Manage Your Own Website with WordPress
May 26, 2008
These days, most people want to be able to make changes to their website themselves. This used to be an expensive exercise with custom-written software and complicated administration systems behind the scenes.
Nowadays, I use WordPress software to create both websites and blogs. The built in content management system is second to none when it comes to useability and customisation possibilities.
By using multiple-template themes such as Studio Press themes, you have a site built with WordPress but looking and functioning like a standard website. And even better, you can add a lot of functionality to the site by simply uploading and activating plugins.
If you’re interested in a website you can manage yourself or a website with a blog/newsletter/article component, please send me an email or fill in my enquiry form.
Write Blog Posts for Money
May 20, 2008
When discussing setting up a blog with a new client, I am often asked “why do I need a blog”. In most cases, the answer is traffic.
- Search engines list frequently updated website content (blog posts) higher than static webpages.
- Your blog content attracts people looking for information, establishes you as an expert in your area and leads to sales and enquiries.
- A good blog should drive people to your website/products
- And help you establish a database of customers you can send regular correspondence (blog posts) to.
But…what if you want to literally write blog posts for money??? There are several ways to do this…if your blog content is good enough!
- You can offer customers a custom subscription which they pay for
- Use the BOS (Blog On Steroids) Plugin to charge for your blog content
- Add a donate button to your blog using the payPal Donate Plugin
- Submit your content to an online Publishing service like Triond and earn royalties
Find out how below… [Read more]
Print This Button On Your Posts
May 13, 2008
Giving your website or blog visitors the ability to print your blog posts or webpages is a great way to add value to your product and improve your overall customer experience. It is also a fact that many people still prefer to read information from a printed page rather than a screen. Customers who print your website/blog content can take it home, read it further, follow your instructions, pass it on to others etc.
Use my Print button at the top of this tutorial to see how this plugin works.
Print button on a Blog Post/Page
The easiest way to add a Print this Post link at the top or bottom of every blog post or just the posts you choose is to upload the WP-Print plugin. See instructions below:
- Upload and activate the plugin (search term: wp print)
- You then need to re-generate your permalinks by going to (WP-Admin -> Settings -> Permalinks ) and saving changes
- Go to Settings/Print in your admin panel
- Choose to display a link or just printer icon
- Choose the wording on your print link. Eg. Mine says ‘Print this tutorial’.
- Choose whether you want to print links (the printed version is the entire url), blog comments and images
- Refine the copyright to go at the bottom of each printed page (it is a great idea to add your website address to this)
- If you want to add the Print this Post option to certain posts only, type the following code on the bottom of your post in code view
- If you want the link to appear automatically at the bottom of every post, add a line of code into the post.php or index.php file in your website’s theme files. See instructions…
Printer Friendly Version of this Post
If you’re using Genesis, see my comment below on how to implement this plugin.
Add a Blog Feed to Existing Website
May 8, 2008
If you’ve got a website already and want to integrate a blog or rss feed into the existing layout and design, there is an easy way to do it. Just read my Feedburner article to tell you how.
It is a good idea to include a brief introduction at the top of your web page as well as a direct link to your blog’s homepage.
Websites Using Feedburner’s BuzzBoost to display their latest blog posts on their websites:
Just read my Feedburner article to tell you how.
