What is your favorite WordPress.org Plugin?

May 25, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

Favorite – gosh there is sooo many hard to have just one favorite. I have learned that I will take what everyone shares with me and at least try it out – if I don’t like it I can always deactivate it and delete it. But if I try it — I might just really like it.

Add a Plugin to your WordPress.org site

Sign into your WordPress.org site and you will be taken to your dashboard.

Look in the left column about half way down for a image that looks like a plug-in end and the words Plugins. Hover over the word Plugins and in the upper right corner you will see a down arrow. Click on the down arrow to reveal menu options >> Installed >> Add New >> Editor >> Akismet Configuration.

At this point we want to Add a plugin so click Add New. Next you will want to search for the plugin to install it. Once you find the plugin click Install which is in the right column. The wordpress.org platform is amazing… it will install your plugin and then you just have to click Activate when you are ready to start using it.

Staci’s helpful tip: REMEMBER to check your website at least monthly for any plugins that need to be updated. I usually check weekly after my website is backed up. *HINT: That is another plugin that I use. It send me an email that my site was backed up. And I get a file that I can use if I ever would need to restore my site. Imagine how many posts I have in my blog – and if I lost everything – OH MY GOSH – right!?! Have to have things in place and thank god for plugins and great hosting service.

A few plugins that I really like and use:

All-in-One SEO Pack

Google Sitemap Generator

Sociable or Sexy Bookmarks

Ping Optimizer

Akismet

Database Backup

Simple CAPTCHA

Permalink Migrator

Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: plug-ins, wordpress, wordpress.org

Why you MUST use Akismet

May 24, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

I was setting up my husband’s website – it is a resume website. By all means – it is not finalized – need graphic help for sure! http://dougjansma.com

But I was setting up Akismet and after visiting the site I had to share this with you:

Live Spam Zeitgeist

16,170,722,565 spams caught so far

1,803,933 so far today

83% of all comments are spam

This is why it is a MUST to use Akismet.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing Tagged With: akismet, wordpress.org

Add a blog post to WordPress.org

May 24, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

1. Sign into your wordpress.org website. Which is usually yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

2. Once you sign in you will be taken to the dashboard of your wordpress.org website. Look to the left column and you will see various options. Look for the thumb tack with Posts next to it. Hover over the right hand corner and you will see a down arrow to appear – click the down arrow and you will see 4 menu options >> Edit >> Add New >> Post Tags >> Categories.

A. If you already have a blog post that you need to EDIT then click edit and find the blog post title that needs edited… hover over the blog title and select Edit which appears right below the blog title.

B. If you need to create a blog post click ADD NEW.

3. Next you will be taken to a new webpage with the title ADD NEW POST. The first white box is for the Title or the Heading of the blog post.

4. Below Upload/Insert is a bigger white box and start typing what you want. Over time you will learn to highlight text and then change Paragraph to Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. You can do the same to make it Bold or Italic. So many choices and over time you will be a pro at adding pages and posts to your website.

5. Before you click publish – REMEMBER select the categories and tags that apply to this post. Not sure what categories or tags are – read this blog post!

Now you are ready for your second post – just REPEAT!

Filed Under: Content Strategy Tagged With: blog management, wordpress, wordpress.org

Starting your own BLOG?

May 21, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

My business coach has helped me a lot since we first were introduced to each other. She has guided me to understand repurposing of content effectively and that if your website does not have a blog — you better get started today.

I am going through the notes from last year to finally write the rest of my blog post ideas and I wanted to help you if you are just starting your own blog or unsure if you should even have one. First off YES I think it is a must. I have noticed that depending what I write about people are reading.

So if you are in the beginning stages do this:

1. You need to decide what you want your blog to focus on.

2. From there what Categories and Tags should you have for your blog. This will help you to decide what you will write about. She went into further explanation that Categories are like the items on a Menu and Tags are like the ingredients to the Menu items. So use the Tags to describe what is within the category and these can be the keywords that you want to focus on for each blog post.

I have learned a lot and am so grateful for everyone that I come upon – because of this I have to step back and SAY THANK YOU for all that you have done and this blog post is dedicated to Erica Rueschhoff. She knows that she has helped me take my business to the next notch and if you are looking for guidance and a great business coach – first off visit EricaRueschhoff.com and answer the burning question “What is your biggest challenge or what could you use more information on to help your business grow?”

Keep Movin’ Forward!

Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: business coach, Erica Rueschhoff, wordpress, wordpress.org

Spring Cleaning Tip 2: How Strong Are Your Passwords?

April 26, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

Sometimes I am not able to recreate a strong password with what I have around me – such as a child’s name, date of birth, anniversary date, etc.

To help me with that I installed a plugin that also includes a password generator. So when I need a new password that is a STRONG password – I just sign in to my WordPress dashboard and go right to the plugin and click for a new STRONG password and then I copy it out of wordpress and paste it into the sign up form to become my new password with that site. Easy peasy Right!!

WordPress Security Scan Plugin

What makes life even better is ROBOFORM. Do you use ROBOFORM? If you need it or want to know more – check out this blog post I did.

ROBOFORM IS GREAT!

Have a great day!

Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: plug-ins, roboform, wordpress.org, wp-security-scan

WP-Cumulus – NOPE!

March 22, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

Definitely try out the plug-in – but honestly I am not a fan. Tried it with my tags – with my categories and with both.

It’s REMOVED.

How about you?

Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: plug-ins, wordpress.org

WebsiteMagazine.com | February 2010 – “WordPress Plugins To Rock The Party”

March 4, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

Reviewing through WebsiteMagazine.com and looking at page 9 of the February 2010 article, “WordPress Plugins To Rock The Party” … I just have to share this with you. Plugins – I sure love using Plugins on my website. There is so many out there I know I have just began using some of the coolest ones – but always looking for the best of the best!

Peter Prestipino, Editor-in-Chief mentions:

WP-Cumulus – he explains this as a 3D rotating your tags, categories or both.

Sexy Bookmarks – Share this with the world by using sexy bookmarks

ExplanatoryDictionary – great way to provide users with information without overwhelming them with click here for this and click here for that

Custom Login Page – change the background image of your login page, the background image and color of your login form, the main image of your login page and even add custom CSS

SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam – Just a must for additional anti-spam component

Also I would advise you to visit your dashboard of your site and click on Add New under the Plugins menu and search for each of these so you are obtaining the most up-to-date plugin!

Best of luck!

Filed Under: From the Desk of Staci Tagged With: plug-ins, websitemagazine.com, wordpress.org

WordPress.org – What version are you running?

February 23, 2010 By Staci Leave a Comment

Woot! Woot! Share the love with CommentLuv…

February 12, 2010 By Staci 3 Comments

I went ahead and added the CommentLuv plugin to my wordpress blog. I just love this will provide an opportunity for everyone to not only leave their comments, thoughts and questions – but also with a checkmark next to the CommentLuv graphic – their latest blog post can be linked next to their comment.