Archive for WordPress
WordPress Vs. Blogger
Posted by: | CommentsWordPress and Blogger are both popular websites on the Internet that are used by millions of people. These two websites both share something in common; they offer a platform and tools for people to create their very own blog sites. If you are a fan of blogging, not matter what you happen to be blogging about, these two websites would both be ideal for you. However, while both of these websites have a lot in common, they are also different in many ways which leads people to wonder which is better. Some people prefer WordPress and some people prefer Blogger Below is the table with the main features and we will discuss what each website has to offer.
Main Features of Blogger and WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free platform that allows users to enjoy all of their blogging needs. WordPress was first introduced in 2003 and has increasingly gained popularity over the years. Aside from gaining popularity, there have also been many updates to WordPress so that it is up to date with what users want to have. The creator ensures that the features of WordPress are user friendly and very helpful with people who use the site for their blog. Some of the many features that WordPress comes with include:
- Various Themes
- 100% Free
- Tons of Accessible Plugins
With various themes, you will be able to change the look and feel of your WordPress website as much as you want. Themes are a necessity because they catch the eyes of the viewers who are visiting your website. Not to mention, you will be able to find an abundance of free themes for your WordPress website. Having access to free themes can come in handy because it is a way to spice up your page and make it unique without having to spend money. While there are free themes available, some advanced themes and special design themes may cost money but it is entirely your choice as to whether or not you want to spend any money on your WordPress theme.
It is also good that using WordPress is free. You do not have to pay to sign up or create a WordPress account. It is nice to be able to start a blog website without having to spend any money in the process. If you want your website on WordPress to be hosted, you may have to pay for web hosting but you will never have to pay to create a WordPress account or to use the website and create your very own blog.
Being able to use different plugins can come in handy for your WordPress website too. There are all tops of plugins that do different things for the website. For example, there is a plugin that, if used properly, will make your website run faster. This is important because people visiting your page will be irritated by slow loading times. Having a fast running website is very important and these plugins can do that for you. There is an extensive list of plugins that are compatible with WordPress. You can easily search for these Plugins online to find out more information about what types of plugins will help your website and its productivity.
Blogger
Blogger, like WordPress, is perfect for all of your blogging needs. Blogger was created more than five years ago and Google bought the website by 2003. As you can tell, the website has been around for quite some time and within the several years of its existence, it has changed for the better, so that the users would enjoy all of the features that come along with using Blogger for their blogging wants and needs. Some of the best features of Blogger include:
- 100% Free
- Simple Navigation System
- Free Space for Pictures
Blogger is completely free which is great for people who do not want to put out any extra money to blog on the website. Because creating a blog on Blogger is free, anyone can use it, without worrying about charges or hidden fees. The web hosting for Blogger is also free which is an additional bonus. The URL of your blog will be the domain name you choose along with blogspot.com.
The simple navigation system on Blogger makes creating a blog simple and easy for just about anyone who uses the site. Having a simple navigation system will allow you to spend less time figuring the site out and more time putting your blog together. The navigation system is easy to follow which will help you avoid the frustration of trying to figure out how to use the website.
Having free space for pictures is also important. You will not have to pay a cent to post up a certain amount of pictures on your blog. Pictures can really spice up your blog by adding a personal look and feel and also making it look more professional. You definitely need pictures on your blog and Blogger allows you to upload these pictures from Picasa for free.
Here are some stats of search volume from Google Trends:
In conclusion, both of these websites are great to use for your blogging needs and it can be hard to pick just one. They are two of the best websites for creating and developing your very own blog. If you are not sure which one of the websites you would like to use, you might want to give them both a try as a temporary solution. Some people prefer Blogger over WordPress because it is completely free, including the web hosting, which you would have to pay for if you were to use WordPress. Some people prefer to use WordPress instead because of the large amount of themes that you will have to choose from.
Ultimately, it depends on your personal preference which will help you make the decision as to which website you want to use for your blogging needs. Both of these websites continue to increase in popularity as millions of Internet users from all over the world flock to these sites to create their very own blogs.
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WordPress Plugins – Making the Most of the Your Site
Posted by: | CommentsWe recommend WebHostingHub as the best web hosting for your blog.
While we talk about the advantages of the different content management systems frequently, their strength is far more determined by how you use them. Each CMS has a world of plugins that programmers all over the world have created. Some of them are powerful enough to negate any problems inherent in your CMS of choice, and add functionality to it that you may have never considered.
