Using Custom Domains with your StageBloc account

At StageBloc, we want to make your web presence extraordinary. Part of creating that experience is allowing users to make their StageBloc account more personalized in every way we can. Provoding for custom domain names is a big step in that direction.

If you have a paid StageBloc account plan, you can now add a custom domain to your account so users can visit your custom URL instead of stagebloc.com/account_name to see all of your updates.

Steps

Before doing anything, you should first make sure that you've upgraded from a free StageBloc account plan. Custom domains are not supported on free accounts.

To begin you'll need to purchase a domain name for your account. This can be done at registrars such as NameCheap, GoDaddy, or Name.com. Once you have your domain name, you'll need to make a change to that domain's A Record. The steps to do this depend on your domain registrar. Some common domain registrars' instructions have been listed below:

• GoDaddy - See "To Edit an A Record"
• NameCheap
• 1&1
• Name

You should be pointing your domain's A Record IP address to 72.32.198.228. Please note that this change can take some time (up to 24 hours or more) to get through your registrars records and actually update the domain name.

Next, you'll need to go into the account management section of your StageBloc admin section to add your domain name. To do this, log in to StageBloc and click "Management" in the top right. Find the "Custom Domain" text box and enter the domain name you want to use with your StageBloc account.

Once the configuration changes go through with your registrar, you'll be able to visit your site at your very own URL. Hooray!

Quietly Accelerating

For the past few months we've been quietly busy. Heads down we've eliminated distractions to prioritize focus and accelerate development. Instead of spending time promoting each new update, we've poured ourselves into refining StageBloc into the best service possible.

Though we've been quiet about our progress, productivity has never been higher and the product has never been better. It's amazing what you can accomplish when an incredible team comes together with focus, clear direction, and a lack of distractions.

Highlights from the past few months include a major overhaul to our iPhone app, the completion of our theming engine, and numerous refinements throughout everything. Each update represents a piece to a much larger puzzle. Together they come together to create an exciting final picture.

Over the next month we'll be entering Private Beta and begin slowly unveiling all our hard work. Seamlessly integrated web and mobile apps that help you easily create, share, and discover new content to engage a community of connected followers. Creating and managing an internet presence has never been easier.

Sign up here to get on the list for early access. From content mashups to custom layouts, we can't wait to see what you do with StageBloc.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

StageBloc, now with Facebook Integration

At StageBloc we're constantly trying to integrate with more and more of the other sites and services you use everyday. In fact, you're probably already accustomed to our seamless Twitter integration. Now we're happy to announce that we've implemented and released basic Facebook integration. You can now simultaneously post status updates to Twitter, Facebook, and your own website.

How does it work?

Using the Facebook Graph API, StageBloc users can now add a Facebook account to their StageBloc account just as easily as they already can with Twitter. The process is as simple as follows... 1. Hit "Add" for a Facebook integration on your personal or account settings page. 2. Accept the permissions page that is presented by Facebook. 3. There actually isn't a third step. It only takes two. Facebook will then allow StageBloc to access your Facebook profile on your behalf based on the permissions we requested.

Once you've completed those steps, you'll be able to seamlessly send status updates to your Twitter, Facebook, and StageBloc powered website all at the same time with a single click. Currently, status updates are the only place where you will see Facebook integration. However, our roadmap includes the addition of many, many more integrations including photos and events.

What permissions are you requesting and why?

When you integrate your Facebook account you'll see a listing of all the permissions we are asking for. This will look similar to the image below. The reason you see so many requests is because we see plenty of oppurtunity to create some great services for our users. But to do that we'll need to have permission to do so. Don't worry, we're good people and won't do anything with your Facebook profile that we wouldn't want someone else doing with ours. We simply want to make the experience as good as we can for our end users.

Asking for all of these permissions will give us the ability to, for instance, post status updates to your wall on your behalf or add photos to your Facebook profile that you've also added to StageBloc. If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Information for other developers

The Facebook PHP SDK has come quite a ways since we last used it. That said, the documentation around it isn't up to par with other libraries we've used. If you've got any questions about it for us or any of our developers, feel free to create an account on our developer forums and ask away. We're always happy to help out!

Presentation Follow-Up: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

This was written following a presentation I gave at the Spreenkler Meetup in Milwaukee, WI. Though considered fly-over land by most on the coasts, Milwaukee is home to a surprising wealth of startups, seed incubators like 94 Labs, entrepreneurs, creatives, and otherwise like-minded, wonderful individuals. It's a vibrant and growing community of which I am proud to be a part of.

