Two of the slickest aspects of using the P2 theme are 1) it gives me the option to write simple posts directly from the homepage (twitter-style) and 2) it updates comments and posts without any need to “reload” the page. To give you an idea of how cool this is, while I was writing my last post, two new comments were being left on the previous post and I got to see the comments in real time as they were being made… It’s pretty slick technology for a wordpress blog… and I’m totally lov’n it!
I spent the evening playing with this site… and I’m finally at a spot where I feel like I can take a break. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for the night. 
The inspiration for changing things up was pretty simple. I really wanted to play with the power of the P2 theme in terms of real-time updates. In order to really take advantage of the way this theme treats comments, I’m positive I’ll also need to start blogging a bit more, which is a darn good incentive…
I also had some specific functionality I wanted with my P2 install… I wanted a WP plugin that 1) authenticates using either Twitter or FB & 2) allows sending of comments to either Twitter or FB.
My main problem is that the few plugins that could do such a thing (like IntenseDebate) came with their own set of baggage or simply didn’t work within the P2 theme (which I’m extremely fond of playing with!)
The end result was that I installed two plugins that appear to play “well enough” together. The first was Twit Connect and the second was Sociable’s Facebook Connect Plugin.
This way, users *can* use either service to “login” before leaving a comment (as well as no service at all!). And while I never could get the “send to twitter” option from Twit Connect working, you’all will be able to send your comments to Facebook should you choose to.
Anyway, there’s lots more I could talk about… including why I’m so fond of the P2 theme… but I’m going to leave this post somewhat simple… and leave my P2 thoughts until I’ve played around a bit more. If you have any thoughts on the changes (or just want to see how the comments update on-screen in real-time), feel free to leave a comment!
Inspired by my desire to redo the RCG theme, I recently gave 4realz.net a makeover… If you want to see what I did and why, check out my post on Rain City Guide:
And no doubt about it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the redesign!
Hey Dustin…lookin’ good! I agree with your wife. The new design is easier on the eyes, has a little more white sapce, and makes it easier to find things.
I’d be curious to see how your Facebook Connect panel would do on a different page. While fewer people would see it, perhaps they would have enough reason by then to feel compelled. Just a thought. It seems the “Recent Comments” is of more interest, at first. I think you suggested you might make that change. Could be interesting!
The new colors are a little colder, but look serious and official.
Looks good!
Tony Fantis
Saltyhomes.com
Salt Lake City, Utah
Only cuz you asked (sorta), here are my thoughts on the redesign:
I think I liked the old header better. But the navigation bar on this one is totally awesome and functional.
I like the “Recent Comments” displayed on the right sidebar.
I totally like the threaded comments feature!
Anyway, just a few things I took notice on and thought I’d share… All in all, great redesign!
threaded comments are fun, huh? 
Thanks for the feedback!
Love it. Like a well staged home, you get a sense of spaciousness.
You rock! Really liking the closing by the way. It’s become a great place to head when I’m looking for some interesting real estate news…
Dustin, it really looks great!!! Good job with the new look
Thanks! The feedback has been pretty good so far, so I’m thinking it’s a good change so far!
Congratulations on the website redesign. It looks much easier to scan key content and pleasant to the eye. Another good move. Kudos Dustin!
I was putting together a new blog for a client this past week (it’s not launched yet, so I can’t send you a link) and was inspired to use a new theme for 4realz.net.
There’s more than a few things that I like about this new theme, but some of the big improvements are:
So far, the only problem I’ve noticed with this theme is that it’s doing something really quirkly with smiley faces in comments, so if you’re going to leave a comment, don’t use a smiley face (fixed!).
UPDATE:
Kinda random, but looks like Kris just update her theme as well… and was also inspired by Jay.
Man, I’m just dying to use a smiley in this comment…..
Looks *very* nice!
Good luck with the ads. I took me a long time to pull that trigger, but I’m glad I did (and the advertisers on my blog are saying they are glad I did too….)
I noticed that the button to add a Seesmic comment and the comment subscribe check box are WAY down the page and likely to be missed (but yeah for comment subscribe!).
Noticed my Gravatar didn’t show up. But that’s my fault for typo’ing my own email address…
Ohhh… good call about the seesmic plugin. That’s odd and must be due so a misplaced div in the code. More work ahead!
(and no, even I couldn’t resist the smiley face!)
Great new look, I think new visitors will jump right in, subscribers might wonder what happened to the old site. Great seeing on other networks.
The new theme looks fantastic. I’m in the process of trying to break redo my site, and it’s no easy task.
Well done.
Looks good. Now check out this plug in. It allows you to put your pages in any order you want. I use it on client sites myself.
Love the new look, Dustin.
Dustin – Nice work! One question, did Jay have to pay to get his picture on your banner? (Two smileys just because I am a rebel.)
P.S. The logo rocks.
Dustin, great job on the new look. How much for a pic on the top banner? (kidding)
So glad the response has been pretty positive so far. And Kris, Ardell was featured twice in the banner. You can be sure that really cost her.
Looking snazzy… nice touch adding the photos in your header.
“and was also inspired by Jay. ”
Well heck, someone oughta nominat that guy for Inmans Most Influential Blogger List…
Dustin
Any way you could work in the original “classic” 4realz banner into the design?
I like the new look.
Looking sharp. I love the clean, sharp look.
Nice new look. Congrats Dustin.
-rsh
This is what you were talking about… Anyway, well good goin’ with the new look!
I hate it. Looks like crap.
Ok, not really, but I thought someone should say something different. 
