2012 Blog Review

Last year I reviewed the outcomes of my blog, so I've decided to make it an annual event.

I tried hard this year to become a regular blogger, despite many things getting in the way. The key is certainly setting time aside and writing a bunch at the same time, scheduling them for later. This only takes me so far, since I have many ideas labelled in my e-mail, yet only a dozen or so currently in the schedule.

I've certainly found it rewarding. Blogging about Oracle has opened up a number of opportunities for me. It's also a useful way to affirm knowledge, and be a great reference for the future. I'm sure a number of hits are from me looking up information I know exists!

A telling metric is a comparison to last year - thank you to all my readers, old & new!

It seems late December is a quiet time...

According to Google Analytics, these are the top viewed pages for 2012

1. APEX 4.2 Wish List - It seems a lot of people wanted a say in this, bring on APEX5
2. Wrong number or types of arguments - a common error, perhaps?
3. Modifying your APEX login page - simple post, but popular concept.
4. APEX Tutorial - Form & Report sharing same page - another "grassroots" post
5. Automating APEX backups from DB - I'm glad this one's popular

Notably, #3 & #4 were written in second half of 2011, and #5 was from February 2010.

Most visits were from (what I interpret to be) Google search, then direct. About the same from feedburner & apexblogs.info, and a fast growing number from Twitter - but a mere dent compared to Google search.
Notably, Bing is down the list - below ODTUG!

Again, the US constitutes most of my readers, with India becoming a new player. UK & Germany now rank above Australian visits, which is a pleasing sign to me that it's useful to others and not just friends of friends in my home country.

Browsers: Firefox, Chrome, IE respectively

Three times as many mobile devices as the year before, but still only a fraction. iPad by far most popular, followed closely by iPhone.

Search terms were interesting, and may help drive what I write about in 2013. I've tried to be more aware of SEO issues when constructing the posts and preparing meta-data. "oracle pivot" was most popular; searches involving upcoming versions always a mainstay; "pls-306" explains my 2nd most popular page; "apex tutorial" is what caught my eye; "paul verevis" from those searching for details of our fallen friend; "oracle apex performance" is down the list, something I'd like to see more frequent, along with "apex security"
Finally, I can see what would be mainly me: "site:grassroots-oracle.com some keywords"

Responsive Web Design

At some point we should also see APEX5, but potentially before that I might suggest another release that allows for a third user interface, allowing for design that suits the three major screen sizes shown above. 3-4", 7-10", and desktops - mobile, tablet, desktop.

So in 2013, keep an eye out for many little APEX tips; continued commentary in Thursday Thought; continued Oracle Community announcements; and my prediction - plenty of posts regarding APEX mobile and Responsive Web Design.
Should I find the time to mitigate ongoing frustrations, I will also increase the frequency of the Ubuntu tag. I also see a presentation coming out of this.

Scott