The other day I had someone ask me if it was possible to handle multiple blogs from a single WordPress admin interface.  Before a month ago, the answer would’ve been no with the basic WordPress installation.  Today, the answer is yes.  As of the WordPress 3.0 upgrade,  they are working to bring together the MU features with the base WordPress system.  So, you can run multiple blogs from the same administration panel.  It’s really a fairly simple task but it does require a little editing to a php file.

Here’s what to do:

1.  Make a copy of wp-config.php

2.  Open the wp-config.php

3.  Add the following line anywhere in the file:  ”define(‘WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE’, true);”

4.  Save the wp-config.php

You should now be able to access the Network page via Tools >> Network to set up multiple subdomains.  If something goes wrong, simply replace the wp-config.php with the copy that you made at the beginning of the process.

It is my understanding that if you want to handle multiple top-level domains you should use a tool like the Domain Mapping plug-in.

Best of luck!

Many of the times when I am writing about WordPress, I guess maybe I assume that everyone knows about WordPress.  Probably just a hazard of the job/business.  Of course not everyone knows what WordPress is.  But… if you’re interested in a great looking maintainable website for your business… you SHOULD know what WordPress is.  So, I’ll just take a few minutes to outline basically what WordPress is and then you can look around a little and see how beneficial it is to your business.

What is WordPress?

WordPress.org (WordPress’s home/mecca) says the following:

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

More simply, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your blogging software, not fight it.

WordPress started out a blogging software but it is so much more than that now.  It isn’t just for blogging.  You can customize it to support your entire site.  This allows you to maintain your site’s content via a simple graphic editor.  This means that you or anyone in your company can change that marketing information with the simple click of a button.  You can add links, news stories, blog posts, job postings, product updates, etc, etc, etc.  That is what “state-of-the-art publishing platform” really means.

Want more about WordPress from WordPress.org? Here is the About section.

How does WordPress help me?

Simply put, WordPress makes it easy for you  to maintain your own website for the vast majority of the time.  You don’t need a programmer or a designer on your staff to update content.  With a little bit of training, you can more than likely handle 95-99% of the site updates yourself without any need for anyone else.

If the need does arise for assistance, WordPress even makes it easier on the developer to customize.

Those two facts really are summed up quite simply: WordPress saves you time and money.

Here are 5 more reasons that you should use WordPress.

More Questions?

Take a few minutes to explore the site and see if it all makes more sense.

Not sure where to go next?  I would recommend taking a look at “Where To Start?“.

A couple of weeks ago I created a post about using a self-hosted WordPress instance as a blogging option (“Self-Hosted WordPress for your blog?“).  It is a fantastic tool for supporting a blog and is highly recommended as your option for your blog.  Recently, the idea of using it for site’s CMS (Content Management System) has become very interesting to me.  Based on what WordPress supports, it seems that it would be a great CMS tool for websites.

Some of the key features give businesses and people a huge amount of flexibility if they utilize WordPress as a CMS tool.  There are five points that I find to be extremely valuable when considering using it as a CMS tool: user-friendly control of site content, SEO-friendly framework, templates, plug-ins, and the advanced customization features.

SEO Friendly framework

One of the key points that was considered in the creation of the WordPress architecture was that it had to be very search engine friendly.  Significant effort has been exerted to create a framework that is designed to support SEO (search engine optimization) techniques.  Being that this is a web site it is extremely important that the site can be found and that the search engine can efficiently and correctly index it.  This is something that WordPress does quite well.  Add to that a few of the SEO enhancement plug ins and your site will be very search engine friendly.

Full Control of Web Site content

WordPress was created with the idea that someone could create a blog and control the content.  With that the need existed to control the look and feel and also the other pages on the site.

WordPress’s ability to apply templates to the site to control look and feel and functionality with a simple upload is quite amazing.  This piece creates the base framework that the rest of the site will be built on.

It is truly amazing the level of control that is given from within the administration tool.  It provides you with the ability to add/edit/delete pages and the content contained within them.  Allows you to maintain posts.  Maintenance of links, media gallery, templates etc. is also standard to the administration structure.

