Tools of the interwebs

I couldn't find a thread like this, so I thought I would create one. Since I've been telecommuting, I've ended up with so many apps and browser extensions it's crazy, but I swear they're all awesome. So let's list all of our favorite apps/extensions/sites/whatever tools you use to get things done here, and what they do!

Slack

Team chat app - great for quick and easy communication without cluttering your inbox. There's an app too, and you can enable desktop notifications.

Trello
Bulletin board/to do list style app, great for organizing tasks and collaborating on projects. There's also an app and desktop notifications

Moz
Awesome tool for getting SEO metrics at a glance. It has two modes, one bigger version that actively shows you DA and PA on every site in a Google search, and a small browser extension blip that shows you the DA for every page you're on.

Ahrefs
Really cool service that gives you super detailed web analytics, great for tracking backlinks and page traffic. This is a paid service, but well worth it if you're trying to build backlinks.

Open SEO Stats
Cool little extension that the team here got me using - great web analytics at a glance, including Google Page Rank and Alexa Traffic Rank.

Jing

I actually have yet to use this one myself, but it's something my soon to be former boss uses frequently for training purposes. You can actually record a video of your screen, like a live screenshot taping, and share it with this app. Really cool, and super handy for showing people how to complete online tasks.

Those are all of the ones I can think of off the top of my head - what handy dandy tools does everyone else like?

I wish we had a permies chat feature! Wouldn't that be fun?

Oh, I forgot one!

Pixlr Express Image Editor
I love this site for creating shareable images in a hurry. Super user-friendly, and lots of cool features. I use it to create images for articles, expert roundups, and the occasional meme.

Hey Folks,

I belong to a french group of persons interested in permaculture/transition.

Do you know if there are some slacks about permaculture/transition where we could have a few channels and maybe enjoy some synergy with other groups ?

Thanks !

Pierre Pépé wrote:Hey Folks,

I belong to a french group of persons interested in permaculture/transition.

Do you know if there are some slacks about permaculture/transition where we could have a few channels and maybe enjoy some synergy with other groups ?

Thanks !

I'm not familiar with any, but I'm sure you could set one up, create a thread for it, and invite others! Sort of like a permaculture chat room channel

Tyler Ludens wrote:I wish we had a permies chat feature! Wouldn't that be fun?

you can have that with a slack ( https://slack.com/ ) chat instance

and if this slack could be open to french/european/international folks it would be great

I ve created a slack chat instance : https://permies.slack.com

Destiny I have sent you a Purple Mooseage to get your email so that I can invite you and make you an admin

Otherwise you can send me invitation requests on pierrepp(@)gmail.com

(I have also invited Paul Wheaton)

PS :
I want to create an appropedia page which could be titled like so :
permies.slack.com : a chat for all and every languages (and a common good)
=>
wiki page created on http://appropedia.org/permies-slack (see explanations on https://permies.com/t/53961/tnk/Tools-interwebs#482206 )

A permies chat would be great - think of all the problems we could solve together in real time!

oops, I guess I already expressed my enthusiasm for this idea - oh well, I'm very enthusiastic!

Tyler Ludens wrote:A permies chat would be great - think of all the problems we could solve together in real time!

oops, I guess I already expressed my enthusiasm for this idea - oh well, I'm very enthusiastic!

Hi Tyler,

Please send me pierrepp(@)gmail.com an invitation request so that I can invite you to https://permies.slack.com

Thank you, but I can't be an admin!

Invitation sent to Tyler Ludens (no admin right - We need admins if we want this slack to be managed as a "common good" )

Pierre Pépé wrote:I ve created a slack chat instance : https://permies.slack.com

(...)

Otherwise you can send me invitation requests on pierrepp(@)gmail.com

PS :
I want to create an appropedia page which could be titled like so :
permies.slack.com : a chat for all and every languages (and a common good)

today (06/23/2016) I was able to create an appropedia wiki page : http://appropedia.org/permies-slack

(on 06/22/2016 I also created another wiki page on http://bit.ly/permies-slack-wiki (on hackpad ))

I wonder if I could help on this ?

David

David Livingston wrote:I wonder if I could help on this ?

