Time to quit tinkering.  Time to act on changes that have been ruminating in the recesses of my mind to take this blog, this project, this site to the next level.  I think I am now probably the oldest (by age of blogger and by blog) continuously running blog in the Commonwealth.

Well, it’s time to step up my game, and move up to a sharper, simpler, and more structured blog.

Action Changes Things

The first change was to get a quality theme.  I am now using Michael Hyatt’s “Get Noticed Theme“.  It’s clean, sharp, and designed for getting noticed.  I have been tinkering with this site for the past few months.  It’s really a sweet theme, and I hope I can make it purr.  Some of the problems I was having with my earlier theme was that it was taking a long, long time to do my posts (and I was losing some after much work and much frustration).  Then add long upload times for the user which is the real reason for acting and making changes.  I felt there was bad user interaction with the site, especially with the wait; and worse for me, bad Googling for search engine rankings.  So, time to move on up to the next level.

In addition to this new WordPress them,  I have already been introducing some changes in the manner and method of my blog postings.

  1. The most visible change could be found in the images with each post.  No more canned little screens in red and blue; no more canned stock photos, either (and none of which were entirely consistent with the content of the post on appellate decisions).  My solution was to put my hobby to work by posting photos that I have taken, most of which are law-related.  For example, I just finished a series on Anderson County and one on Bourbon County depicting the court house, views from the court house square, and historical markers.  I also did some quick research and tried to locate famous local lawyers, judges, politicians, or incidents.The Commonwealth of Kentucky is rich in legal history and precedent; and this is my way of sharing some of what I have picked up.  We walk past the court housesteps, rarely noticing the history found on the brass markers posted near the entrance; or the monuments of those who served and died for our freedom.
  2. The other change is a little more substantive.  I have abandoned the simple reiteration of  the various minutes, summaries, arguments, etc., and am now focusing a little more on a story line with highlights of those documents.  Each document from the AOC will still be available in the post for reading directly or downloading for later.   These posts will probably be more easily digested by you and will make it a lot more enjoyable and easier for me since I am way too old to be everyone’s law clerk.   However, my legal background is primarily as a trial lawyer handling over the years injury cases and insurance law, and that my friends will be the focus.  The good news, I would welcome guest posts from those doing workers compensation, family law, criminal law, tech, trials, and more.

Some future changes include finally implementing my podcast, exploring webinars, taking ownership of the email list (rather than rely on the vagaries of Google’s Feedburner), soliciting more written input from the attorneys throughout the Commonwealth, and more.  But this is enough of a teaser for now.

Hope these changes are well-received, especially the photos.  And as always, please feel free to share with me (and the rest of bar) – verdicts, settlements, stories, vintage pictures, and more.   I will always attribute the source and the lawyer (with a thank you and links to  you and your web site).  The links should be a boon to your search engine rankings, and we both receive the benefit of professional credibility.

Michael Stevens