Optimize Your Web » Wordpress http://www.optimizeyourweb.net enhancing your net experience Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:44:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Top WordPress Plugins http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/10/25/top-wordpress-plugins/ http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/10/25/top-wordpress-plugins/#comments Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:15:35 +0000 admin http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/?p=150 People have made wordpress plug ins for everything, but there are certain ones that every blog needs. The following plug ins are compatible with WordPress 2.6.1:

Askimet – http://akismet.com/ and use your WordPress API key http://wordpress.com/api-keys/
aLinks – http://alinks.headzoo.com/ – Automatically links keywords
All in One SEO Pack – http://semperfiwebdesign.com/ – Add SEO techniques to your blog. Change your settings once, get the benefit each time.
cforms – http://www.deliciousdays.com/cforms-plugin
Google XML Sitemaps – http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/
Sociable – http://yoast.com/wordpress/sociable/
SRG Clean Archives – http://www.idunzo.com/projects/clean-archives/
**Replace Smart Archives on nickswitzer.net

Subscribe to Comments – http://txfx.net/code/wordpress/subscribe-to-comments/
WWW Redirect – http://www.justinshattuck.com/wordpress-www-redirect-plugin/
WP-Cumulus – http://www.roytanck.com/2008/03/15/wp-cumulus-released
or Another Tag Cloud Program

Optional Plugins
FlickrRSS – http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/
Exec-PHP – http://bluesome.net/post/2005/08/18/50/
LinkXL – http://www.linkxl.com/wp_plugin/ – for TLA

This is just a quick little list, if you have any questions or want some advice, please contact me.

]]> http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/10/25/top-wordpress-plugins/feed/ 1 Askimet Spam http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/09/03/askimet-spam/ http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/09/03/askimet-spam/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:08:22 +0000 admin http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/?p=172 I always check my Askimet Spam on my blog just in case something accidentally get’s marked as spam.  I was checking it a few days ago and ran across a comment that seemed to be pretty decent, the only thing was that the website it was promoting was a spam site full of text-link-ads that obviously is just there for spammers.  This wasn’t what actually made me think twice about it actually being spam.  In the actual text of the coment, there was no links to give it away, but the fact that in the word “I’m” there was a backslash which was probably a mistype in their html code for the spamming of comments.  Anyhow, I learned my lesson and will believe Askimet when I do not know who the commentor is that their filter is probably correct.  Just wanted to give you a little first hand experience with the great work that Askimet does as a spam filter.

]]> http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/09/03/askimet-spam/feed/ 1 Tips for creating a blog http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/08/20/tips-for-creating-a-blog/ http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/08/20/tips-for-creating-a-blog/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:38:38 +0000 admin http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/?p=43 The first thing to do is to have a site. You can either go to one of the top blogging spots and get a site off of their domain, or what I would recommend, buy a domain. If you plan on either blogging for fun (family, etc.) or for business, a unique domain name is the way to go. Take a look at a few sites which you may want to take a look at which also offer hosting of the site also: (in no particular order)

  • JKA Hosting
    • This site has hosting packages (some where you can get free domains!) and free blogging tools. Take a look!
  • My Hosting
    • This site has great deals (as little as $6.45/month) to help you start your blogging!
  • WestHost
    • Has $3.95 VPS Web Hosting! Great deals to help host your blog for CHEAP!
  • Host Color
    • Great packages starting from 50MB/month to 30GB/month so you can alter your package as your site grows!

 Once you have chosen your domain name/hosting situation, I would recommend going with WordPress as your publishing platform.  WordPress.org has great links to themes, which are not only aesthetically pleasing, but you can choose to use themes that allow widgets (plugins for your website that you can drag and drop into place, which makes adding plugins easy) and how many columns the theme has.  I will soon write another post about great sites for themes, but this should get you started. Also be sure to read and FAQ’s and Installation instructions on wordpress.org’s site for any howto installation questions.

After customizing your blog, the most important thing to do is fill it with content.  Write as much as you can, but make sure it is quality writing and things that you would want to read about (especially if it is a professional site, and not a personal “here’s how my life in Vietnam is going” site that you may write to keep your family up-to-date).  For professional sites, use plugins (which I will go into detail later) that help people share your content with others, or easily track the discussion in the comments section of your post.  Try to keep your articles around the same general (would be better if it’s specific) subject, so you can have people constantly reading your site for new and interesting information about whatever.

Lastly, you may wish to participate in ads, or some sort of affiliate program.  Google Adsense is a major player, but they have strict rules in which they will not hesitate to ban you for breaking.  I will also write a list of good replacements to Google Adsense, as well as a list of affiliate programs and detailed information about them. 

If you have any questions, as always, let me know!  And have fun bloggin!

]]> http://www.optimizeyourweb.net/2008/08/20/tips-for-creating-a-blog/feed/ 2