Lisa Sabin-Wilson

Keeping my focus on WordPress

Lisa — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:40:30 +0000

Back in mid-May, I made an announcement here about a new book that I was contracted to write for Wiley Publishing, TypePad For Dummies. I’m still very active in my WordPress For Dummies project, as a matter of fact, I just updated the book recently for a reprint and a 3rd edition of WordPress For Dummies is scheduled to start this year. Since I did not have any other books on my schedule for 2009, I took the opportunity offered by Wiley to write the TypePad book. That has now changed, however; a lot can happen in 2-3 weeks – - keeping up with technology in print is a really big undertaking and I’ve been really impressed with the way Wiley has approached that challenge – as an author, we just roll with it and move along at a frantic pace to keep up and ahead of the game.

What’s changed for me is that I am no longer the scheduled author for TypePad For Dummies, even though I had signed the contract and had already written the TOC (Table of Contents) and was well on my way to getting the first 25% of content delivered. I had my summer scheduled around the writing of that book, understanding that it needed to be done so I could begin the work on the 3rd edition of WordPress For Dummies.

Last week, right before I left for WordCamp Chicago, I had a long heart to heart with my editor at Wiley (Amy, I love you!) – we talked long about the exciting developments coming out of the WordPress dev. community, and from Automattic, as well. We discussed the excitement surrounding applications like BuddyPress and WordPress MU and I shared information on things that I know of regarding future plans for further development and innovation – - I think I made her head spin just a little (heh. welcome to the club!).

During our phone call, it was decided that it made more sense for me to stay focused on WordPress related projects that Wiley is currently involved with, considering my work on the WordPress For Dummies project and within the WP community, as a whole – - Wiley has a lot of WordPress related resource and reference material planned over the coming year. I have to say that Wiley Publishing has become true believers in the WordPress product and have caught the bug that so many of us feel within the community.

While I was excited to do the TypePad book – mostly because I do know that platform very well and I do love the opportunity to share that knowledge to help users learn and grow with their own content publishing efforts, no matter their platform of choice – and I am a bit sad to let that contract go. TypePad is going through some exciting times right now with their new platform roll out soon – users will be so much happier with the development that the TypePad team has been working so hard on. I do know that Wiley has an exciting author lined up to take my place as I return my focus back into the WordPress arena.

Also wanted to give a shout out to the TypePad folks who were so helpful and encouraging during the early phases of getting the TypePad For Dummies book project up and rolling – Claire Alcock, Andy Wibbles and Anil Dash – thanks for your support and encouragement. The new author of TypePad For Dummies is one lucky person to have such an energetic crew around to help and support them towards a successful release.

I’ll have an announcement soon with more specifics – I do have a new WordPress title in the works, and trust that it’s an exciting one!

It seems WordPress and I were destined

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WordPress 2.8 Goodness

Lisa — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:45:13 +0000

I’ve been using 2.8 beta since it’s release and upgraded this evening to 2.8 (Baker) this evening and nothing broke – that is always a bonus! Loving the upgrades to the WordPress platform and how everything is pretty much automated for users – - now not only can you upgrade your WordPress installation directly from your Dashboard AND search for, install and activate new plugins (and upgrade existing ones) directly from your WordPress Dashboard – but you can do the same with free WordPress Themes from the official themes directory.

A true WordPress Trifecta – it’s brilliant.

I’m going through and reading my RSS feeds this evening and having a look at various reviews of the 2.8 release – almost all positive. Reviewed are the changes, large and small, from 2.7 to 2.8 – I am struck by an experience I had this evening with a brand new WordPress user, a client of mine, whom I met with for a few hours at a local Starbucks.

Chris and I met with her and her husband for coffee. They brought their laptop and I brought a copy of WordPress For Dummies to give to them as they begin their journey of transitioning their static HTML website to a WordPress powered site.

As we drank our coffee, they logged into their new WordPress Dashboard and I began taking them through the ‘How To’s’ of managing and maintaining their site. A quick tour of the Dashboard… the differences between WordPress Posts and Pages… how to create and maintain a list of links with link categories….how to sort posts into topics using categories…what are ‘parent’ and ‘child’ categories – - the list goes on.

