Archive for June, 2009

If you haven’t realized before, WordPress is on a steady track to release updates and fixes to it’s code on a regular basis. 2.7 Was a big visual and functional leap forward and 2.8 seems to extend some of the functionality that improved plugin and update management to themes. For my clients using custom themes, this won’t be so significant, but the folks at WP also claim an overall speed improvment. That will be much appreciated!

My favorite ‘no duh’ fix that probably wasn’t a ‘no duh’ to implement is the ability to have multiple copies of widgets. This is especially useful when creating multiple page templates utilizing different sidebars. Previously, if you had used your Latest Posts widget on Sidebar 1, tough luck on Sidebar 2!

Also, if you haven’t played with ‘Screen Options’ in the upper right since it was implemented in 2.7, try it out now with new improvements. I try to set new WP users up with a more simplified screen as soon as they log in for the first time to keep them from getting distracted by all of the possibilities WP offers.

So, way to go WP folks! And if you are looking for your site to be upgraded, I am also offering a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) package that includes two hours of tweaking to get you better search results to generate more traffic to your site.

Recently I have been trying to help simplify the process of maintaining a website and keep up with a perceived need to be active in social media. My clients are often stepping out of their comfort zones to do such a thing, so I am happy to introduce a great way to kill three birds with one stone. Yes, I said three, and no I don’t advocate killing birds… though I do chuck pebbles at them at about 5 in the morning on occasion.

Step One: Use Wordpress to power your website. Leverage the blog feature to maintain current content to keep visitors interested in your site or at least create the illusion of activity.

Step Two: Install the Twitter Tools plugin. Give the plugin your Twitter account details and choose your settings. I prefer the plugin to create tweets with a link back to my blog. You can also publish your Twitter feed on your site or create digest blog posts from your Twitter activity.

Step Three: Login in to your Facebook account and install the Twitter application to republish your Twitter feed to your Facebook status update.

Congratulations. You are now in the loop. Obviously none of this work is my own, but thanks to the talented folks working on those projects you can benefit. I can also set you up a great WordPress powered site with a custom designed theme for your business or non-profit.