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The main issue was a problem in the table that holds the responses.  The field that stores the user answer is limited to 255 characters, but no limit is enforced on the form.  And when users are invited to submit free form comments they quickly exceed the 255 limit.  The result is that a number of the responses were cut off in the database, and some of the user response was lost.  Not the nicest thing to realize after the fact, but luckily the fix is easy.

To make the alteration change open the plugin’s surveys.php  file and find the create table section.  Right around line 101 you’ll see the code that creates the surveys_result_answer table.  Alter the ‘user_answer’ column to use the blob data type — you’ll see it is set to a text(255) type, which is too short for many users.

CREATE TABLE {$wpdb->prefix}surveys_result_answer ((
`ID` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
`result_ID` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`answer_ID` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`question_ID` int(11) unsigned NOT NULL,
`user_answer` blob NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY  (`ID`),
KEY `question_ID` (`question_ID`),
KEY `answer_ID` (`answer_ID`),
KEY `result_ID` (`result_ID`)
) ;

This small change fixes that problem.  The only other note is we used this tool on a members-only site.  I’d want to give it a thorough security check before using this on a public site.  I did note the user-text was escaped, so it looks like some protections are in place.  But these days you can never be too security conscious.

Surveys < Plugins < WordPress < Tools < Bin-Co

Surveys WordPress plugin lets you add surveys to your blog. You can let the visitors take surveys and see the result from the admin side. The user who take the survey can enter their details at the end of the survey – or leave it as an anonymous result.

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With the rapid rise of social networking, is the web really this simple?  If a web site incorporates aspects of social networks, that is a web application, right?  Even a content management system, such as an informational Drupal-powered website, uses an application backend that users need to interact with.  While in my experience the article’s observation that many business applications leave user interface design tasks to unprepared developers rings true, I think this is a wider issue.  Design groups that traditionally handled informational-only websites are more and more being called on to implement features that get closer and closer to full-blown web applications.  And need to start incorporating user interface design considerations into their design process to complement their more traditional visual and content design skills.

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Confusing Web applications and websites is easy, as is confusing user interface design and website design. But they are different both in essence and in so many other ways, which we’ll explore in this article

Personas are a powerful tool for helping you to better understand the needs of your users. In this comic, drawn exclusively for Think Vitamin, you’ll learn more about Personas and how they’ll revolutionize the way you design and build web sites.

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12 standard screen patterns

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• Don’t try to do live software/website/application demos — If you are interfacing with an audience you can’t also interface with software — at least I can’t.   If you focus on the audience you mess up stuff in the application and vice-versa.  It is never as interesting for the audience as it seemed in your mind pre-talk.  Keep it simple:  take screen shots and have a scripted walk-through of what you want to show.
• Don’t start in Powerpoint when creating the presentation.  Outline your main points first — what you want to communicate with the talk.  I use a simple text editor — no formatting, no bullted, just thoughts.   Then order/organize and think through how you build your points.  Then think how best to visualize those points.  Finally open Powerpoint, Keynote or, even better, the open-source OpenOffice Impress.
• Avoid bullet pointed text-based lists.  If your presentation is based on bullet points it will be no worse than average — which means boring.  You are using a visual communication tool — don’t make people read.  Use strong visuals.  I like to search Flickr for creative commons licensed photos.  A couple of slides with text/bullets is OK where appropriate.  But make those the exception, not the rule.
• Expect the technology to fail.  Get to the room early, 30 minutes ahead if in unfamiliar territory.  Have your presentation on a usb thumb drive in ppt, pptx, pdf versions AND on your own laptop (remember the vga connectors if it is a MAC) AND posted on a web site in PDF form  AND a printed version — you get the idea.
• Use a wireless clicker.  This lets you get out from behind the laptop/podium, avoiding the distraction of the laptop keyboard (remember #1: minimize need to interface with software), and out in front, facing your audience.  It is a small thing that has a big impact.

Most important remember you are there to communicate with the audience.  Look at them, talk TO them (i.e. don’t read off your slides), kibbutz with them, entertain them, engage them.  If you do this your message will come across.  Don’t, and they’ll be asleep.  Remember how it feels when you’re snoozing yourself at yet another bullet-filled, text heavy, typical presentation.

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I strongly recommend working on paper or a whiteboard, any non-digital media where you can work freely. Make a list of the points you want to make, or key ideas/feelings/questions you want your audience to leave with, and develop those first.

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The plugin makes it pretty simple to back up your blog. All you need to do is provide an Amazon S3 account key.

Automatic Wordpress Backup

Captures your ENTIRE site (Wordpress database, themes, plugins, uploaded files and settings files), which means minimal downtime if you need to restore.

WordPress MU compatible?

We haven’t tested it yet but the answer is probably “No” because of how MU stores files. Since Mu will be getting merged into regular Wordpress in the near future, we probably won’t be spending time on adding compatibility for mu. Sorry.

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