We made our way through all of the essentials and they were simply awestruck at the ease and simplicity of this program. The mere fact that they could type content for an article on their site, click publish and that’s it. Their site is updated and they can move on to the business of running their business. Up until now, her husband has been hacking his way through HTML using Dreamweaver and FTP. Simple content edits on their existing website took excruciating effort, to the point where they let those updates lapse because it was just too daunting of a task for them during an already hectic and busy work week.

They actually let out a little cheer when I showed them how to edit their About page, and demonstrated how that 10 second edit and republish in the admin panel created the change to the page on the live website – - I’ve never quite seen anyone get teary eyed over a software platform before, but this couple was putting some seriously intense labor and hours into a website that will now only take them minutes a day to maintain.

As I’m reading through the reviews of 2.8, written by my experienced WordPress friends (and gurus) – I think this evenings experience was a very positive one for me, as well. As my friends are talking about and exploring some of the changes to the Plugin and Themes management page in their WordPress admin panel, discussing bug fixes, hooks and filters.. . . I just got home from a meeting with a couple who are so very grateful for the WordPress project just simply based on the fact that they can login, write and publish in a very small amount of time. For them – that is golden!

Pure simplicity.

Knowing some of the folks on the development team, the testers, the plugin and theme developers – I wonder how often they stop to think of the possibility that this evening, somewhere in a coffee shop in a little town in the middle of nowhere, their efforts at contributing to this platform truly improved and transformed the way a husband and wife team run their day to day business. Multiply that times a couple hundred thousand – and these developers, testers and designers are making an honest and profound difference in the lives of so many on a daily basis.

It’s pretty damn awesome if you stop and think about it.

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WordCamp Chicago – A sold out event

Lisa — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:47:45 +0000

This time next week, I’ll be making my way down to Chicago to attend WordCamp Chicago. As of last week, it is a sold out event topping out at a total of 200 attendees. I’m jazzed about it and really looking forward to meeting everyone and listening to the great line up of speakers we have lined up:

Matt Mullenweg, founder of our favorite blog/CMS platform, WordPress
Jeremy Wright, CEO of one of the largest global new media blog networks, b5media
Jim Turner, business and social media blogging consultant at One By One Media
Erin Blaskie, CEO of global internet marketing strategy consultancy, Business Services, ETC
David Dalka, marketing and digital technology coach and founder of, Search Engine Marketing Strategy
Liz Strauss, online business strategist and owner of Successful Blog and SOB Con
Micah Baldwin, VP of business development of search-powered web application, Lijit
Tim Frick, who creates design-driven communication solutions with his company, Mightybytes
Doug Hanna, head honcho of running the day-to-day operations of the WordPress showcase
Kevin Palmer, social media expert consultant and talent behind Social Media Answers

This is the first time I’ve ever organized an event this big – with the exception of my wedding, but that’s a different animal altogether! My husband, Chris, and my assistant Lindsey were extremely helpful in helping me organize details with sponsors, equipment, venues, catering, etc. Brian Gardner was the guy in charge of getting the speakers lined up – and he did a phenomenal job of gathering a great group of folks that will make the weekend a very educational and informative one. Brian is also the official WordCamp Chicago Emcee.

I will be posting a bit more over at the WordCamp Chicago site on some further details that everyone should know before they attend – - look for that over the weekend.

Also want to thank the sponsors of WordCamp Chicago – for without them, this event would have never been realized: Dummies.com/Wiley Publishing, StudioPress, ServerBeach, Skype, WebDevStudios, Margaret Roach and of course my own companies E.Webscapes and Blogs About Hosting

I will be on the WordPress Weekly radio show this evening with Brian Gardner, discussing the upcoming WordCamp Chicago – it’s at 8pm EST, join us if you can!

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Working it out

Lisa — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:32:32 +0000

The following content is re-posted, in full, from a post I did on this blog 4 years ago. Lots has changed in 4 years -- - even more has changed in the past 3 months. Anger, betrayal, hurt…those are all strong, real, but fleeting emotions. Love stays…and that never changes.

Originally posted in January 2005

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. At least, not in my daughter’s case. If ever I had a Mini-Me -- - she’s it.

