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Five WordPress Plugins Tested on Hostwire Blogs

H W — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:50:19 +0000

One of the great aspects about WordPress is its ability to do exactly what you want it to do with very little programming knowledge. Think of an interactive application you’d like to feature on your blog, and there is bound to be a plugin that will magically execute it. At the same time, it is time consuming to find the best and most up-to-date plugin for your needs – often there are more than one with the same functionality.

But not all plugin programmers are equal, so here are 5 Hostwire-tested plugins that will totally transform your blogging experience:

1. Dagon Design Form Mailer – Interactivity is the beauty of a blog, so on occasion, you may ask your readers to submit PDF, jpg or .doc files. You could always embed a simple mailto:spam@email.com in your blog, and your readers could attach their files to their email, but you are opening yourself up to a ridiculous amount of spam, and the attached files run the risk of becoming corrupted.

A cleaner, more user-friendly method of interactivity for both you and your readers is a WordPress plugin that gives readers the ability to upload files directly to your server. Contact Forms 7 has a really nice interface and is relatively user-friendly. In order for it to work, send an email to Hostwire.com customer support to change your server’s uploading permissions.

A much safer and easier-to-install plugin that allows your users to upload files to your server is the Dagon Design Form Mailer. After installing the plugin, it is relatively easy to configure as long as you READ carefully. If you are on deadline or multitasking, chances are you are going to make a silly mistake that will cost you more time than necessary to make the plugin function correctly. Click here for the very thorough, and well-written directions. We give this plugin a 7 out of 10 for Hostwire WordPress blogs – while most of the forms traveled successfully to our inbox, some were lost in Cyberspace. This was most likely due to users trying to upload files that were too large. If you don’t need this capability, we recommend Contact Forms 7.

2. Category Order. The Category Order plugin allows you to easily reorder your categories the way you want via drag and drop. This plugin is quite handy when you want to re-arrange the navigation order of your categories because the timing of when you create them isn’t always the order you want them listed. Moreover, as you build your blog, some categories may become more important than the others, and this makes it easy to re-order them. We give this plugin a 10 out of 10.

3. FLV embed. This plugin makes it incredibly easy to embed an original .flv file (including YouTube) into a blog post or page. We give this plugin a 9 out of 10.

4. Post Sticky Status/WP-Sticky. This plugin will allow you to stick a particular post at the top of its category page permanently. That means all new content added to that category will appear AFTER your sticky post. Once you install it, a new menu will appear on the right hand side of your “Add New Post” admin area, with the options to make the post an “Announcement.” It’s easy to use, but you may want to check on these posts every once in a while because the sticky marked post isn’t sticky anymore when more posts are added a few days later. We give this plugin a 5 out of 10.

5. Get-a-Post. This plugin will allow you to feed the content of a particular post onto another page of the site by embedding a line of code in the theme template of where you want the content to appear. This can be a quick and dirty way of bringing in new elements to the homepage without having to mess with the template too much. We give this plugin a 6 out of 10.

Writing Prompts for Bloggers (Part 2)

H W — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:55:20 +0000

As creative people, it is easy to get distracted by this or that project, or worse, by the dwindling zeroes in your bank account. This week’s prompts will focus on consistency and discipline in your blogging.

Writing Prompt #1: Think of the things you DO have and write about them. For example, maybe you don’t have much money and/or no one is responding to your pitches. So what should you do? Fret about it? Waste of energy! Instead, use your free time to take inventory and then write them down in your blog. This inventory can help remind yourself and your readers who you are and what you do, and perhaps attract new readers who are searching your particular keywords. You may opt to “stick this post to the front page” (check the box next to the Visibility option on the right hand nav in your admin).

Writing Prompt #2: Now, let’s build on the previous writing prompt. You’ve got your inventory, now how about writing a separate blog post about each of those items in your inventory? Expand on each item by adding research from online articles, quotes from previous clients, a flickr or lightbox photo gallery that illustrates this particular item in your inventory, and if you’re really feeling inspired, use your web cam to make a video of yourself talking about that item by creating a free account on Ustream.tv (or you can use YouTube, if you know how to edit a video and upload it).

Writing Prompt #3: If your already exhausted from prompts #1 and #2, you may want to have a guest blogger write about your particular inventory items. It should preferably be someone who has first-hand experience with your inventory. Having someone else’s opinion helps you add things you didn’t consider, or delete things that shouldn’t have been published for public consumption. You are also building a relationship with this other blogger, and this will both of you increase traffic to both your sites.

Writing Prompt #4: You’ve got quite a lot of content now, so post each blog entry to your Facebook or Twitter account so that your friends, family and colleagues can check them out if they are interested. But don’t post them all at once. Milk this time so that you can rest before you get to the next writing prompt.

Writing Prompt #5: Open up a Paypal account so you can charge for your inventory now – whether they are products or services. Sure, you are counting on banner ads and affiliate marketing to make you money, but this is your opportunity to create other potential revenue streams you never thought about before embarking on this series of writing prompts.