David

Invitation sent to your email in your profile David
We are looking for admins ... would you be OK being an admin even if the work is very low ? Thanks !

How will people be alerted that there is a chat going on?

Good question I will hopefully have trime to check this out at the weekend

Tyler Ludens wrote:How will people be alerted that there is a chat going on?

I have answered you in https://permies.slack.com/messages/general/

What a great idea Pierre! Unfortunately I really don't have time to admin, I'm pretty behind on my work here with Permies as it is. If my schedule starts to free up I'll definitely pop in there and see what's up though, kind of a neat idea!

Destiny Hagest wrote:If my schedule starts to free up I'll definitely pop in there and see what's up though, kind of a neat idea!

Thanks You can ask for an invitation by sending me a request with your email address (which is needed by the chat to email you the invitation) via a "Purple Mooseages" or via an email to pierrepp(@)gmail.com

And please do not hesitate to spread the news to interested people if you have the opportunity

Today I was able to create the wiki page for the http://permies.slack.com chat on http://appropedia.org/permies-slack

Maybe somebody has an idea to make interested people get into the chat ?

PS : here is the chat invitation thread : https://permies.com/t/57216/tnk/join-chat-permies-slack

Pierre Pépé wrote:I was able to create the wiki page for the http://permies.slack.com chat on http://appropedia.org/permies-slack

Maybe somebody has an idea to make interested people get into the chat ?

PS : here is the chat invitation thread : https://permies.com/t/57216/tnk/join-chat-permies-slack

One more owner of the chat today : MurielF

PS :
I've also made an image http://www.appropedia.org/images/c/c4/Permies-slack.png to share it in social networks :

PS2 :
Announcement made on fb : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157079967595344&set=a.134646045343.226950.713865343&type=3&theater

We are having a conversation with Destiny and others and she says that permies.com doesn't have the resources to oversee that everything is going OK in the chat. And this could be a liability to permies.com as the "permies" name is used for the chat.

I think that in order for the users to behave OK we, the users, should try to manage the chat as a "common good" (or a Common Pool Resource (CPR) sorry for my not so good english) by following the eight Design principles for Common Pool Resource (CPR) institutions enumerated by Ostrom (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom#Design_principles_for_Common_Pool_Resource_.28CPR.29_institutions or http://www.appropedia.org/Ingredients_of_a_successful_commons) :

1    Clearly defined boundaries (effective exclusion of external unentitled parties);
2    Rules regarding the appropriation and provision of common resources are adapted to local conditions;
3    Collective-choice arrangements allow most resource appropriators to participate in the decision-making process;
4    Effective monitoring by monitors who are part of or accountable to the appropriators;
5    There is a scale of graduated sanctions for resource appropriators who violate community rules;
6    Mechanisms of conflict resolution are cheap and easy of access;
7    The self-determination of the community is recognized by higher-level authorities;
8    In the case of larger common-pool resources: organization in the form of multiple layers of nested enterprises, with small local CPRs at the base level.

What do you folks think ?

It s not possible we go with the name "permies" for the slack

maybe we could go with something like 'permalove' or 'permaculture chat' or 'permiechat' (Destiny said the term Permie is actually fairly widely used as a sort of slang term for folks that love permaculture)  ... what do you folks think ?? (I am not a native english speaker so I need some help )

PS1 :
maybe I simply prefer "permaculture" as this sounds simple and understandable for me (and it works in french too )
oops permaculture.slack.com is already taken ...
PS2 :
as I am new in this forum maybe somebody could post this question in a better place ? or tell me a better place where I could post ? thanks

Permiechat seems like a good name.

(Permaculture Cat?)

Tyler Ludens wrote:Permiechat seems like a good name.

(Permaculture Cat?)

Thanks Tyler I like "permiechat" (le minou de la permaculture ) also

In the meantime I have posted a separated post for a "brainstorming" on the new name in https://permies.com/t/57335/web-sites/permies-chat

I think maybe we can change the name on sunday.

the chat name has been changed to permiechat ... http://permiechat.slack.com
(at least 4 people declared they liked this name : 2 in this forum and 2 on facebook ...)

some info about this chat can be found on http://www.appropedia.org/permiechat ...

