20 April 2008

Spring is officially here - at least at our house. I know because:

1. I was outside
2. I raked around the house to get the left over leaves cleaned up
3. I picked up all the fallen twigs and branches from this winter
4. I mowed the lawn for the first time this year
5. I took the cover off the air conditioner (even though Tammy won't allow it to be turned on until July - just joking)
6. We played soccer and baseball on the front lawn
7. The kids wanted me to set up the sprinkler so they could run through it (didn't happen...)
8. Every window in our house was open
9. When the pizza stone in the oven set off our smoke alarms we simply opened every door in the house too
10. I started to sweat if I moved too fast...

All in all it was a great day. It is good to see the sun again and be able to do some work around the yard.

Bringing It Back to the Web
A few days ago Jeanna (Web Services Coordinator and HUGE asset to the team) must have been in the same frame of mind. She has been doing 'spring cleaning' on our website.

Based on some of these things, here is my short list of recommended projects if you're in the mood to do some cleaning this spring:

1. Admin Console: If you have an administration panel or console, now is a good time to look through and clean up your data (we refer to our data as 'stories' or 'media elements' depending where we're at in the console). If you use an html editor like Dreamweaver to manage your site it might be a good time to look through your files and folders. Weed out the old stuff and decrease the clutter. Remember to do this on your local machine AND the remote server.
2. Local Folders: If you store files, graphics, pictures, flash elements, etc. on your local machine or on a server, now is a good time to look through this stuff. Can it be deleted? If not, is there a way to organize it so it's easy to archive? Clump like data into folders (maybe based on a message series, or perhaps by date) and begin archiving these to DVD. I like external hard drives, but they can crash. A DVD or putting it on a server that is backed up are your best bets.
3. The Website: I'm not going to tell you to make major design decision for your site just because it's spring. However, now might be a good time to look through your site and see what can be freshened up. Even adding some new stock photography, or redoing some graphics goes a long way.
4. Large Media: This is VERY important. Every once and a while you need to look through large media files (typically audio, video or flash files) to make sure they aren't just sitting there taking up space. On your website, you may be getting close to your total storage capacity. If you use a streaming service for your video, these files may keep you from uploading new stuff or cause your monthly cost to jump if you're over the storage offered in your plan.
5. Your Space: I'm not joking. Clean your office, cubical or whatever you call home. Move your stapler to the other side of your phone. Switch the location of your Sharpies. Or get crazy and move your computer from one side of the desk to the other.

Gotta love spring!