Archive for the 'WordPress' Category

Nov
18

A New WordPress Cult

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I know it sounds funny, but I have launched a new web site called “WPCult“. As of right now I am the only author and moderator of the site. Maybe as time goes by and the site takes off I would gladly receive some help from others.

It is just another WordPress tutorial site with Theme and Plugin reviews. I will also showcase some WP sites out there that I enjoy, and further down the line allow site submissions.

I guess the site would be in Beta testing right now, so yes, the site is live, just not complete.

Check it out for your self. http://wpcult.com

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Oct
21

Is My Blog Cool Enough?

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WordPress Web Host

I received an email this morning from the guys at WPWebHost. It stated the following:
I’m wondering if you would like to participate in a competition we organized - “WordPress Coolest Blog Competition”?

We are giving away prizes worth around $2000 in search for the “coolest WordPress blog”. To join, it’s pretty easy:

1. - Write a blog post about participating this competition in your blog.
2. - Get at least 5 comments. (excluding you and the spammers)
3. - Submit your URL in the comment form here. (trackback could work too)
4. - Done! (are you expecting more?)

For more information about the competition and the prizes, you may visit here: http://wpwebhost.com/blog/wordpress-coolest-blog-competition/.

Cheers!

So, I thought I would join in… Will see what happens ;)

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Sep
08

Critical Update for WordPress

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And I just updated my site to version 2.6.1 like two days ago…

But check out the info about 2.6.2 here, or below

Stefan Esser recently warned developers of the dangers of SQL Column Truncation and the weakness of mt_rand().  With his help we worked around these problems and are now releasing WordPress 2.6.2.  If you allow open registration on your blog, you should definitely upgrade.  With open registration enabled, it is possible in WordPress versions 2.6.1 and earlier to craft a username such that it will allow resetting another user’s password to a randomly generated password.  The randomly generated password is not disclosed to the attacker, so this problem by itself is annoying but not a security exploit.  However, this attack coupled with a weakness in the random number seeding in mt_rand() could be used to predict the randomly generated password.  Stefan Esser will release details of the complete attack shortly.  The attack is difficult to accomplish,  but its mere possibility means we recommend upgrading to 2.6.2.

Other PHP apps are susceptible to this class of attack.  To protect all of your apps, grab the latest version of Suhosin.  If you’ve already updated Suhosin, your existing WordPress install is already protected from the full exploit.  You should still upgrade to 2.6.2 if you allow open user registration so as to prevent the possibility of passwords being randomized.

2.6.2 also contains a handful of bug fixes.  Check out the full change set and list of changed files.

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Sep
07

In case you noticed

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I spent all night upgrading from version 2.5.1 to version 2.6.1. Which was real easy, but the difficult part was upgrading my theme. I am using the k2 RC6 theme, heavily modified. And with the new WP version came a new Release of k2, k2 RC7.

They made a lot of changes, like new files, new css locations and removed even more files. So I had to upload the new k2 and re-modify the source code to fit back into my site.

I only hope that I remembered it all! Owe, and I am sure you’ll notice that I moved my asides off the sidebar and into the loop! I like it!

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Aug
25

Cabo Fishing Charter Site

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Cabo Fishing Charter Web Site

Well, I am working on a new website. I decided to create the site using none other than.. You guessed it, WordPress! I downloaded the newest, version 2.6.1.

I am still in the process of finishing content on the site, but if you want to check it out? Head on over to Great Escape Cabo Fishing!

  • http://greatescapecabofishing.com

I am finishing editing a quick video to put up on the site, and there should be more to come as well.

The site is for my pops, where you can charter any one of the two sport fishing yachts down in Cabo San Lucas Mexico.

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I am curently listening too: Disturbed on iTunes
Aug
10

SEO Tip for your Blogs

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Search Engine Rank Increase

Use h2 tags for your post titles - Search engines like Google love heading tags. The lower the number in the Header the better. Use h2 tags for all post titles and h3 for sections within your posts/pages.

Make your post titles into links - On archive pages, and on permalink pages, make your post titles link to the permalink page (even though it just link to itself). Have you heard of Google Bombing before? Didn’t think so..

Optimize your Page Titles - Your title tag should contain more than just your blog’s name. It’s a great place to put some keywords in. Try this format: “%the Post Title% - %Your Blog Name.COM%.” Your average post title probably has good keywords relevant to your post, right? For your index/home page, you want something like the name of your blog, and either your tagline (you know, that witty line you came up with!) or just a list of keywords that are relevant to your site.

