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Oscar Wilde once said, "I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." This quip came a century too early -- if only he had known about blogs, he might have kept uncharacteristically quiet instead of belaboring the obvious. Technorati, the blog indexer, tracks more than a million current blogs; although it's hard to pin down exact numbers, Technorati claims there were more than 100 million … in 2008. By 2011, bloggers who write "for fun" about anything (or nothing) they wish outnumber all other professional and personal bloggers by more than 3-to-1. People blog.…
Getting your blog recommended on Tumblr is a great way to attract new visitors and increase your exposure level. Get your blog recommended on Tumblr with help from a social media strategist in this free video clip.
WordPress offers you several tools to customize your Weblog posts. Besides text formatting options, the Add New Post screen allows insertion of media such as images, videos or audio. Whether you want to add a song to a blog post to highlight commentary, share a playlist of music you created or link to a song you like, you can usually put one or more songs in a WordPress blog post in less than 20 minutes.
Google's Blogger blogging platform lets users create their own blogs using a wide variety of tools. One of these tools, the Layout tool, allows you to create your own Blogger layout without any HTML knowledge by dragging and dropping items in place. If you want to create your own awesome Blogger layout using this tool, you can do so through the Layout tab on your Blogger profile's dashboard.
One reason social media is so popular is the ease with which new online services help users share the things that are important in their lives. Website comments allow simple conversational threads to be attached to posts, but products like JS-Kit Echo and IntenseDebate help expand the circle of people you can touch by converting your website or blog into a social media outlet as well.
Windows Live Writer is a desktop publishing application designed to streamline blog creation. The program resides on your computer and provides an interface compatible with many blog servers, including the major blog sites WordPress and Blogger. Microsoft partnered with WordPress to create a seamless integration of Live Writer and the WordPress.com website. Blog themes are developed within your blog site, then customized and adapted. Live Writer will download the theme and page formatting you create, providing a WYSIWYG experience for you as you write your blog.
A soft block -- otherwise known as a SoftWUD page block -- is a plugin for WordPress websites. SoftWUD is a contractor that offers Web design services such as installing WordPress, configuring your site, developing a custom theme and integrating WordPress with other applications. The company makes the Page Blocks plugin available for free.
When you work with the underlying PHP code in your WordPress blog, at some point you'll need to create or modify a WordPress filter. Although you can make a function such as a custom filter conditional on the existence of a standard WordPress filter, the filters you create yourself will always return "true" when tested.
If you have a site on a Rackspace Cloud Server, you can install WordPress on it in a few minutes. You don't need to install WordPress with Yum at the command line. Instead, you can use RackSpace's graphical user interface to install WordPress. However, you can install WordPress with Yum, if you prefer.
Versions 3 and above of the WordPress blogging platform allow users to create MultiSite installations. A MultiSite WordPress installation lets you manage a network of blogs created by other users. There are two types of MultiSite installations: domain-based ones and path-based ones. While domain-based installations require each blog to have its own separate domain, path-based installations simply generate sub-directories on a single domain for each blog. You can switch from a domain-based installation to a path-based one by editing a specific file.
When you publish a WordPress blog on the Internet, eventually bots and spammers leave spam messages and replies to your post. The plugin Akismet prevents spam attacks on your blog and saves the time that you would use as an administrator to preview every comment. If Akismet doesn’t delete spam properly, troubleshoot the plugin from your WordPress dashboard.
Blogger provides a free blogging platform that allows you to post blog entries from your browser without owning your own domain name. You can alter your Blogspot template by adding Blogger widgets to your blog. These widgets provide a quick and easy way to add information to your blog without having any programming knowledge. These widgets may not always function properly in Internet Explorer 7 or other browsers because of errors produced by the widget installer or Blogger.
Creating a blog allows you to share your thoughts, projects or stories with the rest of the world. Setting up a blog is easy even if you're a complete beginner. WordPress.com is a free and flexible blogging platform that's loaded with customization options, and you can have your WordPress.com blog up and running in just a few minutes, then customize its look and functions, and start posting blog entries.
Linking your WordPress to your LinkedIn profile is a great way to share information across multiple platforms. Link your WordPress to LinkedIn with help from a digital, mobile and social media aficionado in this free video clip.
Tagging a WordPress blog with LinkedIn is a great way to combine the benefits of two distinct services. Tag a WordPress blog with LinkedIn with help from a digital, mobile and social media aficionado in this free video clip.
Feeding your WordPress blog to LinkedIn requires you to follow a few basic, easy to manage steps. Feed your WordPress bog to LinkedIn with help from a digital, mobile and social media aficionado in this free video clip.
Canceling a Tumblr blog has some very important things you need to consider associated with it. Cancel a Tumblr blog with help from a web and graphic specialist in this free video clip.
Blogger is a service that has a version tailor made for Apple's iPad. Use Blogger on the iPad with help from an expert who has earned Apple Product Certification in this free video clip.
