New Manager Tools Website is Up!

Too many bells and whistles

The menu item for "Manager Tools" podcast points to "Career-Tools" podcasts.

Could not download the premium pdf content.  I used to simply download by right clicking them. Please return this feature and save many of us from having to use RSS feeds and ITunes, etc. It's an extra feature for those who want it but not my cup of tea.

"Perception is NOT reality." What made Manager-Tools the People's Choice was not the design of its website but its valuable content. Now you seem to have a misplaced emphasis.

I was hoping that Career-Tools would allow you to discuss other important topics in the Manager-Tools, but the podcasts of the last two weeks for Manager-Tools are concentrated on career issues as well. Let's move on to something else worth talking about!

Malekz

manager-tools.com not working

when i goto http://manager-tools.com I get a Drupal installation error...

as opposed to http://www.manager-tools.com which is working fine with the new site...

I presume not many would know to try adding the www.

looking forward to more growth at MT.

Rick

Cool!

Mark/Mike

at first sight the new site looks great: professional, simple ... I like the tags.

Don't know yet about the 'usability': too used to the old one ... I'll give you some feedback after using it a little.

Ciao,

PierG

http://pierg.wordpress.com

Malekz, Can you give me more

Malekz,

Can you give me more insight into your problems downloading the premium content?  I and others can do so, so need to understand more about your specific issues.

I don't see the connection between a new website and a misplaced emphasis.  Sorry you see it that way.  I don't.

Sorry you don't agree with our choice of topics.  The website redesign certainly had nothing to do with that!  ;-)

Mike

Nice to see the new website!

nice to see the new website and style applied.  It is especially good to see the forum integrated in without the annoyances of the different sites for that, I always had problems logging in to the old secure areas.

I do miss the manager-tools logo though, is that not staying the same?

New Logo

mikek,

Thanks ... yes, using different software for the blog and for the forums was problematic. We pieced it together as best we could, but occasionally folks would have the issue you described.  I'm happy to see the end of that!  :-)

As far as the old logo -- yes, sadly, it's gone.  Mark and I both look at it fondly, but in our opinion, its time has passed.  Of course, you and others may disagree.  ;-)

All the best!

Best Regards,
Mike

New Site Feedback

Mike,

Great job!  I know it took a lot of hard work.  With these updates I might start using the site more often instead of just the RSS feeds.

MT Basics cast - I found the link to MT basics under the "About Us" section.  A few more obvious places would be helpful.  First is adding this to the Podcasts drop list.  This used to be one of the locations on the old site.  Two add a tag for Basics under the tagging scheme.

I love the tag search on the podcast list.  Makes it super easy to find related podcasts.

I am sure you will get a lot of comments about the new logo.  I will miss the old one.  I like the new one.  I will have to spend some time pondering the meaning of the new logo ;)

MadAmos

Mike, The problem with

Mike,

The problem with downloading the pdf show notes seems to have been resolved because this morning I was able to download the most recent file, though I couldn't see any pdf Slides file for it.

The other point I was making is that with the new "Career-Tools" category in place, I am hoping that you shift all career-related topics to this new category and concentrate on other topics in Manager-Tools, considering the huge backlog of topics you have.

Thank you,

Malekz

good to hear it's working now

Malekz,

Great ... good to hear it's working now.  Thanks for letting me know so I can cross that off my list.

Thanks for clarifying your comment on the career tools casts.

Mike

My iTunes Feed doubled up

Mike, Mark and the rest of the team,

The new site looks great!  I know it took a lot of work. Might this be an example of  how a  "by-the-end-of-the-year" T in an effective MT goal pays off?

I want to register as a fan of the old logo. Are there any left over promo items we can still aquire to remind us of the ol' days?

I'm not sure about others, but this weekend my iTunes busily downloaded all the manager-tools casts again. I see now that it was likely a side affect of the new site. Any recommendations to guide us on correcting that?

Thanks,

-Mike

Podcast Doubling Up

Mike,

Interesting ... you're not the first to be hit by that.  My guess is that iTunes sees them all as "new" and you have iTunes set to download not just the latest cast, but ALL casts for the Manager Tools show, or even all your shows.