Writing Prompts For Bloggers

H W — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:43:38 +0000

Writer’s block is a fact of life for even the most prolific blogger. The good news is that it’s not that difficult to find fresh ideas after a few Google searches within your own brain’s filing cabinet.

Writing Prompt #1: What were you doing in 1985? If you were a kid watching cartoons, and you have a blog about politics, maybe you could write about the political structure of the Smurf society. If you are a veteran journalist, perhaps you can pull a story from that year and follow up on the people you interviewed. If you were born in 1985 or after, do a Google search for that year and write about whatever results come up from your own brilliant point of view.

Writing Prompt #2: Look outside your window or sit at a busy cafe and write what you see. Blogger Clayton Littlewood transcribed the dramatic antics of the colorful characters outside his shop window and landed himself a book deal.

Writing Prompt #3: Write about something you need to learn. The speed of the Internet has made it so that we have to learn something new on an almost daily basis. For example, this blog post was composed entirely on WordPress for iPhone and working out the bugs will be our next blog post, so stay tuned!

Writing Prompt #4: Answer someone’s question. Let’s say you’re an expert golfer and you teach a golfing class, but people in your social circles keep asking for free advice on their golf swings. Kill a couple of birds with one stone by writing a blog post that gives enough information to satisfy the inquiring minds, but holding out on some tips so that they might take the next step in signing up for your class (and if they don’t, at least they increased your blog traffic).

Writing Prompt #5: Visit your favorite news web site and respond to today’s top story. This is a no-brainer and the number-one prompt for the majority of blogs out there. Just be sure you have a unique point of view, otherwise you may get lost in the mix.

These prompts should get you going, and if they don’t, stay tuned for more writing prompts, right here on the Hostwire blog.

How to Start Up a Blog

H W — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:15:16 +0000

You are a recently laid-off journalist/lawyer/doctor – whatever…it’s an unstable economy, but you’ve heard that people are making money by blogging about what they know best. You’re smart. You’ve got time. How about building a blog that showcases all the knowledge you’ve amassed over your stellar career? Here are 7 steps to get you started:

Write your bio/memoir.

1. This will help you figure out your “niches,” as well as make the best use of your Rolodex of reputable sources. If you were a court reporter for 10 years, you could create a blog that fictionalizes some of the articles you wrote for your newspaper or magazine. “But I didn’t know I could write fiction in a blog!” Why not? Get your head out of that box and start using that big brain of yours.

Come up with a name for your blog.

2. “But all the good domain names are already taken!” Whine, whine, whine. This may have worked when you were working for someone else, but now you are an entrepreneur and it’s time to start seeing opportunity rather than doom and gloom. If your name was well-known in your industry, perhaps the name of your blog will be YourName.com. Or maybe you want to be more creative. Just like there are defunct, empty strip malls throughout the U.S., there are tons of defunct, available domain names that never got a chance to be developed: THISLITTLEPIGGYSHOES.COM, FOXYGIRLSHOES.COM, EATMYSHOES.COM are all available, and are just waiting for your little creative mind to add content to their otherwise pointless existences.

Get a Hosting Account

Can’t be bothered to DIY? Hire Hostwire.com’s sister design company 4fx.com.

3. Now that you’ve come up with a domain name that is catchy and will get the attention of a Googlebot, it’s time to register the name and get a year-long web hosting account with Hostwire.com. Why Hostwire.com? Have you seen our prices?

Get a Design

4. After getting your Hostwire account, you can install WordPress with a theme that suits your niche/personality, and includes banner ads that will make you a few cents per click/impression. Could you do this yourself? Yes. Stay tuned this week for a blog post that will give you step-by-step instructions (with screenshots too!).

Create a Publishing Schedule

5. You need to decide how often you will update your blog. Perhaps you will post when you feel like it or when inspiration strikes. This may be OK in the beginning, but if you expect consistent traffic and a steady revenue stream, your blogging should be consistent and steady as well. Updating 2-3 times a week should suffice, and then you can work yourself up to one post per day. It’s kind of like exercising. If you want results, you’ve got to train. You may also want to jot down a list of topics you plan to cover each week. It’s much easier to determine if you follow the calendar cycle of seasons and holidays. For example, when it’s close to Labor Day, write about that holiday in the context of your subject.

Get business cards printed with your blog address.

6. Hire 4fx.com to design your business cards and then get them printed with our holistic printing friend, Carey Stokes, who has been sourcing printers for clients for 12 years.

Get Paid

7. Sign up for affiliate programs that will help you make money as you build traffic to your site – Amazon.com, Hostwire.com, SeedsofChange.com, Linkshare…there are a bunch, just do a Google search for the specific product you would like to sell. There are lots more things you could do, but these 7 steps will get you started.

Protected: The Official Hostwire Blog. Beyond Hosting.

H W — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:27:53 +0000