WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-Er

Creating Simple Day Hacks

TheSpot-er — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:49:31 +0000

I don’t know about you guys, but I love hacks that make my day easier and life more fun. By running a busy freelance writing business I always have to look for ways to save time while keeping my work commitment.

We all face those issues I’m sure, whether you are a blogger, Internet marketer, artist, graphic designer or else. The secret to getting things done effectively is to use applications and tools that allow us to save time while staying organized.

While some of you might favor the all tech approach to hacks, I’m more the creative type of girl who loves her paper based hacks. So what can a tech geek do to keep track of daily appointments, deadlines and other important information without loosing his/her cool?

Geek hacks

Remember the Milk is a great online application that ties in with Twitter, Google Calendar, Gmail and now also with your beloved Blackberry. Ideal for tech geeks who can’t do without their online apps, this one is easy to use and keep organized with.

For most it might be even enough to get things done without the need for more clutter.

Another great application for tech geeks is a portable hard drive. Yes, I’m not kidding. Use a thumb drive or something bigger to carry your files around. It will save you tons of ink and in the process you even contribute to the environment by saving trees.

Either of these will save you a ton of valuable time if you use them correctly in place of paper clutter or even various applications. You can also use the GTDInbox application I blogged about the other day to help you keep on top of your email clutter.

The secret in creating time saving day hacks is to minimize the actions during the day. Make things easier for you.

Non geek hacks

As a wanna be geek in the past I have lately morphed into total ungeekiness. I simply found it was much easier to use simple non tech hacks to organize my day and the surprising thing is that it works.

My most favourite hack is my beloved Moleskine. I cannot rave about this little tool enough and it really has changed my life in the ways I’m staying organized with no clutter at all.

I’ve hacked my Moleskine to suit my own business with simple icons and applications and combined it with a hipster PDA for optimum performance.

That is about as un-geeky as you can be while staying ueber cool. If Hemingway carried his Moleskine everywhere, so can we.

What do you think?

Entrepreneurs Wanted! Fully Automated System!, No Selling!, No Prospecting! Unlimited Training! - $1,000/sale!! MoreFreedomMoreMoney.com.

Copyright WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-Er. All rights reserved. If reading this content on site other then origination blog - it was stolen and publisher is in direct violation of copyrights. Please report

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When Free Has More Value Then Paid?

TheSpot-er — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:22:46 +0000

When something simply given to us it is just too often perceived as not worth much, or at least not as much as some paid products on similar topic. And while in many cases it is true - I want to dispel this myth by providing you with resources you can simply download.

And not just any resources but eBooks I personally use anytime I need answer or a reference - go to the source so to speak! eBooks that cover multiple subjects every webmaster or blogger and Internet Marketer simply MUST have in their library…

But before I will provide you with the download inks I want to make sure you understand that while I consider these resources absolutely required reading - some are slightly dated. You will get all your bases covered but when it talks about specific technologies - be sure you are aware that it might be a bit out of date.

Make Your Content PREsell!

An absolutely awesome eBook I paid $10 for about 2 years ago and now available at no cost. I find this one to be a MUST read any time you are in doubt what and how you need to write. And while I have to admit that I have stopped following every single guideline outlined in it lately - I used to refer to it nearly every time I wrote an important promotional piece.

It is a priceless resource for ANY blogger or webmaster as it will explain to you how to avoid falling into a a hole so common for affiliate marketers. And even though it is a free resource right now - I still haven’t found any other that explains the basics as well as this one. Ken Evoy really did a great job of explaining how to write content on your site or blog to ensure your visitors will be greatful for the affiliate recommendations you make.

Click image or link in this sentence to download Make Your Content PREsell!

And while I’m on subject of Ken Evoy’s writing to help you with your blog - I want to recommend another one of his (used to be $29.95) free eBooks - Make Your Site Sell. This one is a bit dated but when it comes to explaining your site (or blog) usability vs other factors - it is one of the best!

Search Engine Optimization Made Easy

This free eBook should truly become your SEO bible and will teach you everything you need to know about Search Engine Optimization. Written by Brad Callen, gentleman behind all time best selling software for SEO - SEOElite and Keywords Elite it will guide you through every step you need to take to ensure good ranking.

Better yet, it will actually explain WHY you need to take those steps so you could evaluate if this really necessary in your particular situation or not. While there are many courses and guides that were made available for the topic of Search Engine Optimization - this free eBook has it covered.

Click the image or link in this sentence to download Search Engine Optimization Made Easy.

Authority Black Book

Directly related to blogging this eBook by Jack Humphrey will teach you tips and strategies for promoting your blog like no other Paid Course. And I know - lately some very high priced blogging courses started to appear. I guess everyone is excited to cash in on popular trend.

Truth to be told - this guide got you covered from every angle and will teach you about blog promotion more then any Paid Blogging Course! Get it and use it before your competition does and enjoy the traffic flow like you never seen before!

Click the image or link in this sentence to download your Authority Black Book!