I'll ask our tech guys to look at that and see if there is anything we can do on our end.

Mike

Having problems getting to Agenda Template

I'm relatively new to the site and I am slowly working my way through the newbie podcasts.  Love the content -- extremely useful and actionable.  Anyway, the problem is that the supporting content for Effective Meetings (agenda and detailed outline) is returning a Page Not Found error.  I assume that this is either

1) I'm a newbie and I just am doing something dumb.

2) The new site reorganization has broken the links

Can you let me know which it is and what I can do to get the information?

Gary Williams

Sorry, Gary.  You are

Sorry, Gary.  You are right; there were some broken links.

Should be fine now.

Thanks,
Mike

Still having problems...

Well, I can get to Effective Meetings part two, but part one and it's content is still showing a "Page not found" error.

The URL given is http://www.manager-tools.com/2005/08/effective-meetings-get-out-of-jail

I don't know whether that is the correct one, but it shows a Page Not Found in both Firefox and IE.  Going directly to the meeting template from the RSS feed seems to do the same.  URL is http://www.manager-tools.com/meeting-agenda-template/

Trust me, I understand the problems of changing a website, but I figured the newbie content is pretty important, so you'd want to get that fixed fast.

Gary Williams

My mistake ... I think I

My mistake ... I think I have it fixed now.

Thanks for letting me know of the issue ... those are indeed important casts!

Mike

Still no go...

Tried it and still not seeing either...are the URLs I gave before still the "correct" ones or have they been moved?  The page I'm linking off of is:

http://www.manager-tools.com/manager-tools-basics

with the link reading Effective Meetings, Part 1 if that helps.  To try to get to the agenda, I was using an RSS feed from a few days ago (which could be outdated).  But I figured that page, at least, would be correct.

Gary Williams

new

Awesome!

Premium Content Not Displaying

I think the new site looks awesome, and I'm wondering if that is Mike in the picture!?!

I have encountered a problem with reaching the Premium Content.  Last week I was able to see the shownotes and also see a book recommendation with the "Interviewing in a Dowturn" show.  Now I'm unable to find the show any where.  When I click on Podcasts, the premium ones are not listed as an option.  Under products I'm asked to purchase a subscription, although my account is showing I'm paid through December.  Thanks in advance for any help!

Not me, my friend!  ;-) I'm

Not me, my friend!  ;-)

I'm not sure I understand the issue you're having in accessing the premium content.  I'll send you an email and see if we can chat on the phone real quick.

thanks,

Mike

The site is coming along....

Mike and Mark,
I am getting used to the site. I look at a web site as something that delivers your product in the most effective manner. These things also take time to get used to and there is a normal burn-in period.
Mike, you and I know I am not telling you something that you don't already know as we are from similar businesses.
What I am trying to tell you is that the quality feedback will come after about four weeks. Until then, I would discount most except for production issues. The rest is hard to separate from the chaff of 'change is hard'...so let it go...."totally".
Happy Holidays!
-Dan

Dan, Thanks for the words of

Dan,

Thanks for the words of wisdom. Although hard, you're absolutely right. I'm sure, with some sleep, I'll look back at this fondly. ;-)

All is good ... "totally". :-)

Thanks again,
Mike

Problem accessing comments to recent podcast

The ability is missing to post comments for the recent podcast "How to Provide a Reference." Before the website redesign, there were a few comments posted that I was interested to follow-up but they're not listed. Is there another way?

James

James, I turned on comments

James,

I turned on comments for the post (not sure why it was off). Comments missing? I'll have someone take a look at that.

Mike

Problems with posting in forums

I'm getting errors when trying to post in the forums... I was looking for a 'contact us' page on your site but couldn't find any so I'm posting on this blog thread - sorry if is not the appropriate place! :)

Warning: MySQL server has gone away query: INSERT INTO watchdog... etc etc...

why move from wordpress to drupal?

