Paul Chaney's (pchaney) Blog

Most blogging platforms, Active Rain's included, default to the use of what's known as a WYSIWYG posting interface. That cryptic terms stands for "What You See Is What You Get." T'ain't always true. It might be better phrased "What You See Is What You Hope To Get."  Extra Whitespace Beneath Last ...

Before launching into this explanation of RSS, let me state categorically that I am not a geek! However, I do have geekish tendencies. Often, that leads to me getting myself into trouble, which then requires the expertise of a true geek to get me out of! Let's hope that's not the case with this e...

I'm a student of web usability. Not a star student mind you. I'd probably come out with a C+ if tested on the subject. But, one thing I've believed ever since I read Jakob Neilsen's masterful Designing Web Usability is this: People don't read online, they scan. That notion is being tested by no o...

Some of the most SEO-oriented folks I know are Realtors. In fact, when we do industry conventions and conferences, an oft-asked question from those visiting our booth in the expo hall is, "Can blogging help me get better rankings in search engines?" My answer is "yes" and "no." It depends on how ...

The downloadable version of the show we just did is now available. (Click here to download.) It's in a WMA format. Plus, there is a media player below that you can click to listen if you'd prefer to consume the content in that manner. Finally, you can subscribe to the RSS feed. BTR includes seve...

UPDATE: The podcast version of the show will be available shortly. I'll get that up soon so you can download. I want to thank my partner-in-crime, Richard, for his valuable insights. He provided very informative content. Mostly, I want to thank you for listening and calling in. You made it very w...

This just announced, Zillow is rolling out new features that combine social networking and online advertising. It's called Home Q&A, and includes: Free profiles -- Anyone on Zillow - agents, homeowners, buyers, sellers, builders, landscapers, electricians, plumbers (you get the idea) - can create...

You may notice that I deleted the "Deleted Comment" post. In attempting to be instructive, I myself have learned a lesson: Look before you leap. In hindsight, I should have first emailed the commenter and inquired as to whether it was his intention to leave a spam comment and inform him of my int...

Another day, another real estate social network. First, there was Active Rain of course, then WannaNetwork, now there's Property Doctors, a site which allows you to build your online reputation by earning what they refer to as "applaud" points. The term sounds a little corny to me. Here's Inman's...

Ines and I just completed our second coaching session. In this one, we took a look under the hood of a WordPress blog at the administrative console. Ines had previously played with WordPress.com and felt frustrated by its intricacies or lack of intuitiveness. For newbies WordPress can seem a litt...