Tips Tuesday – WordPress 7.1, Big Video Changes, File Storage Tips

Tips this week include:

• WordPress 7.1 released
• WordPress 7.1 new features
• Google Tag and Tag Manager changes
• YouTube changes View count
• China releases BiliBili globally
• My video channel updates
• File storage tips and strategies

WordPress Tips

WP 7.1 Released

It became available last week.

We’re still going to wait just a bit before updating even though they took the scary thing out that could bork our plugins.

That has a lot to do with the fact that they are already calling for a team leader on the 7.1.1 release.

WP 7.1 New Features

Here are a few links for what’s new in WP 7.1:

• Official announcement from WP with features
• From WPBeginner with screenshots
• iFrame editor changes
• Alt text on images – can label as purely decorative
• Video walk through of new features 

Of interest to Webmasters:

• Deep dive under the hood
• Field Guide

SEO Tips

Google Tag and Tag Manager Changes

There has been an update to the way you can set up Google Tags and see the metrics.

As far as I can tell, the change is only on the interface side, not the code that we have on our sites. They say the interface is more streamlined.

So, if you use special tracking tags or AdSense, you will see this change when you set up the tag or look at the metrics. 

Video Tips

YouTube Changes View Count

YouTube announced a change to how they will count the number of Views on non-Shorts videos. 

If it plays for even a millisecond, it counts as a View.

This brings the calculation into alignment with how they count Shorts Views, and it is now the same with how other platforms like TikTok and Reels count Views too.

Basically, this makes Views a meaningless vanity metric. So, Watchtime and Engagement are the 2 major things you want to keep an eye on now to see how your channel is doing.

China Releases BiliBili Globally

BiliBili is China’s version of YouTube. And now they have released it globally as a direct competitor.

You may recall that TikTok totally disrupted the short video format industry. And, citing national security interests, had to be sold in part to the U.S.

We don’t know if BiliBili will have the same impact or not. I also don’t know yet if it can be monetized or not.

But what I do know is that this puts even more pressure on YouTube to pay better. In fact, they are offering lump sums to a few creators to try to get them to stay on YouTube and not go with exclusive deals on Netflix.

The real kicker here is that they are opening a Shop, just like they did on TikTok. And that’s going to make many creators a big wad of cash.

This is especially important considering that the U.S. version of TikTok has radically dropped its payout amounts and the big creators are leaving in droves, as I reported in a recent Tips Tuesday.

I’m definitely going to look into BiliBili and their monetization policy and I’ll keep you posted.

My Channel Updates

Heartwood Art

You may recall that I reported my Heartwood Art YouTube channel is seasonal and it normally starts ramping up in June and continues that rise through the end of the year.

And this year it didn’t do that.

So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to respond to 2-3 year old comments. I had let them be because they were flat out rude.

But, I put a heart on 2-3 of them every day for a week.

And sure enough, that little bit of engagement caused YT to notice.

It has risen to the bottom of my normal watchtime and I hope it continues to ramp up.

New Music Video Channel

FYI, the following is not legal advice. You will need to do your own research for your channels and business setup.

For the past month I’ve been working with an attorney to set up a Trust. And that included deep research on what to do with my YouTube channels.

First, it has to be set up as a Brand channel, which I always do, meaning it has its own Google account. And then I make my personal Google account a manager of it.

But, for this new channel that I hope to start by the end of the year, the attorney suggested that I get a Google account for the Trust and use that for the channel. I can then make myself a manager of it, like I did with my other channels as long as it is a revocable trust. I can’t do that if it is an irrevocable trust, nor am I supposed to have any access to it under that type of trust.

If I wanted to move one of my other channels into this trust, I would have to migrate them to the new Google account, and set up a new AdSense account under that email too.

The issue with this is that I would lose all of my comments during the migration. Of course, that would kill the channel, I think. I have no idea why this is required, but I certainly won’t be doing it with Heartwood Art!!!!

Of course, there’s more involved than just my digital assets and intellectual property involved. And it’s been a real headache to get all of these ducks in a row and decide what type of trust I want to do, or if I want to do both types and split my assets between them.

I just wanted to give you a brief on it so you can start thinking about your online legacy and the legal steps you need to take for someone else to be able to act on your behalf and/or continue to receive income from your channels.

File Storage Tips

Hard Drive Archive Storage

One of my clients recently asked how folks are storing their mountain of site and marketing related images.

She said she had hers on an external drive and it seemed to be acting up.

I STRONGLY encouraged her to get that data moved quickly as that drive was likely about to be toast. And sure enough, she was unable to remove everything before it died.

It cost $1000+ to have the data that was left recovered.