When I was young(er) -- I made a living singing in a rock band. Yep -- Little-Known-Fact #101. It was me, as lead singer, and 5 guys. We were nothing spectacular . . . but we had a ton of fun and made a good living for about 5 years…. Or until I had kids and decided I needed to make the BETTER living, rather than the FUN living.

Adulthood sucks, man.

Music makes me soar (not sore… soar) . . and singing is still a great passion of mine, but the reality of adulthood and having mouths to feed became the priority in my life. So, I traded in my microphone for a stethoscope and spent the next 15 years as an RN. That job was extremely fulfilling, don’t get me wrong. But also don’t think that I don’t spend a good amount of time looking back on my music years with a wistful sigh.

I coulda been a contender!

Now I sing in the shower and various weddings for friends, family, friends of friends and their nephews.

Bah. A wedding singer.

My daughter, though! Man has she got some pipes! I love to sit and listen to her sing. Sometimes, when she’s doing her chores around the house -- - she turns up the tunes and sings along . . and I’ll come upstairs and just stand there in the corner watching her . . . listening. Until she sees me and lets out a blood curdling scream!

That’s me. Mom the stalker.

Tonight, her and I went shopping. She let me listen to the violin piece that she’s going to perform at a state competition in April. Her violin instructor recorded it onto a CD for her -- - which she then downloaded to her iPod.

Ahh. Technology.

So, I listened. It was her instructor playing the Minuet that she is supposed to learn. Would you believe that her instructor was MY instructor back in the day? Yep -- Ol’ Mr. M. I studied under him for years. That is, until the my junior year in high school -- they decided to put Orchestra and Choir during the same period -- - so I had to choose. I chose Choir. Mr. M. never forgave me -- - and do you believe he STILL brings it up everytime I go to one of my daughters concerts?

Anyways . . back to my daughter. After that discussion -- she started talking about which song she was going to sing for the school’s talent show in May. She’s narrowed it down to three songs by Kelly Clarkson and made me listen to all three. I can’t decide. She’ll do beautifully no matter which one she chooses.

That’s what I told her.

..”Mom? What is that butterfly song you used to sing to me when I was little?”

I smiled.

“It’s a song called ‘Dog and Butterfly’ . . done by Heart,” I said.

“Sing it,” she says.

“Now??,” I ask.

“Yes . . pleasepleasepleaseplease??,” she whines.

So I do. I surprise myself that I remembered all the lyrics. It brought back days of holding her little body close to mine. Sitting in her dark nursery in a old creaky rocking chair that I found at an estate sale that year.

But I remember every word just like it was yesterday.

I finished. She smiled and said, “It’s been a really long time and it’s just like I remember it. You never should have stopped singing, Mom.”

“You sing for me,” I said.

“I will, Mom,” she says. Then she opens up the page of the new book I bought for her: Learning How To Sing by Clay Aiken . . . . she wanted that book so bad. She turns to the first page and let’s out a little sigh.

“So perfect,” she says -- “If I ever write a book, I’m going to start it just this way.”

“What way,” I ask.

“The way Clay started his book: This is for my mother, who sang to me first”

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TypePad For Dummies, I’m doing it.

Lisa — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:35:07 +0000

I couldn’t believe it when I stopped and paid notice to the fact that I have not updated my blog here since my return from SXSW. What a sorry, sorry blogger I am! Short story, I’ve been ultimately too chaotically busy with design projects, organizing WordCamp Chicago and some family matters that shall remain unmentioned – let’s just say … kids – I liked them better when they were cute and cuddly and weren’t old enough to drive a car! ‘Nuff said? I think so

My latest exciting announcement is that I have another book on my horizon. As most readers here know, I’ve been designing websites and blogs for a decade, at least. I work with my clients on the platform that they’ve chosen to use – WordPress, Movable Type, TypePad, Expression Engine, Drupal, Joomla – - you name it. I would say, for the most part, I work mainly in WordPress, MovableType and TypePad, with the occasional Expression Engine site thrown in just to throw me off. I actually got my start in blog designing on the Movable Type platform, before WordPress really hit the scene. Yes, I’ve been around that long.