I think this is a great idea. At least for the case of questions and answers, things will move at a phenomenal pace. I would like to have an invitation please, Pierre. My email is ah06919@georgiasouthern.edu .

Angelica Harris wrote:I think this is a great idea. At least for the case of questions and answers, things will move at a phenomenal pace. I would like to have an invitation please, Pierre. My email is ah06919@georgiasouthern.edu .

invitation sent Angelica

I have made a draft for the forum announcement of the permiechat chat in https://slack-files.com/T1K5RBV3R-F1N25J52A-25be4069b6

Here is a fast copy paste :

Pierre Pépé wrote:(DRAFT announcement) permiechat : a chat for all permies in all languages (and a common good)

(this is a DRAFT announcement for the permies.com forum - you can edit this draft or comment it from the slack at : internal slack link )


We are currently building a chat https://permiechat.slack.com for permies.

The idea behind that chat is that it will be open to all permies in all languages so that some synergy between different people can be created.
(We saw the synergy in big chats like, for example, chat.nuitdebout.fr : that's what gave us the idea )

You may find more information about this chat in the original discussion thread : https://permies.com/t/53961/tnk/Tools-interwebs or its wiki page : http://appropedia.org/permiechat

Please join the fun Ask for an email invitation to somebody already in the chat or give me your email address through a Purple Mooseages and I'll send you the chat invitation

are you OK with this announcement ? should we post it in the "web sites" forum ? are you OK if I post it ? or maybe somebody else would like to post ?
Thanks folks for your feedback

I am OK with this draft

This permies chat will be a good adjunct to permies.com

I think the regulars around here should probably join the group regardless of their intention of chatting or not. There's no loss in expanding our communication options, and communicating our thoughts about permaculture in real time could prove to be very valuable. I also think topics could undergo initial brainstorming in the chat and then be refined back at the forums

C Sanct wrote:I am OK with this draft

This permies chat will be a good adjunct to permies.com

I think the regulars around here should probably join the group regardless of their intention of chatting or not. There's no loss in expanding our communication options, and communicating our thoughts about permaculture in real time could prove to be very valuable. I also think topics could undergo initial brainstorming in the chat and then be refined back at the forums

thanks C Sanct , I think I am going to post the "permie chat" announcement in a separate thread then

thanks also for the encouragements for this chat and your good ideas !

Pierre Pépé wrote:

C Sanct wrote:This permies chat will be a good adjunct to permies.com

I think the regulars around here should probably join the group regardless of their intention of chatting or not. There's no loss in expanding our communication options, and communicating our thoughts about permaculture in real time could prove to be very valuable. I also think topics could undergo initial brainstorming in the chat and then be refined back at the forums

thanks C Sanct for the encouragements (sorry for my bad english) - what do you think of the "chat announcement draft" above ? do you think it s OK if we go with it ?  should we post it in the "web sites" forum ? are you OK if I post it ? or maybe you d like to post it ?

I'm Ok with it an I'm assuming most people will be too. I see no reason why you shouldn't go ahead and post it where you see fit. Would you prefer someone else post it in the "web sites" forum?

C Sanct wrote:

Pierre Pépé wrote:

C Sanct wrote:This permies chat will be a good adjunct to permies.com

I think the regulars around here should probably join the group regardless of their intention of chatting or not. There's no loss in expanding our communication options, and communicating our thoughts about permaculture in real time could prove to be very valuable. I also think topics could undergo initial brainstorming in the chat and then be refined back at the forums

thanks C Sanct for the encouragements (sorry for my bad english) - what do you think of the "chat announcement draft" above ? do you think it s OK if we go with it ?  should we post it in the "web sites" forum ? are you OK if I post it ? or maybe you d like to post it ?

I'm Ok with it an I'm assuming most people will be too. I see no reason why you shouldn't go ahead and post it where you see fit. Would you prefer someone else post it in the "web sites" forum?

As I am not a native english speaker it might be better if a native english speaker post it ...
... anyway I I think I'll post this announcement https://slack-files.com/T1K5RBV3R-F1N25J52A-25be4069b6 tomorrow (European time) if nobody else does ...

