By Griff Wigley, on January 2nd, 2010
 I’ve compiled all my web-based info about me using Google Profile. See it at google.com/profiles/griffinjay. (People who are in my Google Contacts can see more info about me than the general public.)
My griffinjay profile comes up at the bottom of the first page of a Google search on my name, Griff Wigley. The word Griff is currently third in a Google search on the word, linking here to my business site, Wigley and Associates. The word Wigleys, currently 1st in a Google search, links to Wigleys of Mendota.
The civic blog site I work on, Locally Grown (aka LoGro and LoGroNo and LGN), is currently 1st in a Google search.
By Griff Wigley, on December 15th, 2009
 I’ve been installing the WordPress plugin WPTouch on all my blogs and many client blogs lately. It “deliver a fast, user-friendly and stylish version of your site to your iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Opera Mini mobile, Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm visitors without modifying a single bit of code (or affecting) your regular desktop theme.”
The photo on the right shows my T-Mobile G1 (Google Android phone) displaying the home page of my community blog, Locally Grown.
Comments are visible after clicking on any post. You can add a comment as well. The best way to keep track of comments, however, is to use an RSS reader app on your mobile device and subscribe to the blog’s comments RSS feed. Then if you see a comment that you’d like to comment on, click the link to the comment. It will activate the mobile-optimized view of the web page and position you for typing in your comment.
By Griff Wigley, on September 6th, 2009
 Most of the blog sites I’ve set up for my clients run on WordPress. Late last night, I spent a couple of hours checking and upgrading sites to Version 2.8.4 ASAP because there’s a nasty worm making the rounds this weekend:
I wrote to my favorite web host, Tiger Technologies in California, asking them if they knew about it the worm and whether they could tell if any sites had been compromised. The owner, Robert Mathews, wrote me back within a few minutes:
Continue reading WordPress under attack; sites hosted by Tiger Technologies have been protected for 3 weeks
By Griff Wigley, on August 27th, 2009
As I noted in a May, 2007 blog post, the Citizens League contracted with me to set up, launch, and run the Students Speak Out (SSO) social network, part of their MAP 150 Project. Over the 5 months of my involvement, Erin Sapp, Lars Johnson, Stacy Becker, Kim Farris-Berg, Sean Kershaw and others working on the project gradually assumed more and more responsibilities for the social network until my work on it ended in the fall.
 The project flourished, including an expansion to Students Speak Out: Milwaukee. Much of this is chronicled in several articles in the July/August 2009 issue of MN Journal, the Citizens League’s newsletter.
 SSO is featured in a paper by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor Satish Nambisan titled Platforms for Collaboration (PDF), published in the summer 2009 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review. The RPI press release on the paper, A New Way to Look at Innovation: Rensselaer Professor Outlines Blueprint for Social Change, summarized SSO:
 Nambisan cited Minnesota’s nonprofit Citizens League and its successful use of exploration platforms for its Students Speak Out project, which was launched in 2007 to identify and tackle student issues. The Citizens League invited students to participate in a Web-based forum where bullying emerged as a key concern. The discussion quickly expanded beyond the Web and the students. Parents, journalists, education researchers, school board members, legislators, and city government officials all came together, both online and in offline venues including teacher training programs, student workshops, student video contests, and an annual convention.
The Citizens League developed an issue brief and white paper, and the Minneapolis city government incorporated the students’ feedback in policies to reduce youth violence. In perhaps the greatest indication of SSO’s success, Milwaukee launched a similar initiative in 2008.
By Griff Wigley, on June 30th, 2009
 I’ve been building a series of “How to Ride Motorcycle Trials” tutorial pages for the Trials Training Center (TTC) in Sequatchie, TN.
Many of the pages have video clips and I’ve created a TTC YouTube Channel to house them all.
Each video has a description, several tags, and a link back to the specific how-to page to help drive traffic from the TTC YouTube Channel to the TTC’s site.
By Griff Wigley, on February 19th, 2009
Last week, my wife Robbie and I set up a blog site for the Valley Pond Townhouse Association where we’re members. The townhouses surround Hidden Valley Park in Northfield, Minnesota on three sides.
By Griff Wigley, on March 10th, 2008
What is twitter?
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Like my colleague Michael Fraase, I tried Twitter a few times when it was first introduced but it didn’t ‘take hold’ for me.
But after reading Howard Rheingold’s reasons for why he’s hooked on Twitter, I’m ready to give it another try, only with a local, Northfield twist. I plan to focus my Twitter posts on Northfield-related ‘stuff’ – my whereabouts in my hometown, as well as miscellaneous other Northfield-related musings. I’d like to ‘follow’ (that’s a Twitter term) other Northfield-area citizens doing likewise with their Twitter accounts.
I’ve got my cell phone and Google Talk (IM) account hooked up to my Twitter account so that I can send and receive messages with both.
I’ve added the above Twitter badge to our Locally Grown (LoGroNo) sidebar, about halfway down the page, right after the comments section).
I’ll consider switching that badge to one like this (the above image is recent screenshot, not a live view) that tracks all the people I’m following who’ve likewise committed to focusing their Twitter posts on Northfield-related activities.
By Griff Wigley, on September 20th, 2007
I’ve created eleven screencasts for the Northwest Area Foundation’s Horizons Community Blogging Project.
The topics:
Why blog
What to blog
How to blog effectively
How to promote a blog
How to use WordPress basics
How to embed images
How to embed video
How to customize a blog
How to manage blog comments
How to set up new bloggers
Although these community blogging screencasts are specific to the Horizons project and to WordPress MU (Multi-User), those involved with community blogging projects might still find them helpful.
They vary from 6 to 20 min. in length. I used Camtasia Studio 4 to create the screencasts for the web, as well as to burn them to a DVD-ROM.
By Griff Wigley, on May 26th, 2007
 I was delighted to see 37Signals and their flagship product, Basecamp, featured in Time Magazine last week in an article titled Small Is Essential.
This tiny crew, only three of whom graduated from college, has built software that many in the world of Web 2.0 consider the best for small-business collaboration.
I’ve been using Basecamp with my clients and volunteer projects for almost two years now. Not only do I like the service, I like it that they have both a company blog and a product blog.
By Griff Wigley, on February 26th, 2007
 Michael Blaha at Organic Arts told me last week that my favorite web hosting company, Tiger Technologies, is carbon neutral.
See their environmental policy for more.
By Griff Wigley, on November 9th, 2006
  