Around the time that I was close to wrapping up the big update to my WordPress For Dummies book (the 2nd Edition) in February of this year, my editor at Wiley Publishing started asking about my interest in doing another Dummies book on a different blogging platform. This time around: TypePad For Dummies. My editors inquiry was tentative, because any good editor knows that the worst time to approach an author about writing a new book is when they are in the final throes of completing the current one. That is the point when you don’t even want to THINK about the prospect of doing another one. So, she smartly tabled the talk until the 2nd edition of WordPress For Dummies was safely on the shelves and my sanity restored.

I thought about it some, and decided to do it. I know the TypePad platform extremely well, in terms of the user experience and designing through customizing TypePad’s own themes with CSS, or using their Advanced Template feature to create websites using the TypePad template tags – it’s something I’ve been doing for years.

Back in October, I attended BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. Aside from having an extremely good time at the Blackjack tables there, I also had the opportunity to meet and chat, at length, with the folks from SixApart – particularly the people involved with TypePad development. They told me about some of the big changes that TypePad was about to launch for their users – so having the book launch right on the heels of their big new interface rollout was good timing.

It seems to be the way I am destined to write books, though. When I wrote the 2nd Edition of WordPress For Dummies, people thought that it was just a simple update to the original one. Actually, the 2nd Edition turned out to be a completely different book because of the vast changes between version 2.5/2.6 of the WordPress platform and version 2.7. Writing a book when the platform was smack dab in the middle of such huge development/interface changes was pretty challenging. With this book, TypePad For Dummies, I find myself in the same situation – - TypePad is in the midst of a very big overhaul…and I’m in the midst of writing a book based on beta development, thus far. But their development is well on its way and should be a done deal before I’m halfway done…so that’s cool.

Given my newest project, I launched a new blog on TypePad, which you can view here. I also did a preliminary review of TypePad’s new Beta features – as I’ve been on the Beta testing team, as many are, and have been able to experience the great new changes that TypePad has coming down the pike. You can also connect with me through my TypePad Connect profile, if you have one.

For those that learned about my new project, the questions were inevitable — “I thought you were a WordPress girl, what changed??“ My answer: Nothing. I love WordPress and still prefer to use it on this and my business sites. Or: “Don’t you think writing a book on TypePad is a betrayal to WordPress??“ My answer: Don’t be ridiculous.

Lots has been said about the rivalry between the two platforms, WordPress and TypePad (or Automattic and SixApart – however you’d like to look at it). I say that choice is good for the user and competition keeps the applications sharp and hungry, which, ultimately, is good for the community.

Attempting to bridge the gap, Anil Dash from SixApart recently spoke at WordCamp MidAtlantic about community, content and then introduced some plugins and services that SixApart has released for the WordPress community. Aaron Brazell, who organized WordCamp MidAtlantic and was the guy who took the risk to invite Anil to do a keynote at a grassroots WordPress event (it worked, Aaron – quite effective, that!) – wrapped it up rather nicely in one line in his recent remarks on the event: ..“our communities really are very similar because we all love blogging and want to see the medium thrive.”

When it comes to publishing content on the web, I’m not a one issue voter, so to speak. It is the content that matters – how you get your content on the web is a matter of personal preference.

That is all I have to say on the matter

I’m very excited to be writing TypePad For Dummies, especially during the time of such vast and enormous growth that TypePad is experiencing right now with their new interface roll out. I have had incredible support from the folks at SixApart and TypePad, so far – they’ve been very helpful, resourceful and are just as excited about the book project as I am (maybe more..I’m not sure!)

I will probably be done writing TypePad For Dummies just in time to start updating and re-writing the THIRD edition of WordPress For Dummies!

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So much coolness all in one place – SXSW 2009

Lisa — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:41:03 +0000

Charnell Pugsley from ServerBeach, and myself getting things rollin' at SXSW 2009

I cannot begin to tell you how great SXSW was this year – it keeps getting better each year I go. That is probably because of the fact that I meet new people every year, and get the opportunity to see old friends, as well. This year was no different. Want to give a big thanks to ServerBeach for hosting me at their exhibit booth at the Trade Show this year – it was a crazy success and hope to do it again in the near future. For those of you who stopped by the booth, picked up some free themes and may even have won a free signed copy of WordPress For Dummies – I really, super enjoyed it!

Even Matt Mullenweg stopped by – I was really happy to finally meet him in person and chat a little bit about WordPress and get a picture of him and I with WordPress For Dummies – perfect!

