season in their own lives or other circumstances outside their control. Having a term limit may be just the thing that keeps them from quitting. They will want to honor the commitment they made and, while doing so, may come through the other side and get a “second-wind”.

Term limits can help prevent some volunteers from giving up too early. But here is another scenario that I went through personally while serving at my local church once. My wife and I volunteered in the 4 yr old room for a 1 year term and we became pregnant about three months into it.

Towards the end of our term things got understandably hectic. My wife was exhausted and so was I. We wanted to quit, but we had committed to a year and our church didn’t have any suitable replacements because they were gearing up for the next recruitment effort.

Knowing that our service had a definite end date helped us tough it out and honor our commitment.

Set term limits up front, right in the beginning, so that volunteers know when their service will end. They can always re-enlist for another round if the fire is still lit. I’m not saying cut them loose. I’m saying schedule a time in the beginning for a guilt-free conversation between you and them.

Feelings that could go suppressed (and unaddressed) for months, or even years, have the opportunity for ventilation.

And then, after they are refreshed, they’ll be back.

[Image from Dustin]