Wow, time flies so fast! I never realized ’til a few days ago that I haven’t published a blog update for more than a year already. My last blog update was done on November 2009. For those who are new here and aren’t familiar with my blog updates, these posts are done not only to share with the readers the plugins/tools I use and site improvements/changes, but it also serves as a “note” for myself so I have a record of the stuff that I’ve installed/uninstalled and the changes I’ve made to the site.

Below are the plugins and other stuff that I’ve installed/uninstalled, added/removed or changed since my last update.

Uninstalled Plugins

• Comment Info Detector – plugin that detects and displays the commenter’s country, web browser and operating system.
• CommentLuv – plugin that displays the commenter’s latest blog post based on their RSS feed.
• Wibiya Toolbar – official Wibiya Toolbar plugin that integrates different social networking features, apps, widgets and other tools.

These plugins all work fine and are pretty nifty plugins but the reason I uninstalled all three plugins was to cut down the “fat” on this blog. I’m working on lessening the resources used on the server and lessening page load times. Less plugins = less resources used. Although they provided neat features, the blog could run without them.

Installed Plugins

• Dashboard Notepad – plugin that adds a simple notepad widget within the WordPress dashboard. You can read the review I made for this plugin here.
• PubSubHubbub – plugin that enables a blog to let other parties know in real-time when there are new updates.
• W3 Total Cache – performance optimization (caching) plugin that improves server performance, improves page load times and user experience.

Installed the Dashboard Notepad plugin so I could write down notes (drafts, to-do lists, etc.) on my WordPress dashboard. I installed PubSubHubbub to enable real-time updates to Google Reader, FriendFeed, etc. Last time, I was using WP Super Cache and then I came across the W3 Total Cache plugin. Tried it and never looked back as it provided more features, did the job better (page load times were better with W3TC than WP Super Cache) and it was compatible with other plugins I used.

Other Changes

• Reinvigorate – I previously had a premium account on Reinvigorate which cost $5/month (stats and analytics service). I love Reinvigorate and have been using it the past few years but I decided to cancel the premium account and just rely on Google Analytics to cut down on my expenses. I still recommend them and you can get a free account if your monthly traffic is less than 100,000.
• Infolinks – added Infolinks, an in-text advertising program as an additional revenue source. Those are the red, double underlined links found throughout the site. Btw, I’d like to know from the regular readers if the Infolinks ads bother you or not. Thanks!
• CDN – If you might’ve noticed, the posts, pages and the site as a whole loads faster. That’s because aside from using the W3 Total Cache plugin, JaypeeOnline has been using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) the past few months. I’ll publish a more detailed post about this soon.

If any of you guys have comments, feedback or suggestions to make JaypeeOnline better, please don’t hesitate to share it with me via the comments section or if you want to remain anonymous, you can send me a message via the contact page. Thank you and have a nice day!

**CONTEST OFFICIALLY CLOSED AS OF 12/30/10**

UPDATE: Added more cash prizes and a new sponsor.

Today is the first day of December and that “officially” marks the start of the Christmas season. Since Christmas is the season of giving and sharing, what could be a better way to thank my readers and share my blessings with others than to have another Christmas Giveaway, right?

I’ve had two previous big giveaways here on JaypeeOnline – the $1,000+ Christmas Giveaway in 2008 and the $1,500 Thanksgiving Giveaway last year. For this year’s Christmas Giveaway, I’ll be giving away $3,500+ worth of prizes – premium WordPress themes, premium WordPress plugin, web hosting, domains, cash and many more. Of course, all of this won’t be possible without the support and generosity of my sponsors.

PRIZES AT STAKE:
1st Prize
1-year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Pro-Plus package from StudioPress ($249.95)
1 Developer Theme Package from WooThemes ($150)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1-year Freedom-CDN Plan from WP Webhost ($120)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Website Monitoring from website-monitoring.com ($59)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$20 cash via PayPal courtesy of DiTesco

2nd Prize
1-Year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Club Membership from Elegant Themes ($39)
1-year Advanced Hosting Plan from Hostentic ($116)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

3rd Prize
1-Year Publisher Plan from Scribe SEO ($324)
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Annual Access Membership from Flexi Themes ($49.95)
1-year Freedom Plan from WP Webhost ($80)
1-year Pro Account from Wibiya Web Toolbar ($118.80)
1-year Starter Plan from Reinvigorate ($100)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domain (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

4th Prize
1 Genesis/Child theme package from StudioPress ($79.95)
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1 Basic Theme Package from WP Now ($49)
1-year Freedom Plan from WP Webhost ($80)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
1-year domains (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)
$10 cash via PayPal courtesy of MukhangPera.com

Consolation Prizes
1 Premium Theme from WPZOOM ($69)
1-year subscription to Privacy Pro from Privacy Pro ($35.95)
6 – 1-year domains (.com/.net/.org/.info) courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente ($11.99)

I’m also giving away 5 Globe Tattoo USB dongles courtesy of Abe Olandres of YugaTech ($20/each) to all contestants from the Philippines.

