User talk:OmniMediaGroup

Karen, Greg mentioned that you may be interested in some other MediaWiki extensions. Feel free to forward any recommendations/suggestions you may have.

What I'm particularly interested in is adding both Craigslist type classified advertising & eBay like auction marketing to Directory listings, along with the youTube extension.

You probably know where we're going with this - if you come across anything, could you let me know? Otherwise, I may have to cobble something together myself from scratch. Centiare 13:41, 11 December 2006 (PST)

Subsidiary listings

Karen, I've been talking to Greg about an easy way for you to create separate listings for your various blog properties, and then summarizing them at your primary Directory listing. You can see an example schedule at MyWikiBiz. We can go over a slightly more automated approach if you're interested. Centiare 13:38, 19 December 2006 (PST)

ASK

Example of others that have listed OMG as a friend:

<ask> OmniMediaGroup </ask>

This is exactly how one would create a query to list all subsidiaries of a given company, properties/websites/blogs controlled by an individual, papers/presentations given by an academic, etc.

Family on Centiare

Based on a conversation I had with Dad this morning, I think we're mere hours away from him opening an account on Centiare. Pretty amazing when a new Internet space utilizing the cutting edge in semantic technology can draw in a 73-year-old man whose most recent programming tasks were probably in COBOL. --Gkohs 08:58, 30 December 2006 (PST)

Semantic tags

Considering the (apparent) positive impact on Google SEO, I would recommend that you build into your various directory pages:

Intra-Centiare wiki-links
Semantic tags (even the State of Georgia "belongs" to Country:USA, you know?)

Keep having fun, OMG. --MyWikiBiz 09:52, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Karen, I went ahead and created the following four relations for the state listings. You can link through to each one, as well as the relation definition itself, which has a summary ASK query:

I've updated your North Carolina listing for these 4 tags. I also created Attribute:Year Admitted as a replacement for Year Started. If you want, I can create four more attributes along the lines of city of, has city, has county, & county member of. Let me know. Centiare 12:26, 12 January 2007 (PST)

I went ahead and created Relation:County Of, Relation:Has County, Relation:City Of & Relation:Has City. Note that cities only have to be listed under counties - an ASK query at the state level will list counties & their respective cities. See Directory:California for an example. Centiare 13:57, 12 January 2007 (PST)

Thanks for all the new Attributes and Relations. The ASK query at state level is pretty slick!--OmniMediaGroup 14:05, 12 January 2007 (PST)

Attributes & Relations

Karen, I'm in the process of writing up guidelines for creating custom attributes & relations. Since I haven't completed it yet, I'll step in here real quick to provide a brief overview.

One thing I'm going to emphasize is the decision one must make between creating an attribute or relation for non-numeric values. That is, the logic is pretty clear about creating attributes for values like population, revenues, etc.

Where it can get a little fuzzy is if the value could be a relation (ie target page in which to create a relationship between articles). In this case, you can still choose to use an attribute, like CEO for a job title, BA for degree, etc, rather than a relation to main space articles that define/explain the meaning of those terms.

In the case of recipe_name, you start moving down the path closer to creating a relationship, especially if you anticipate creating stand-alone recipe pages in the future. Situations where relationships already work really well can be seen with the city->county->state->country roll-ups, etc.

Finally, there's the issue of ordinal identification ie situations where there may be multiple values OR associations between values, such as degree(s)<->year(s). Right now, relationships don't handle either very well (typically, they need an additional category identifier), but attributes are just the ticket. So even if something was logically a relationship, if you're going to have a complex data set, you may decide to use attributes instead. Centiare 09:11, 13 January 2007 (PST)

Main Space Articles

Karen, if you label an article 'recipe:apple pie', you're creating a Main space entry. That is, since there isn't a namespace 'recipe', the entry goes into the main space - the colon just happens to be part of the title.

Now, this isn't to say one can't use titles with colons in the Main space, nor is it saying that recipes don't belong in the Main space. It's just that anything in the mainspace needs to conform to NPOV + they can't be linked back to commercial directory listings unless they are approved by the Centiare:ERB.

What you may consider doing is creating a directory entry as a collection point for your recipes, then create them as subpages, along with relationships between each recipe and the page to which they relate. (Greg, do you want to take care of deleting/moving these entries?) Centiare 09:32, 13 January 2007 (PST)

OK, I created Relation:Recipe Of & Relation:Has Recipe. All you have to do is create a collection point, then list each individual recipe with the 'Has Recipe' tag. Likewise, you can use the tag 'Recipe Of' within each individual recipe to associate it with its collection point.

