Blogging

Ideas for Blogging, including websites, information, and tips.

Build Back Links and Traffic with help from Google Reader

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I was browsing through Google Reader when I noticed that Google had introduced a new feature that could really speed up commenting. Take a look:

reader bookmark

For this little experiment, you will need a GMail account and Google Reader, and a little app that sits in your tray called BlogComment from Legal Andrew. You’ll also need some saved feeds in your Google Reader account. If you don’t have any, borrow mine ( post / RSS feeds )!

Step 1: Log into your Gmail account, go to Google Reader then in Options/Goodies, you’ll see the menu. Simply choose the right tag, and drag the link to your ToolBar.

Step 2: Download and install BlogComment from LegalAndrew. When you run it the first time, you’ll need to enter basic comments: name, email and URL.

Step 3: Launch BlogComment and it will sit in your tray.

Now you’re ready to read and comment.

Step 4: Click on the ‘Next’ link in your linkbar, read the post that loads in your browser, and go to the comment area.

Step 5: Simply type ‘bcomment’ in the first field for your details. Then these fields will be filled in a jiffy, leaving you free to write your comments. When done, fill out any captcha and hit submit.

Rinse and repeat steps 4-5. It works a charm.

Purchasing Domains: Yahoo! Domains for Small Business

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Dont’ use Yahoo! Domains, or you could find yourself paying nearly $35 bucks a year for the domain once the term is up! I was about to register a domain for this blog, and noticed the text on the frontpage which says: “$9.95/year for your first term (terms available 1-5 years) $34.95/year after.”

yahoo domains

In the agreed number of years for your term, you will only pay the $9.95 for your domain for that year. After the initial term expires, you will be required to fork out nearly $35 for the domain thereafter. This is a deal that just doesn’t make much sense: many hosting companies charge $15, $10 or even less for standard domains, so why would you?

So, I guess I’ll be using GoDaddy or NameCheap for my next domain purchases, it’s a pity Yahoo! Such tactics are very mercantile, and don’t make for good customer feedback! Who do you use for purchasing your domains?

Wordpress MU vs. Wordpress Vanilla

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It’s been about a week and a half of using WPMU, since I switched full time. And it’s been a real trial but I am slowly bringing the blogs back to full speed. Obviously, blogging is going slowly and each stream will be less frequent than the full blog, at least until I’m more able to handle the beast called MU.

It’s not for newbies!

Wordpress is a great application for bloggers, and it’s a great way for relative newbies to cut their teeth on managing, installing and updating a PHP based system. It’s fairly robust on the installation front, quite stable once running. However, Wordpress MU shares many of the features, it’s a little more tricky to set up; but the limitations (mostly for security) really drive me nuts at times!

Stubborn and spiteful

There are quite a few issues with plugins, themes and general wordpress functionality in the MU environment. In general, Javascript and other scripts DO NOT work out of the box. Additionally, some common and important plugins just don’t play nice with MU at all. I’ve had problems with the sitemap plugin, and several that share the database. Any themes that require any plugin with javascripts or popular database reliant plugins will likely encounter severe problems. And you can forget YouTube Videos out of the box, though there are solutions.

Forums and Advice

If you are considering switching to MU, then consider this: many of the plugins that I have tried, (for example, to install Adsense or YouTube) simply don’t work, though you’ll find the odd one that is worth it’s weight in Gold. Similarly, advice that is posted on forums, blogs and the Codex may or may not be relevant to your install, and there’s little to tell either way.

So, if you are considering switching, I’d suggest a trial install of MU on another domain so that you can figure out if you will be happy with the switch. I’m still finding the problems annoying, but I am not switching back: the power of this platform is surprising, and I’m only beginning to understand what I can do.

Have you tried the switch? Let me know how it went!