State of the Blog and Future

Well its time for me to update everyone on the state of IcyHotHunks.  First I want to thank everyone that has come back to my corner of the web.  It’s been just over a year now that I started using WordPress (the blog) in conjunction with 4Images (the Galleries) as the main content of IcyHotHunks.  The domain continues to grow at about 8% every month.   Google Analytics reports that over the last 30 days there were 25,970 visits and 349,915 page views.  At the beginning of February the galleries crossed the 1 million hits threshold and 8000+ images.  In January 68GB of data was transferred out to the users.

I am testing out a new feature called Global Translator Pro for WordPress.  It translates the blog into numerous languages automatically.  Using my web stats I picked the top languages and included them above.  If you want your native language added just let me know.  I will re-evaluate the plugin in about two weeks.

My Thoughts with some questions answered.

1. Comments are moderated on the Blog for basically one reason, to avoid spam.  You would be surprised the amount of comment spam I get each and every day that needs to be filtered.  I have only moderated comments twice by a user in the blog’s history, when they basically asked “to be fucked” by the model.   Let’s be clear here, I love comments they are the feedback (positive and negative) that lets me know what you guys think or feel about what I do here.
2. I get asked why I don’t have more “adult” content.  There are a few reasons.  I have a huge backlog of images, “closer looks” at various models, and cute YouTube entries to last more than 8 months without even looking or surfing the web for more stuff.  Adding other content would just create a bigger backlog.  I feel the blog needs to focus on a theme (i.e. Hot Hunks), there are plenty of places to get your fill of gay news, bears, asians, twinks, naked. hardcore etc.
3. What about running community message Forums?   In the past IcyHotHunks had a vibrant active forum that was loved and used by many people.  When I shutdown the website in 2006 they moved to a Yahoo Group (IcyHotMen) where they continue to thrive.   I did setup a Forum for about two months (phpBB) but there appeared to be no interest and the site was constantly hit by spammers.  The only way for a forum to succeed is with a dedicated moderator(s) and users.   I would happily put a forum up if some one volunteered to run the board.  Any takers?
4. Duplicate Images?   In a nutshell I hate having duplicate images in a category.  I do my best to filter them out but the software I use along with my eyeballs are only so good.  If and when you spot a duplicate please let me know so I can remove them.

The Future

1. I am working on setting up a hosting system for those of you interested blogging more seriously than the free Blogger by Google.   My goal is to offer a service that allows you to learn to use Linux and WordPress in a safe judgement free environment at a reasonable cost.  Unlike Blogger that removes Lesbian and Gay blogs without warning my hosting would be judgement, and censorship free, and I would be available to walk you through or answer questions via Skype.
2. Doing Social Networking such as Facebook, and Twitter has crossed my mind but I am unsure if this media format it really necessary.

Finally, if you have any ideas or suggestions to improve your experience here please let me know via a comment or email.