When we covered Piwik Analytics last year, they were  at  version 0.2.34. More then a year later and they are closing in on version 1.o. The current version 0.9 is a vast improvement over  0.2.3.4. The interface is crisp, the features are more robust then ever and they even have an iPhone & Android app. To install on your server you need at least PHP 5.1 and a Mysql database. Its quite simple to set up, and under 5 minutes you can start tracking your visitors. You can also check out the demo here. Trust us , you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see what Piwik offers you for free. You’ll also see why its our preferred choice for a hosted analytics solution.

In case you missed the announcement, WordPress 3.1 will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4. Starting in 2011, WordPress 3.2, will require at the minimum PHP version 5.2 and MySQL version 5.0.15.

Have no fear though. Most of you are probably running what is required – especially if you have a good host. If you’re not sure, WordPress has created a plugin in order to determine which versions your host provides and if you’re ready for WordPress 3.2.  WordPress suggests holding onto the plugin because in a future release it will provide all sorts of useful information about your server and your WordPress install.

So in short, if you host isn’t giving what you need, its time for a move.

Automated Sentiment Analysis via the social web is a relatively new field. The idea is to analyze status updates, tweets and blog posts on topics and assign a positive, negative or neutral view of them. It relies on analyzing content through Natural Language Processing (NLP). Maria Ogneva at Mashable recently wrote an excellent article on the topic and outlining the technology, but as for usefulness for most businesses we disagree.

Our view is to beware and not get star struck by the idea of Automated Sentiment Analysis from any vendor trying to sell you on it. This is what you need to look know before paying for any Automated Sentiment Analysis system:

1- Are you a big enough brand, with a unique name? Blue chip companies get people talking. If you are a small business chances are not a lot of people are talking about you. A simple search at something like Scoopler.com can let you know. Hopefully as well you have a unique name. Good luck if the name of your brand or company are common words. A bakery called “FreshBread” will have a lot of trouble finding people only talking about their business.

2- Are you engaged in Social Media?
If you are tracking conversations about your brand, it helps if you’re engaged and adding your own voice. For example, if you don’t Tweet how can someone re-tweet and add their opinion?

3- Are you products something easily identifiable?
If you want to track a recent product you have release make sure it has a name you can track. Something unique. Common names, like Bread or Cupcake might be hard to track, unless you have a unique company name.

4- Who are your customers and what is your industry?
If your customers are older, and don’t even have a computer how do you expect them to be online talking about you? Or examine if are you in an industry that even uses social media. Do your competitors use it? I know it’s hard to believe but some industries, don’t engage in social media. Therefore, it very likely no one will be talking about them and Sentiment Analysis would be a waste of time and money.

5- Where are you customers located? Will they be speaking English?
Sentiment Analysis has issues with sarcasm, jokes, cultural factors, linguistic nuances and more. Basically, just there are issues with automated translation, automated sentiment suffers from the same. The only way automated sentiment analysis would work are huge complex algorithms, that have the permutations in the native language and how sentences are constructed. We are far from here.

If you are able to answer these questions with positive answers and still intent on exploring Automated Sentiment Analysis, the one vendor that has been most promising in this field has been Radian6. We believe this tool only makes sense for companies with large brands with a highly engaged audience.

In a nutshell, Automated Sentiment Analysis is a great idea, and can be helpful, but vendors still have a lot of work to do in getting it right.

We knew the day would finally come and today it has. Google Analytics is now letting users opt-out of being tracked by Google Analytics. It also works in all major browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. The beta version of the opt-out app can be downloaded here. This is a double whammy when you consider Google has also just released SSL search which is the start of worrisome trend for the analytics professional and webmaster: The death of the referrer. Danny at SearchEngineland has a good take on it and its hard to see where this will end. What if analytics as we know it go back 15 years to just hits.

I can’t blame people for wanting privacy. Besides if you’re tech savy, you can block any web analytics easily. Heck, you don’t even need to be that technically inclined. There are dozens of plugins to make this happen. The concern I have is this: Google with their impressive trustworthy brand has just lowered the barriers for people who wouldn’t normally bother. They will get the kind of press and coverage any plugin developer would dream of. The result of which could be a mass of users who might not understand why or what they are blocking. They won’t even consider the consequences of blocking Google Analytics will have on their favorite websites. In case you aren’t aware, analytics are gold to webmasters. It is an essential tool to ensure the content created is popular to their audience. Analytics are used to sell ad space to potential advertisers and to set rates. Most importantly, analytics are used to make sure users have the best experience possible on their site. Now this can all come into jeopardy.

So what can you do? There are a couple of options. One is to pray that this announcement goes the way of Google’s other privacy tools, hidden in the Google Dashboard and hardly anyone notices or uses it. The second is to deploy another analytics program, such as Piwik or these alternatives . The last option is to consider the BETA solution called YMMV Real Websats to keep an eye on your Google Analytics Accuracy.

In the end, there is no need for panic. We have to remember that for us, these types of issues seem larger then they really are to the public at large. This does not mean we can ignore them. We just need to keep it in the back of our head: Google Analytics opt out is another variable to consider when you analyze your analytics.

With all the talk about social media, it can easily make a website owner or company think they need to create a community. But it’s not as easy as getting a great script, software or integrating Facebook. Running or creating a community is a full time job. It takes work, not only to promote it but also to make it remain popular and engaging. and once it up, who will monitor it?

This is not even to mention what happens if you fail. What message does it send to have a forum with no posts, or a fan page with 5 subscribers? Sure there are ways to promote a forum and a community, but before you leap into creation, make sure you study your market. Does it even make sense in the business area you are in? For example, if your focus is B2B (Business to Business) your users may very well not have the time or the ability to engage with your content. Demographically your audience might also have no interest in it as well.

Then there are other barriers, such as  technological, in the B2B sphere. There is a growing number of companies blocking Facebook and Twitter. If you rely on their Authentication or content, this alone could kill the involvement in your community. The old thought of: ” build it and they will come”, is no more a fallacy with community as it is with a new restaurant thinking by simply existing and having great food means people will show up.

Before you begin to even consider creating a community we suggest you think long and hard about the pros and cons. If you are serious about communities (and have the money), we suggest you use a reputable company, and have a detailed action plan. You can also consider free self-hosted options like Elgg or BuddyPress, but be aware of the hours of customization this will take. Just like a website, your community is a reflection of you.

In the end, should you decide to create a community, have patience. Very rarely does it explode to success over night. Much like a website, it takes time to get traffic. We also suggest you start small with a select handful of your best customers to try it out (in Beta), so you can slowly build content. Most importantly you can gather feedback before you launch and get the word out. And don’t be shy to pull back if it does not fly in your industry. Not all solutions are one size fits all.