Change Your Permalink Structure - If you use Wordpress, do not use the default permalink style or ?p=page-number. If fact, the best way is to input a custom structure field such as: /%category%/%postname%/.

Optimize Post Slugs - Many blogging platforms, such as Wordpress, offer a “Post Slug” feature that allows you to tweak the URL of the post your working on. When using you can change name of post to something SEO friendly.

Use Meta Tags - While meta tags don’t have as much value placed on them as they used to, there still is some, and it’s a good idea to use them.

ALT and Link Your Logo - Make sure your logo links to your blog’s homepage. This is more of a usability thing than SEO advice, but it’s still a good idea. On a SEO note, make sure you use an “alt” tag on the image, adding something such as the blog’s name to it.

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I am curently listening too: Sixx A.M. on iTunes
Aug
09

Plugin Compatibility Issues

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Everyone has plugins installed on there WordPress blog. And some people have so many that there are compatibility issues between them. Well I am sure that most of you won’t experience this, I just came across a known issue between two plugins.

As you see in a previous post “Conditional Tags”, I am using the WP-Syntax:

Syntax highlighting using GeSHi supporting a wide range of popular languages. Wrap code blocks with <pre lang=”LANGUAGE” line=”1″> and

where LANGUAGE is a geshi supported language syntax. The line attribute is optional. By Ryan McGeary.

I recently downloaded the Register Plus which will…

Enhance your Registration Page. Add Custom Logo, Password Field, Invitation Codes, Disclaimer, Captcha Validation, Email Validation, User Moderation, Profile Fields and more. By Skullbit.

Thing is, the new Register Plus plugin wouldn’t activate while the WP-Syntax plugin was. So what to do? Well I sent a message on over to Skullbit, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see. for now, I will leave the WP-Syntax plugin activated.

;)

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I am curently listening too: Neurosonic on iTunes
Aug
08

Twitter Tools

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I just installed the Twitter Tools from Alex King.

So far so good, the plugin has a great option’s panel and you can customize the way the plugin shows up on your blog/site. I am using it currently as a widget (top right).

:)

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I am curently listening too: Scars on Broadway on Amazon
Aug
08

Conditional Tags

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I took this post from my Frosty Web Designs Blog which I am not posting to anymore. I will be using it strictly as my portfolio site.

So I was browsing around online for some new code. I wanted to change the rollover state of the navigation menu depending on which page you were on. So I did a search for Wordress dynamic class. That let me to Elliot Jay Stocks, where he had an article about dynamic body classes. I wasn’t wanting to change the body class or id of my site, but it was in the right direction.

After reading the article and browsing the comments I saw a link to Conditional Tags on Wordpress’ Codex. After searching for the terms I was going to use I had to write the PHP code. I went over to php.net to visit the code for if statements.

I used the following php structured code:

 $b) {
    echo "a is bigger than b";
    $b = $a;
}
?&gt;

To apply the code to my page I inserted;

if (is_page('about')) {

Now where is_page asks the web site if the page that is loaded is the page titled about, then do what ever code it followed, such as:

if (is_page('about')) {
echo "page_item_current";

Now if the page about is loaded inside the browser, echo (write)

class="page_item_current"

So lets see what comes next.

if (is_page('about')) {
echo "page_item_current";
} else {
echo "page_item";
}

So in the final code you will see the first line asking if the current page loaded it about, and telling the page to write (echo) the class page_item_currentBut, if the current page you are on is not the page about, then just write page_item.

The final code will be placed in between the class quotes where ever you need to use Conditional Tags.

my final code:

	<li class="&lt;?php if (is_page('about')) { echo">"&gt;<a class="menu-about" href="&lt;?php echo get_settings('home'); ?&gt;/about"><span>about me</span></a></li>

The next step is changing you CSS in your stylesheet to display your current page.

My CSS code looked like this:

#menu a:hover {
background-position: left bottom;
}
#menu .page_item_current a {
background-position: left bottom;
}
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Jul
25

By the numbers

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WordPress 2.6 - By the Numbers

Now that we’re now 10 days into the release of version 2.6 of WordPress, it’d be interesting to look at a few of the numbers around it.

  • There have been around 23 thousand downloads per day. (Of just the English version.)
  • According to the update system there are 201 thousand blogs using 2.6 already.
  • That’s about 9% of all known WordPress.org blogs in 10 days.
  • The video in the announcement post has been viewed 665,080 times.
  • There have been over 300 themes submitted to the new Theme directory, which launched just 6 days ago.
  • In the same period (10 days) there were 579,871 downloads of 2,527 plugins.