When in doubt, the Berlin<->Germany example is perfect for clarifying relationships: Capital Of and Has Capital. Almost all relationships can be structured in this type of subsidiary<->parent framework; that means all one has to do is think through which is which. I do it all the time - I write down Berlin-Germany on a piece of paper and then sketch out how new situations fit to this model. Centiare 09:47, 13 January 2007 (PST)

Relational Tags

Please see water cooler - news for info on the gov't rollup tags. I can help you follow the California example with the other 49 states if need be. Snerfling 12:38, 19 January 2007 (PST)

SubPages

OMG, your listings look great. At some point, you might want to consider creating add'l subpages to act like books/chapters. That way, you could organize the different recipe types & use the front page as a top-level lead-in/index.

What's really nice about ASK, as you've seen so far with your main listings, is that the recipes don't need to reside in any specific directories in order to pull them up into a summary report. That's the real essence of a flat structure - one that will come into play with the government roll-ups, as well as other large scale organizational projects. Snerfling 16:34, 20 January 2007 (PST)

Sounds like you know my plan!! Working on the back end first and moving towards the front page. I may even venture into other areas of the Kitchen; remodeling, small appliances...--OmniMediaGroup 16:43, 20 January 2007 (PST)

When everything is said & done, the true nature of the power of A/C/R (attribute/category/relation) chains is going to blow people away. In effect, semantics create a full blown relational DB structure - at the user level in the form of a wiki! Think that one through - not only can one store/report(ASK) records & fields, you can do it on-the-fly wiki style. Trippy. Snerfling 06:20, 21 January 2007 (PST)

New Look

Hey, I sort of like your new look at LinkExperts. Sorry about the edit - thought I was helping out on the infobox. Do you prefer this style or the old stand-bye? Snerfling 11:22, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Just trying to mix it up a bit, creating some listing identities. If there's anyone browsing through "Random articles", don't want them to be bored. (Or me!)--OmniMediaGroup 12:11, 26 January 2007 (PST)

Main Space Marketing

I'm curious to see if you want to create any Main space entries and then provide Centiare:Aficionados tags back to your Directory listings. I think this could prove to be a real advantage - if you know what I mean. You can see an example here with Resource Description Framework. Snerfling 09:03, 5 February 2007 (PST)

I'm here for the long haul with many ideas bouncing around in my head, main space included! My recipe list is long and I want to keep at it until I absolutely can't stand the tediousness. --OmniMediaGroup 09:14, 5 February 2007 (PST)

Embed

The way <embed>...</embed> currently works, you need to include the entire web address between the tags. That is, for either Google/Widget extensions, configure the gadget you want at their site, then copy over the entire address string.

If the one you're working on right now (statcounter) doesn't work that way, I can look into creating another custom extension like <adsense> that takes a list of parameters. Snerfling 08:48, 7 February 2007 (PST)

StatCounter is working fine with the <embed>...</embed> as is. It is a <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> which provides reports similar to Google Analytics. Does this mean all scripts of this type will work with <embed>...</embed>? --OmniMediaGroup 09:17, 7 February 2007 (PST)

Yeah, it's a generic script enabler. That's why you have to include the entire web address + any specific script commands. The alternative would be to create a bunch of different parser extensions for each web site. While they would be simpler to use (eg <adsense> requires only its particular parameters), it could turn out to be a management nightmare. Snerfling 10:47, 7 February 2007 (PST)

50 States

Garrett would like to modify your state listings. You can see my comments here regarding limiting our efforts to TX. Do you have a problem if we re-configure TX to develop a standard format for statewide gov't, business & NPO listings? All of your commercial links would remain until at which point TX actually takes possession. Snerfling 20:10, 7 February 2007 (PST)

It's all good with me. Edit away!--OmniMediaGroup 11:02, 8 February 2007 (PST)

You seem quite successful with your google ads on all the state pages. Could you give me some advice on how adsense functions especially the "channels" part. Garrett 18:28, 8 February 2007 (PST)

Thanx for the 'Relation:Nation Located In' updates. It's critical we standardize on 'nation located in'; Garrett is using prefecture for Japan, etc for local levels, but still using 'nation located in' for his roll-up. You can see how this will look with potentially 1,000s of geo-political relations. Snerfling 10:33, 12 February 2007 (PST)

Political Listings

Very smart - I've been discussing the possibility of approaching various political organizations & candidates with MyWikiBiz. We should consider different types of political attributes/relations like policy, platform, etc. Ultimately, the sem tags could be x-referenced to campaign finance disclosures, 3rd party evaluations (liberal/conservative), etc. Karl Nagel 15:04, 11 February 2007 (PST)

Just a little inspiratation from my favorite Sunday news shows. Hoping MyWikiBiz is still on the politico marketing trail. "x-references" to follow.--OmniMediaGroup 15:12, 11 February 2007 (PST)

Infobox Interests

I created a new interests infobox called, 'natch, Template:Infobox_Interests, to deal with longs lists of interests and/or contributions. It not only presents them in a nice, clean box, but it also reduces the point size as well. You can see it in action here. Snerfling 14:17, 13 February 2007 (PST)

Movie Tags

You and User:Garrett are both beginning to include movie information. I was waiting for this to eventually happen. Before you proceed any further, I think now is the time to huddle up and determine the correct set of tags - in effect, creating the de facto Centiare standard for movie info.

