Puffbox

It's a sign of how far WordPress has come, that I find myself noting the Telegraph's transfer of its blogging platform to WordPress purely because I feel I should... and not because it's especially exciting. I mean, if you were going to set up a large-scale public blogging community, why on earth wouldn't you use [...] read on »

This week saw the next phase in the incremental redesign of the Department For International Development's website. It's a much airier, brighter look than before, and with a YouTube video front and centre, plus all those drop shadows, rounded corners and various JQuery effects, it feels bang up to date. There's a new 'top layer' [...] read on »

Labour MP for Newport West, Paul Flynn has apparently 'been stripped of a Parliamentary allowance for making fun of other MPs on his blog', if you read today's BBC piece on the subject. Flynn himself tells the story slightly differently, on said blog. I've had a similar run-in with my own MP, Newbury's Richard Benyon (Con). [...] read on »

Is it just me, or is the new Financial Times website design, being rolled out progressively this week, heavily influenced by blogs - and remarkably reminiscent of the Downing Street site? Whilst other sites seem keen to cram ever more into their homepages, the new FT homepage makes the site feel really quite small. Just ten [...] read on »

It's great to see the Foreign Office's Stephen Hale raising his head above the parapet, and blogging about his job as 'Head of Engagement'. (Quite a job title, by the way.) Makes sense for numerous reasons of course, not least as a means of setting a good example for colleagues. I mean, would you trust [...] read on »

The latest Puffbox project gets a soft launch today, ahead of a formal (and hopefully high-profile) announcement next week. DFID Bloggers is a satellite site off the main Department for International Development website, and follows in the FCO's footsteps of giving front-line staff a blog on which to talk about their work and experiences. In some [...] read on »

Well, here's a first. Government press officers haven't been the most enthused by new media. I'm told that's changing, slowly but surely. But it's quite startling to see a press office announcing a blog which hasn't even been launched yet - and even better, syndicating the content via press release! Clearly the Scotland Office are pretty [...] read on »

I'd like to wish a happy first birthday to Margaret Hodge's DCMS Diary. I thought I knew of every Ministerial blog out there, but a client mentioned this one to me earlier this week, and I was amazed to see it had been going so long. (Hodge only arrived at DCMS at the end of [...] read on »

When you think of 'official' blogging platforms inside government, the obvious example is the Foreign Office blogs site - headed of course by David Miliband, but featuring some truly remarkable contributions from various global 'hotspots' (Beijing, Kosovo, Zimbabwe). But it's not the only one out there, and it'll soon be joined by others. One which rarely [...] read on »

A few more developments over at the Foreign Office to note. Meg Munn, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is now blogging - making a total of 3 FCO ministers, along with Messrs Miliband and Murphy. They've also been bringing in a few other Embassy staff - including the High Commissioners to Nigeria and Malta, both [...] read on »