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Doodlekit will be rolling out a new free website builder release first quarter of 2013. Be prepared for some major upgrades to our tools and system :). We have been working on this for almost 3 years now - we are long past due rolling this out. The upgrades are so significant, that it is pretty much a complete rewrite of the old Doodlekit system. Everything is newer, better, and stronger.
Some of the more advanced features you will find with the new release include (but are not limited to):
- New Header Banner/Logo slideshow creation tools
- Multiple interchangeable layouts within the templates
- Template Library
- Template Creation/Editing Tools
- Template Wizard For Creating Your Own Templates From Scratch
- Template Sharing And Exporting
- Powerful New SEO Tools
- Hundreds Of Fonts To Pick From
- Integrated Icon Library To Use With Your Templates
- Advanced Border Effect Designs
- Powerful Blogging Tools
- New Social Media Tools
- And Much More....
This release represents a significant jump in our system. The new release will literally be 100x more powerful and advanced than the current system. I cannot wait to roll it out! I hope everyone else will be as excited as I am about it and love it as much as I do.
Doodlebit will soon be rolling out a new online website tool called Site Ballot. It will be a website review service that will allow people to submit their websites for review by the general public. People will provide us with general descriptions of their website, the URL, some keywords describing it, and any related social media links to the website. This information will then be reviewed by us manually to ensure no spam or illegal content is being submitted.
If approved the website will then be posted for review by others. Review tools we be created to allow people to submit their review of the website's design, content quality, overall ease of use, etc. This tool was initially going to be for use by Doodlekit customers only, but we saw no reason why not to open it up to the general public.
Stay tuned for more updates - we will post progress on the sites release as well as its roll out date when we finally decide to release it.
You understand you need to own, have a license to use, or permission to display the images on your website. Otherwise, you could be infringing on Website Copyright Laws. If you took the pictures or created the graphics yourself, and you are a sole proprietor, no problem. If you have a written license agreement to use the images on your site, no problem. If you have written permission from the owner to use the photos on your home page, again no problem. However, what do you do in the case where your employee or an independent contractor takes photos you intend to place with a number of your blog entries? This is where it gets sticky. Not necessarily with your full time employees - usually the ones working full time, they get benefits, you take taxes out of their paychecks and so forth. Generally, these employees are creating works for hire on your behalf and even though they created the Copyrighted work, they are not the owners. You and your company are. However, there is a problem. Courts are always trying to define who is and who isn't an employee, so long story short they can sometimes fall into the category of independent contractor, and an independent contractor's work is not always a work for hire, even if you say so in writing. Let me repeat. Sometimes images created by independent contractors for you, even if you have a written agreement stating they are for hire, are still not works for hire. Period. Don't ask, but it has to do with an independent contractor's work having to fall within one of the 9 exceptions listed in Section 101 of the Copyright Act, plus being subject to a written agreement saying it is a work for hire, else you don't own it. At best you have an implied license to use. And the courts are always arguing over what does and doesn't fit within the 9 exceptions.
So, what do you do? Make all independent contractors, employee or otherwise, sign agreements assigning all of their rights, titles, interests, and ownership to the Copyrighted work they touch to you or your business before they begin performing any work. Be sure to state what they are being paid in consideration for this assignment.
It's a new year with new opportunities and there is no better opportunity to increase traffic to your business website than through blogging. Read about how you can increase sales and marketing for your business by posting quality blog posts regularly. Follow the laid out plan of one of our B2B marketing specialist and learn how you can win a profile post about your business on their website, giving your business even greater exposer!
We pushed out a new ad website today that shows how Doodlekit can be used as an election website / political campaign website builder. Check it out if you get the chance!
Doodlekit's new website editor is out. Check out the their latest blog post showing details of what it looks like!
We have come a long way with Doodlekit. Over the last 5 years Ben and I have produced and deployed countless revisions of Doodlekit. Not just to our tools, but also to our website and logo. After looking through some old files, we thought it would be neat to post some old screenshots of past layouts, web pages and news articles to help reminisce about the good old days :). Check out this blog post for more information: Doodlekit Evolution - A Trip Down Memory Lane.Among our many upgrades in December are the new Image Management Tools. We've made it even easier to create albums and upload images.
Some of the new features include...
- New Backend Image Library with Image Editing Tools
- Crop, Rotate, Convert to Black & White
- Thumbnail Cropper
- New Album Viewer
- Insert an Album into any Page.
If you haven't made the move yet, you're falling behind fast. Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are growing rapidly - and this is just the beginning. If you own your own business, you have to get on board - now.How does it all work? What do I do? How do I get started?
Before you run out, sign up and start friending/following every person you can, you should understand how these social networking tools really work. The objective (contrary to popular belief) is not to run out and get as many followers & friends as possible.
But isn't that what everyone else is doing? Yes - and they are wrong. Here's why: Creating huge lists of followers and friends with strangers that only follow/friend you back as a courtesy because you did it to them (or vise versa) is a waste of time. You will end up following thousands of people who in turn are also following thousands of people.
The result?
Lots of spam that nobody is listening to. A wast of time and resources. A huge network of people talking - but nobody is listening.
What's the point? I would rather have 20 followers that are actually interested in my tweets than thousands of followers who are not listening.
Check out Doodlekit's latest blog post about Using Twitter for Me, Not for You for more information.
