Archive for the ‘FEATURED’ Category
message on your wall from a friend says
“Please do your part in PREVENTING SPAM by VERIFYING YOUR ACCOUNT.
Click VERIFY MY ACCOUNT right next to comment below to begin the verification process…”
When you click, it activates the following javascript: (click photo to enlarge")
information from www.customgenius.com
which causes it to post, under your name, the same thing on your friends walls.
Be careful of this, it is annoying and tarnishes your credibility!
If enough people mark your messages as spam, it could even freeze or disable your account!
Windows Live Writer is a brilliant blog authoring tool with a WYSIWYG Rich text editor and support for 
plugins. And here are two excellent features hidden in the Live Writer Preferences window that are very useful but you may not have explored them yet:
Automatic Blog Ping via Windows Live Writer
Every time you publish a post on your blog using Windows Live Writer, the software can send a ping XML-RPC signal to ping servers like weblogs.com, blo.gs, ping-o-matic or any custom ping service.
Select Tools->Preferences->Ping Servers. Type the list of ping servers that you would want Live Writer to inform when you create a new post for your blog.
Write your own HTML Snippets for Blog It
Windows Live Toolbar has a "Blog This" button that lets you compose a new post from your current 
HTML webpage. Pushing the "blog it" opens the selected text and images including the source URL inside Live Writer preserving all the formatting and layout details. This is a great feature for quick blogging but there’s more to it.
Windows Live Writer also lets you customize this HTML information that it receives from the IE Window when the blogger presses the Blog It button. For instance, you want to add a disclaimer text or your HTML signature to every item that you blog using the BlogThis button. Or say you are blogging a photograph and want the original image link to open in a new window rather than in the same window.
Select Tools->Preferences->Blog This. Now select Link, Image or Snippet from the Content box and click "Customize HTML". You will see a text box prepopulated with some code which is very easy to understand and there are even hints at the bottom. You can either write your own HTML template code, append the existing code logic or simply delete the entire text which won’t fill-in (or credit) the original story in your blog post.
With the introduction of the new Themes in WordPress v1.5, boring and commonplace website layouts have become a thing of the past. With a few clicks, you can change your layout instantly. With a few more clicks and tweaks, you can screw up your layout instantly as well. Welcome to the exciting world of web page design.
When you encounter a screw-up in your layout, many people come running to the WordPress Forums. While the willing volunteers can do what they can to help you, there are some steps you can take to get to the solution, or at least a better idea of where the problem may lie, before you get to the Forums.
Know Before You Go We have a list of things you need to know before you go to the forums with layout design problems, and tips on solving the problems yourself.
Examine Your HTML and CSS Take a close comparative look at your HTML and CSS and make sure that all the references match.
Isolate Your CSS Challenges Below we’ll show you a couple of techniques to help identify the areas that are causing your problems in an effort to narrow down the problem to a specific area and code.
Common CSS Errors You are not the first to have this problem. We have a list of some of the most common CSS errors to help you fix the little details that can mess up your layout.
Pest Control – Watching Out For Browser Bugs While we will help you identify some of your CSS challenges, a lot of them come from bugs and conflicts between browsers, so we’ll give you some tips on how to work around the various browser bugs.
It is the goal of this article to help you solve your layout design problems within the CSS file, not within the HTML or PHP files. For help on modifying those, check out Using Themes for more information.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE http://codex.wordpress.org/CSS_Troubleshooting
By default, WordPress displays all posts chronologically by date published. That’s great for journal writing, news blogging, and general blog chatter, but when you want to re purpose your WordPress posts for use in a WordPress website, it often comes in handy to be able to display your WordPress Posts in alphabetical order. Enter the WP-SNAP! plugin by Nathan Olsen.
WP-SNAP is an acronym for: WordPress System for Navigating Alphabetized Posts…and it does a bang up job of it! The WP-SNAP! plugin is a great solution for sites that want to have an alphabetical Glossary, Directory, Index, or Reviews repository. [If alphabetical post order isn't what you are after, check out a great plugin for creating a custom order for your WordPress posts.]
WP-SNAP! integrates with both custom permalinks and the WordPress loop. Plugin options can be managed site-wide or on the template itself, with results either restricted to one category or broadened to include child categories as well. Options have also been added to allow the customization of css class names and the appearance of html mark-up. You will need to do some code level integration to make this plugin do exactly what you want it to, but it’s not overly complex and there are good directions on the plugin developer’s website.
Have you used WP-SNAP! to order your posts alphabetically on your site? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments below!
As always, if this plugin is just the right solution for you, don’t forget to make a donation to the WP-SNAP! plugin developer!
by
Without a doubt one of the biggest advantages of using WordPress is the ability to extend its functionality with the use of plugins. You can practically do anything to better optimize the performance of your blog.
From adding a ‘Contact Form’ to creating a ‘Sitemap’ or any feature you can think of, chances are, due to WordPress large community, there are already plugins available if you search google hard enough. You’ll be surprised by the large choices available for you to choose from.
What is Plugin?