Whether you are coding a blog layout for WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, or another platform, knowledge of HTML and CSS are required. The Web programming language HTML controls the structure of your blog, while CSS controls the styling. Code elements typically found in blog layouts include the HTML doctype, CSS style sheet, header image, navigation, content, sidebar and footer. Although how you code a blog layout varies greatly depending on the blog publishing platform you are using, a few aspects of the code generally remain the same, and can be used to code any type of blog.
With the economy still struggling and many of us trying to stretch our fashion budgets to the max, do-it-yourself style is more popular than ever. It's become all the rage to make beautiful new things out of affordable or recycled items. A slew of DIY bloggers have emerged, showing us, with some creative flair and resourcefulness, how to make our own designer-inspired clothing and jewelry, and how to craft our own jewelry designs using things we probably already own or can purchase inexpensively. Their creative ideas prove that it's cool to be frugal and find our own inner DIY designer.
To make your WordPress-based website load faster, you might decide to use caching. Caching plug-ins offer many options for caching parts of your pages on the server, and you may choose to employ a single caching strategy such as object or database caching, or use them together. While object and database caches house similar parts of your pages, using one over the other is dependent on the characteristics of your site and server.
Give away ideas from a Blogger blog to a WordPress blog to give the WordPress blog the look and feel of the Blogger blog. Although not all features and functions of Blogger blogs are directly transferable to WordPress, several customizations to either platform require similar enough modifications that it's possible to come close. Alternatively, it's possible to transfer an entire Blogger blog to WordPress.
WordPress began in 2003 to provide a platform for users specifically to create blogs. These online journals emerged in popularity in the dawn of the 21st Century, which helped this user-friendly site evolve into the largest self-hosted blogging tool on the planet. Millions of users create their content using WordPress, and some even use WordPress to edit their own websites. Ordinarily, you would sign online into your WordPress account to create your blog, but there may be occasions when you wish not to update your content online right away. WordPress works in conjunction with offline editors to create your blog…
The "LIMIT" clause controls how many results are returned back from a SQL query, and is available on MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. It's readily available to WordPress developers, since the blogging and content management platform uses the MySQL database system. Knowing how and when to use the "LIMIT" clause can improve your SQL queries and output.
A variety of potential causes can lead to a white screen appearing when leaving a comment on someone else's blog. If the problem is restricted to one blog in particular, it's likely there is an issue with the blog's commenting engine. Alternatively, it may be related to an issue with your browser or one of its plugins. A number of troubleshooting steps can help to resolve the problem, but in the majority of cases it's the blog owner who needs to take action to fix the comments system.
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax, has become very popular and is used in many WordPress themes. This popularity, however, does not necessarily mean that Ajax is being implemented correctly. There are a few tips and tricks you can utilize when working with Ajax that will ensure your WordPress site operates smoothly.
An initial installation of WordPress creates a site that, while fully functional, may not totally suit your needs. A lack of customization features makes it difficult to change the look, feel and behavior of the default WordPress layout, resulting in a “canned” site that may appear unattractive and amateurish. Introducing plug-in codes – whether prewritten or custom – is a way to add a professional touch and increase flexibility. A wide range of plug-in options makes it possible for you to adapt a WordPress site to suit most any need.
For those who are not design- or development-savvy, a common practice when contracting a new WordPress design is to "mock-up" the look you want for your site in a Photoshop PSD file. Several WordPress designers and developers specialize in taking your PSD WordPress image layout, and turning it into code that the WordPress blogging system understands. Prices for each vary depending on the complexity of your project.
Migrating from an ASP-based website to a WordPress-based website means you'll have to move all of the content from your previous website into the WordPress site, as well as set up the menu structure of the previous site on the new one. WordPress makes the transfer of older content and menu structures from an older site to a new one relatively easy, depending on how large your site is.
Not all WordPress plugins are created equal. WordPress plug ins offer add-ins and extension features to a theme built upon the WordPress platform. While the WordPress platform is continually updated, not all the plugins are, as these are created by independent developers. Some WordPress plugins add codes or tracking data to your WordPress header, but may not be compatible with your theme, other plugins or your version of WordPress.
When you use plugins with the Multi-User or Multi-Site version of WordPress, you can activate a single plugin across multiple sites with a single click. From your network dashboard, you can manage plugins and their behaviors on multiple sites. Because most WordPress plugins are also compatible with WordPress MU, you do not have to worry about finding specific plugins to work on your network.
WordPress, a content management system, allows you to post text-based Web content to a blog site. Because the default setting for the text editor is a "what you see is what you get" type, trying to make blank spaces will result in WordPress deleting the extra spaces. However, you can successfully add your blank spaces by manipulating basic HTML code in the HTML markup version of your WordPress blog's text editor.
If you use a website hosting service, you can install and create multiple blogs by installing each blog in its own subdirectory. Installing blogs to individual subdirectories allows you to map a different domain name to each subdirectory, effectively creating a separate website for each blog. In order to install a blog in a subdirectory, you must have a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client software and your website host’s database information.
