How we did it: Moving The Miami Hurricane from College Publisher to WordPress
This post also appears on the Innovation in College Media blog.
The question we’ve heard most often since launching the new TheMiamiHurricane.com is, “How did you do it?” Below, Webmaster Brian Schlansky offers a comprehensive explanation of the process, from setting up our own Web server to installing WordPress to importing our College Publisher archives.
For more background, check out these posts:
- VIDEO: The Miami Hurricane redesign
- The CMSes they are a-changin’
- New Miami Hurricane site begins public beta Aug. 1
- Announcing The Miami Hurricane beta site
- Recap of Miami Hurricane beta site feedback
- We have lift-off! The new Miami Hurricane site is live
Enjoy!
Greg Linch
Editor at Large for Online and Multimedia
Former Editor in Chief (fall 2007 to spring 2008)
The Miami Hurricane
To contact me, visit www.greglinch.com or e-mail greglinch[at]gmail.com.
Using Twitter to cover Hurricane football season opener
I’ll be posting updates and photos from tonight’s Miami Hurricane football season opener against Charleston Southern on the @miamihurricane Twitter account. Follow us!
We have lift-off! The new Miami Hurricane site is live
The redesigned TheMiamiHurricane.com is now live! No big surprises, if saw the beta site. Lots of big surprises if you missed the beta.
For an idea of what was going on right when we launched, check out my Twitter account late Sunday night, beginning a little before midnight: twitter.com/greglinch.
Webmaster Brian Schlansky (Twitter) has written an in-depth account of the technical side of the entire redesign process, which will be posted on the Innovation in College Media blog and republished here. I plan to introduce the post with an overview from my perspective of leading the project.
Finally, I’ve drafted a long list of people to thank, which I will post here as well. Thanks again to everyone!
Weigh in: What do you think of the new site?
Related Posts
- VIDEO: TheMiamiHurricane.com redesign
- The CMSes they are a-changin’
- New Miami Hurricane site begins public beta Aug. 1
- Announcing beta.themiamihurricane.com
- Recap of Miami Hurricane beta site feedback
TNTJ: Uncertainty is the greatest challenge facing young journalists
This post also appears at Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists, a new blogging ring for journalists under 30 started by Dave Lee. We will be discussing issues relevant to everyone in the media, particularly the younger members. Here is the first month’s topic:
The biggest challenge facing a young journalist in today’s media is…
Uncertainty.
This is a very simple answer to a very complex question. But it’s fitting because uncertainty is a common theme in many other challenges young journalists face. Uncertainty about many things:
- Am I learning the right concepts and skills in school?
- Will I find a job — let alone a good job — after graduation?
- Should I join an innovative new venture that may not pay the bills?
- Should I join an organization that may be behind the times but provides steady pay and benefits?
- How can I improve journalism?
- Should I speak up at work and risk causing trouble?
- Should I be quiet and just do my job?
- Should I go into PR?
- What kind of news do people want to read, see and hear?
- What economic models will be needed to save the different journalism industries?
- Are they all worth saving?
- What will my industry look like in five years?
- Will my industry still exist in five years?
But more important than being able to identify these uncertainties is being able to deal with them. No one has all the answers and we can’t wait for all the answers.
The old models are broken and we can’t wait for someone else to fix them for us. Of what’s broken, there are some things that can be fixed and there are some that can’t.
We need to be able to work in an uncertain world. We need to be able to find a balance in some areas while breaking ground in others.
That’s why you need to have the right mindset and be open to change. That’s why you need to be entrepreneurial and be able to adapt.
We might not be able to reinvent journalism on our own, but we sure can lead the way.
UPDATE (Aug. 21): Check out a related post by Mindy McAdams, The kids are all right.
Check out my new digs at WordPress
After more than 10 months of calling Blogger home, The Linchpen has moved to WordPress.
A screenshot of my new WordPress blog.
Oh, the freedom!
I’ve become much more familiar with WordPress since working on The Miami Hurricane’s beta site with Webmaster Brian Schlansky. My new site is hosted by WebFaction, which I selected after hearing rave reviews on Twitter (thanks to everyone who replied to my question!).
The lovely theme you see here (unless you’re using RSS; in that case, see the photo) is called WP Premium and was designed by R.Bhavesh.
In addition to the standard features, I’ve installed and activated the following plugins (though not all may be in use at the time of posting):
- AddThis Social Bookmarking Widget
- Akismet
- cforms
- GeoPress
- Google Analyticator
- Google XML Sitemaps
- Popularity Contest
- Redirection
- Search Meter
- Twitter for Wordpress
- WordPress.com Stats
- WordPress Database Backup
- WPtouch iPhone Theme
Thanks to Daniel Bachhuber for the idea to list all these on dedicated page so people can easily see what I’m using.
Well, don’t just sit there, explore the new site! If you have any suggestions or find any problems, please contact me.