ServerBeach gave authorization for the themes I created for giveaway at SXSW to be released in the WordPress Themes Directory – so I’ll be getting them up there within the next week, or so – hopefully.

I will write more about my time in Austin at SXSW a little later – - problem with being away for 4-5 days is the amount of work that piles up while you’re gone! I’m buried…but digging out! In the meantime, I’ve uploaded a bunch of photos to my Facebook — if you happen to see yourself in them, please tag the photo with your name. I’m better with faces than I am with names!

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Headed to Austin for SXSW 2009

Lisa — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:12:18 +0000

I’m leaving this morning – hopping a flight in Milwaukee and arriving in Austin around 3pm for the SXSW Interactive Festival this weekend. I’m excited to go and looking forward to seeing everyone there. It’s been a lot of hard work and several sleepless nights over the past few weeks preparing for the activities at SXSW – but I made it! I got done what needed to get done and now all I have to do is get there! I just fired off an email to my friends at ServerBeach with the 5 premium WordPress themes that they will be giving away at their exhibit booth – so they are all set to go! One final preview of the themes here – and if you’re interested in obtaining them, stop by the ServerBeach booth at SXSW to get them – and tons more goodies and surprises they have in store for you there!

If you’re headed to SXSW – stop by and say hi!

PS – for those of you still waiting to hear from me this week on various issues from active projects to potential projects – just because I’m traveling doesn’t mean I’m not working! I will be out of my office today through Tuesday March 17th – but you will be hearing from me. Have a great weekend!

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SXSW Craziness!

Lisa — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:24:54 +0000

I’ve been spending the past 2 weeks preparing for my trip to the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. This will be my third trip down to Austin for SXSW and I’m really looking forward to attending this year. Normally, there’s always a great deal to do before I take off for 5 days to attend the biggest geek gathering ever! I normally work long hours to make sure that all my client projects are either done, or well on their way to done and make sure everything I need on my home PC is set up for remote access, etc, etc. THIS year, however – it’s been a bit more crazy than usual because I’ve been working on developing five (5) premium WordPress themes that will be released at SXSW at the ServerBeach exhibit booth.

I’ve been guest blogging at the ServerBeach blog and the PEER1 blog:

ServerBeach is on MY Shirt…and on my SXSW Schedule! -This post is me giving ServerBeach some T-shirt love. You’d have to have been keeping up with ServerBeach’s “You on my Shirt” series over on their blog where Charnell takes and posts pictures of herself wearing the T-shirts of their business customers and does a post about their business. It’s a neat promotion and I’ve seen some great t-shirts! When talking to Rajan about our SXSW preparations – we decided to rip off Charnell’s idea! ServerBeach sent me one of their newest t-shirts and I did a “ServerBeach is on MY shirt” blog post over on their blog.. along with details about the upcoming excitement at SXSW!
SXSW, ServerBeach, WordPress and Me -This post I did yesterday on the ServerBeach blog, and it gives you a few sneak peeks at the themes I’ve been working on!
I’m Headed to SXSW with PEER1 – Will you be there? -a post I did on the PEER1 blog with teasers of the themes and info about the book signings, theme giveaways and more WordPress and ServerBeach schwag being offered up at the ServerBeach exhibit booth at SXSW.

I wil be honest and say that I had exactly 2 weeks notice to get these themes completed and ready for public release – and it’s been a little crazy over here getting them done — but done they are and I can’t wait to start seeing people using them! Right now, they are exclusively available ONLY at the ServerBeach exhibit booth at SXSW. You show up there and gain access to the super secret URL where you can download all 5 themes for free. I couldn’t even give you the themes if you asked me – - I’m under a strict contract and I’d hate to have the ServerBeach heavies after me for breaking the secret bond. Will the themes be available to the general public after SXSW is over? I don’t know — you’re going to have to ask the folks at ServerBeach that question. But here’s a sneak peek of 3 of the themes I’ve been working on – some are still in progress:

I’m pretty excited about them . . . and now that I mention it, I better get back to work on getting those themes ready for prime time! Are you going to SXSW? I would love to meet ya there! Stop by the ServerBeach booth and pick up your free, signed copy of WordPress For Dummies and 5 free premium WordPress themes, courtesy of me, ServerBeach and PEER1.