I imagine 2.6 adoption will pick up after the 2.6.1 release — a lot of people wait for the .1 before upgrading.

How are we celebrating? By working on 2.7!

It should be a fun release both for the features we have planned and also because it might incorporate some of the aspects of Crazyhorse, our experimental bizarro world dev branch which we’re laser-eye-testing in NYC next week. (700 blogs are running 2.7 already.)

Source: Ma.TT

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I am curently listening too: Scars On Broadway - They Say on iTunes
Jul
19

WP e-Commerce

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WordPress e-commerce Plugin

Instinct recently updated the already powerful shopping cart WordPress plugin “WP e-Commerce“.

The new 3.6.7, updated with cool new features such as:

  • New - Google Checkout Level 2 Integration
  • New - Facebook Integration
  • New - USPS & Shipwire Integration
  • New - Search Engine Friendly
  • Coupon & Discounting System
  • Members Only & Subscription Module
  • Customizable pagination for product listing
  • AJAX powered Shopping Cart
  • Shop front highlighting for newly added products
  • DropShop Module
  • Grid View Module
  • Customers can access purchase history
  • Audio Player Module for selling MP3 files
  • Social Networking Tools
  • Detailed Purchase Logs (Down-loadable as CSV files)
  • Configurable Tax settings
  • RSS product feeds

I recently downloaded the plugin, and purchased the Gold Cart option with the Grid View Module. I am incorporating the plugin into one of my new shopping cart sites. Though at this time my site is still being built, you can go check it out once the site is live- The Inebriated: Store & Shopping Cart. The site is a store front for my current blog Inebriated Inc.

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Jul
16

WordPress 2.6

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WordPress Version 2.6

The new WordPress, version 2.6 released yesterday. I have yet to upgrade to the new version on any of my 5 or 6 blogs. But I am sure going to download the final release copy and try out the new features! I had a copy of 2.6 Beta 3 installed on my InebriatedInc.com blog.

I had some issues with Beta 3, but I am sure that the new copy with be mostly problem free. So I will get a copy this weekend and try it out on one of my sites; maybe on my portfolio?

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Jun
14

I Follow Update

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You Comment I Follow

Okay, since my initial launch of this site, I have implemented the “I Follow” rule. And while I am not going to change that, some people, all be it “spammers” are aggressively taking advantage of bloggers who show the “I Follow” tag or plugin. So I did a search for a newer more sophisticated plugins, and came across Lucia’s Linky Love.

Filled with powerful anomalies to disregard one time posties looking for a page rank gain. At the bottom of every page you will see the “LLL” tag.

Here is a list of the features:

  1. Encourages good comments: Dofollows are added to the author “name” and links in comment text after a commenter leaves some minimum number of comments. The blogger can set this minimum number to anything between 3 and 10. This encourages regular visitors to comment, but discourages spammers by forcing them to visit your blog many times before they get “dofollows”.
  2. Encourages links. Dofollows are added to trackbacks and pingbacks only after the blog author has left some minimum number of comments, trackbacks or pingbacks. This discourages scrapper sites from sending you spammy trackbacks but rewards real bloggers for linking you.
  3. Gives peace of mind. Dofollows will not be added to comments left more than 14 days after you published your most recent post. This is a safety feature that prevents your blog from becoming a link farm should you ever be unexpectedly absent from your blog due to illness or any other major life event.
  4. Thwarts overly aggressive SEO types. The blogger may refuse “dofollows” to “names” that contain too many characters. This can be used to avoid giving “dofollows” to commenters who claim their name is “cashmere dog sweater”.
  5. Gives you more control over dofollow / nofollow options. As is always the case, the blogger can also delete the comment, report the comment to Akismet or delete the name or url. That’s good for truly spammy comments. But with Lucia’s Linky Love, you get another, less drastic, option. You manually prevent “dofollow” but still show the comment url and name by deleting the user email address when editing the comment. This lets you permit borderline visitors continue to comment, but deprive them of “dofollows” until they behave the way you like visitors to behave.
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May
27

Comment Luv

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Frosty
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Comment Luv

I am now showing comment love from a WordPress plugin. Yeah, you guessed it, called Comment Luv. So if you have a blog set up and you comment on any of my post’s you will see “your last” post at the bottom of your comment!

So now that I show you comment luv, and I disabled the “no Follow” in the comments. There should be no reason not to comment..

But please keep your comments clean and spam free!