Those should cover what you need to know about working with your blog or site and creating content that will PREsell, be Search Engine Optimized and promote it using Social Marketing method described by Jack Humphrey.

But I’m also a strong believer that blogging and Internet Marketing go hand in hand and not only mutually inclusive but also beneficial to each other like no other methods! In fact I think of blogging and Internet Marketing as blend where one can’t exist without the other!

And while I don’t have a free resource to cover many aspects of what is known as Internet Marketing as it is simply HUGE - I do have couple guides that are worth its weight in gold and yet, FREE!

Stuff Your Inbox With Cash

Learn what email marketing is and what it isn’t. One of the best marketers in email marketing shares his secrets and actually goes beyond that.

He walks you step by step to proper email marketing, how to create an email that addresses every type of reader and pulls results that you can feel in your pocket. And no – it doesn’t include any dirty tricks or lies. It simply coveys the psychology of most common types of readers and how to pull their triggers.

Click the image to download eBook.

Make Your Words Sell

One of the most effective and easy to follow eBooks that uncovers the art of e-Persuasion and teaches ANYONE to become a copywriter. Yeah, right …

Sounds weird, I know and someone who paid top dollar to copywriters before I know exactly how unreal it sounds and yet, as I read the eBook - it all makes sense. And it also shows to me exactly WHY the expensive copy written for me by a supposed Professional Copywriter fails miserably!

I have been literally devouring this eBook for last 2 nights and my notepad is full of notes as I’m getting ready to do what my overly paid professional copywriter failed to accomplish - convince the visitors to my product sales page that what I have to offer is exactly what they need! How well will I do - I don’t know…

Perhaps I will fail but I believe right now that I have what it takes (outside of proper grammar, which will require correction) to create a convincing letter. This is the power of the eBook and you can download it by clicking on image above!

Obviously these resources don’t cover every aspect of what you need to know but I wanted to share what I think is best of the breed and what I reference and use in my daily tasks. Enjoy and your comments as always greatly appreciated!

Was this useful? Let me know!

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Get Things Done With GTD Gmail Inbox

TheSpot-er — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:23:13 +0000

If you are a Firefox and Gmail user you will love the GTDInbox addon for Firefox. For freaks who like the idea of total domination to get organized, this addon can help you to become the next Zen Gmail master.

The application is pretty straight forward. You download it for free and then once you login to your Gmail account you will be presented with an initial instruction.

GTDInbox will help you to use Gmail faster with assorted labels you can sign to your account. For an overview of the label guide look at the next image.

As you can see, there are some helpful ideas on what labels to use for optimum performance. I’m still playing around with this myself as I just discovered it one hour ago.

This whole application makes email a lot more usable and interactive as you can:

Use email faster
Become more organized
Streamline your email usage
Turn email into tasks
Use email as a personal database of information
and more

It certainly looks like a cool application and if you are a Firefox user, then I suggest you check this out. There is also a helpful user guide (which I’m sure to consult myself within the next day or so).

Let me know, whether you already have experience with this app yourself and how it is working for you please.

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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Pingbacks and Trackbacks Usage And SPAM Protection

TheSpot-er — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:01:07 +0000

Pingbacks and Trackbacks is one of the perhaps least understood concepts by new bloggers and one that generates the most questions. Why is it? I think it is mainly because everyone heard about the power it gives to the bloggers but not everyone understood how to use it correctly.

Add the abundance of the trackback SPAM to the mix and it creates a brew many choke on. In this post I’m not planning replicate the efforts of other people but instead share links to The Best Of The Best resources that should teach you EVERYTHING you need to know about using Trackbacks and Pingbacks and Protecting your own blog from the Trackback SPAM…

Trackbacks and Pingbacks Understanding and Usage

To properly use the technology you need to understand what it was design to do. What goal the developers had in mind when creating it and how it is supposed to benefit you as a blogger. While there are many variations of the explanations I prefer the one of the sources - at least as it deals with WordPress.

Introduction to Blogging by WordPress Codex has a nice section describing the Trackbacks and Pingbacks and I found it very simple to read and get the main idea behind each concept.

Once you have a clear understanding of the concept you are only left with its usage. And not just “the usage” but how to get it done in a way to not only add value to the blogosphere and you readers but also benefit from incoming links and gain authority status.

How to do a trackback to get more links and traffic post by Jack Humphrey is actually a video tutorial that guides you step-by-step on How to do a trackback to ensure you get the link back to your blog and How to avoid been lost in the noise of trackback spam.
WordPress Trackback Tutorial by Teli Adlam is a text version of the tutorial on the topic that does a job very nicely and appropriate if you prefer a text reference.

Fighting the Trackback SPAM

Well, now that you have learned how to do a trackback I’m sure you will be excited to know that so do the SPAMER’s! They seem to thrive on taking advantage of trackback technology to generate links to Viagra, Mortgages, enlargement of some male body parts, etc. Or even simply linking from a crappy content that wasn’t even written by them but simply stolen off some other blog. Yep, so-called splogs take full advantage of it and you need to be aware of the problem in order to fight it effectively!