As a BONUS, I’ll be giving away a 15% rebate for website-monitoring.com to all contestants and 2 Golden Tickets to VaultPress. Please let me know via the comment section if you’re interested.

CONTEST MECHANICS:
1. Subscribe to JaypeeOnline’s RSS feed via email. (required)

Don’t forget to validate your email subscription (After submitting your email address, FeedBurner will send you an email with a link on it to verify your subscription). If you’re already an email subscriber, please proceed to step #2.

2. Blog about this contest. (required)

Make a blog post about this contest in not less than 100 words. (Please don’t copy & paste this post). Don’t forget to include a link/trackback to this contest, prizes at stake and the list of sponsors (just the text links, no need to include the banners). If you want, you can use the Christmas Giveaway graphic in your blog post, do that by saving the image and uploading it to your own web server. (No hotlinking please)

3. Leave a comment. (required)

After you have subscribed to the RSS feed via email and published your blog post, please leave a comment on this post using the same email address you used to subscribe and include the URL to your blog post. In case you decide to avail of the bonus points, make sure to include your Twitter username and/or Facebook account name.

*I require this step so it would be easier for me to validate and keep track of each contestant’s entries.

Total = 7 pts

BONUS POINTS:
You can avail of these bonus points to get more chances of winning.

1. Follow me on Twitter and Retweet this post – 2 pts (If you’re already following me, all you need to do is retweet this post)
2. Share this post on Facebook – 1 pt
3. Join JaypeeOnline’s Facebook Fan Page – 1 pt
4. Follow JaypeeOnline on NetworkedBlogs (via Facebook) – 1 pt

Total = 5 pts

Total maximum entry points = 12 pts

CONTEST RULES:
1. Contestants are required to do all three steps under CONTEST MECHANICS.
2. No multiple entries. 1 person = 1 entry (1 person can get as much as 12 points)
3. Prizes not claimed within 30 days will be forfeited and be given to a new winner.
4. Prizes can not be converted to cash.

OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS:
Scribe SEO

StudioPress

WooThemes

WP Zoom

Elegant Themes

FlexiThemes

WP Now

WP WebHost

Hostentic Web Hosting

Wibiya Web Toolbar

Reinvigorate

Privacy Pro

Website Monitoring

Jehzeel Laurente

Abe Olandres

DiTesco

Mukhang Pera

VaultPress

Contest starts as soon as this post is published and ends on December 30, 2010. All entries should be in by midnight (US Eastern Time). Each point is equivalent to one entry that will be put into the list of entries (more points, more entries). Winners will be chosen using Random.org’s List Randomizer and will be announced the following day, December 31st.

Please make sure to check back on this post every now and then for any changes or updates.

What are you waiting for? Join now! You could be the winner of any one of these awesome prizes. Remember, the more points you have, the more your chances of winning! If you have any questions regarding the contest, feel free to contact me.

If you or your company would like to be sponsor and provide some prizes for this Christmas Giveaway, please send me a message via the Contact page.

A few months after the new BETA was released – Reinvigorate, the real-time web analytics service that I’ve been using the past 3 years is finally out of BETA. I have been a private beta tester for Reinvigorate and have been using their service since June 2007. I use Reinvigorate alongside Google Analytics to keep track of my blog statistics and other analytics.

As a beta tester, I receive regular emails and newsletters from Reinvigorate and last Friday, I got an email regarding the upcoming launch of the service and the new service plans. The official announcement was posted on the Reinvigorate blog, the same day I received the email. As of last Monday, August 30th, Reinvigorate is now open to the public.

Here are screenshots of some of the Reinvigorate features.

Features:

Heatmaps

Name Tags

Snoop

Graphs

My favorite features are the Heatmaps which gives you information on where your visitors click on your pages/posts and the real-time desktop tracking program called Snoop which lets you see your blog/website visitors as they arrive on your blog/website in real-time. Btw, the Heatmaps can help you reduce bounce rate because it shows you the areas which visitors view and click, so you can determine where to display your call-to-action buttons, related posts and other stuff to keep them on your website/blog. Aside from that, Heatmaps can also help you determine the best areas to place your ads.

Service Plans:

Freebie Plan

• 14-days of full system access including real-time and heatmaps
• After trial, basic stats only – No real-time or heatmaps.
• 1 website, 1 user
• Up to 100,000 pageviews/month

Starter Plan – $10/month or $100/year

• 3 Websites, 3 Users
• Up to 500,000 pageviews/month
• 5 years of archived data

Pro Plan – $20/month or $200/year

• 10 Websites, 10 Users
• Up to 1 million pageviews/month
• 5 years of archived data

Custom Plans – Starting at $100/month

• Created for ultra-high traffic sites
• No website or user limits
• Usage-based pricing

Now that Reinvigorate is out of beta, it means that the service will no longer be free for beta testers whose blog/website have more than 100,000 pageviews/month. Beta testers or anyone who wants to signup with Reinvigorate can apply for the Freebie Plan as long as your blog/website’s traffic doesn’t exceed 100,000 pageviews/month.

As a token of appreciation for helping with the beta testing, Reinvigorate is offering beta testers like me a special Founder’s Plan which includes 20 websites, 20 users and 1,000,000 pageviews/month all for only $5/month.