Hey, my gravatar didn’t work. Hmmm. . .
okay, it should work now. (I hope)
Dustin, love the new crisp look! The blues are working for me. The banner gives it life!
Nice, i like. I actually just redesigned my blog theme 3 days ago. Working out the kinks. But I am happy. Need to get my Bloglist together. 4realz is going up first.
Andrew: Very cool site. I was looking at doing a magazine style theme as well, but decided to stick with a more traditional blog for the time being. I’m guess I’m a bit too old school to make the leap.
The beach shot makes it look “4realz”
I never took to the clay figures. Would like to see the beach shot somewhere in the design
I’d love to have this blog layout match my style a little better… Any advice would be appreciated.
Update: Just noticed that the simple Bloglines layout is exactly what I want on 4 Realz. I’ll keep the colors/formats of the Neat theme, but I really only need the limited amount of functionality of Bloglines.
Geordie Romer 8:41 am on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
Bold choice of themes Dustin. It has a very Twitterish feel about it. I wonder if 2010 will feel more like this as opposed to 2009 which surely was the year of Thesis.
Dustin 11:15 am on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
Ridiculously great observation Geordie… and I agree that 2009 was the year of Thesis in terms of themes. Personally, I don’t think it’s gonna change much this year, but I’m tired of the huge SEO focus on themes… and think it’s doing more of a disservice to people these days. Most agents, you being one of the obvious exceptions, just aren’t skilled at web analytics and internet prospecting, so when they try to implement blogging strategies that are about google rankings, they set them selves up to fail.
The flip side is that the vast majority of successful agents are ridiculously great networkers. Get them in a conversation with a group of people, and they’ll find a client or a referral just about every time. I actually think my skills lean that way as well, so I’m hoping to use this platform more for conversations going forward.
One final thought… When I launched 4realz.net back in 2006, it was ALL about micro-posts (I wasn’t even adding titles to posts!), so this is really my attempt at returning to blogging basics.
Brad Nix 12:03 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
I’ve toyed with ideas for P2 for some time now. I think it could be valuable for a small brokerage like mine to get a true pulse of what the entire organization is doing. But I’ve always viewed it as a backoffice resource and a bit confusing for public facing as many consumers would be lost in the flow of conversations. I’m glad you’re testing for me
Dustin 12:38 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
Agreed abou the “pulse” nature of P2… and almost all of the implementations that get talked about are back-office in nature. Along those lines, I’m happy to be testing for you! And at least from my perspective: so far, so good!
Brad Nix 8:00 pm on February 12, 2010 Permalink
Just coming back to let you know that P2 may get you removed from Google Reader. It’s just too overwhelming via RSS. But I’ll ride it out a few more days for the spectacle
Dustin 9:59 pm on February 12, 2010 Permalink
Hey… that wouldn’t be any good. Can pretty much promise that the rate of updates over the past few days is definitely not sustainable. Just been playing a lot lately and I’m positive things will slow down soon!
Geordie Romer 12:19 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
IwillnothijackthispostIwillnothijackthispostIwillnothijackthispostIwillnothijackthispost…
However, your comment about most agents needing a “social” web strategy vs a “search” web strategy (to paraphrase) made me think.
I think that the reason agents set themselves up to fail with a “search” strategy is the same reason their business doesn’t take off in general. They have no niche and no brand. Most agents sell anywhere and to anyone.
No one is an expert in “Washington State Real Estate” or even “Seattle Real Estate”. If you want to compete for these terms you better be prepared to stay up late at night and have a big checkbook. But the point is you shouldn’t.
Focus instead on condos in Ballard or Tacoma Craftsman or Houseboats or Mercer Island retirees.
I look in my own office and ask myself… what is John’s brand? What does Mary specialize in? The few REO experts stand out, but the for the most part they are all generalists fighting for a peice of the same pie.
I guess if you don’t have a business plan or strategy (or maybe you just have a huge list of past customers) the social strategy is best. I just wouldn’t recommend it for longterm success or growth.
Dustin 12:57 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink |
I definitely see where you’re going, but it’s not only the failing agents that don’t generate business from analytics/SEO-style blogging. The vast majority of agents I meet that have a decent business don’t necessarily feel like they have the skills to pull off the niche search strategy you describe.
Seeing as how you were one of the first real estate bloggers around, I feel like it’s safe to say that many of the technology skills come natural to you, so you may be overlooking just how much there is to learn. But between using the blogging tools, figuring out what to write, setting the time aside to write the content, learning how to promote the content, using the analytics tools to iterate/improve content creation, and figuring out how to optimize your traffic purchases, there really is a lot there. My guess is that it took you all of a few hours to get “good enough” at these various skills and start seeing results, but I can guarantee that’s not the case with most professionals (both inside and outside the real estate space).
Geordie Romer 4:16 pm on February 12, 2010 Permalink
Here’s a funny tidbit. Guess what I did before I was a blogging real estate agent. Tech? Marketing? Nope.
I was a backcountry ranger with the National Park Service. I lived in a tent all summer and most of my technology experience was with a solar powered battery charger.
Dustin 4:22 pm on February 12, 2010 Permalink
Love it Geordie! Obviously, the technology parts just aren’t that hard… My experience is that most folks simply don’t give themselves enough time to play… And play is so darn important because almost no successful marketing strategy works the way it is initially envisioned. You’ve got to play a bit, iterate and improve things.
I think that most people are just a bit too scared to break things… and while breaking a website or tool is no fun, it’s hard to do too much damage to most online tools/websites!