Up for grabs are my recommendations of 3 awesome plugins for WordPress:
Use Fluency Admin to create a collapsed-at-all-times sidebar that provides icons (on or off – your choice) for sub-navigation, as well as your choice of background color. I really like Fluency because it cleans up the look of the WordPress dashboard.
If you want to set up a basic progress bar to show your weight loss, debt paid off, money saved up, etc., then you’ll want to use Progress Bar. It’s quick to install and configure, and requires only one short line of PHP code to get it displayed on your blog’s sidebar.
The ultimate Twitter <--> WordPress plugin, in my opinion, Twitter Tools makes it easy for you to send new post notifications to Twitter, and display your recent tweets in your blog’s sidebar. Choose from the hard-coded method or widgets.
From Alex Whinfield:
1. Get together with a good web hosting company
2. Get your own domain name
3. Content is King!
4. Write longer posts
5. Great design helps, but is not always needed
6. It’s good to “link out”
7. Always proofread
8. Always keep it ready
9. Read other Blogs
10. Have some goals, and stick to them
Read more at 20 Fundamental Blogging Tips!
So I just logged in to blog, and got a notice that WordPress 3.0.2 is available for download. If you’re seeing this message in your dashboard, you will definitely want to go update your installation as soon as possible. Whether you blog about personal stuff, holiday gift ideas like a doctors coat, or you maintain a company or corporate blog, it’s very important to keep WordPress up to date. Most in-between-version releases offer security updates, and it goes without saying that these are of paramount importance!
Increase your blog’s online exposure by pinging various services. If you use WordPress, then you’ll want to navigate to Settings > Writing, and then scroll down to the “Update Services” box and paste the following into it:
http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
http://bblog.com/ping.php
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping
Determined blogging is blogging:
- when you’re sick (check)
- when you’re in labor (check)
- while nursing a newborn (check
- while on the road (check)
- while on the train (check)
- while on a plane (check)
- while in the hospital (check)
Feel free to add your own!
What is a meme? From The Free Dictionary:
an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation
For blogging, memes are specific topics — usually a series of questions — that you answer, and in turn by posting these questions and answers, you essentially share the meme with your readers, who in turn may post it to their own blogs. Some popular memes include Friday 5 and Thursday 13, and there are many, many more available at The Daily Meme.
If you use iTunes and would love to share your current playlist with the readers of your blog, go and sign up for a Last.fm account. Then, download the “scrobbler” — this handy little app runs alongside iTunes and will send a list of whatever is currently playing in iTunes to your Last.fm account. You then use a variety of WordPress plugins to display a list of tracks — directly from your Last.fm account — on your blog! Or, use one of the widgets whose code(s) you can get directly from Last.fm.
Are you one of those people that can blog/write/read/work to the tune of music or the background noise a television show or movie provides, or do you need absolute silence? For me, a lot depends on what I’m doing. When it comes to blogging, I can definitely watch television at the same time. Right now I’m watching Judge Joe Brown. I bashfully admit to having a thing for judge shows — but only some! In order of preference: Judge Judy, Judge Alex, Judge Joe Brown.
What about you? What is your favorite television show?
I have been blogging since 2001, but I have only had a laptop since 2006. Prior to that, I could only blog at home — or, from my mother’s house if I used her computer or one of my brothers’ computer.
Since having a laptop, however, I’ve been able to blog from a variety of places, including:
- Burger King
- McDonald’s
- Panera Bread
- Starbucks
- Comfort Inn
- Red Roof Inn
- Ocean City, MD (yes, from the beach!)
- Ocean City, NJ (from the beach house we stayed in)
- Three different hospital lobbies/waiting areas
- Playgrounds, parks, swimming pools
Where all have you blogged from?
What is the consensus on free blogging themes? Do you see them as a great tool for getting a blog up with a different look from others? Do you see them as very interchangeable, like the cookie-cutter houses we see in the newer suburbs? I don’t want to voice my own opinion yet, cause I’m curious about what others have to say.
