Brad Sumner

Search has been added to ActiveKix

Brad Sumner — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:24:26 GMT

A new Lucene.net powered search feature has been added to ActiveKix with revision 572 of DotNetKicks. You can search all stories or check 'Only My Kicked Stories' to search just the stories you have kicked.

The free text search includes query operators as well. Some examples of queries that can be used:

olympic trials

"olympic trials"

description: olympic trials

title: olympic trials

Swimming has been added to ActiveKix.com

Brad Sumner — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:10:35 GMT

I have added Swimming as a category after a suggestion from Blaine from Run To Win. Swimming seems like a natural fit considering we already have a Triathlon category and the sport fits nicely with the general theme of the site.

ActiveKix is currently running on a beta build of revision 559 of DotNetKicks so the site is evolving quickly with many improvements to existing functions as well as the addition of new features. With the more recent builds there is a move away from the use of categories and towards the use of a tag based structure for the categorization of content. I'm hoping this will allow for a hierarchical structure in the future that will allow for the sub categorization of links (an example would be Running at the top level with Cross Country and Marathons beneath). You'll notice that each time a link is submitted a tag is attached based on the selected category so selecting 'Running' will attach a 'Running' tag to the link. You can still custom tag links so they can be easily accessed from the tag cloud page or on the right side of most pages.

Please contact me if you have any category suggestions or feedback regarding ActiveKix.

ActiveKix fired me

Brad Sumner — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:42:18 GMT

If anyone received the above error message when attempting to register over the past week your account was not created due to a site update and an error in logging the action to Kick Spy, a feature that lets you view near real time kicks and new link posts. Unfortunately, I didn't have the error alert configured correctly after the update so a notification was not sent and since there is nobody else to fire I was fired by my site.

The good news is since there is nobody else running the site I was hired back at a much lower wage:) I apologize for anyone who tried to register during this period.

Brad

ActiveKix.com has been updated!

Brad Sumner — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:07:44 GMT

This build includes a 'Get Kick It Image' feature that allows you to display 'Kick It' image counters on your blog or web site as well as some enhancements to the Profile section. There are additional features including 'Widgets' that are under development by the DotNetKicks team but are still in an alpha stage. The widgets will give blog and web site owners the ability to display ActiveKix links on their site.

The 'Get Kick It Image' script allows you to customize the look of 'Kick It' image buttons that can be pasted into your blog or web site. The customizable script is now available on the link details page as well as the confirmation page that follows a link submit. The dynamic image displays the number of 'Kicks' your link has received and the image links back to the link details page where people can 'Kick' the link to help promote it to the Top Stories page.

This update also includes some changes and additions to the Profile page. You can now change your email address and password from the profile page as well as list your web site, blog and rss feed urls.

ActiveKix has been updated to build 464

Brad Sumner — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:08:46 GMT

Gavin Joyce and the rest of the developers of DotNetKicks have been doing a great job of cranking out the updates to the DNK framework. Some cool community oriented features include Friends with/by, KickSpy (a way to view near real time kicks/new articles/new members on the site) and some JSON services to help create gadgets for sites that want to host news links from sites running DNK. Contact me if you would like ActiveKix news on your site.

This release also includes a way to customize the 'kick' image counter that you can include on your blog after you submit a link.

Technorati Profile

LetsRun.com Home Page - '2:04:26!!!'

Brad Sumner — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:24:55 GMT

This was all that was on the home page of LetsRun.com this morning.

There was no other text or images - just a very large link to the main page with Haile Gebrselassie's time from the Berlin Marathon. Somehow LetsRun was able to signify the importance of this time better than the simple 'News Flash' from IAAF or the standard article from the Telegraph.

Very nice!

ActiveKix.com Update

Brad Sumner — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:02:56 GMT

ActiveKix has been updated to DotNetKicks Build 404 which includes some enhancements to the community aspect of the site. Gavin Joyce and James Welch have been doing a tremendous job rolling out the new features almost daily.

The main feature added is Kick Spy which provides an almost real time view of the activities on the site including new link posts, kicked posts, tagged posts and new member registrations. A "Shout Box" feature has been added which allows for comments on the Kick Spy page as well as the member profile page.

Challenge Four Adventure Race

Brad Sumner — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:39:26 GMT

Tosha has posted some pictures from the Challenge Four adventure race this past weekend. I swear Toby and I aren't holding hands in this picture.

Video from the Outer Banks - 2007

Brad Sumner — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:05:10 GMT

Our trip to the Outer Banks included visits to the Currituck Lighthouse, Hatteras Lighthouse and Ocracoke.

Sports Nutrition Added to ActiveKix.com

Brad Sumner — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:46:02 GMT

ActiveKix.com has been updated to include a Sports Nutrition category. This should complement the other categories well and keep with the basic theme of news for endurance sports.

An Invite Friends link has been added as well that will allow you to invite friends to join ActiveKix.com. The site is still running on Beta 1 of DotnetKicks with a few things added.