The WordPress administration tool also is extensible through the use of plug-ins.  This allows developers to have the ability to add missing/needed pieces of functionality to the administration tool.  There are plug-ins that add additional SEO features, security, forms maintenance, advanced email capabilities, etc.  Each of these is items is simply installed and configured to support the necessary capabilities that you are looking for.

Taken a step further, the templates and pages that make up the site are also directly maintainable from within the administration tool.  This means that if the administration tool can’t maintain a specific piece of the site, someone with a knowledge of HTML, PHP, CSS, and WordPress can alter or add the necessary capabilities directly in the page level code.

Between the built in capabilities, plug-ins, and custom code it really does give complete functionality control over the site.  Each of the items gives distinct features to help customize the site.  The foundation is the WordPress template.

Start with a Template

The idea of the template is quite simple.  It provides a common look and feel throughout the site.  WordPress makes this functionality very simple.  It has a simple interface that that allows you to select from any of the uploaded templates.  This allows you decide on what framework you would like to build from and what your site will look like.  This is really the base of the site and the starting off point for customization.

Add capabilities with Plug Ins

The WordPress Plug In technology is focused on allowing developers to extend the existing WordPress framework with pieces of functionality that aren’t necessarily included in the base structure.  This allows developers to customize the systems to meet their needs.  There is a large group of developers who have created plug-ins that are available to add into WordPress.  Many are free, some will cost a little money.  Some of the great options out there would include: SEO Plug-ins, Analytics plug-ins, Security enhancements, RSS enhancements, integration with other social media tools (Twitter, FaceBook, etc.), and many many more.

The plug in functionality makes it quite simple to customize the functionality of your WordPress site.  In places where someone can’t find the specific plug-in that they need they have a couple of options: build your own plug-in or utilize the advanced customization abilities.

Advanced customization available

WordPress allows for full access to the pages that render the site.  Someone with a knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, and WordPress will be able to customize specific pages, parts, sections, styles, etc. from this level.  It really gives the developer complete control over the site that is output.  This allows a pretty infinite amount of customization to be available.

This type of customization is probably best left to web developers but it does give the site owners complete control over the site.

Can WordPress be a CMS?

Yes, WordPress can provide CMS capabilities.  It has most of them already built in to support the needs that many businesses have.  It is truly impressive tool and I think that people who decided to use it to support their content management will find it to be a very solid tool.

What are your thoughts on WordPress for your site?

[Republished with permission from RefocusingTechnology.com ~ Original]

Just found out a little tidbit… IE can not handle the HTML character “'”.  It doesn’t render it.  Firefox and Chome handle it without issue but apparently, IE doesn’t.  So you’ll simply see “Let's” instead of “Let’s”.

The workaround?  Use “&39;” instead to show and apostrophe in HTML for all browsers.

More about this issue

One of the very cool features that is available for WordPress sites is the ability to post from mobile platforms.  There are applications for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry that allow you to have control over your WordPress posting, comments, etc.

This is an amazing feature.  Giving the ability to blog while you’re on the road and away from the keyboard gives a huge amount of flexibility.  By putting this feature on your smartphone you have the ability to add blog ideas or even blog while you’re out.

This will also have huge implications as the iPad grows and as other slates are released.  Having the ability to blog from the slate as new ideas pop up make it extremely easy and flexible to keep your blog moving.  I would highly recommend checking out this tool to anyone who’s utilizing a WordPress website/blog.

Links:

WordPress for Android

WordPress for iPhone/iPad

WordPress for Blackberry

After working with quite a few WordPress themes both free and premium and continuing to hear about Thesis, I decided to give it a try with the new Refocusing Technology site. I really didn’t have an opinion either way starting the process. Premium themes are almost always better and easier to work with than free themes. The premiums I’ve seen have all been pretty decent. I like quite a few of the WooThemes I’ve worked with. So with that I went and downloaded Thesis and installed it.

I’ve read so many positive reviews. Some have said it’s a designer’s dream. Others have said it’s the theme that was really meant for WordPress. I read someone who said that Thesis definitely blurs the line between your web site and your blog. They go on and on.

After utilizing it for a short time, I was truly impressed. It is extremely functional and easy to use. It makes WordPress even EASIER to use which seems difficult.