Hello, the "official" announcement of the permiechat chat is in https://permies.com/t/57508/web-sites/permiechat-join-chat-permies-languages

Hello permies,

I am trying to get "interesting content" into the chat (see details in https://slack-files.com/T1K5RBV3R-F1PFZSWKD-b7bb24b9e1 ) by using an rss addon.

In the english permaculture chat channel I am injecting the following rss feeds :

what interesting rss feeds could we inject to get interesting content into the en_-permaculture channel ?
the "permies recent topics" feed https://permies.com/forums/rss/recentTopics had too many articles per day so maybe we can filter only the articles that contain "permaculture" in them : http://www.feedrinse.com/services/channel/?chanurl=bb9de60c6b0d07e96a2b9168e1a1dd88 ??
may be https://www.reddit.com/r/Permaculture/ and https://www.google.fr/alerts/feeds/15338055211347383191/2870663652010925620  ??

What do you folks think of this choice of rss feeds ?

Thanks for feedback

one of our slack member, Madan, has started a google hangout (video conference) : https://permiechat.slack.com/archives/general/p1472238643000012

it's really easy to start a hangout in the chat by typing "/hangout"

feel free to hangout with us if you wish

(you can give me your email address through a Purple Mooseages and I'll send you the chat invitation )

Last night I attended an internet marketing webinar by Neil Patel, and my brain exploded from the amount of useful information that was in there. I skipped the sales spiel at the end for his course (only because I don't have the funds to take it, it seriously looks amazing though), so I hope I can still snag his slide notes from the presentation. If you ever see an offer for a free webinar by that guy, definitely participate. It is like 0 fluff.

Anyway, on to some new tools I learned about!

HelloBar - Neil confirmed what I already knew about this, and in fact during the presentation, his business partner singled me out and took a look at Permies and Richsoil, said our site design was awesome, but this would be a great addition to make. So first off, yes, Neil owns this app, but it's free, and proven to work.

The HelloBar is a non-obnoxious popup that shows you a little sliver of a bar at the top or bottom of your screen saying something like 'Hey, we have great stuff here, subscribe!', and the user has the option to close it as well. Any form of subscribe popup is going to improve our signup rate, and is something I think is super important that we need to make a priority to implement, but I like this one because it doesn't obliterate the rest of the screen. How that affects the conversion rate, I'm not sure.

What Runs Where - I'm still wrapping my brain around how this one even works, but it's a pretty neat concept. Basically this is an ad management program that allows you to see what sort of advertising your competitors are running, and how those are performing. You can also track your own campaigns of course too. I'm not sure, but I'd imagine the only ad campaign results you see are those of folks using this software, but I could be wrong about that. There are also tools to improve your own advertising sales.

BuiltWith - This another sort of look-over-your-competition's-shoulder type thing, where you can see what people are using to run their sites. It's basically a big fat data tool, showing you which sites are using certain tools and plugins, and how those are performing. I'd imagine this one's handy for doing market analysis, and staying up on the competition's latest tools and how well they're converting. Very spendy, and very much still over my own head.

SEMrush Competitive Data - This is a service that seems to combine a link analysis tool, similar to Ahrefs perhaps, with advertising data sets like with WhatRunsWhere, and then some stuff that looks pretty similar to GA as well. So very cool, lots of data, and not quite as spendy as Ahrefs, with a bit wider reach data wise (at least it appears so).

WayBack Machine - Now this is cool, it's like a time capsule for web pages. There are literally billions of web pages archived in this site, and you can just punch in a URL and get a glimpse of what changes the site went through on a calendar. I put in Richsoil and pulled up 15 years of snapshots, crazy! Anyway, the point with this is, you can compare these changes with spikes in traffic, if you weren't tracking changes at the time. Or you can just do a little homework on other sites.



Moz Open Site Explorer - Another SEO/link tracking tool, you get a few features out of this one for free in the Moz toolbar that are helpful, but any really in depth link report is going to require a credit card number it seems. As much as I love the Moz DA browser extension, I'm strongly biased towards Ahrefs for link reports.


Welp, that's all for today folks! Not all of these are useful, and a few are redundant, but I'm constantly fascinated (and creeped out) by how much information you can get from apps like these. To learning how to use them, and understanding the data, huzzah!

I'm on quite the information high from that webinar, must settle down.