My suggestion is that we utilize the methodology used at IMDB - it seems pretty universal. Let the three of us discuss this/work out a solution over at Water Cooler.

Who wants to list out the primary tags? Shouldn't take long just evaluating the categories of any IMDB listing. Snerfling 16:52, 13 February 2007 (PST)

See my initial comments here - follow the link to the proposed list. (We can use the project talk page to discuss.) Snerfling 14:56, 14 February 2007 (PST)

OMG, we need to resolve/agree upon the Entertainment_Annotation semantic tags before you get any further. If you & Garrett are ok with the list as I've provided, then I'll go ahead and set them up. Once I'm finished with that, we need to use them consistently in all movie references. Remember, this will become a Centiare de facto standard. Snerfling 13:21, 15 February 2007 (PST)

I have over 200 interview articles that I am editing offline. I'm using an automated approach to tagging that is very flexible. If you want me to blank the 18 that are posted now on Centiare I will. Let me know. --OmniMediaGroup 13:45, 15 February 2007 (PST)

Check the most recent comments regarding Centiare:Entertainment Annotation; your project is a little different since it's really interview related. I think we have it covered if you use movie title, book title, etc as the Interview Subject. It's up to you if you want to edit the 18 on-line or move them off-line with the other 200.

All that I ask is that we're both in agreement with the final approach before it's propagated. Anything we do at this point will be become, in effect, Centiare de facto standards. It took Greg & I a couple of weeks before we were satisfied on the standard business, NPO & personal ACRs & infoboxes. This shouldn't take as long, but it is still critical to cover all our bases before continuing. Snerfling 18:00, 15 February 2007 (PST)

Medical Tags

Karen, why don't we figure out a comprehensive set of medical ACR tags while we're at it? We can use the same Water Cooler space to solve out a solution. Can you take the initiative on this? That is, take a look at Dr. Coop and/or KidsHealth to get a basic idea of how they organize their data (including x-reference components). Snerfling 17:29, 13 February 2007 (PST)

Interview Tags

Do you mind if I edit the remain 17 interviews that have 'celebrity name' to bring them into conformity with Paul Fischer/Kevin Smith "Catch & Release"? Are you happy with these 5 primary ACR tags? (That is, were there any other adds/mods you wanted?) I'd like to delete 'celebrity name' since it might lead away from use of either Person Last Name or Common Name. Snerfling 05:19, 24 February 2007 (PST)

Don't mind at all if you would like to edit the interview area. I would appreciate your help.--OmniMediaGroup 06:34, 24 February 2007 (PST)

OK, will do. Did you see this note below?

On a related note, do you mind if I delete these repeat references to person name, etc? That is, the f/m/l name is covered by the primary directory listing; the sub-pages are fine with the 'page of' reference. Snerfling 05:28, 24 February 2007 (PST)

Help with direct marketing

There's a discussion opening up, where I've solicited advice on tweaking our Spring 2007 direct marketing letter. Please join us. --MyWikiBiz 10:15, 5 March 2007 (PST)

Thanks for the heads up. If something sounds to good to be true it is - so - I'm wondering if when google ketwords says "50.00" as a cost per click for auto insurance do I get 50 bucks? Garrett 12:38, 7 March 2007 (PST)

iFrames

Is there a way to get iframes to behave like images and wrap around text? I'm experimenting with amazon associate iframes on my Andrew Lande listing but so far I can't get the asthetics anywhere near where I want them to be. Garrett 12:08, 7 April 2007 (PDT)

merci beaucoup! Garrett 19:32, 7 April 2007 (PDT)

Seth Godin

Thank you for "realigning" my imprudent link to Wikipedia's article about Seth Godin. You can never be too sure about what you read over there, in unprotected space, about legal entities. I read last night that an edit about an ex-NFL football player saying that he now had a career in pornography (untrue) stood there in the article for over a month. Meanwhile, some Green Party donor in British Columbia is suing the Wikimedia Foundation for libel. The wheels are wobbling over there, heading for the ultimate train wreck. --MyWikiBiz 09:06, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

Dynamic maps

Is there a widget or extension for them? Garrett 12:09, 30 April 2007 (PDT)

Widget/Gadget Content & SEO

Karen, I've been talking to Greg about utilizing scripts within directory listings to improve their usability, thus links & page ranks. Since you've got so many pages, I will direct this question towards you: what types of information scripts exist that you could add to improve reader interest?