I was invited to a Blandin Foundation brainstorming session today on the topic of rural communities and the development of broadband infrastructure, online content, and civic engagement. We met at the home of Bill Coleman in Mahtomedi, where his mailbox and backyard wildlife (click photos to enlarge) made for a unique setting.
   
Left photo, L o R: Tim Erickson, e-democracy.org; Ann Treacy, Treacy Information Services; Bill Coleman, Community Technology Advisors Corp.; Bernadine Joselyn, Director of Blandin’s Public Policy and Engagement Program; Jane Leonard, Minnesota Rural Partners.
Left center: Becky LaPlant and Mary Magnuson, Program Assistants in Blandin’s Public Policy and Engagement Program; Steve Clift, Publicus.net.
Right center: Patrick Marx, recently a senior staffer at Blandin, now a consultant to them; and Jane (see above).
Right: Bill and Bernadine (see above). Click all photos to enlarge.
History and connections were rich. I’ve recently collaborated with Tim on a St. Paul edemocracy outreach project; with Steve on many issues and projects, including civic leadership blogging in the UK and the ReadMyDay project; Jane and Ann I’ve known since way back in the MRnet and gofast.net days — and Jane came to Northfield 18 months ago to speak at an NDDC forum on wi-fi. I’d not met Patrick but first heard about him from Sean Kershaw at the Citizens League (a blogging client) and more recently, because of his involvement and support of Bill Densmore and the Media Giraffe Project. He knew all about the Atwater video that Bill and I have been working on. But the most startling connection was when I mentioned how my involvement as the Salonkeeper with Utne Reader’s Neighborhood Salon Association back in the 90s was instrumental in the formation of Northfield Citizens Online and Northfield.org. Bernadine blurted out: “My mother joined an Utne Salon when they first started and their salon is still going on!” That’s 15 years and counting. Cool beans. One final mention: a tip of the blog hat to Mike O’Connor who couldn’t be there today and who was instrumental in my getting an invitation. Thanks, Mikey. All the way with Y2K!
By Griff Wigley, on October 23rd, 2006
 I am exploring Windows Live Writer, wondering if the word processor can be a good blogging client, even better than my current favorite, Zoundry Blog Writer.
First test is to see how it handles images and whether or not it allows text to be wrapped easily. Looks good.
Can it link URLs to images? Apparently, yes.
Can it do linked thumbnails? Apparently, yes.
By Griff Wigley, on September 1st, 2006
I installed the new Google Analytics tool here on my own site a few days ago. “Google Analytics tells you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site. “
Here’s an initial snapshot from what they call the executive summary.
It’s a free service and is not difficult to install. You do need a Gmail account.
By Griff Wigley, on August 23rd, 2006
 
I used my Olympus WS-100 Digital Voice Recorder to record yesterday’s Citizens League forum at MPR. A couple of my colleagues asked what I used (“surprisingly good audio capture from your device”) so I thought I’d blog it here… trying to practice what I preach (answer your email with your blog).
What immediately attracted me to the device was the USB connector. And just like any old flash/jump/thumb drive, it can be used to store any files on it. What keeps me liking is its ease-of-use and quality audio. I paid $99 for it at my Northfield area Radio Shack store.
Click the photos to enlarge. I thought I’d do my Ferris Bueller singing ‘Twist and Shout’ imitation since I had the shirt on. Be thankful there’s no audioblog of it forthcoming.
By Griff Wigley, on July 19th, 2006
Last week, I posted an entry here titled Using email lists for weblog notification like I knew what I was talking about. For those of you who got my email notification via the Zoodoka service, you probably noticed a small problem: it didn’t work.
I should have taken more time to test it out over a week or more, which I’ve now started doing. I still don’t know whether the problem was my lack of understanding or a glitch with their service. Regardless, my apologies.
I’m back to using Dada Mail (formerly known as Mojo Mail) for the emailing of weblog headlines once a month or so until I’m more sure that a switchover will work.
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