Some call me insane. Others call me unbelievable. I’m apparently not human.
I decided to start another blog.
This would give me four major projects that I’m heavily invested in. World of Matticus has grown from a Priest blog to an overall healing blog. I’m a regular columnist for the powerhouse WoW Blog WoW Insider. Lastly, Plus Heal is a community forum for healers to discuss their craft.
What is it about?
User interface. Two words that reflect how people interact with stuff. Good design is what separates people apart from each other. Heck, a great interface can even decide elections.
Obviously what’s done is done. But had a different type of ballot been used, the past 8 years might’ve been different.
The new project I’m working on is a WoW blog. But unlike 99% of the WoW blogs out there, it won’t be about classes. It won’t be about PvP. It won’t be about raiding. You won’t find stuff about RPing.
No, this will be a blog catered towards how players interact with the game.
Where did you get this idea?
Two posts sparked it:
Not only that, I’ve noticed that in other WoW blogs, UI posts or addons traditionally get a lot of views. So there is some definite interest out there.
Why not start a section for it on your blog?
One thing I’ve learned in my experience online is that a blogger cannot afford to stretch themselves thin. I’ve seen good writers, good personalities scramble and wonder why they don’t get many hits. It’s primarily because their blog doesn’t have a focus. Unless a blogger is amazingly sexy, it’s unlikely they’ll get a massively large following. Focus is the key here. World of Matticus is defined as a healing and raiding blog. It’s what its known for. That’s it’s identity and niche. Adding a UI section would just further saturate and turn it into a mess.
Plus starting a brand new project from scratch is always invigorating and re-energizing.
What topics will you cover?
The beauty of this blog is that it won’t be restricted to one type of player. I can ask contributors from any background to add their thoughts. This is going to be a different type of blog then what I’m used to. I’m much more serious and analytics on World of Matticus. I’m the same way on WoW Insider. But with this, I get to be a lot more fun with it. I can be as creative as I like. It’ll be much more visual with lots of eye candy. It’s going to be a completely different type of blog then the style I’m known for. It allows me to tap into the more fun side of Matt which doesn’t happen very often.
Current topics of interest include:
- Addon reviews
- Macros
- Player interfaces
- Addon configuration
- Comparisons
- Screenshots
- Recommendations
- Unheard of addons
- Design
My one glaring weakness is that I’ve never really written an addon or anything like that before. And it’s something I hope to address with another contributor. The perception to me is that writing an addon is hard and that someone has to be extremely intelligent or talented.
How often will you update it?
I have to be very careful here in juggling my workload. I will not commit to more than two blog posts per week for the time being. I will also try to ensure that I have a stable buffer. I think the days that posts will go up are going to be Tuesday and Thursday.
What goes into starting a blog?
When I started World of Matticus, it was my first blog. I had no idea how to get started. I didn’t know anything about writing, or promotion. I wasn’t great at networking. But slowly and surely, I started to read more. I started to apply what I learned. I mimic’d what other people did because it was one of the few ways I could learn something. And using the skills I learned should make starting up another blog easier.
Name
The name of the blog is very important. This is your brand. This is who you are. It took a long time for me to come up with a name. It can be short, it can be long, it can be English or it can be Latin. It can be whatever you want. But your name has to be memorable. I personally try to infuse it with a bit of style. I try to keep it short so that it’s easy to remember. And you definitely want to check to see and make sure that no one took your name. Otherwise it’s back to the drawing board.
Design
A blog layout is as much about looks as it is about functionality. What kind of information is this blog designed to convey? Too little information and readers will leave out of boredom. Too much and they leave because its overwhelming. Not only that, but how readers go from page to page is essential. What draws their eyes? What’s the first thing they read? How does the blogger plan to capture their attention?
A lot of thought is placed into things like where the comment link is or how to contact the author. These things are seemingly minor but it’s what separates mediocre blogs from really good blogs. Everything from text size to what shade of the dominant color is crucial because these aspects shape the overall feel of the blog. I’ve seen blogs where people hide their subscribe button in the footer. That’s just poor design. Why would you make it difficult for someone to subscribe to your blog? Catch their attention and hold it.
Content
It makes my blood boil when the first thing I see is a “Welcome” post. I know, I used to encourage people to do this before. But that’s for newer bloggers. I said that to make them get their feet wet and build up their confidence. It’s a post they can write to show themselves off and get readers to know more about them. I don’t think I’ll bother with an introduction post. Everything that needs to be known can be placed in the about or footer section.
I have much work to do. But boy do I feel energized.
Hi, I'm Matt. I'm a gamer (World of Warcraft) but when I'm not playing, I'm busy writing. Whatever I'm not writing professionally for will end up here. I don't share much of "me" on my other projects, so this place is the closest you'll get to knowing "me". Not Matt the gamer, Matt the writer, or Matt the foodie. Just Matt.