While this post glosses over details discussed in the presentation, I am working on writing down the story of StageBloc and how I turned an obstacle (8 years of experimental and intensive reconstructive hip surgeries) into an opportunity to find success and happiness. That story is a difficult one to tell so it should be no surprise it is taking me far longer than it should to commit to paper…

Turn obstacles into opportunities and be relentlessly resourceful in your pursuit for happiness and success.

A sincere thank you to everyone who came out last night. It is incredibly wonderful seeing the community come together and support one another like this. The more we can continue moving forward as a cohesive entity the stronger we'll all be.

While talking about my hip is a difficult thing for me to do (so I humbly appreciate the support), my goal was to tell an inspiring story of turning obstacles into opportunities. Through that I honestly hope at least some of you were moved and found words of wisdom and encouragement through the tale.

I'm here to help and will do anything I can to support everyone else in this (and other) growing community(s), so please don't hesitate to contact me (@tomgiles) with questions, input, assistance, or anything you may need. Simply reach out and I'll gladly setup a time to meet in person, on Skype, or simply correspond through email. Community is key and I'll do everything and anything I can to help support and grow it.

Having gone through such an extreme and strenuous experience, I was forced to learn firsthand how to make the most of a tough situation and not only survive, but excel. I'm proud of the fact that beyond simply making it through 8 years of multiple hip surgeries and rehabilitation, I concurrently completed my college degree (while at home in bed rest and otherwise on crutches), lived in London and helped manage a multi-platinum selling artist, travelled all over the world (while on a cane), played in a rock band, taught myself to code, became a certified middle and high school teacher, and founded 2.5 startups.

Along the way I've learned a lot of lessons,

• Surround yourself with an incredible team. A quality support group is essential in all walks of life. Without my parents supporting me through my surgeries, I likely would never have made it through those first few months let alone the entire 8 years. While tough to admit, that is incredibly true and scary to consider. StageBloc would never have been in the position it is today without our incredible team of co-founders, developers, friends, and advisors. And the entire MKE startup scene wouldn't exist without the support and community being grown through such groups as Spreenkler.
• Organization can make juggling the many hats we all wear far easier. I personally abide by a "Evening To Do List" routine through which I map out the next day's plans before bed each night. Try it sometime; it's incredible how much your productivity will increase when you know exactly what to do when you start your day.
• Don't accept failure. Success is often made by those who simply never give up. To them, failure is not an option. If I could test for true and honest perseverance, I would hire everyone who passed.
• Network with other entrepreneurs, creatives, and like-minded individuals. The entrepreneurial community is key and paramount to everyone's collaborative success. We're all in this together... especially in developing scenes like Milwaukee.

Though unfortunate circumstances led us astray during my presentation last evening (two people fainted... and I still feel awful about it), my take home message was important and I honestly believe it can be used in any situation you encounter. Whether in your own startup or some other walk of life, I hope that my story and message can help you in some fashion.

Turn obstacles into opportunities and be relentlessly resourceful in your pursuit for happiness and success.

Full Photo Management with the StageBloc iPhone App

You can now manage your entire Photos section with the official StageBloc iPhone app. Take photos, create albums, and edit information for both from a streamlined, mobile interface. And with full integration throughout all of StageBloc, you can now easily create photo focused blogs, post status updates, add images to event descriptions, and upload new account images entirely from your phone.

Photos represent a major focus as we continue developing and expanding StageBloc. By simplifying the process of content creation with our fully integrated ecosystem of tools and services, we are working hard to help you manage your entire internet presence more effectively.

Blog Photo Uploading

When creating new blogs you can now upload multiple images and easily insert them directly into your post. This lets you quickly create new photo focused updates and streamlines the process of creating new content.

Multiple photo uploading for blog posts is just the first step as we begin rolling out StageBloc's photo capabilities. And this is all just another piece of the puzzle as we continue building towards an official launch of StageBloc.

Up next on the "photo front" we'll be releasing,

• full photo management capabilities for our iPhone app (and Android)
• multiple image uploading throughout the platform
• photo modules to our open source Front-end Framework
• updates to our web-based photo management section

All these photo updates are about streamlining the entire content creation process. And that is directly in line with one of our fundamental values at StageBloc -- Create. Consume. Discover. Share.

We also have a couple of photo-related surprises coming later this summer, but you'll just have to wait with bated breath for more on those...