Few Things WordPress.TV is missing badly

WordPress.tv is a video site built on WordPress by Automattic and it is powered by VideoPress and its main content is a large collection of Videos from WordCamps. In Automattic accent WordPress TV is a medley, RUCKUS, joint, creation, production, contraption and brainchild of Automattic. We shall imagine if you look at WordPress TV’s DNA you’ll see each chromosome is a pure WP.

Yet such an important part of the WordPress family, which is related to & made by WordPress from the skin to the bone; is missing few things that can easily implemented in any WP site and cause a great impact.

I can say all WordPress TV videos or at least most of them are the true educational gems.

I think some of the following suggestions will dramatically increase the usability and traffic of the site and its precious content.

– First and least important thing that WordPress TV is missing is the “Favatar” or favicon.

– Social Icons; There is no link to WordPress TV social profiles, even there is no link to the feed (except a Miro Subscription Link). They have an active Twitter handle: @WordPressTV, but I don’t know why they don’t help users to keep a track of the site updates by showing a link and icon in a reachable position. Adding an RSS button to the search results can also be very useful for the users to keep track of the favorite matters.

– Widgets; There are some important widgets that using them will bring lots of useful data, hits and valuable content exposures to the users. In an ordinary practice the widgets could show most rated, most commented, most liked, most viewed posts and videos etc. Yet I need to say at the videos single-post page, there is a set of informative posts meta mentioning: name of the speaker, event, formats etc.

– At the home page there is a grid of video thumbnails titled as “popular”, but there is no archive for the popular posts/videos, and it’s not clear what is the measurement of the popularity. As far as I know and based on the different plugins that list the popular posts; there is no major agreement on the standard or measure of the popularity. Some believe the number of comments is the most important factor, some say other factors such as number of view, number of shares, rating etc. I’m very interested to know what is the factor of popularity in WordPress TV and why there is no kind of archive for the popular videos?

– The development blog has no search box.

– Lack of Video MetaData and Schema.org VideoObject tags is another important issue in WordPress TV. I realize there is no reason for not using a richer MetaData.

– No Video XML sitemap or at least I couldn’t find any Video XML sitemap again I can’t see a reason for not using video sitemaps.

– Not a clear terms of use policy. Recently because of the copyright course that I am creating, I’ve become more sensitive about the “terms of use” and copyright policy of the sites I visit. In the case of WordPress in general we all know the philosophy behind WordPress ( refer to “Our Bill of Rights” here). There is anyhow a very short description related to the “terms of use” in “Video Submission Guidelines” ( refer to “About the Videos We Publish” here) but it’s not easily reachable and does not address the “terms of use” for the viewers.

The WordPress.org “Bill of Rights” has been written with a focus on software as the subject of copyright, and I’m aware that GPL can also be applicable for content but  What we need in WordPress.tv a straightforward clarification about “terms of use” with a focus of the content (videos). It can be a Creative Common license type or a note similar to the TED that uses Creative Commons license “Attribution – NonCommercial – NonDerivative” for the TED Talks.

What Concerns me most, is to find out if the commercial use of the content ( videos) at the WordPress TV is allowed or not? In one case, I’ve seen Video tutorials from WordPress YouTube channel are sold as a WordPress online course, and I doubt if the seller has obtained permission from the “WordPress Foundation” or Automattic. It’s very helpful to the users and the whole WordPress community if we access to the clarified “terms of use”.

–  Authorship; As I mentioned above name of the speaker of each video is mentioned at the post, and it could be much better if there was a page or section of the site presenting the full list of all the speakers.

But posts don’t show any “Author Meta” and with all the recent spotlights on authorship, rel=”author” and Google authorship. I think it would be great if the decision makers at WordPress TV adopt a better practice for the authorship of the posts and videos.There are two suggestion on my mind: 1. The speaker of each video would be defined as the author through the post meta. 2. Allowing membership registration along with the “Video Submission form” so the people who submit the videos become member and optionally can decide to be the post author or not.

As the last and most fundamental change; I would like to suggest upgrading WordPress TV to a BuddyPress install, it resolves many issues for user interaction, and it creates a much more enhanced environment for users that encourages them to submit more content along with other social features.