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ServerBeach at SXSW

Lisa — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:50:01 +0000

I’m really excited to announce that I am keeping myself busy at SXSW Interactive 2009 by appearing at the ServerBeach exhibit booth in the Exhibit Hall on the following days and times:

Saturday, March 14 from 1-4pm
Sunday, March 15 from 1-4pm
Monday, March 16 from 1-3pm

Let me back up just a minute here and explain. We have been extremely happy clients of ServerBeach going on 6 years now. They are the infrastructure behind our hosting business at Blogs About Hosting, which gives us the ability to provide a quality hosting product to our clients there, and at E.Webscapes – through their powerful (by that, I mean, kick a**!) dedicated hosting equipment and services. Over the years, we have developed a real solid relationship with them from a happy customer standpoint, as well as becoming friends with some of the great folks they have working at ServerBeach. ServerBeach also has a long, and successful, history with Automattic, having worked together with them on the WordPress.Com project.

A partnership between myself and ServerBeach was inevitable! SXSW 2009 is the perfect place for ServerBeach and I to come together to provide festival attendees with some exciting goings on at the ServerBeach exhibit booth. I will be appearing at the ServerBeach exhibit booth at the following times:

Saturday March 13: 1-4pm
Sunday March 14: 1-4pm
Monday March 15: 1-3pm

WordPress For Dummies: ServerBeach will be giving away free copies of WordPress For Dummies at their booth, and as a bonus – I will be present in the times stated above, to do book signings. So stop by the ServerBeach booth and pick up your FREE autographed copy of WordPress For Dummies. Already have a copy? No problem – stop by the booth to say hi … I love to meet my readers, and I’ll sign your copy!
WordPress Q&A: During the times I will be at the ServerBeach booth, I am also available to do a quickie WordPress Q&A if you have any specific questions on how to use WordPress on your site or blog. I’ll have my laptop ready with a clean install of WordPress open, ready for your questions.
Premium themes, anyone?? I do a lot of custom design work for WordPress users over at E.Webscapes – - for SXSW I am doing 5 free Premium themes for WordPress users – available ONLY to SXSW attendees who stop by the ServerBeach exhibit booth on March 14-16, 2009. Here’s what you do: stop by the booth and ask for the super secret link to Lisa’s Premium WordPress themes they are giving away. That’s it! (the themes are free and completely GPL). I will be guest posting a bit over on the ServerBeach Blog and giving away a few more details on these themes, including some teaser shots and info. Subscribe to the ServerBeach Blog RSS Feed to get those updates as they come over the next few weeks leading up to the SXSW Interactive Festival! (ServerBeach might might give these themes away to the general public after SXSW is over – that is up to them, but for now, they’re available from the ServerBeach exhibit booth at SXSW exclusively.)

I’m very excited to be working with ServerBeach at SXSW – their company philosophy, targeted at geeks like me, strikes a chord, as a customer – and their involvement and interest in the WordPress project is always a sure and straight way to my heart! As a very satisfied customer of theirs for almost 6 years, this was an opportunity I could not let pass me by. Are you planning on being in Austin for SXSW? I would truly love it if you’d stop by the ServerBeach exhibit booth to say hi!

If you’re attending SXSW and have your profile set up at my.sxsw.com – you can add me here. Otherwise, follow me on Twitter – @LisaSabinWilson – I’m sure I’ll be all a twitter about it!

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Meanwhile…back at the ranch…(long-ish)

Lisa — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:44:59 +0000

I have been ever so slightly *MIA* here, I realize. This is due to several reasons – - some personal – - others just involve lots of work and lots of catching up on work! I do have lots going on, though – so let me get right to it!

A few months back, I did a post here about a site that I had launched utilizing the WordPress MU software with a special edition of the brand new BuddyPress integration. It was a challenging site deployment – but a lot of fun! Recently, the gals over at WeHeartThis wrote about their experience, with the added bonus of getting up close and personal with yours truly in a lengthy interview where we talk WordPress, design, sexual discrimination, Metallica, Britney Spears and Makeup – it was a fun and interesting interview – check it out!

