Here’s why:

Doggo demonstrates an alternative use of WordPress as a CMS using custom search functionality integrated with Google Maps to provide a unique and useful way to find somewhere to take your dog within Australia.

A big thank you to everyone who supports and uses Doggo!

If you haven’t come across the service yet, here’s how the Automattic crew describe it:

VaultPress is a subscription-based protection, security and backup service for WordPress blogs and sites. It’s built on the same Automattic grid that reliably serves over 11 million WordPress.com blogs and 250 million monthly visitors. #via

Even in beta form the service is very slick: It’s easy to install, the interface fits right in with the WordPress dashboard (to be expected) and it just works. We can’t wait to start introducing it to clients once it’s out of beta.

They’ve also bundled in a new default theme – “Twenty Ten” – that provides a solid baseline if you’re looking to get into some child theme development.

Overall it is a wonderful achievement – a big thanks and congratulations to the team at Automattic and all the contributors around the world!

For a full list of the 3.0 highlights and features head on over to the Codex. And as always – remember to do a thorough backup of your database and files before hitting that update button.

• Global undo/”trash” feature;
• Built-in image editor;
• Batch plugin update and compatibility checking;
• Easier video embeds; and
• Lots of new hooks and filters for the techies out there.

Head on over to WordPress.org to download your copy now. And remember…do a backup before upgrading!

Do you do any support for Internet Explorer 6?

When IE6 first came on the scene in in early 2001, websites were built with tables and I could bring toe-nail clippers on an airplane. Web Standards was still just a dream to many designers and Microsoft controlled much of the market share (close to 95%). Fortunately, that was almost ten years ago… and surprisingly the internet has changed. Sadly, IE6 delivers such a poor view of the internet that some foreign dictators have been known to offer prison time to anyone caught surfing with it. The latest statistics have shown that IE6 is loosely connected to permanent brain damage, global warming and the recent economic hardship that much of the global economy is experiencing. That’s why every one should upgrade to FF or IE7.

So in short. No I don’t. Sorry.

Hear, hear.

The new site features a blog, a number of RSS feeds, and YouTube video clips – which all reflect the new administration’s focus on communication, transparency and participation. The design looks great too – fresh, clean, and easy to navigate (with some nice design features, like gradient shading for backgrounds and borders). For the more geeky readers, kottke.org notes another ‘small and nerdy measure of the huge change in the executive branch of the US government’ are the changes to the whitehouse.gov robots.txt file (which tells search engines what to include and not include in their indexes).

The prompt and obvious re-design of the whitehouse.gov site is a good reminder of how important it is for your website to reflect your own values, culture and goals (not those of a competitor, previous owner or website designer). If your business or organisation has a change in leadership, direction or the products and services you offer, don’t let updating your website be something you get round to doing later, make it a key part of your communication strategy from day one.

If you are unfamiliar with Doggo, it is a directory of dog parks, beaches and dog friendly accommodation throughout Australia. What makes Doggo different from the other pet directories out there is that it uses Google Map technology to let users search for locations within a particular search radius of a given address or location. Site users can also rate the parks, beaches or accommodation and leave comments to help others select the best place to go with their doggy mates.

We currently have over 700 locations in the directory and are in the process of adding lots more – so if you have any suggestions or would like to add a location head over to the submit page.

If you’d like to support Doggo the best thing you can do is spread the word! Tell all your friends about it, link to it, blog about it. . . why you can even sing about it if you want!

Some other tid-bits about the site:

• Doggo is now built completely on WordPress , demonstrating that WordPress can be used for much more that just blogging!
• You can subscribe to the Blog Feed, Accommodation Feed and Dog Park Feed to keep up-to-date with all the latest additions to the site .
• The site is now gravatar (globally recognised avatar) enabled – so if you’d like a pretty picture to come up when you comment on the site, head on over to gravatar.com to register .

Businesses put a lot of effort and preparation into spreading Christmas cheer within their stores and around the workplace but generally not so much online. Why is that? Everyone loves Google’s holiday logos so why don’t more business do something similar?

Adding some Christmas spirit to your own site is a great way to connect with your visitors and show that your site is kept up-to-date.

We think that there needs to be more of it. So, to help you, here are a few examples of ways that you can add some joy to your own website this Christmas:

• Add some Christmas wallpaper. It doesn’t have to be over the top or tacky (in fact we advise against this). A few transparent snow flakes over an existing background or a simple pattern using the customary red, green and white will usually do.
• Add some decorations. Just like your office or home, why not add some stockings, tinsel or a Christmas tree to your website (but again, don’t go overboard). Simply modify some of your existing graphics (remembering to make a backup of the originals) and you are good to go. A great example is the Canberra Furnished Accommodation website where they have added a stylish looking Santa hat to the corner of their logo.
• Add a Christmas counter. Working so hard you are not sure how many days are left until Christmas? Or perhaps you want to give you customers a subtle reminder that there aren’t too many shopping days left? Why not add a counter to your site counting down the number of days left until Christmas? There are lots of generic timers available online if you do a quick search of Google but if your having trouble finding one, I found this one especially for Christmas which even comes as a WordPress plugin.
• Add some falling snow. If you are feeling a little bit more adventurous you can also add some falling snow to your site like that used on Ma.tt’s website. You can download the code for it here.

The new layout (which you can see at the moment) is quite a bit cleaner and has a much more professional look. It’s not quite finished yet so bare with me as I make a few more tweaks over the next few days. And as always, feedback and recommendations are welcome.