All posts in: WordPress

15 Feb 2019

Yow Yow! Down

Last week, Yow Yow! was down for a total of four days. I should have known something was wrong when I tried to write back-to-back posts and the second time resulted in an error shortly after. Trying not to think anything of it, I slept it off. When I tried to visit the URL the next day, I received an error message. I later learned from GoDaddy that this is called the “White Screen of Death.” If you’re ever faced with a customer issue from them, you’ll find this on their list of options.

Long story short, I wasn’t able to fix this on my own. After speaking with a customer service rep, I paid the extra fee for “Premium Customer Service.” This service just means that they’ll take care of your issue, but they reach out to you within 72 hours. And boy, did they make me wait because I had to re-contact them again after 72 hours had passed.

The low point of this story is about how helpless I felt. I can’t code so I couldn’t go into the backend of my site and fix it myself. Instead, I had to wrestle with this feeling of throwing money at something to get it fixed. It’s not a pattern I’d like to continue down the line. After the payment though, all I could do was wait. It was completely out of my hands. On a weekend where I had hoped to spend my time writing and catching up on Fashion Week and The Grammys, I couldn’t. I thought to myself – this is what my life would be like without Yow Yow.

I would read content, but instead of keeping them afloat in my tabs, I would consume that information and then it would go into the abyss. My free time would increase 10x. I didn’t have to spend time thinking of new content, but then what would I dream about? This, I remembered, was what life was like before Yow Yow. And someday, it might be like this again. Would I be okay with it? It feels weird to not share information. This isn’t my only way of communication though. I’m a texter, emailer, verbalizer, etc. But, WordPress is home to me in a very strange way.

Any other time I have ever taken a break from Yow Yow! I was busy with work or had a vacation. Those were always my choices. This time, it wasn’t and it was scary to me. A thought flashed before me that there was a chance I might never recover Yow Yow. That also could happen someday and then what we do? Pray that we have backed this up by then.

10 Jan 2016

Yow Yow’s Yearly Recap

We didn’t intend to be as late on this post as we actually are, but unfortunately, we’ve just been a little bit under the weather. Also, if I’m being honest, I was actually dreading writing this post for the longest time because I knew how these stats would look and I wasn’t particularly excited about them. In 2015, these are the most dismal numbers we’ve ever seen. But instead of throwing ourselves a pity party, we’re going to share the numbers and then we’re going to move forward because I paid for another year on this domain and we’re not going to let it go to waste. I’m still really excited about Yow Yow! I went through each month in 2015 and quickly scanned through all of the posts that I wrote – some that I laughed at and some that I had forgotten I had even written this year. Writing in 2015 was hard and it’s often times difficult to juggle this and a full-time job that I really care about, but if we can do this for six years, we can do a 7th.

Stats from 2014 will be on the left and italicized while stats from 2015 will be right and bold:

1,400,602 total visits to Yow Yow! – – – – – – – – – – – 1,471,487 total visit to Yow Yow!

In just 2015 alone, we had 70,885 visits to Yow Yow!

10,113 Posts 2,878 Comments  – – – – – – – – – – – 11,003 Posts 2,989 comments (cumulative)

Top Post of 2015 – “Meet: Cathy Nguyen” 1,988 views (written back in 2009)

Top Post written in 2015 – “I Like Your Style…Kiernan Shipka” 303 views

Busiest month in terms of views – January 2014 (11,072 views)  – – – – – March 2015 (6,923 views)

Most popular day: Wednesday (probably due to Wedding Wednesdays!)

Most popular hour: 9:00 AM (5% of traffic)

Total WordPress.com followers: 1,476

Total daily subscribers: 2,027

Credits + References

Worked with

  • Sugar Brand Cosmetics

In 2015, we were reached out by a few brands and companies, but due to my work schedule and other time commitments, I was unable to fulfill certain requests and posts. We’ll try again in 2016!

Top Referring Sites in 2015 Were:

  • Facebook.com
  • Pinterest.com
  • Twitter.com
  • Quora.com
  • Bloglovin.com

Most of My Visitors Came From:

  • The United States
  • Canada
  • The United Kingdom
  • Germany
  • France
  • Australia

(same order as last year)

Other:

*In 2015, my friend Mandi got engaged and we gave her “Wedding Wednesdays” as a column to share her journey as she gets closer to walking down the aisle.

*We tied our Instagram account a little bit more closely to Yow Yow! And this was HUGE for us!

Screen Shot 2016-01-09 at 10.50.43 PM

*We had one of our photos used on Moorea Seal’s Instagram account.

