John’s Tips, Tricks & Thoughts—August

This month I have been a bit less prolific than last, but still some 20 posts on a wide range of subjects, including:

• Rigging and tuning
• Gear we’re testing
• New NMEA lithium battery standard

I have also been working behind the scenes moving this new short-form content onto this website, rather than using Twitter.

Benefits of the change:

• Members can add their wisdom, or ask a question, on each entry (rather than at the bottom of the post feed), a much needed improvement.
• Posts are also now classified by topic, so you can click a button just above each one to see others on the same subject.
• We will be able to add an automatically updating chapter to each Online Book showing the Tips, Tricks & Thoughts that apply to it.
• Weekly email digest of Tips, Tricks & Thoughts: Members can turn it on and off at will in their email preferences and non-members will get the emails as part of our get-to-know-us offering.
• RSS feed of just Tips, Tricks & Thoughts.
• Automated posting of notices to Facebook and Twitter every time I post a Tip, Trick or Thought¹.

In summary, I’m happy that, after several years of trying different options and then finding them wanting, we have finally solved the problem of how to get useful odds and ends out to you members, without junking up the Online Books and in-depth articles, or flooding your email, and with a way for you to add your wisdom in the comments.

The only remaining issue is whether or not this feed should remain free or be moved behind the members-only paywall. To make that decision, we need to wait a while and then analyze sign-up data to see if keeping the feed free results in more new members or not.

Comments

As always, if you have suggestions for further improvements, please leave a comment to this article. Comments to the entries can now be left on each one.