The WordPress Wizard

An Annoying WordPress Feature

By cathy · Comments (3)

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Have you noticed that LONG list of post revisions in the post or page editor. If you haven't seen it, it's at the bottom.

While it can save your butt if you accidentally go away from the page before you save or publish, it's annoying and it bloats your database. When there are zillions of entries in the database it definitely affects page load time. Remember what I said in this post about Google and their new interest in page load time? Well, this can affect it BIG TIME.

So is there a solution. But of course – a great plugin called Disable Revisions. Go to your Add New Plugin page and put disable revisions in the search box. If you would like to save some revisions 'just in case' another good plugin is Revision Control by Dion Hulse. Put revision control in the search box at Add New Plugins. After you activate this plugin you'll be able to access the configuration page. Here you can set the number of revisions to keep. 1 or 2 is plenty!

Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (3)

WordPress 3.0.1 Released July 29

By cathy · Comments (1)

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Well, it only took WordPress 42 days to create and release a maintenance version. They do listen when people report problems and the release of 3.0.1 is proof.

Here's what the WordPress Development team has to say:

"After nearly 11 million downloads of WordPress 3.0 in just 42 days, we’re releasing WordPress 3.0.1. The requisite haiku:

Three dot oh dot one

Bug fixes to make you smile

Update your WordPress

This maintenance release addresses about 50 minor issues."

I just upgraded The WordPress Wizard (following the correct protocol) and there were no problems with it. What is the protocol, you ask?

1. Backup your database

2. Disable all plugins

3. Activate all plugins

4. That's it!

Blog On! Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (1)

Are Your Plugins Working in WordPress 3.0?

By cathy · Comments (1)

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

A follower wrote me to report that Flashfadr plugin does not work in WordPress 3.0. When I went to the plugin page to see what was going on I noticed that the plugin has not been updated since 2005. No wonder it doesn't work in WordPress 3.0.

Whenever you upgrade to a new WordPress version you must check your plugins. If one is not working, don't automatically blame WordPress. Well – you can blame WordPress if you want because it's their fault that they updated to give us more features, security, etc.

Always go to the plugin page (preferably in the Codex) to see when the plugin was last upgraded. If it's several years ago, that's your first hint that it might be the fault of the plugin author.

Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (1)

Bing Is Here – Is Your WordPress Site Ready?

By cathy · Comments (1)

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Bing (by Microsoft) has been around for awhile but they are ready to 'come out' in a big way. Shortly Yahoo will start serving Bing's organic search results. Good news for us!

While analysts are predicting that Bing will garner only about 30% of the search engine market, don't be lulled into thinking they are not important. According to Website Magazine, "data indicates that this percentage of users will be statistically closer to purchase than Google’s much larger share. That’s more than enough reason for e-commerce merchants not to ignore this significant change in the search landscape."

Bing's Webmaster Tools are really good. Set up is very easy. After you create your account, simply type your url into the space provided. It will ask you if you want to put a file in your hosting account or a line of code in your site. Whichever you choose, after you do it click on 'verify site' at Bing. They tell you it will take about 3 days before data starts appearing.

When you see data in your account you can generate a list of back-links (incoming links) This is great for your commenting strategy. You can also generate a list of outgoing links – see who all you link to and spiff up that strategy if needed.

The summary tool gives you the most recent crawling data and other info about your sites, and checks the domain score and page score and the estimated number of indexed pages.

The main thing you want to do is put up a sitemap. Apparently Bing will be paying much more attention to your sitemap than Google does. Since it's important for your sitemap to be up to date, it's a good idea to use a plugin to create (and update) your sitemap. A good sitemap plugin is Google XML Sitemaps - just put google xml sitemaps in the search box at Plugins -> Add New and install it. It's really easy to configure and is for all search engines – not just Google.

Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (1)

More WordPress Plugins – Here’s One I Really Like

By cathy · Comments (11)

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Just found another great WordPress plugin. Have you seen it on this post yet? It's the FaceBook Like Button. It lets your friends 'like' your post right from your blog!

Here is what it says about this plugin in the WordPress Repository:

The FBLikeButton Plugin for WordPress allows you to configure and display the FaceBook Like Button before and/or after each post and/or page, and whether or not you want the button to appear on your homepage.

The FaceBook Like Button enables users to make connections to your pages and share content back to their friends on Facebook with one click. Since the content is hosted by Facebook, the button can display personalized content whether or not the user has logged into your site. For logged-in Facebook users, the button is personalized to highlight friends who have also liked the page.

Get it by going to Plugins -> Add New in your WordPress Dashboard. Key this (without the quotes) into the search box – "fblikebutton". To make sure you have the right one, the plugin author is Dean Peters.

After you activate it you will find a configuration screen. I set mine up to 'like' before and after each post but NOT to appear on pages.

Try it on this post. Then look at your own FaceBook wall and you will see that you 'liked' this post. What does that do for you? It extends your FaceBook reach to friends of your friends! Enjoy!

Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (11)

WordPress, Social Media, Productivity…

By cathy · Comments (3)

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Are you as productive as you want to be? I bet the answer to that question is a resounding NO.

Help is on the way! Next week I am hosting the Productivity Boost Camp. Your instructor is Linda Lopeke, my business coach and The SmartStart Coach. What she doesn't know about running a business hasn't been invented yet!

Seriously – there are some dynamite fast action bonuses if you register before Monday, July 12 so go take a look at Productivity Boost Camp and get registered now.

There will be 3 sessions of virtual camp – Thursday, July 15 at 7PM Eastern, Friday, July 16 at 10 AM and 1PM Eastern. If you can't be there, recordings will be available until the camp is turned into an evergreen product! And when it is, the price will be significantly higher.

Some of the things you will learn:

1. 8 things productivity is NOT about (even though you think it is)

2. how to assess value, contribution and impact (so you'll know the right things for YOU to be working on right now — these are not the same for everyone so your list is what's right for you, not your fellow camper)

3. how to avoid becoming an unaffordable liability (even if you're close to this now, we can show you how to turn it around before disaster strikes)

4. the #1 requirement for productivity (most people don't have it and are feeling the pain right now, each and every day)

5. 5 secrets that hold the key to your success at becoming more productive

6. the 3 things you should tackle first

7. the 3 things you absolutely must control

8. the 3 biggest energy drains

9. the top 5 areas productive people have mastered that you probably aren't even looking at yet (these are the real keys to taking back your work and your life)

10. the common characteristics top performers share

And so much more!

And don't forget the fast action bonuses about how to price yourself and your products. There is an audio AND a 74 page e-book. Go on over to Productivity Boost Camp where you can look inside the book now.

Hope to see you there!

Cathy Perkins – The WordPress Wizard

Comments (3)