You can set a specific value for the "Posts Per Page" variable in WordPress to entirely remove the posts per page limitation on the category page. To properly remove the posts per page on your WordPress site, you should understand how the content management system handles pagination on a default installation or basic theme. By learning about the WordPress's main loop, the "Query Posts" function and "Posts Per Page" variable, you'll be adequately prepared to edit the WordPress code with confidence.
The Blogger platform comes with its own built-in lightbox tool for displaying multiple pictures within blog posts, but you can also install a third-party lightbox tool through the Blogger interface. If you are experiencing problems with the built-in lightbox or a third-party alternative, do some basic troubleshooting to attempt to resolve the issue.
The best way to control your WordPress site with AJAX is to install one or more AJAX-based plugins. These types of plugins enhance your site with AJAX features, which control how your posts, pages, comments, archives or other data are loaded. The content is loaded asynchronously by calling to the Web server, requesting the data and then displaying back the content in the same page view without reloading the page. AJAX plugins can also speed up the performance of your WordPress installation.
Blogrolls originated as simple lists of links to other blogs, displayed in a sidebar. The purpose of a blogroll is to show your readers what other blogs you are reading and find valuable. In WordPress, you can add blogrolls anywhere, and these link lists are flexible enough that you do not have to use them only in the traditional manner.
You can avoid spam in your Wordpress blog's comments by having your readers sign in to comment using the OpenID authentication standard. To enable this open standard, you must connect your blog to an OpenID server for authentication. While this may sound daunting, you can enable OpenID on your Wordpress blog using a standard plug-in, and you can even set up your own blog as an OpenID credential provider.
When you no longer want a post, page or comment to display within your WordPress blog, you send it to the "Trash," just as you would do to an object on your computer desktop. Several options for recovering an object from the Trash exist, so long as you haven't already deleted it permanently.
Most of Tumblr is sequential in a reverse chronological order: a single stream of content, with the newest content on top and the oldest content on the bottom. This holds true on the dashboard, on the tumblelog, on every tag page and on nearly every Tumblr theme -- except for the archives. Clustered posts are the standard for Tumblr archives.
Even though it began as a simple blogging platform, WordPress is quickly becoming the content management system of choice for easy to control and manage websites. WordPress consists of a MySQL database behind a theme. The theme controls the overall design of the site. While there are numerous themes available, covering every possible design style, the Thesis theme includes the Thesis options panel that gives people without website coding skills the ability to fine tune the design of the site while selecting colors, adding graphics and choosing layout options.
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML allow websites to respond to clicks and display updated content without forcing your browser to refresh the page. WordPress uses AJAX throughout its administration interface, and plug-ins frequently take advantage of AJAX to enable a variety of features. Occasionally a plug-in conflict or poorly written code will cause an AJAX error. Through troubleshooting you can isolate the problem file.
The Lightbox Plus plugin provides lightbox effects for all of your WordPress images. When a visitor clicks an image on your blog, the full-sized image will automatically open in a floating layer without opening a new tab or moving the visitor away from the existing page. You can use this effect with any image by ensuring that the image contains a link to the image URL address. The plugin automatically works on all existing linked images in your previous posts as well.
Gravatars are globally recognized avatars used on blogs. Each time you comment on a blog or forum, your Gravatar will appear next to it. Gravatars are 80-by-80-pixel photos, usually with a picture of the person writing the comment, or if a company is posting, a picture of the company's logo. WordPress users can set up Gravatars to work when they post comments on their blogs or other blogs and forums.
The vBulletin message-board software installs on your Web server to provide your site visitors with a communication method. The standard install sets up the vBulletin logo as the default image in the upper left corner. You can change this to a WordPress blog logo and link so users can return to your blog home page when they are finished reading the message board posts.
The PHP session class lets you create sessions for use in your WordPress blog pages. WordPress includes a PHP editor with which you edit and customize the WordPress installation. You use sessions to store information while the user is logged into the page. You can log any information in the same way that you save a variable value, but the session class stores unique variables that correspond only to the specified user accessing the Web page.
The WordPress admin dashboard is part of the WordPress core. Site administrators and users should not modify the WordPress core due to the potential implications of making a mistake, which could cause elements of the site to break. A modified core could also cause problems when updating to a newer version of WordPress.
By default, WordPress directs visitors to a WordPress blog to that website's main URL, rather than a specific page such as "index.html" or "index.php." Several reasons underlie WordPress setting this as a default option, but overcoming it is easy if you still want to direct visitors to a specific page on your website.
The Pods CMS Framework gives a key feature of powerful content management systems such as Drupal and Joomla to the WordPress blog engine: the ability to create custom content types with custom fields. Pods is a plug-in available in the WordPress repository. It's ideal for you if the WordPress post and page templates are not feature-rich enough to create the type of content you need to create.
The WordPress blog interface requires all users to create a password that protects their accounts. The site encourages users to create a complex password, so that it is more difficult for other people to guess or hack it. Unfortunately, complex passwords may also be more difficult for their owners to remember. If you enter the incorrect password for your account, you see an error message. The error message does not disable your account, so access is still possible.
