Lords of the Blog » Hansard Society http://lordsoftheblog.net Life and Work in the House of Lords Wed, 23 May 2012 08:56:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Time for a spring clean http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/05/04/time-for-a-spring-clean/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/05/04/time-for-a-spring-clean/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 05:00:01 +0000 Andy Williamson http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=7469 It’s spring so we’ve been doing a few little jobs behind the scenes at Lords of the Blog and tomorrow they’re ready for release. This means that the blog will be down very briefly this morning (Wednesday May 4th), but that should only last for a few minutes… however, just to be on the safe side and to let the dust settle, please can you hold off posting comments between 9am and 12pm, just in case (if you do and it hasn’t appeared 24 hours later, please repost)!

The changes you’ll see on the front end are largely cosmetic; we’ve made some changes to commenting and registration that should hopefully make the process easier and better (more to come later). We’ve added a set of pre-defined topics for the bloggers that will make it easier to track blogs relating to your favourite topics. And we’ve tweaked the front end so that the author’s name and the date of the post appear at the top with the photograph and title, rather than in the  footer.

Andy

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/05/04/time-for-a-spring-clean/feed/ 1 Meet the bloggers… http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/02/23/meet-the-bloggers/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/02/23/meet-the-bloggers/#comments Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:11:53 +0000 Beccy Allen http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=6894 When Lords of the Blog began in March 2008, the project was unique, innovative and challenging for both the blogging Peers and the House of Lords. We hope that this is still very much the case! We have had some fascinating and sometimes heated debates, on subjects as varied as prostitution, home education and, of course, House of Lords reform.

As some of our most loyal contributors to the blog might have realised, Lords of the Blog is coming up to its third anniversary. We think this is cause for celebration, as well as reflection on the future direction of the Blog, and we’d like to invite you to an event in the House of Lords. We will have Paul Waugh, Editor of Politics Home, giving us his thoughts on the political blogging landscape, as well as some of your favourite bloggers sharing their thoughts and experiences of the blog over the past three years.

This event will be an opportunity for you to give us your thoughts on where the blog should be going in the future and any improvements or changes you’d like to see. You’ll also get the opportunity to meet with a number of the bloggers face-to-face…

We have got space for 20 audience members to attend the event – if you’d like to come along please email hans_admin@hansard.lse.ac.uk with your full name and email address – we will then send confirmation details including when and where the event will take place. Registrations will be accepted until 5pm Wednesday 9 March. Spaces will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/02/23/meet-the-bloggers/feed/ 19 Lords of the Blog – back open for business http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/05/12/lords-of-the-blog-back-open-for-business/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/05/12/lords-of-the-blog-back-open-for-business/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 15:53:13 +0000 Beccy Allen http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=5016 Thank you all so much for your patience during our period in Purdah. Lords of the Blog is now back up and running!

I imagine there is quite a bit that our bloggers are waiting to write about and discuss with Lords of the Blog fans…..

Beccy Allen, Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/05/12/lords-of-the-blog-back-open-for-business/feed/ 2 The UK general election and Lords of the Blog http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/04/12/the-uk-general-election-and-lords-of-the-blog/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/04/12/the-uk-general-election-and-lords-of-the-blog/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:14:16 +0000 Andy Williamson http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=4960 Both Houses of Parliament dissolved on 12 April with the general election in the UK on 6 May.

We have been instructed by the House of Lords Administration that Lords of the Blog needs to observe the rules of purdah during the election period. We were hoping this would just mean careful management of content and comments but we have subsequently been advised that this could be insufficient.

So, given this blog’s close association with the House of Lords we have reluctantly agreed to suspend Lord of the Blog for the duration of the election. It will return on 18 May when Members of the House of Lords are sworn in before the start of the next Parliament.

In the meantime, we have agreed with the bloggers to set up an alternative blog that will run for the period of purdah. So, for the next few weeks, please join us at the Lords in Purdah…

You’ll also find Lord Norton’s new more personal blog, ‘Norton View’ at http://www.nortonview.wordpress.com

Andy Williamson, Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/04/12/the-uk-general-election-and-lords-of-the-blog/feed/ 5 What should change about Lords of the Blog? http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/03/04/what-should-change-about-lords-of-the-blog/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/03/04/what-should-change-about-lords-of-the-blog/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:55:40 +0000 Beccy Allen http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=4605 We’re really keen to hear what you think about Lords of the Blog and what would improve your experience of the blog. We’re still looking for people to take part in this research so please do get involved. If you’re interested in giving us your opinions and suggestions about how to improve the blog email elizabeth.jordan@tns-bmrb.co.uk or andrew.hunter@tns-bmrb.co.uk and they will contact you about what happens next.

For further information about this research please visit this earlier post……

Thanks!

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/03/04/what-should-change-about-lords-of-the-blog/feed/ 0 Help us to improve Lords of the Blog http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/02/26/help-us-to-improve-lords-of-the-blog/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/02/26/help-us-to-improve-lords-of-the-blog/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:42:42 +0000 Andy Williamson http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=4567 We would really like to know what you think about Lords of the Blog and to understand how you think it could be improved.

To do this, we’ve asked an independent research agency, TNS-BMRB, to conduct some online research at the beginning of March. TNS-BMRB have set up an online space  where you can post comments about Lords of the Blog , we’d really like as many of you as possible to tell us what you like about the site and where you think changes can be made to make it easy to use, better to navigate or anything else that you can think of.