Here’s the truth about solid state drives. (I hope you’re not still using a mechanical drive!)

Daily Use

• Each drive has a limit of how many times it can be accessed.
• Drives inside the computer tend to last about 7 years.
• External hard drives that are accessed regularly tend to last 4-5 years. That’s because they don’t have the air cooling that drives inside the computer have.
• Laptop drives tend to only last about 5 years as they don’t have as much cooling as desktops enjoy.
• Thumb drives (or flash drives) are just solid state external drives and have the same access limitations.
• Keep in mind that using backup services, like BackBlaze, also counts to the number of times the drive is accessed.

Long-Term Storage

• Thumb drives are best for moving files from one computer to another. They are not meant for long-term storage and may only hold data for 3-4 years max.
• Solid state hard drives that are used for archiving purposes, meaning that they aren’t constantly connected and accessed, can hold data for about 5 years max.

The reason these 2 types of drives lose their data is because the data storage requires a small charge. And that charge leaks over time. 

Storage conditions also matter. Heat and humidity drain the charge faster.

Refreshing Archive Drives

One way to extend the life of drives used for archiving is to connect and run them for a little while at least once a year. That’s a good time to check that the data stored on them is still good too.

Doing this may double their storage life expectancy.

Backup Services

I use BackBlaze to keep my computers backed up. They do incremental, daily backups, which is preferred.

But, they don’t take video and music files, as those are huge. Plus, I don’t keep finished projects on those drives as I need to make more space available for new projects. So, this backup service would not work as my only storage anyway.

Storage Strategy

Here are a few ideas on storage strategy with hard drives.

NOTE: You need to pick and choose from these ideas to make a strategy that works best for your needs. And, I may not have thought of everything. Other ideas are welcome.

One Data Type or Year Per Drive

You may want to purchase several drives and use each one for a particular type of file – like Site Images.

Or, you may want to archive by the year.

Date and Label Your Archive Drives

A piece of masking tape works just as well as a pro-looking label.

Put the date you first connected the drive on it.

Label it as to what type of data is stored there – like Site Images or such.

Make a spreadsheet of the files that are on that drive, or take a screenshot of the list in File Explorer or such.

Compress Files Before Archiving

One way to get a LOT more storage per drive is to make a Zip file before you archive.

That said, you may not want to Zip up certain types of files as making a Zip file compresses the data and that may change the quality.

Photos that are RAW files are not compressed. But, jpegs and pngs are, so zipping them won’t make any difference.

RAW and PCM audio files are not compressed. But, mp3s are, so zipping them won’t make any difference.

AVI, TIFF, BMP are uncompressed video files. But mp4 and MOV are compressed, so zipping them won’t make any difference.

How Many Files Per Drive

That’s a good question. The more files you have on a drive, the more you will lose if it crashes or dies.

But, the price difference is so low between a 2TB drive and a 1TB drive that it doesn’t really make sense to get a 1TB drive.

I would get a 2TB drive whether you fill it to the brink or not.

Where to Keep Drives

A bank deposit box will be the safest place.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is the safest way to archive files.

But it’s also the most expensive.

It also has a far slower transfer speed, both to upload and download.

Some cloud storage vendors offer what is called “glacier” storage that is super cheap. But, it is for deep archives of files that you don’t expect to ever access again. And if you do need them, you may have to put in a request with the vendor and wait up to 2 weeks to get them.

On the other hand, some vendors offer a generous amount of free storage for no additional fee.

Google Workspace Business Starter plan, which is what most of my clients use, gives you 30GB of free storage. However, that also includes storing your emails, Docs, Spreadsheets, and such too. But, that may be enough for your images and such. You can also purchase more storage too.

AWS/AS3 is where we store our site backup files. I also use that for all of my membership video tutorials and such too. They don’t charge for the bandwidth to upload files. But they do charge for storage and the bandwidth to download them. For just site backups, it’s $1-$2/mo. For all my various site backups, plus membership video tutorials, and even my podcast, back when I did that, my bills were around $10-$15/mo.

If you have really big files like I do for music, video projects (not the rendered video, the project and assets), plus Unreal Engine projects, cloud storage is costing me about $25/mo, and it’s going up every month as I create more projects.

So, hard drive storage might be a better solution for me in the long run. I could literally buy a new 2TB drive every 6 months and be at the same price as the cloud storage. (Some of my project files are 20GB, even when compressed. So, even 2TB is not a lot of storage for my needs.)

How Do You Handle Your Storage?

Let us know your backup and archive strategy. And it would be helpful if you could share costs too, as that is definitely part of the choice in what works best for each situation.