*Things that we tried for the first time and wrote about: SoulCycle, Dry Bar, being a +1 at someone else’s wedding (also first holiday wedding on Halloween!), dyeing our hair, and attending our first Golden State Warriors game.

*Concerts we reviewed: Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

*We tried two places in LA that we had once blogged about on Yow Yow! previously: Eggslut + Milk Jar Cookies.

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*We showed love to Smilebooth and Canyon Child.

*We got in front of the camera again to do our OOTD fashion posts – the first time since 2013.

 

03 Jan 2014

Yow Yow’s Yearly Recap

Wowowow. What a year it has been for Yow Yow!

I’m not all that sad to see 2013 go because I am so looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us. 2013 was a big transition year for Yow Yow! Postings became a little bit more consistent because I was no longer in school and it started to become predictable that I would just log on right after work. It’s nice to be able to have a set schedule to be honest. When I was in school, I would post any free moment I had, which was great because maybe sometimes I would be inclined to write a post about something because it was convenient. However, I appreciate now, that I get to wait until the end of the day to sort out my thoughts and to spend some time thinking a little bit more about what I am writing. Yow Yow! has turned 5-years old! It’s hard to believe that this blog has been with me for that long and that some of you have watched me transition, grow, and hopefully write better content in that time. Thank you x 23984298 to everyone who has supported the blog during this time. If I didn’t have that, I may not still be writing today. We know for sure though that Jennie and Ashley have at least helped me keep Wedding Mondays alive.

Stats from 2012 will be on the left and italicized while stats from 2013 will be right and bold.

1,130,911 total visits to Yow Yow! – – – – – – – – – – –  1,294,886 total visits to Yow Yow!

*In just 2013, there were 163,975 visits to Yow Yow!

7,067 Posts, 2,187 Comments 10,229 Tags – – – – –  9,167 Posts 3,152 Comments 12,122Tags (cumulative)

Top Post of 2013 – “Hipster Disney Princesses In Real Life” – 15,726 views (written in 2012)

Top Post Written in 2013 – “Meet: Hollis Wong-Wear” – 2,071 views

Busiest Month in Terms of Views – October 2012 (49,821 views) – – – – – January 2013 (24,905 views)

Highest Average Visits Per Day – October 2012 (1,607 views) – – – – –  – January 2013 (803 views)

*Busiest Day – October 5, 2010 (4,239 views)

Credits + References

Worked with

  • Gilt City
  • Postmates
  • Dry Soda
  • Gratify
  • Nordstrom Wedding Suite at the Seattle Nordstrom Flagship

“Women Who Are Making It” Series:

  • SuChin Pak
  • Molly Young
  • Kendall Herbst
  • Hollis Wong-Wear

Top Referring Sites in 2013 Were:

  • Pinterest.com
  • Facebook.com
  • Twitter.com
  • Android.pinterest.com
  • holliswongwear.com

Most of My Visitors Came From:

  • The United States
  • Canada
  • The United Kingdom

Music Festivals Covered:

  • Capitol Hill Block Party
  • Bumbershoot

Other:

*We started a new series on Fridays called “Take Me There” and “Truth and Words” Sundays

*We ended the series “Thought Catalog Roundup.”

*New graphics and headers by Leanna Robb! [Facebook, Twitter, Blog]

* We made a Facebook page! Like us.

*We packed up and moved to the Bay area! [Seattle, forever <3 – I promise]

*Veronica became an official part of Yow Yow!

*We received our very first press passes for Yow Yow!

*We started “Conversations From 20-Somethings.”

*We hit 1,000+ subscribers!

*We followed-up with some of our previous guest writers from a year ago:

*We made some videos! Like this unveiling video below:

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/72560700]

and one last hoo-rah with Space Girl

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/64044836]

*We had a memorable Twitter interaction:

Here’s to what we hope will be a very exciting 2014!

03 Oct 2013

Blog Roundup

The Dos and Don’ts of gaining blog traffic [WordPress]

Jet Blue launches a new premium brand called “Mint” [USA Today]

SF Startup HotelTonight on what they look for when they hire. [LinkedIn] As a recruiter, I can definitely attest to these

11 Super foods for your skin and your brain [Brit + Co]

The history of the word “cool” [Slate]

Why we cry on airplanes [Refinery29]

The power of side projects [Start Something]

20 May 2013

Yahoo Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion

The news was released this morning, but it has taken me until the end of the day to post about it. This morning it was announced that Yahoo purchased Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Can you imagine what you could do with that much? Apparently, buy out an entire social media platform. At Yow Yow! we like our Yahoo, but we like our Tumblr a little more only because Tumblr provides us with the inspiration to construct our “A Collection” posts. With this new acquisition, everyone is wondering how things will change. I read an article this morning that the number of WordPress users spiked last night as they migrated their Tumblrs over to my platform. I also heard Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer promise “not to screw it up.”