The 8 Praises: Configuration Screens, Great Layout, Advanced Customizations via files, Hooks, Support available, Drop-Down Menus, Framework support, and the SEO capabilities.

Easy Configuration Screens

I am completely amazed by the work that has been put into the Thesis configuration screens. You have a huge amount of control over the look and feel of the site without knowing anything about the inner workings of WordPress like HTML, CSS, or PHP. This would allow users who are uncomfortable working with the undersides of WordPress to do quite a bit of customizing with just point and click. Given, it’s not complete customization and I don’t think that we’ll see that in any theme any time in the near future. It is a significant amount of customization and it’s a very cool feature. Take a look at the screens:

Thesis Site Options

Thesis Design Options

Thesis Page Options

Excellent Initial Layout

The theme really has a great initial layout. A simple blog could almost utilize it out of the box. Once you decide to start customizing it, you also see what a great initial layout it has. It is very simple to start re-arranging it and you notice that many pieces just seem to fit. It’s simple, somewhat minimalist, easy to use, open and readable. It is a fantastic foundation point to build from.

Customization Files

Thesis even more advanced customization more simple using it’s customization files. It gives you access to a custom CSS file (custom.css), custom functions file (custom_functions), and a layout CSS file (layout.css). These files really allow you to customize about everything in the Thesis theme framework. You can change the format, change functionality, add new capabilities, etc., etc., etc. Lots of power. You will need to know a little something about CSS/HTML/PHP to work with the files (or copy and paste info from the web).

To make your life simpler, they also provide an editor window which provides some level of syntax highlighting and keeps you from having to sort through all of the underlying files. It is not point and click, it’s a text editor but it does provide some level of assistance via the highlighting.

Thesis Custom File Editor

Hooks

Hooks are simply customization points. For you developers out there, they are events. They allow you to add things into the building of the page or remove things from the building of the page. This gives you a enormous amount of control over the site. By doing this you can connect to one of the hooks and control different events that occur. As an example, write something the header before the header is written out. Or (if you bought the right license) remove the attribution link at the bottom. Many options and huge opportunities.

Support Available

There is a significant following around the Thesis Theme. This is great because you can find a ton of information about how to customize Thesis to do what you want. I have utilized a ton of the examples and suggestions already in customizing and I know that I will end up using more. Here are a few examples of sites with a bunch of customization information on them:

DoubleMule

How to Make My Blog

SugarRae

Drop down Menus included

Want hierarchical drop down menus on your blog? Sure you do. Of course, you can find JQuery drop-down menus but they take some work to implement in your WordPress blog. Thesis 1.7 has the drop down menus built in to it. You simply turn it on it the control panel and start adding pages in a hierarchical fashion.

Built in Frameworks

For those of you out there in the web development and design realms, you know about the JavaScript frameworks (Jquery, JQuery UI, Prototype, MooTools, YUI, etc.). They are great tools for simplifying JavaScript that at times can be very lengthy and difficult. So for any site that you desire to utilize the tools on, you are typically required to download the framework and put it on the site. Then you need to include the references to it in every page. It’s a small thing but Thesis comes with them available. All you have to do is select which framework(s) to include on the site and Thesis takes care of it. It appears that you can do it at either a site level or at a page level. Another thing to simplify your life.

SEO

WordPress was built with SEO in mind. There are many plug-ins that can add SEO capabilities. That is great but Thesis comes with built-in SEO controls. You can set a bunch of configurations to make the site more SEO friendly. You have the ability to configure all of the necessary SEO information for the site, pages, and posts. For a great run down of the SEO features of Thesis take a look at this amazing article on DoubleMule:

Thesis Tutorial | SEO For Everyone

So…

Well, it must be obvious… I’m impressed with Thesis. It’s a very cool theme. I would definitely recommend it to people using self-hosted WordPress. Yes, it costs a little money but with all that it provides it’s a small price. Yes, I am an affiliate… because I’m impressed by it. Not vice versa. Go get it!