In the context of WordPress, plugin is an external code written to expand the functionality of WordPress from its purest form. With plugins, you can practically do almost anything you can imagine to your blog.
This is exactly one of the main reason why I switched from Blogger to WordPress. WordPress has a large community and it makes it more worthwhile for plugin developer to create one that perform a specific function or improve the existing one.
If you are new to WordPress or contemplating to switch side and are not technically-inclined to install plugin on your own, I just like to assure you that as long as you know how to use FTP to upload any file to your web server, everything else is relatively easy.
Where do you find plugins?
As I mention above the best place to find plugins is to google your need. Tips: Search with the keyword wp plugin. This method usually will land you to the developer’s site. Usually, it is where you can find a more detailed instructions.
If Google provides no results, WordPress Official Plugin Directory has a large database of all the WordPress plugins which are compatible to WordPress and are better categorized for ease of search. Depending on your specific need, there are literally thousands of plugins for your consideration.
How do you install plugin?
Nowadays the process to install plugin has been simplified into 3 steps. Everything should work out of the box with the exception of some plugins which may require you to make some specific configuration.
1. Download and unzip the plugin
2. Upload the folder (or file usually a php file) to your plugin directory /wp-content/plugins
3. Activate the plugin from your Admin > Plugins
4. If settings are required, go to Admin > Settings and follow the developer’s instructions.
In the event the plugin does not work, all you need to do is to repeat step #3 and deactivate it. It’s that easy. And with the latest WordPress 2.5, upgrading to the latest update to each plugin has been eased further with just one or two clicks.
Points to consider
It is good to note that since the choice plugin is vast and in most cases, there will be two or more plugins that perform the same function, I suggest that you choose a plugin that best serves your blogging need. You need not worry about it messing up the WordPress core code as the plugin normally works independently. If the plugin just doesn’t help you in anyway, just deactivate it or delete it completely.
Depending on the complexity of the plugins, some may require you to add additional line of code to your template file. If that’s the case, please read carefully the readme file that usually accompanies a plugin or go to the developer’s site for more detailed instructions. But before you do anything, please do Backup your template file. Just in case, something goes wrong.
I hope you will find this tutorial helpful and if you do have any question with regard to WordPress plugins, please leave yours on the comment section below. On the other hand, I’m open to any suggestion on how to make this guide a better guide. If you do have any feedbacks, please do let me know. Thank you.
This WordPress tutorial from www.startablog.ca will show you how to install WordPress manually using your favorite FTP software.
2 Comments »
This WordPress tutorial from www.startablog.ca will show you how to manually uplad and install WordPress Themes … “wordpress tutorial” “using wordpress” “setup wordpress” “start a blog” “wordpress plug-in” “wordpress blog” “create a blog” “wordpress plugins” “step guide use wordpress” “install wordpress” “wordpress how to” “wordpress guide” “custom wordpress design” “how to use wordpress” wordpress-install “wordpress tips” “wordpress dashboard”
It’s wise to collect good WordPress security tips so you know how to prevent hackers from wreaking havoc with your blog.
The more popular and successful you are online, the higher the chances that a troublemaker or out-and-out criminal will try to take your blog down.
Two of the easiest things you can do to keep hackers out are:
A) Change your WordPress password often
AND
B) Change your WordPress admin username often
How often is often? Changing them once every 2-4 weeks is a good minimum.
It’s also important to change your password and admin username if someone helps you with your blog and needs your password and admin username to login to do the work. After all of the work is complete, IMMEDIATELY change your password and admin username. Even if the person is trustworthy, someone in their company might not be. Better to be safe than sorry!
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR WORDPRESS PASSWORD
1. Log into your WordPress blog and select the ‘Users’ icon in the menu on the left-hand side of your screen. Hovering over each icon will tell you which one is which. The ‘Users’ icon looks like a pawn in a chess game.
2. Hover over the ‘Users’ icon and you’ll see a drop-down list of options. Click on ‘Your Profile’.
3. At the bottom of the ‘Your Profile’ screen, you’ll see the entry boxes where you change your password.
4. Choose a password that is complex and thus hard to crack. The strength indicator on the screen will help you choose something suitable.
5. Make a note of your new password for the next time you sign in! I recommend the free or paid version of the secure software *Roboform* to remember your passwords.
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR WORDPRESS ADMIN USERNAME
Most WordPress bloggers do not change their admin username. They keep it at the default ‘admin’ or leave it at whatever they chose when they first installed WordPress.
Not good!
Changing the admin username is usually a tricky thing. Fortunately there is a great FREE WordPress plugin that makes it very simple.
1. Find and download the free plugin by searching for:
W-Shadow + Change Admin Username Plugin
2. Install the plugin in your blog(s).
After you install the plugin, a new option will appear in the drop-down list in ‘Users’ (the same icon you visited to change your password, as described above) called ‘Change Username’
3. Click on ‘Change Username’ and enter your new admin username into the simple screen that appears.
4. Write your username down so you don’t forget it!
Change your WordPress password and admin username, or at least your password, frequently and collect and use other good WordPress security tips to keep hackers out!
Comments Closed