This is the first in a series of articles that will go over some of the best plugins we found out there for the most popular contention management systems. We start today with the king of CMS’s, WordPress and WP Plugins. Note that we are going to be focusing on for-pay plugins in this article. Free plugins have their place, and we will cover those eventually as well. This is for the webmaster who is willing to shell out a little cash for the best.
This sleek calendar system gives the webmaster an easy-to-use interface with which they can create professional-looking calendar and event pages. Among the options available are the ability to integrate Google Maps into the event page, and using “Pretty URLs”. The calendar of events can be displayed in a number of attractive, easy-to-read formats.
2) All in One Shortcodes Plugin
Much of what you’ll want to do with your WordPress site might benefit from some simple stylistic addition. You may not want to pick up a book and spend a few hours learning the code necessary, though. This $20 plugin lets you do these easily. Buttons and text boxes of all different sizes and styles, image and text sliders (meaning content that rotates through a limited set every few seconds), embedded video, and social bookmarking are all available. It’s a veritable WordPress Swiss army knife.
3) Custom Widget Areas for WordPress
One of the most useful additions to a standard WordPress account is the ability to make customer sidebar sections, or widgets. This inexpensive package allows you to do just that. The webmaster is presented with an enormous variety of options for what to display where, and how. Widgets can be included in main body text, and all pages down to 404 error code pages can be customized.
4) uPricing – Pricing Table for WordPress
This one is a bit specialized, but the right user will really appreciate having it. This little package lets the user make a business-quality pricing table. Tables are often one of the first things a new HTML editor learns how to make. They soon learn thereafter how much worse a bad-looking table can make your web site appear.
5) Twitter Ultimate-WordPress Plugin
Finally, no article about improving your website would be complete without somehow working modern social networking into it. Of the available packages we looked at for the most popular social hangouts, Twitter Ultimate-WordPress Plugin seemed to provide the best functionality for the least cost ($8 as of this writing). It allows the user all sorts of controls over whose tweets are displayed when, and how often.
There are even more good plugins, and we’ll go into them when we later cover some of the free ones available for WordPress. For now, this should give the WordPress webmaster looking for some very nice enhancements to their site an excellent starting point.
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Get Out Of The PHP Memory Error Rut With WordPress
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve all been there: You drag yourself out of bed in the morning, crawl to your computer, and boot up the oh-so-familiar blog space. But instead of finding your lovingly crafted website, complete with self-made logos and beautiful banners, all you find is this error:
“Fatal error: Allowed memory size of ######## bytes exhausted (tried to allocate ## bytes) in /home/user/public_html/wp-includes/phpfile.php on line 80.”
Before you start swearing at your monitor or worse—we’re thinking that stapler looks appropriately weighted for some hefty hucking—know that this issue is easily fixed, and doesn’t have to be the day-wrecker you feel it might be.
It’s worth noting that your exact error message may vary, but as long as it says something about your memory being more worn out than an obese man at a 10k, you’re golden: The issue has to do with available computing space, and you’re still reading the right tutorial.
The likely issue is that you’ve just installed a new plug-in or extension, and now WordPress is acting like an estranged lover. There are a couple of ways to correct the issue. The easiest is to disable any recently installed extensions and see if that corrects the problem. However, this is certainly less than desirable, as you likely want that new piece of code. With that in mind, you might try to expand the available memory space for your site. This can be accomplished in the following way:
Essentially, you’ll need to change the amount of memory available for PHP. This can be done in a number of ways, and it might be that there’s only one that works for your server. Always query your web host first—or if you’re feeling gung-ho, locate your php.ini file and do this to it!
Locate the following line:
memory_limit = 32M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume
Change “32M” to “64M,” and then cross your fingers. Some hosts limit the amount of memory you can delegate yourself to PHP, so if this doesn’t correct the issue, therein may lie your problem. If you can’t acquire access to php.ini, you might try adding the same line to the .htcaccess file in your WordPress main installation folder.
If none of those are possible, then you’re in a sticky boat, Pilgrim: Call up the tech-support you’re paying for and get them to do one of the things we just discussed.
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Add-Ons That Will Save Your Web Hosting Business
Posted by: | CommentsTo quote my grandfather, “Things is heating up all over!” Yep, Pappy, this economic climate sure is a nasty one: Advertising spots are being put on a premium, stiff competition from small-time hosts is getting nasty, and more and more users are ditching traditional hosting for WordPress.