What's the reason for the move, Mike? Just trying to understand what functionality/feature set you couldn't get in one...

Thanks!

Primarily one of flexibility

Primarily one of flexibility around the block architecture -- ability to add custom modules and have them show up based on user access and where someone is in the site.

Additionally, there were several issues with integrating several pieces of software (membership software, Wordpress, phpbb, etc.) so that user access rights and single-login functionality worked well.

To be honest, the benefits will be realized after this first implementation. We haven't touched the surface yet.

There's more, but that's a good start ...

Thanks for asking!

Mike

Sympathy for the Devil

I am going to be going through this exact same process in 2 months as we switch our site over to a Joomla CMS.

I'm looking at all MT is dealing with this week, and starting to gnaw my fingernails.

I'm sure it will all sort out in time...and is a lesson to me to completely clear my calendar for the week of launch :)

You'd be wise to do so.

You'd be wise to do so. ;-)

Seriously, if you want to discuss (in a few days, after I come up for air), I'd be more than happy to share lessons learned.

Good luck!

Mike

Norwood, Thanks for posting

Norwood,

Thanks for posting ... as good a place as any!

It's resolved now, but a particularly frustrating. I wish I could claim credit for the fix, but alas the credit belongs to ksteppe for some insightful detective work. ;-)

Thanks,
Mike

I noticed a couple of casts

I noticed a couple of casts are missing through iTunes.

How to Prepare for an Interview
How to Answer the Leadership Style Question

The former I can't find anywhere. The latter is on the website but doesn't show up on either podcast feed through iTunes.

I have both on my iPod because I wanted to re-listen to them, so there's no problem in the short term from my perspective. The C in me likes to keep my reference library complete. :-)

Congratulations

Great job on the new website. New looks take a time to get used to. With the previous site 'old hands' knew where to go, but I'm sure it was already appearing daunting for anyone new to MT. This look is so much simpler and easier to navigate. I can't begin to appreciate how hard it must have been to make the switch. A thousand congratulations and thanks.

iGoogle gadget

The iGoogle gadget doesn't work anymore.

Nice work

Mike and Mark,

Nice work on the new website. I'm enjoying the new layout.

Just curious -- how many cups of coffee were required to make this change?

Cheers, and all the best for '09!
Steve

Frustrated

I was so excited to get my wife involved with Manager Tools. She's in a new management position and after talking to her about what I've been learning here she got very interested.

I recently came to the web site to show her where to go and how to set up her new Zune to get the podcasts and WHAM!!!! I was hit with a baseball bat smack in the face. I had no idea where to go, how to find things and it was VERY embarassing.

After about an hour of "playing" with the new site, I finally found the RSS Feed address for the Basics. It used to be right on the home page, now it's hidden. Like you don't want people to find it.

As a web developer and designer, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. When you decide (you = anyone) to completely re-design your site, you should offer your customers a preview and run the sites in parallel for a time to get feedback. Large companies like Microsoft, IBM, and such use this technique to try out new things before they implement something that could drive customers away.

It would be nice to have a link on the home page that lists all the RSS Feed addresses. I tried clicking the RSS icon and did get a list, but the list is not complete. Basics wasn't there.

Anyway, I just felt I needed to give my 2 cents worth.

Thank you
Ron

Sorry for the frustration,

Sorry for the frustration, Ron.

Your suggestion of adding the Basics feed to the Feeds page is a good one — done!

Thanks,
Mike

New Website

I had a long break over Christmas and missed most of the drama - by now you've probably sorted out the worst of the bugs that every new website launch seems to suffer from.

Congratulations, big improvement visually and I can see new features and tools are being added.

Keep up the good work
Louise

Specific Documents Needed - Performance Review

I couldn't find a "contact us" section so thought this was my best route for a question.

I am implementing annual performance reviews at our small company and I don't think we have official review documents on hand. Traditionally our reviews have been "the good, the bad, the ugly."

I've reviewed the Performance Review slides & transcripts in the Premium Content section and didn't see an actual performance review doc. Do you (or someone) have a good sample you could share with me?

Thank you!