andrew dodson

Wordpress has released the next version of their popular blogging and content management software.  The 2.9 release, named “Carmen,” continues their series of releases named after jazz artists.

So, what’s new in 2.9?

The biggest feature improvement is the ability to edit images after they are uploaded – cropping, rotating and resizing are all available options.  This is a huge feature for Wordpress users that may not have image editing software on their computers.

Another popular improvement is the ability to embed media into posts or pages by simply copying and pasting the link to the media (video, photo gallery, etc.) into the post or page, using the oEmbed standard.

Wordpress has also introduced a trash feature, enabling a second level of deletion of posts, pages and media.  Now, in the event you accidentally get rid of a post, it goes to the trash,  instead of being permanently deleted.  Users can then empty their trash later, when they’re sure they want to delete its contents.

These three features are on top of many other improvements and bug fixes.  To read more about the 2.9 release, please read this post on the Wordpress blog.

My co-worker at 524concepts, Chris Thurman, has launched a new creative media blog – Visual Swirl.  Be sure to check it out.  The blog features articles on video, web, print, and more.  It’s a must-read for all creative types.  There is also the possibility that I may contribute from time to time, which may or may not help in getting traffic to the site!

My new employer, 524Concepts recently launched two church websites.  You can see screenshots of the sites below that are linked to their sites.  I had a small hand in the Williamstown site, but a bigger role in the Crestwood site.  We are currently developing two sites in support of the Crossings camp ministry.  They should both launch within the next month.  Also in the pipeline are sites for at least three other churches, and a non-profit or two.  All of this, along with the possibility of a few bigger organizations in the near future.  Exciting times at 524!

Over the last two months, God has proven His faithfulness to me.  After leaving CLS to pursue BADmedia full time, I was surprised by the number of calls and emails I started receiving – people seeking me to create websites or help them with graphic design needs.  After a few weeks, there was no doubt in my mind that BADmedia could be a full time job.

Along the way, I received a random email from Crossings Ministries.  They were in need of web design help for their side business – 524concepts.  At first, I was hoping they were looking for freelance help, as I was really enjoying working from home (or coffee shops, Panera, and other random places) with BADmedia.  After a few meetings and conversations, it turned into a full time job offer.  As I pulled into their parking lot one day for an interview, a strange calm came over me.  It was as if God was telling me at that moment, “this is where I want you right now.”  A few days later, I accepted their offer to be a web specialist for 524concepts.

The job starts on March 24th and I am fairly excited.  I’ve known the staff I’ll be working with for a couple of years, and they are really great people.  They all love their jobs, and it’s very apparent.  Crossings is a great organization that I’ve always respected.  It will be a tremendous blessing to work for a Christian organization that helps change the lives of kids, teens and adults in significant ways.

Along the way, I will keep reminding myself of one of my favorite verses:

Colossians 3:23 Listen

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

This has been a good weekend. Saturday, the Josh Martin Band was back on stage in Cynthiana. We played an outreach concert with LaFollette and had a great time. We’ve been trying to play with them for about two years, and it finally worked out. I’m hoping we play with them again soon. The bands closed out the night by joining forces to play Jeremy Camp’s “Walk By Faith.” It was a cool experience to have full bands on stage playing.

Today, I got a break from playing drums at The Point. Other than recording, it was pretty relaxing to be able to enjoy worship with the congregation. John Martin did a great job filling in. There is a LOT going on at The Point right now, so it’s pretty exciting. We’re planning all sorts of things for the fall that will begin in the next couple of weeks.

I’m in the process of overhauling The Point’s media site audio library. I found an awesome Wordpress plugin this weekend that gives us a ton of flexibility in filtering our audio by speaker, series, tags and more. It’s going to take me a while to get all the information transferred over to the new library, but it will be very good. I’m hoping to lauch it sometime in the next couple of weeks.

BADmedia is fairly busy right now. I’ve started another partnership with a local business that needs some web help. There’s plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, I can keep lining up work!

How ’bout the new look of the blog? Wordpress.org has revamped their theme directory and I found this one yesterday. I really like the simplicity of it.

So, what have I been up to? I’ve kept up with learning Flash and that’s coming along fairly well. I’m thinking about implementing some Flash on the Josh Martin Band website, but I’m not sure. I’d like to put what I’ve learned into practice in one way or another.

