One Year Anniversary Today!

By David Walsh on July 30, 2008

The David Walsh Blog turns one year old today. It's been a very exciting year! Here are some of my thoughts and some statistics from the first year.

Highlights

The highlight has to be being featured on the DiggNation podcast. Kevin and Alex discussed my article 9 Signs You Shouldn't Hire THAT Web Guy. Kevin agreed with all of my points and I was really flattered that they chose my article.
Of course for the above to happen, I would need to have had an article published to the Digg Homepage. My 9 Signs article was the lone article to hit the Digg homepage in year one. The URL that was submitted to Digg was the DZone reprint so I didn't get the 100,000+ hits from it, but at least my server didn't go down like DZone's.
DZone hired me as a CSS, AJAX, and PHP Zone Leader during their initial "Zones" launch. It was nice to work DZone and the experienced experts assembled by DZone.
I was offered the opportunity to author a MooTools book recently, which I turned down. It was still flattering to be asked.
I've gotten to "meet" (online) some really awesome developers, including CSS-Tricks founder Chris Coyier, DZone's Rick Ross, and numerous bloggers including Eric Wendelin, Jeremy Martin, and Mark Sanborn.
I somehow convinced over 1,300 people that I know enough for them to subscribe to my RSS feed.

I need to get an article promoted to the Digg homepage again, and on my domain this time. It's so damn hard to get a non-Apple computer technology promoted these days, so it will be an uphill climb.
I'd like to continue to network with programmers at larger companies. I'd love to know how places like Sun, Zend, Facebook, and Digg program their sites. I'm extremely interested in Facebook.
I'd like to do a podcast or video podcast. I think talking through an example would help to explain my ideas and theories. Some ideas are just too difficult to write as a post.
I'd like to grow my RSS feed by a multiple of two or three.
I'd like to complete a group project with some of the developers I've met online and possibly turn it into a business. There's nothing wrong with a little extra income.
I'd like to create a Facebook application. Something simple but useful.

Thanks to everyone that has followed me this first year -- I hope you stick around for a few more!

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Andrew
Congrats on hitting the one year mark.

Sounds like some good (and realistic) aims for the next year. Best of luck.
amosmos
Congratulations David!

I enjoy reading your blog in the past year and I learn a lot from it. There is a lot written about MooTools that is less interesting to me, but I find a lot of value in the other subjects you write about.

We are very similar in our professional lives (except I’m working in the other side of the world in Israel) and I find myself thinking “that’s exactly what I think!” on a lot of your opinions about programming.

Good luck with your goals for next year, and esp. the one about the “group project”. I’m you’ll succeed in all of them.

Amos
Eric Wendelin
It’s been interesting to watch your blog grow, and has been a good yardstick for how I hope mine turns out. Hope you can easily hit your goals for year 2.
Mark
Congrats David!! You’ve had a great year and I hope next year is even better!
Phil Thompson
Happy blog birthday David. Keep posting your great PHP tips and I’m sure this time next year you’ll have a hell of a lot more subscribers than 1,300.
Braxo
Congrats. I’m a daily reader but don’t do the whole RSS thing.

So you can add me 1,300 regulars.