Gamerlog.com

By Brian Stelter, Editor in Chief, GamerLog.com

When creating a web site, efficiency is an important and necessary aspect that must be considered. When I discovered LiveJournal through a friend, I realized that this software was precisely what I needed to develop a complex, yet easily-updated and easily-maintained, news web site.

I quickly began experimenting with an account I registered, and was astounded by how easy it was to create and update a journal. But in my case, LiveJournal was much more than just a journal -- It was the backbone of a constantly-updated video game news site. The result is even better than I expected. And this is how it came about:

- I created a journal.
I signed up for a journal (http://www.livejournal.com/create.bml), to experiment with the technology. I realized that by using the software and adding my site's contributors to a community, and then embedding the style-customized community onto my home page (http://www.gamerlog.com/), I would have created a simple and powerful solution for my site woes. The key factor in creating my site was: How fast and easy was it to update the site?  And LiveJournal made it very fast and very easy.

Later in the day, as I experimented with my journal, I found that I would need to establish a paid account. With a paid account, I could create my own style for my content to appear in. I found that a paid account (http://www.livejournal.com/paidaccounts/) was well worth the small cost.

The LiveJournal FAQ (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faq.bml) and the Support Area (http://www.livejournal.com/support/) are two invaluable resources as I toyed with the technology.

- I created a community.
After asking a question in the support area, I learned that I needed to create a community (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=78). By creating a community, I could have other contributors to my site sign up for LiveJournal, create a journal, and post into the community. I tested this with a friend of mine.

When I created my community, I set it to be "closed," so that I would have to add contributors to the community (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=79). This way, only people who I allowed could update the site. To update the site, the contributors would just post into the community.

- I added contributors to the community.
It is very easy to add contributors to a closed community. I worked with each contributor via instant messenger or email to set up their accounts. They simply signed up for a journal and downloaded the software. Then I added them to the community via the admin console (http://www.livejournal.com/admin/console). They did a test post, deleted it, and were a new member of the team. Every contributor I have added so far has been very pleased with the speed and efficiency of the updating process. Several of them have also considered creating a journal of their own, for personal use.

- I created a style for the community.
With paid accounts, it is very easy to create a style (http://www.livejournal.com/styles/edit.bml), to customize the look of the content and make the integration of the journal into a web site seamless. After experimenting with a couple of styles, I created the style I use now on GamerLog. I stripped many of the features I did not need from the variables on the Edit Style page. The range of options is wonderful. I also created my own color scheme with the Modify Journal page (http://www.livejournal.com/modify.bml).

- I embedded the community into my web site.
The Embedding Your Journal page (http://www.livejournal.com/developer/embedding.bml) in the Developer area was an excellent resource as I seamlessly integrated my community into my web site.  It took only a matter of seconds to embed the community onto my site. Best of all, with several of the ways embedding is possible, it is impossible to tell that LiveJournal is running behind-the-scenes.

- I launched GamerLog.
The site has been an absolute success, and it would not have been possible without LiveJournal. Users are impressed with the speed and efficiency of updating, and this is all thanks to LJ. Visitors are amazed when I tell them how easy it is to update the site. Indeed, it still amazes me, as well.