[Republished from RefocusingTechnology.com]

photo credit: josef.stuefer

A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled ‘5 Reasons WordPress Should be your CMS‘. Since that time I have utilized WordPress on a couple of other projects and have discussed the potential of the WordPress structure with other clients for their sites. Simply put WordPress is a great tool. It is easily customizable architecture that can be customized to fit a whole lot of needs. After the last couple of projects I think there are a few things that I have noticed that really make WordPress great.

Premium Themes

For one of my projects we utilized a Premium Theme (i.e. pay for it theme). It was one of the themes available from WooThemes. Premium themes are great. What makes them great is the fact that for a very small price, you get a great custom look and feel for your web site. This is something that many companies pay a significant amount to have created on their website. Also you can customize the theme to make it yours. This is a great thing for anyone who wants to build a site very efficiently.

Plugins for All

The wealth of plugins available for WordPress is completely unbelievable. On the projects that I have been working on, pretty much every need that the client had could be met by a plugin that I found. Many of the plugins are free and are extremely helpful for solving business problems. It is truly amazing the amount of functionality available out there to customize your WordPress web site.

Blank Slate

In working with WordPress, it is always amazing the level of control that you can have over the entire structure and system. You can customize pretty much every piece of the site. Even though we utilized a premium theme on one of the projects, there we things that needed to be altered about that theme to fit the client’s need. By adding plugins, graphics, and changing some of the underlying styles and colors we were able to create a custom site for the clients amazingly easy.

The main reasons why WordPress should be the underlying CMS for your web site: Ease and the ability to customize. You will get the site that you want in an efficient manner and you will then be able to maintain your own content and keep the site fresh. It’s a great tool.

[Republished from RefocusingTechnology.com]

When someone first journeys into the WordPress arena it can be truly confusing.  Many aren’t even sure what they’re looking for they just know they want a blog.  So, someone tells them how great WordPress is.

What’s the first thing they do?  Hit Google. When they start reading about WordPress they read about how Blogger is better than WordPress or why WordPress is so great.  A key point that is usually missing is the differences between the WordPress versions or platforms.  I wrote an post last fall called WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com but I realized that I should have expanded the topic a little bit because there is also WordPress MU.  I don’t want to completely rehash the previous article but I at least want to give a brief description of WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com vs. WordPress MU.

WordPress.org (Self-Hosted)

WordPress.org (http://www.wordpress.org/) is an open-source community site that is dedicated to building/supporting/improving the WordPress platform.  This is where you can download the WordPress software and install it wherever you would like to.  You can also get support, download extensions (plug-ins and themes), learn how to customize it, etc.  WordPress.org is really the home of WordPress.

They don’t host blogs here.  You must have a system to host this on.  Please see the previous article for more details on hosting (WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com).

WordPress.com is the base for the multi-user version called WordPress MU.

WordPress MU (Multi User)

WordPress MU (http://mu.wordpress.org/) is a multi user version of WordPress.  This software was expanded to allow hosts to support multiple WordPress blogs.  It is mostly the same product but it does have some differences that help support the multiple blog environment.  The people on WordPress MU’s website claim a 95-99% similarity with WordPress.org base product.

A company named Automattic installed WordPress MU and offers blogs through it as WordPress.com.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a site that was created to support providing free blogs to people.  It is an implementation of the WordPress MU platform by Automattic, Inc.  It is a very popular option because it is hosted in a free environment.  That said it is limited in functionality.

Some of the limitations:

• Free version does not allow editing of theme’s CSS templates (Premium Add-On allows this)
• Free version does not allow your own domain, everything is *.wordpress.com (Premium Add-On allows redirection of a Custom URL)
• Limited number of themes (currently around 70)
• Does not allow Plugins to be installed
• Does not allow JavaScript code to be added from within Widgets

For more details on WordPress.com limitations take a look at the previous article  (WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com).

Which one do I use?

Unless you need a multi user environment, you should use WordPress.org in a self-hosted environment.  It is infinitely more configurable than WordPress.com.  You will actually be able to completely control the look and feel of your website/blog.  Self-hosted WordPress also gives you the ability to utilize the wealth of plug-ins, customizations, and themes that are available from the community.  You simply need to get hosting space somewhere and start building your WordPress site.

[Republished from RefocusingTechnology.com]