You will be asked to contribute to the ‘bulletin board’ each day for four days and to describe your experience of using the blog.

If you would like to contribute to this research, or would like more information about it, please e-mail Elizabeth or Andrew at TNS-BMRB and they will contact you directly.

Thanks in advance to all of you who can help us with this, we know a lot of you value Lords of the Blog and we’re keen to listen to you so we can make it even better!

Andy Williamson, Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2010/02/26/help-us-to-improve-lords-of-the-blog/feed/ 39 A new coat of paint http://lordsoftheblog.net/2009/07/01/a-new-coat-of-paint/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2009/07/01/a-new-coat-of-paint/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:08:02 +0000 Andy Williamson http://lordsoftheblog.net/?p=2918 You’ll notice today that the look and feel of the blog has changed. You’ll see a new, cleaner interface and some changes and improvements to the layout. These have been carried out by digital design agency Reading Room.

Just for today, however, you’ll have to bear with us as the implementation means things will move around a bit. The site will hopefully settle down by the end of the day, so if things aren’t quite right, our apologies!

This re-launch also marks another auspicious event – the project is no longer in Beta but is now a fully-fledged live blog! Since we launched Lords of the Blog, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive from all sides so this day marks a major milestone for us all.

We hope that you find the new layout a little friendlier and more usable!

Andy Williamson, Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2009/07/01/a-new-coat-of-paint/feed/ 25 Lords of the Blog healthcheck http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/11/18/lords-of-the-blog-healthcheck/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/11/18/lords-of-the-blog-healthcheck/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:38:46 +0000 hansardsociety http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/?p=1096 hs-logo-black-no-strapline
Lords of the Blog has been running since January 2008 and was launched in March 2008. An evaluation of the first six months of the pilot was carried out by the Hansard Society: everything about the blog – from the ways that authors respond to visitors, to the layout of the website – has been scrutinised. To ensure objectivity, the perspectives of site visitors, blog authors,media commentators and the House of Lords staff have been solicited (via pre and post- engagement surveys for users; the collection of stakeholder feedback and site statistics; and the tracking of media narratives about the initiative) and analysed.

One of the surprise findings was that only 70% of site visitors were based in the UK: we’re glad to see that the blog has attracted interest from people around the world and that it has inspired them. The blog was the first of its kind and as such, the evaluation has been useful in highlighting the fact that it has primarily appealled to those who are already interested in politics – even if they have never formally engaged with political institutions before. Moreover, the demographics of Lords of the Blog readers tend to reflect those of visitors to other political websites; they tend to be young men, so one of the key questions is whether and how the blog can appeal to a broader cross-section of the public than it does at present.

To answer this question, we have relied on feedback from users, bloggers and media commentators: important points have been made about the look and feel of the site. We’ve started to improve these by providing better search functions, and an experimental banner. We’re also hoping to introduce more Members of the Lords to blogging, whether as guests or regular contributors, and to develop the site in ways that tie in more with topical parliamentary debates. More is going to be done to promote the blog to the public in general, but we’ve also decided to use more video and picture content; many readers said this would help to generate interest. Please continue to give us your feedback and ideas, via the Feedback Survey. And if you’re new to the blog, why don’t you tell us about yourself via our Newcomers Survey ?

Meanwhile, we hope you continue to enjoy the blog.

Laura Miller, Hansard Society
]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/11/18/lords-of-the-blog-healthcheck/feed/ 27 Help us to evaluate Lords of the Blog! http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/07/24/help-us-to-evaluate-lords-of-the-blog/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/07/24/help-us-to-evaluate-lords-of-the-blog/#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:20:10 +0000 Andy Williamson http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/?p=548
Hansard Society - eDemocracy Programme
Hansard Society
eDemocracy Programme

As Lord Norton mentioned yesterday, the House has now risen for summer recess. We’re expecting to see posts continue over the summer (although at a more sedate pace!), certainly a number of our contributors have already promised to write!

Lords of the Blog has been live since March and we’re about to start an evaluation of the pilot.

Some of you will have noticed that, over on the right hand side of the page, there are links to two surveys. Thank you to everyone that has already filled these in, the feedback we have received so far is very helpful!

If you haven’t filled in the surveys yet, we’d really like you to so that we can hear your views on the blog.

They’re only short and it won’t take you long! All of the feedback we receive will go into the evaluation and so it will help us assess who uses the blog, how successful it has been and what we can do to improve it in the future.

Andy Williamson
Director – eDemocracy Programme, Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/07/24/help-us-to-evaluate-lords-of-the-blog/feed/ 4 Welcome to the testing phase of Lords of the Blog pilot http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/01/16/welcome-to-the-testing-phase-of-lords-of-the-blog-pilot/ http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/01/16/welcome-to-the-testing-phase-of-lords-of-the-blog-pilot/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:20:04 +0000 hansardsociety http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/welcome-to-the-testing-phase-of-lords-of-the-blog-pilot/ Thank you for agreeing to participate in this pilot blogging exercise.

Please feel free to post as often as you wish during this 3 week testing phase of the pilot.

If you have any problems or queries don’t hesistate to contact me.

Many thanks,

Barry Griffiths

Hansard Society

]]> http://lordsoftheblog.net/2008/01/16/welcome-to-the-testing-phase-of-lords-of-the-blog-pilot/feed/ 5