With such oppressive conditions, how on Earth are you to improve your web hosting business’ numbers? Well, it’s not time to bring out the End is Near signs just yet: Use the following add-ons to up-sell to your customers, increasing their productivity and improving your marketability while raking in revenue cash.
Video Conferencing:
Companies the world over are advancing video conferencing as a viable alternative to traditional travel. An over-the-Internet conference is cheap to free, whereas a plane ticket and a hotel room is anything but.
Video conferencing has grown in the workplace by 15% each year. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to walk ten feet in an office without finding someone on Skype. You should tailor your web hosting services to match. Include programs like Voxwire — which is our favorite video conferencing provider—in your standard features set. Voxwire makes it easy to collect revenue off your consumer’s streams, allowing both parties to win-out in the end. If Voxwire doesn’t sound like your thing, you can also try WebEx or GoToMeeting.
Search Engine Optimization:
If you aren’t on this one, then shame on you, Web Hoster Joe! Search engine optimization (or SEO) is one of the hottest topics around, and almost every web designer you meet will be worrying his head off about it. Thankfully, most SEO providers also include referral programs that will land cash in your pocket while making it easy for anxious consumers to streamline their sites.
All good web hosts should provide at least one recommended SEO service—some of the best offer three or four. Feel free to offer a basic program like the I Need Hits reseller brand, and if that just doesn’t quite cut it, look to create a partnership with a larger marketing firm. You never know what you’ll find until you start poking around, and even if you can find a freelancer willing to work for a flat fee, that will be just fine with your consumers.
Just remember that adding services for your consumers doesn’t have to be a painful (or expensive) process. By up-selling products to your users, you can earn cash via referrals, and strengthen your brand name, to boot.
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Alternative’s to WordPress – Other Content Management Systems do Exist
Posted by: | CommentsWordPress may be the ten-gallon hat and eight-hundred pound gorilla of Content Management Systems (or CMS, for the tech-savvy and initiated) but that doesn’t mean it’s the only kid on the block. In fact, there are quite a few other PHP-based management systems out there that are more than capable of getting the job done. We’ve compiled a few of our favorites here, and as long as you’re feeling brave enough to go outside the box, we’ve got the roadmap.
Geeklog
We know Geeklog may not look the prettiest, but this CMS is every bit as functional as WordPress and then some. Popular sites like Mac OS X hints have been using it for years, in case you need a reference. Geeklog is a ninja when it comes to mySQL, PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL, as well as content syndication, mass user deletion, forums, and multi-language support. Not to mention the word “geek” is in the title, which tickles our pickle five ways to Sunday.
This CMS has been garnering an immense amount of attention for its ease of use and feature-rich editing. The system allows users to edit pages directly from the management software without having to go through any kind of complex administrative filter. Even images can be mangled straight from the source, making it easier than ever to manipulate your media. Not to mention that concrete5 is completely free and open-source, meaning you’re free to soak your hands in its code any day you’re feeling particularly daring.
Drupal
Ah, Drupal! It’s been reported that this CMS is being used by one in every 66 sites around the world, including some heavyweight, multi-national government institutions. It’s a weighty offering, and one that’s every bit as feature-rich as WordPress. It works with every kind of database server you can think of, and is also compatible with every operating system known to man. Not to mention its huge list of features, including multi-user file editing, multiple sites, and massively useful security restrictions. Drupal also supports one of the best user communities around (a fact touted by the developer often) making it accessible and and functional, especially when issues arrive.
That’s all we’ve got for you today! If you’re still suckling the WordPress source, maybe you’ll look into a few of our other favorites for future projects. No matter where you go, though, quality CMS isn’t hard to find. Whether open-source code, a massive user community, or a gorgeous user interface is your kick, you can always find something to match.
Feel free to post a comment if we left any killer WordPress alternatives out!
The 13 Best Free WordPress Plugins
Posted by: admin | Comments Comments OffWe covered recently the best plugins available for the webmaster who doesn’t mind spending a few bucks. Now it’s time to look at the best ones for webmasters who do.
Free plugins shouldn’t be looked at with so much of a suspicious eye. While there is definitely something to be said for the polished professionalism that comes from purchasable products, the world is filled with programming geniuses who enjoy adding something to the electronic world. One advantage these guys have is that what they think of is often clever, and may not have made it through a marketing meeting.