My blog – JaypeeOnline is not qualified for the Freebie Plan because it exceeds the required number of pageviews/month so I have decided to take advantage of the Founder’s Plan offer and pay $5/month to continue using Reinvigorate.

Anybody else who’s a Reinvigorate beta tester? Are you going to continue using Reinvigorate now that it’s out of beta? Anyone else interested in trying out Reinvigorate real-time web analytics?

Aside from Google Analytics, I use Reinvigorate to keep track of my blog stats and analytics. I started using Reinvigorate back in June 2007 when I received the private beta testing invite. Yesterday, while I was checking my inbox, I found an email from the Reinvigorate Team and when I opened it, I found out that it was an invitation to test a new beta version of Reinvigorate.

Hi there!

We are beta testing a new version of Reinvigorate and would love it if you could give it a go.

Learn about some of the new features on the Reinvigorate blog:

http://blog.reinvigorate.net/2009/10/15/the-new-new-beta/

If you would like to migrate your account over to the new tracking system please use the link below.

http://report.reinvigorate.net/migrate

Feel free to leave any questions/comments/suggestions at:

http://getsatisfaction.com/reinvigorate/

Thanks! We appreciate your help and feedback!
Reinvigorate Team

New Reinvigorate Beta features:

• Enhanced Heatmaps
• Per-page stats summaries
• Enhanced graphing engine
• Live real-time summary page
• Enhanced Referrer tracking
• …and lots more

After reading the email, I clicked on the link provided in order to migrate my account to the new Reinvigorate Beta. I was brought to a page that instructed me to update the tracking code and re-create friend/client accounts, it also asked me if I wanted to create a new password and then at the bottom was the button to migrate the account to the new beta version.

Here are some of the screenshots I took of the new beta version of Reinvigorate. If you’re a Reinvigorate user/beta tester or someone who’s seen the Reinvigorate dashboard before, you’ll notice the changes and improvements made to the dashboard and other sections of the interface.

Monthly Stats

Visitors

Browsers

Timezones

Heatmap

For me and I think most Reinvigorate users/beta testers, the most awaited feature is the heatmap. In the past, I’ve installed and used a WordPress heatmap plugin called WP Clickmap. It was a neat and useful plugin, but unfortunately it was causing problems on my web server so I had to uninstall it. With the heatmap feature on Reinvigorate, I no longer need to install a heatmap plugin.

Although Reinvigorate is still in private beta testing, you can head over to their website, click on Beta Registration and provide your email address. Reinvigorate periodically invites new groups of people into the private beta test system.

Anyone else using Reinvigorate? For other Reinvigorate users/beta testers, which new feature/s do you like the most? What other features or options would you like to be added in the next version or update of Reinvigorate? Please share your thoughts.

To keep track of the different blog statistics here on JaypeeOnline, my analytics service of choice is Reinvigorate. I’ve been using it for about 3 years now. Aside from that I also use Clicky which I started using early this year. The first free analytics service I tried/used was Google Analytics, but I stopped using it because I didn’t like how it worked and it didn’t have certain features that I wanted/needed and thats why I moved to Reinvigorate. Recently, I started using Google Analytics again so that I have another source of data that I can use to compare with the other analytics services that I use.

Last week, the Google Analytics blog published about a new Free Google Analytics Dashboard Application called Trakkboard. Trakkboard is a free, easy to use desktop application that allows analysts to create dashboards that pull data across different Google Analytics logins and different Google Analytics profiles to display top level metrics all within the same view. Trakkboard is created by German-based company Trakken GmbH and is available in English, Spanish and German.

Screenshots:
Trakkboard Dashboard

Trakkboard Add a Widget

If you want to get your hands on Trakkboard, first you’ll have to submit your email address to get a license key. Once you have your license key, you can proceed with downloading and installing it. Once its finished installing, you’ll be asked to create a login password for Trakkboard and later on, it will ask for your license key. Next step is to provide your Google Analytics profile login details and once you’ve logged in, you can proceed with adding widgets to your dashboard. Available widgets are: Visits, Visitors, Pageviews, Medium, Source, Top/Flop Keywords, Pages/Visits, Bouncerate, TimeOnSite, All Goals, Goal 1, Goal 2, Goal 3, Goal 4 and Notes. You can also specify the timeline or timespan of the stats displayed on each widget.

Trakkboard is an Adobe AIR app so you’ll need Adobe AIR to be installed on your computer. Since this app is powered by Adobe AIR, it means that its cross-platform and you can install it on any OS (Windows, Mac or Linux).

Trakkboard is ideal for those users who manage several Google Analytics profiles because with this app, you don’t have to login/logout from each profile to check on other profiles. With Trakkboard you can access all those profiles on one single app or window. It’s simple and straightforward so Google Analytics users won’t have a hard time using this app.

Anyone here who’s using Google Analytics? What do you guys think of Trakkboard? If you had a Google Analytics account, would you use Trakkboard? What are the features you like/dislike? What additional features/options would you like to see on Trakkboard? Please share your thoughts.