My suggestions might seem too demanding to some of the readers, But the greatness of WordPress, its enhanced features and the talented community is what raises our expectations. For example when it comes to SEO related issues such as metadata WordPress and its free plugins offer most advanced features, possible; some of the features even far ahead of the time! I mean for example, developers try to forecast what Google will do with the “authorship” in next five years and how it will concerns the SEO than they include the features in their plugins now. Being influenced with such a talented community is what concerns me to share my thoughts.

I truly appreciate the feedbacks. Thanks for reading this post.

With WordPress We fall in Love

 

Clipular; the best Screen Capture App you’ll find Free

I’ve been using almost any screen capture tool you can name, For me screen capturing whether still images, screen shots or screen video recorders are the things I can’t live without.

My top choices have always been Snagit for capturing and editing screen images, and Catmasia Studio for recording and editing the screen videos and tutorials.

Both Snagit and Catmasia Studio are developed by TechSmith and both are carrying the highest price tag among all the similar tools. On my view, in fact there is nothing close to them when it comes to usability and reliability. But still, it’s not reasonable for most of the users to pay 50$ per year for a still image,  screen capture tool or 300$ per year for a video capture tool.

Even though I tried all the available tools, I’m not satisfied with any of them in a way to mention them here, but few days back I discovered “Clipular” a Google Chrome Add-on that’s been launched only a few month back.

Clipular is really cool, easy to use, solid, neat and FREE.

It lets you quickly and accurately select and capture any webpage via the Google Chrome.

You can organize and share or save your captures in a very smart and access-able way. You can also edit your captures using great Aviary toolkit from within the Clipular.

When we only consider capturing Clipular is even better than the SnagIt, Not to forget SnagIt is a Windows(or Mac) application and naturally it is usable in all the windows, browsers and many desktop native apps, but Clipular currently is usable only on Google Chrome. SnagIt offers much more options and features for editing the images.

Discover the Clipular  hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

TED Books App; Introduction video

TED Books Launches Reading App On iPad Featuring Multimedia Extras

TED Books App Introduction video

MARCH 12: WORLD DAY AGAINST CYBER CENSORSHIP 2013

“A free and open world depends on a free and open Internet. Governments alone, working behind closed doors, should not direct its future. The billions of people around the globe who use the Internet should have a voice.” (source: Take Action)

Since 2008, March 12 is: World Day Against Cyber Censorship upon the innovative announcement by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International.

Today a free web faces two major challenges:

1- The governments around the world who block or limit access of their nations to any unfavorable online source, this type of censorship is widely recognized and every year different reports being published by freedom activists  to highlight latest updates on internet censorship around globe. Here please find: “Internet Enemies Report 2012”. 

According to Reporters Without Borders: SPECIAL REPORT ON INTERNET SURVEILLANCE, FOCUSING ON 5 GOVERNMENTS AND 5 COMPANIES “ENEMIES OF THE INTERNET”

2013 Enemies of the Internet (countries):

• Bahrain

• China

• Iran

• Syria

• Vietna

2- Changing the way of governing the internet administration is another risk being initiated by United Nations (UN) through the International Telecommunication Union(ITU).

We are hearing more and more reports, saying that the UN is proposing a massive takeover of the Internet through the ITU (The International Telecommunication Union). Essentially, the ITU is hoping to regulate Internet international commerce and even threaten free speech. The Google ‘Take Action’ page explains:

Some proposals could permit governments to censor legitimate speech — or even allow them to cut off Internet access.

Other proposals would require services like YouTube, Facebook, and Skype to pay new tolls in order to reach people across borders. This could limit access to information — particularly in emerging markets.

Imagine trying to contact your mother in France, or your brother in Afghanistan …but you have to pay obscene ITU fees, because your Skype session is going across borders. Your fees will be padding the pockets of corrupt, third world dictators.

Essentially, the Google webpage states that there is a general growing trend for dictatorial control over the Internet. The statistics are quite alarming.

There is a growing backlash on Internet freedom. Forty-two countries filter and censor content. In just the last two years, governments have enacted 19 new laws threatening online free expression.

“Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever.

Noam Chomsky”

Space shuttle Endeavour’s trek across L.A. [Official]

NASA – Space shuttle Endeavour’s trek across L.A. [Official] by L.A. Times