Activity on the Twestival city sites has reduced dramatically since the events were held on 12 February 2009 across the world.

Since then the entire site has, inevitably, become the subject of spammers.

Therefore it’s planned to close all new comments on city site posts after 1000 GMT on Wednesday 15 April 2009.

If, exceptionally, city site admins want to continue comments on their site after this time, send me a message.

I’ve received reports of increasing volumes of spam on some city sites.

It’s therefore important all city site admins activate the Akismat plugin.

A WordPress.com API key is required to make the plugin operational.

If city site admins wish to change, or add, users with access to their site admin interface, they should send the details to me (user name and email address), and I will carry out the relevant changes.

If your city does not have a blog on this site, and is holding a Twestival, complete this form to get listed.

These guidelines, for Twestival city site admins, update my previous post on this subject:

• Only post support issues using this contact form.
• Do not post support questions elsewhere, such as Twitter, the Twestival Help Google Group or comments on this site.
• Ensure the subject line of your message summarises the specifics of your query - do not use vague subjects such as ’support question’.
• Always include the full url of your city site in communications. Site addresses must be supplied in the format <http://cityname.twestival.com> - always include http://
• Always provide full urls when referring to internet resources - for example when discussing a plugin not installed on the Twestival site.

Following these guidelines will ensure I can address issues as quickly as possible - however be aware my time zone is GMT (UK).

Following on from my previous surf, I’ve had another visit to all city sites - here’s some of my personal highlights:

• Amsterdam have got their own logo.
• Birmingam have released a provisional list of prizes for their raffle.
• Brussels are preceding their part with a unconference on social media for social change.
• Hamburg reports on the event network for all Twestivals in Germany.
• Bristol have released a provisional list of prizes for their raffle.
• Manchester have got their own logo.
• Dublin have released a provisional list of prizes for their raffle.
• Montreal have released badges for blogs to link to their site.
• New York’s recent planning meeting was attended by charity: water founder Scott Harrison.
• San Francisco are to auction a painting.
• Vancouver have released a provisional list of prizes for their raffle.
• Stoke have got their own logo.

Good work by everyone involved in the above…

A number of city site admins have asked where are the site feeds, such as RSS?

The answer is: the feeds are where you would expect them to be relative to each city site url.

To make the feeds explicit, put links into a text widget, such as the one in the sidebar of this site.

The Google Maps for Wordpress plugin has been withdrawn following reports of problems registering the API key.

If any city site admin can suggest an alternative (GPL) plugin please get back to me.

Since my last post on plugins available to city sites, the following have been installed:

• Sociable
• Google Maps for Wordpress
• WP-Syntax (today upgraded from version 0.9.1 to 0.9.2)
• Viper’s Video Quicktags

If city sites wish to use any of these plugins they need to be activated by the local site admin.

I’ve just had a quick surf around the Twestival city sites - here’s some of my personal highlights:

• Philadelphia are having a Rock Band Tournament at their local event (although I’m not quite sure what a Rock Band Tournament is!)
• San Francisco are running a competition to select a design for a local event t-shirt (I’ve put my name down for one - XL size - hint, hint!)
• Brisbane have The Strange Attractors playing at their local event.
• Bristol is holding their local event in a bowling alley!
• Cornwall have got their own logo.
• Dublin are holding their event at the Sycamore Club - looks like a great venue!
• Vienna have got their own logo.

A reminder to city site admins to contact me after making your first post so I can link to your site from the Twestival global home - don’t forget to include your full site url.