I’ve mainly spent time redesigning a few sites as of late. I continue to get people calling or emailing with interest in having a website done, so that’s been encouraging for BADmedia. I’m hoping to nail down a few more sites by the end of this week.

The Josh Martin Band stepped back on stage this past weekend at the Frankfort Christian Academy. It was good to play again. We’re going to start rehearsing again soon for some upcoming gigs. Josh has written some new material, so we will work on that as well.

I give up. I’m going to learn Flash.

I’ve resisted to this point. Why? Well, it’s not really standards-compliant. Meaning? Not everyone can view flash on websites. By saying “not everyone,” my not-so-scientific percentage would be, maybe, twenty-five percent. Mostly, the type of people that use the web for informational purposes and don’t care to download all the latest, wizz-bang plug-ins and features for their browser. Some might read this as “older folks,” but you didn’t hear me say that. I just don’t like making people that want to view my sites download something to view it correctly. Is that so bad? I’ve always said if the day came that Flash came installed on every browser 100% percent of the time, I’d gladly learn Flash.

It’s been all-the-rage in the internet world for several years now, and the rage continues to grow, it seems. Nearly ever web design job I’ve found on the web requires Flash experience. Everyone wants animation, videos, fade in effects, motion graphics, and other fancy features that only Flash seems capable of producing.

So, it seems I just need to give in and start learning it. I’ve done a few tutorials, and yes, it’s cool. It’s neat. It’s fun. But, it can also be way-overdone on a lot of sites. My hope is to learn to apply Flash – a.) only to sites that require Flash, and b.) in a tasteful way. Okay, I might break rule “a” every now and then.

Bottom line is this – if I’m trying to do web design full-time, I need to constantly learn new things, whether or not I like the new things personally. It’s the only way I can survive as a hopeful freelancer. So, getting BADmedia off the ground is kinda like going back to school at the same time. Except, this time, I’m the teacher and the student, sort of (with some help from the internet and books).

I’m looking for a PC – as in, a Windows computer. It doesn’t have to be fancy AT ALL. Basically, I only need it so that I can view my websites through Internet Explorer and other Windows internet browsers. This would be very helpful when designing my websites.

I’m not going to be picky, but if it were a laptop, that would be great. Only reason is, I really don’t have room in my apartment for a desktop, monitor, keyboard, mouse…. all that. A laptop doesn’t take up much space.

Ideally, I’m looking for someone that wants to give away an old laptop or PC. As mentioned, it doesn’t have to be anything terribly nice. If anyone out there has one they’d like to get rid of (even if you’d rather sell it), let me know. You can email me.

Just wanted to check in and say hello. Haven’t been blogging much lately, I know. So, we’ll go with some rambling, random thoughts.

Did anyone catch Josh Hamilton in the Home Run Derby? Wow! What a story. I haven’t had a “favorite player” in baseball since Eric Davis & Nolan Ryan, but this guy would come close. If you haven’t caught up on this guy, please, please, please Google him and read up. I don’t know if his Home Run Derby highlights have made it onto YouTube yet, but you could check there too.

John Piper is doing a sermon series right now on the importance of church membership – specifically how it relates to baptism. It’s an interesting subject. It’s hard to disagree with Piper on much because we all know he’s searched the Scriptures on pretty much every topic far more than any of us. But, I will say, even after reading his first sermon, I haven’t landed on how I feel about the matter.

I’m spending this week recording the band Altered Worship at Georgetown College. They are the worship band for the Centri-Kid camp hosted by Georgetown this summer. It’s all very similar to my experience recording the Crossings bands last summer. The band is great, and I’m praising God for yet another opportunity to record something like this. So far, so good.

BADmedia has been busy in the past couple of weeks. I’m praying that work will continue to come in and the business will grow. I’ve had a good time getting it off the ground over the past few weeks. It’s the first time I’ve really pushed the business and advertised for it, and I’ve been encouraged by the response.

Here’s to hoping there are more frequent posts coming soon!

At last!

After months of kicking around design ideas and finding time design a site for BADmedia, the task is finally complete.  If anyone out there needs design work, recording, or the like, please head over to the site and contact me!

> Visit the BADmedia site