I didn’t think I would be able to make it, however, as of today – that has changed and I will be in Austin March 12 – 18th attending the coolest technology and interactive festival on the planet – no lie! I have some exciting announcements coming in a few days about my appearance at SXSW. I am very much looking forward to the panels, parties and hooking up with some friends of mine – like Christina, Charnell (who recently became a GrandMom – Congrats!) and Kevin and other friends from ServerBeach. . . I also have some exciting things packed into that weekend that benefits YOU, if you’re there. Stay tuned..and in the meantime, if you’re going – let me know. We could do coffee…or at the very least, say hey!

WordCamp Chicago is moving right along! I’m getting really excited about this event as Brian and I continue to plot, plan and scheme to bring a fantastic WordCamp event to the Windy City! Checkout the growing list of rockstar speakers that Brian has been working hard to organize for your educational (and entertaining!) pleasure! We also have several great sponsors working with us to help make the event a success – - big thanks to Wiley Publishing, ServerBeach, StudioPress, E.Webscapes and BlogsAbout Hosting for their support. We still need a few more sponsors to help us out with the planning and organization – if you, or your company, is interested – contact WordCamp Chicago for the 411.

My book, WordPress For Dummies, is officially out in stores, as well as several online locations. It’s doing really well so far – having sold over 12,000 copies in its first 2 weeks out! Thank you to everyone who has purchased and checked out the book, I really hope you find it a valuable resource. I found out great news from Wiley Publishing this week – - WordPress For Dummies has also been granted additional licensing for Russian translation and will be available for purchase in Russia soon.

Neville Hobson (of http://www.nevillehobson.com/), all the way from the UK - shared a picture of his copy once it arrived from Amazon.uk and said: Just arrived from Amazon UK: WordPress for Dummies 2nd Edition. The best how-to book on WP, imo. Thanks, Neville! Want to share your WordPress For Dummies photo? Please do - Ill publish it here!

I published this photo on Matt Mullenwegs Facebook page thanking him for such a FANTASTIC application - and to Automattic for their help and support during the writing of the book!

And speaking of the book – I had posted on this blog previously that I would be giving away 5 autographed copies to visitors of this site Valentine’s Day, a date that I completely missed due to my aforementioned reasons for being MIA. I’d like to rectify that today. The rules of my previous posts were just that you had to leave a comment on that posts – - so, for those of you listed here – hit my contact form and provide me with your name and mailing address and I will be sending these books out asap:

Austin from ilfilosofo.com (who has some fantastic WordPress Plugins – check ‘em out!)
Jenny from uncommonhope.wordpress.com (who loves my pink and thinks I’m sassy – bonus!)
Mike from exit78.com/weblog (who isn’t sure he needs it – but what the heck?)
Steve Cowell – (who recently purchased the 1st edition, not realizing there was an newer version.)
Preston from madeinpreston.co.uk (who just started his new blog on Feb 6th – welcome to WordPress!)

There we have it – - get in contact with me and I’ll get the 5 of you hooked up and thank you for your interest!

And finally – I realized yesterday that the contact form on this site was not working correctly. I’m using a plugin to power the contact form (Contact Form 7) and had it set up to hook into Akismet for spam protection. At some point, that Akismet part of that plugin started blocking every single one of the people who were trying to contact me using that form. I’ve abandoned the Akismet protection on that form and opted for a Captcha method, instead. Sorry for any inconvenience!

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WordPress For Dummies “In Stock” on Amazon

Lisa — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:00:39 +0000

Just noticed, over the weekend, that my book, WordPress For Dummies, 2nd Edition is now listed as “In Stock” on Amazon. That’s two weeks earlier than I had originally been told – - bonus! Not sure what this means for your local bookstores and libraries; however, if the 1st edition of this book was any indication – it took about a week, or two, for the book to start showing up in physical stores.

I don’t even have MY copies of the book yet! Well, except for the draft version that’s sitting in Microsoft Word format on my computer, that is

I had mentioned earlier this month that I would be doing a give away of 5 signed copies of the book. I’ll make it easy on you – - leave a comment here on Valentine’s Day (2/14) I will choose 5 random folks for the give away. If you’re interested – let me know!

Oh, and WordPress For Dummies also now has a Facebook page. If you’re a Facebook user, drop by and join!

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Please keep them safe

Lisa — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:50:27 +0000

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