So let’s look at some of the best free WordPress Plugins:
1. Snazzy Archives
Snazzy, indeed. This plugin takes your blog post history and presents it in an impressive, attractive format. Snazzy scans your posts for images and YouTube videos, and lays thumbnails of them with the post summaries. The package contains a number of options so you can alter some of the layout parameters.
2. WP Comment Remix
This full-featured plugin adds a host of new options to your WordPress blog. Options for simple commenting include several different reply types, different ordering of comments and trackbacks, and comment tags. A number of widgets also let you track user data and perform administrative functions through side bars.
3. All in One SEO Pack
The description for this package simply says “Automatically optimizes your WordPress blog for Search Engines”. That belies just how much this free package does for your SEO efforts. It provides integration for WordPress E-commerce sites, for one. It has two levels of use, so novice users can just jump right in, and advanced users can do the fine-tuning that they need to. It optimizes your page titles and generates META tags automatically. If all of this isn’t enough, there is a purchasable Pro version that they claim is the most downloaded WordPress plugin.
4. Simple Pull Quote
This is a neat one that is good for those who heavily use their WordPress site for more serious article writing. Simple Pull Quote lets you take a certain quoted text and emphasize it in the form of a separate text box located within your main text field. It also includes multiple adjustable presentation options.
5. Theme Tester
Here’s a clever one. Theme Tester allows the webmaster to test out any new themes that they install, so it is visible only to administrators. Of course you’re not going to be doing this every week, but when the time comes around that you do want to change your theme, especially if you have a lot of readers, you aren’t going to want to show off to them a few hours’ worth of trial and error filled with broken images and links.
6. Categories by Tag Table
This plugin is also for writers, but of the more prolific variety. Falling squarely into the “Why didn’t anyone think of this before” category, it displays a graph that uses for one of its axis your post categories, and as the other the post tags. The table data itself is the number of posts that fall into each intersection.
7. Hit Sniffer Live Blog Analytics
Here’s another one that we’re surprised we haven’t seen more of for just about any platform. Instead of waiting until the end of the day, Hit Sniffer allows the user to perform real-time analysis of the traffic to their web site. In other words it lets you see what users are doing as they’re doing it. The screenshots we saw showed a dazzling array of different graphs and statistical pages. Hit Sniffer also gives you the ability to put a chat request pop-up window on your site, so users are presented the option to talk with you while they’re browsing.
8. Animal Captcha
Getting irritated by the robots that are able to keep up with the Captchas? You might want to install this plugin just for the personal gratification. It asks the user to identify different types of animals. The software comes with more than 100 default images. To further confuse the bots the images are put through random micro-transformations before being displayed and the user can upload their own. Besides, as they themselves point out, instead of looking at random ugly warped text, wouldn’t you rather be clicking on a smiling beagle?
9. Newsletter Professional
Almost forgotten in the rush of other more modern features is the need to sometimes contact your users via newsletter. Newsletter Professional lets you put together a newsletter distribution quickly and according to your specifications. Users can opt in via a sidebar widget, and you can use single or double opt-in mechanisms.
10. Broken Link Checker
The longer and more established your blog is, the less you’re going to want to do this by hand. This plugin will check the links on your blog, not only in your posts, but in comments and other sections, and notify you if they contain any broken links or missing images. This isn’t frivolous: too many broken links can be held against you by search engine crawlers.
11. SM Sticky Click Star
This is a plugin that you see used a lot but may not think of. Sticky Clicky gives you the ability to designate certain posts “Sticky” so that they always appear at the top of your blog. This is a lightweight plugin that is designed to work well with other WordPress themes.
12. EmbedPlus for WordPress
There are various plugins that allow you embed YouTube videos into your web site. There aren’t many that have some of the features that this one has. Its playback options include zoom, slow motion, scene making and skipping and instant reply. It also supports third-party annotations, and real-time social reactions.
13. CSV to Webpage Pearlbells
This plugin will save the right web site owner a lot of time and headache. It allows the webmaster to upload a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file onto your web site and have it displayed as a table. The file can be set to always upload from a specified location, and the plugin contains customizable style elements.
There you are! Thirteen really useful WordPress plugins: and like the software themselves, this list didn’t cost you a penny.
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