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I am curently listening too: Sex and the City on DVD
Thanks to my Girlfriend enjoying the marathon before the movie!
May
24

Installing WordPress on 1and1

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WordPress on 1and1 Hosting

So I just wanted to write a little about how easy it is to install WordPress on your own!

Okay, so first of all I am going to assume you have a hosting package, if not, I suggest 1and1. I have about 15 web sites registered with 1and1 and their prices are pretty awesome!

Now, there are two(2) ways to set up your WordPress blog…

Number One: Easiest
Lets say you get a hosting plan from 1and1. You opt for the $3.99 a month plan (1&1 Beginner).

Once your set up and your domain of choice is approved. You can log into your ADMIN panel http://admin.1and1.com.

1and1 Login Control Panel

Once logged in, click on the appropriate package…

1and1 Package Control Panel

You will end up at your administration panel, where you should see a screen like the following…

1and1 Admin Control Panel

So scroll down if necessary, and click on the 1and1 Blog button, located under the Website Applications panel…

Banner

1and1 Click on BLOG

When you click on the the 1and1 Blog icon, you should be taken to two simple pages…

1and1 Create your BLOG1and1 Create your BLOG

And once past these, and accept the terms, choose the drop down for your domain, and name your blog (you can change this latter).

1and1 Setting on BLOG

Hit next, and all have left is enter your email of choice and and set up your password.
Your done! Thats it, did that seem like a lot, or did I put too many pictures.. Well anyway, thats the easy way, you don’t have to set up a MySQL database, it will do it for you.

I think I will save ‘Number two: Medium’ of this tutorial for another day…

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I am curently listening too: Mudvayne - Silenced on Amazon
May
22

GoCodes “A TinyURL Plugin”

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Wordpress URL Redirect Plugin

The service TinyURL is a pretty widely used service. It has the redirection power for those long and nasty url's. Lets say for example I had a post or page that I wanted to refer someone I didn’t know, or even a friend to “The Coolest Post Ever!” Which in this case doesn’t exist, so I will give it a fake but long url. example: http://thefrosty.com/wordpress/how-to-get-traffic/ the-coolest-post-ever/?page=2. Yeah… I don’t think my friend Bob is going to remember that to type in his web browser.

What do I suggest, well I spent some time looking for a redirect service, and I wasn’t a fan of using an outside source. I don’t want to send people to another site just to shorten my links. So TinyURL was out of the question.

I did however come across a PHP source code that worked off a .htaccess file and MySQL called Shorty. How ever that service was old, outdated and didn’t work well with Wordpress installed. Once removed I went looking and came across a Wordpress Plugin which I am now using!

GoCodes seems to have exactly what I was looking for. All of those long URLs have been shortened to something like this: http://thefrosty.com/go/AnyText. Installation was simple and the admin interface is easy to use! So if you would like a more personal URL redirector, check out this Plugin!

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May
12

I follow

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I am sure you all know about the rel="nofollow" code that most all blogging software automatically puts into external links in the comment area. This makes your comment url links a dead end so that search engines will not follow the link as they are crawling the internet.

This was originally designed to help stop comment spam, but it only stops people from commenting on many sites. So what I did was turn off my nofollow code and I am now allowing external links! I am going to rely on the trusty Akismet to stop my spam from getting through, and manually watch url links as well.

Want to turn your site into a comments haven of love, then check out this site: Semiologic’s DoFollow Plugin for Wordpress Blogs. Also you can get DoFollow 4.0 Plugin for Wordpress as well.

I have the first plug-in installed on my system, but it the DoFollow 4.0 is upgraded to a newer version it might be stronger with an integrated options page for edited settings.

Now that I have the DoFallow activated on my site, please comment and enjoy. You can also check out these "dofollow" sites where I have been approved by: “Do Follow” Blog Directory and have been added to CommentHunt.com.

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May
10

Wordpress 2.5.1

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I am working in the most recent Wordpress version 2.5.1. For everyone looking for a powerful blogging platform then I suggest you head on over to Wordpress and download the latest! It is very simple and easy, in fact anyone, and I do mean anyone with absolutely no web skills can upload and create there very own blog.

You can even have your blog hosted on the Wordpress site, it’s that simple! Know if you are wanting to get more of a custom look and feel, you can self host your blog, by getting your own domain name. Don’t have one? Check out 1and1 Hosting, they have great prices of hosting packages!

The Wordpress blog comes with two basic themes, and you can download many free themes online from various sites: Google Search. If you are looking for something more custom, something personal, than you can have a theme created for you. I designed this sites them and have a web design site at http://frostywebdesigns.com.

I am going to work on some free Wordpress themes, when I have the time.

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