Example: KJ Kitchens - what types of dining RSS feeds or widgets summarizing recent books, restaurant openings, reviews, etc can be added to these pages? How would they be integrated with the sem tags? Should maps be added to specific geo directory listings? IOW, if you can boost your Centiare page to #1, how do you do it & what is there when a reader clicks through to the listing? Snerfling 12:50, 9 May 2007 (PDT)

None of the java scripts improve SEO. They are not readable by search engines. If there is some way that you can add an RSS to PHP script to Centiare, that type of script actually embeds RSS content when rendering to html making it readable to search engines.

Another concern of mine is the meta data produced in Centiare pages. Check out the page source of any Directory page. The keyword meta data is the attribute name NOT the value of the attribute. Is this something you can control? --OmniMediaGroup 14:12, 9 May 2007 (PDT)

I should have been more clear - what types of scripts will improve content (quality, quantity & experience/usability [eg interactive calorie conversion charts, etc]) and drive increased readership, thereby increasing the # of external links, and thus page rankings? (Scripts are/can be read by search engines - they're either not included and/or assigned lower values within the search algorithms.) As an added plus, can they be added to or incorporated within sem tags?

By meta value, do you mean something like this?

Can you point out/copy the exact tag to which you are referring and what you'd like it to do/look like? Snerfling 16:07, 9 May 2007 (PDT)

These extensions would probably address some of the issues we have been discussing:

Extension:SimpleFeed

I loaded it and ran a test here, but it doesn't seem to be working; the RSS widget that Garrett suggested renders much better. Let me know if you can get it working properly and/or whether Garrett's works better either way.

I think the SimplePie library needs to be installed to get this RSS feed parser to work.

SimplePie

It will be better than the RSS Include that Garrett and I have been using because the feed content is included in the page source and the search engines see a fresh page of content every time they crawl. It will help populate empty pages with content. IF you can get it working will you set the default number of feeds to 15 instead of 5.

Extension:MetaKeywordsTag

You can see this working here.

Extension:Google_Maps

I'll try and install this one, but right now their download server is timing out.

--OmniMediaGroup 10:29, 10 May 2007 (PDT)

Ownership templates

They work really well to interlink things together. Each one of my businesses and clients have upwards of 200 links. It's time consuming to slap a template when you own so many pages but it pays off when google puts you at the top. I've created color templates

If you feel like spicing things up a bit. Garrett 15:38, 16 May 2007 (PDT)

"It's time consuming to slap a template when you own so many pages"

Remember 'The Graduate' and 'plastics'? Think bots - it's the only way we're going to add/edit content as page counts increase. Snerfling 16:08, 16 May 2007 (PDT)

Google Maps

I like the maps you've added to a few states. Here's a suggestion for you & Garrett: you might consider adding something like a "top 5" attractions list that (a) ties into the primary regional map, and (b) have their own respective listings (eg New York [or Ontario] -> Niagra Falls). Then, at each individual listing, you could add a more detailed map, a weather box, travel info, dining/lodging recommendations/blogs, photo albums, etc. all from flash/java scripts. If they don't yet exist, trust me, they will. 16:15, 16 May 2007 (PDT)

We could do all that you have suggested if you could install Google Maps API

The Google Maps API lets you embed Google Maps in web pages with JavaScript. You can add overlays to the map (including markers and polylines) and display shadowed "info windows". Google Maps API is required to run the MediaWiki Extension:Google Maps that I asked about installing about a week ago. Is this installation still in the works? I would rather wait for this option because the Aardvark Map option really has too many limitations.--OmniMediaGroup 07:30, 17 May 2007 (PDT)

Sorry for the delay - when I tried to download the file extension, their host server was timing out. Does this look ok?

<googlemap lat="32.82422" lon="48.481141"> 32.81134, 48.498341, One of many gas stations in town 32.82448, 48.504848, The town hall </googlemap>

Thanks, it looks great!--OmniMediaGroup 08:12, 17 May 2007 (PDT)

I'm getting chills. The same ones I used to get in grad school when reading excellent journal articles from the 1960's and 70's, regarding "quantitative methods in geography". This could get very, very fun for the hobbyist cartographer! --MyWikiBiz 08:54, 17 May 2007 (PDT)