“The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.”

With Tumblr going corporate, I could see a lot of great things coming out of this, but as always you can’t make everyone happy and there are certainly those that are unhappy. For now. Readers, I know some of you are on Tumblr. How do you feel about the new change? Will you stick with the company and remain loyal or will you make a switch?

[Source]

03 May 2013

Ghost

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RkcPDHp6lo]

I am loving the simplicity of this new blogging platform! I don’t know if I could abandon ship on WordPress especially since I have had it for over four years, but I am open to the idea of new platforms that are changing with the times. I like the minimalistic look, but I also like that Ghost kind of simplifies the process for people who love to write, but aren’t always the most technical. Because that’s not what blogging should be about, right? It’s about the content. You can view their Kickstarter here.

[Source]

18 Mar 2013

Pinterest Analytics

When it comes to numbers and data, I am such a geek. I guess that kind of goes hand-in-hand with blogging though right? Readers on Pinterest, have you checked out your analytics yet and if so what do you think? I’m obsessed with my WordPress stats and check everyday mostly because I’m so curious where all of y’all are coming from!

Also, if you’re not following me on Pinterest yet, please feel free to do so 🙂

19 Apr 2012

Song of the Day

spotify:track:4tXekVBCwyk5elmPUUie8i

Kimbra – Good Intent

I love WordPress. I love Spotify. My two favorite things in the world have just merged y’all and it is kind of blowing my mind! If you have stuck around with Yow Yow for a couple of years now, you know that I have struggled in the past with choosing an outlet to highlight my Song of the Day’s. I started out with some really weird looking YouTube videos that were a mix of music videos and ones that were made by fans. Then I moved onto SoundCloud because it had a much sleeker design and it was easy to use. Today, we’re trying out this new Spotify x WordPress merge. Literally, my life – or my Song of the Day selections could not be made any easier. All I have to do is go into my Spotify library, right click the song, copy the URL and paste it here.

I like this method a lot, but I wanna know what you guys think. Which format do you prefer to see Song of the Days in?

[polldaddy poll=6151593]

09 Mar 2012

WordPress World Stats

This morning, WordPress revealed their new stats feature that highlights a world map and tells me where exactly my readers are coming from. Before this function existed, I really had no idea. The only indication I had was receiving emails whenever I had a new subscriber and WordPress telling me, “We think they might be from Australia.” Well, okay then. This, however, is so much more accurate. The stats you see above are currently for this morning and it’s making my day knowing that I’ve got readers in places that I didn’t know that I could reach.

Thank you for continuing to read Yow Yow! Please continue to leave comments and ask me questions. I see that you all are a huge fan of liking my posts and that’s cool and all, but I’d like to eventually move that into having discussions and being able to have a conversation about some of the things I’m writing about.

Thanks again and I hope you all have a great Friday!

30 Dec 2011

Yow Yow’s Yearly Recap

This year, the statistics behind Yow Yow! have served as a great resource for me in deciding which direction to take the blog. The stats may not have been as high as they were last year, but regardless the blog is still trucking on and you know what? I’m proud of what it’s become after three years. I’m still enjoying writing for it and if you guys are still enjoying the content – then that’s all that matters to me.

Stats from 2010 will be on the right and italicized while stats from 2011 will be left and bold.

465,007 total visits to Yow Yow! – – – – – – – – – – –  750,119+ (since the day isn’t over yet and this does not include tomorrow) total visits to Yow Yow!

*In just 2011, there were 285,112 visits to Yow Yow!

3,538 Posts, 1,163 Comments 6,534 Tags – – – – – – – – – – 5,510 Posts 1,523 Comments 8,763 Tags (cumulative)

Top Post of 2011 – “Meet: Cathy Nguyen” – 18,460

Top Post Written in 2011 – “Elizabeth Taylor Dies of Congestive Heart Failure” – 3,592

Busiest Month in Terms of Views – December 2011 (31,200 views) – – – – – – – — January 2011 (31,761 views)

Average Visits Per Day – December 2010 (1,018 views) – – – – –  – – – – February 2011 (1,060 views)

*Busiest Day – October 5, 2010 (4,239 views)

Interviews Conducted With:

Actor Chris Smith

MTV reality series star Liz Lee

Duncan Penn and Ben Nemtin from The Buried Life

Credits + References

Worked with St. Martin’s Press
Worked with Teen Vogue
Worked with Clean & Clear
Worked with Knock Knock gifts

Featured by Q13 FOX News

Referenced by Outside Lands Music Festival