While there are many plugins and tools created to address the issue I have found that a combination of Akismet plugin that comes with your WordPress blog, Math Comment Spam Protection plugin that adds a math question to the comment form (requires manual configuration) and a Simple Trackback Validation plugin that provides a validation on incoming trackbacks for WordPress 2.* work great and remove 99.9% of the SPAM.

Displaying Trackbacks on Your Blog

This is actually done for you by the theme and depending on how well that theme was coded you might not even have to worry about this section. And just what exactly do I mean by how well coded?

While trackbacks from remote blogs are extremely valuable fro your blog as they provide incoming links and in many cases traffic - they are still not part of the general conversation via Comments generated on your blog. In my opinion separating trackbacks and regular comments left by the readers of the post should be a mandatory but in its current form it depends on the will of the theme designer.

If you got lucky and your designer has implemented the function - you have nothing to worry about but if you are a technically inclined person and would like to do it to the theme yourself, you can read Managing Trackbacks and Pingbacks in Your WordPress Theme at Weblog Tools to learn how to get it done.
And if the coding is not an option for you and yet you would like to have this nice functionality I got a solution that perhaps will work nicely. Brians Threaded Comments plugin provides that functionality integrated in the plugin and all you need to do is install it and enjoy the additional benefits it provides.

This concludes the collection of resources I can recommend if you need to learn some or all things about Pingbacks and Trackbacks usage and SPAM fighting. I hope you find it useful and leave some feedback. And here are some additional posts from around the web on the topic…

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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Automated Blog Profits Guide

TheSpot-er — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:35:59 +0000

While Automated Blog Profits is not one of my favorite topics I get so many questions on it, I decided to answer it once and for all and do it based on my personal experience. But before I will even proceed I need to make a disclaimer:

What you will create as result of following ALL or SOME recommendations in this guide WILL NOT make you an authority blogger. It will earn you income (I have tested each part of the strategy) but how much will depend on your efforts as with any internet venture.

Allow me to explain the Main Idea first:

Create a WordPress blog that will have a Content optimized for Search Engines, posted automatically at some interval and promote itself without getting you banned from social networks. Have that content monetized. Rinse and Repeat the process.

Sounds simple enough? It almost is and while I haven’t seen a single product that accomplishes that task I have found an effective combination of the few that will get VERY CLOSE! And while almost each product makes their own recommendations on blog installation and plugins, I want to share what worked for me:

Build A Lean WordPress Blog Ready For Monetization and SEO’d

1. Install WordPress blog using whatever your favorite method is. It doesn’t really matter how you do it for the sake of this guide.

2. If you are planning to use AdSense or any other Text Ads networks (otherwise why would you build it?) locate and install one of the AdSense ready themes. You can find a link to a few of them in my WordPress Web 2.0 guide.

3. Install and activate a small set of plugins with one Single Purpose - maximum functionality with minimum load on server:

Akismet - this one is a MUST to prevent SPAM, although you might want to disable commenting all together since your blog will generate no real comments anyway, just be a SPAM bot attraction. I’ll get to it later.
aLinks - install this plugin with ClickBank module and fill enough keywords and products in it. Plugin provides you with option to Export/Import settings and keywords, so once setup - you can transfer it to other blogs in similar niche, more then likely you will have a few of these. Read more details on this plugin here.
All In One SEO Pack - I recommend you install this plugin to simplify SEO of Content generated on your blog. Pretty much default settings will work just make sure to set the options for home page and description.
FeedBurner FeedSmith - trust me, install this one. You can use PingShot service provided by FeedBurner to notify RSS directories about new “quality” content on your blog, offloading that function off your blog! They give you an option for standard set plus 6 more of your choice and will ping them for you - make it count, pick the big one’s.
Google XML Sitemaps - take full advantage of this plugin! Make sure to get Yahoo API and register your blog Sitemap in both Google Webmaster Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer to make sure big 2 know about new content as it is published on your blog.
Ultimate Plugins Smart Update Pinger - use the ping list recommended by author in addition to the ALL notifications you send through PingShot (FeedBurner). Get those RSS directories filled with your Content.
WordPress Automatic Upgrade - make your blog upgrades as simple as possible. I assume you will be building quite a few of these blogs to get enough cash, so you need to simplify the upgrade process. I have found that plugin performs quite nicely and since you have only a small number of plugins - you have small chances of failure.

4. Setup your blog with Amazon Context Ads. Use the power and brand name recognition of Amazon to turn your content into automated bulletin board, after all - you worked so hard to create content You can read detailed guide here.

5. Some Tweaks. These few tweaks are designed to help you rank better for long tale keywords and not something I would use on a regular blog:

Permalinks. Use: /%postname%/
Disable Comments: Settings->General Settings. Under Membership put a checkmark for Users must be registered and logged in to comment and uncheck Anyone can register
Widgets. Make sure to use widgets NOT only for AdSense but also to display RSS Content from Related New Site or Information site and perhaps additional affiliate products. Amazon Widgets come to the rescue here - check your options.

Choose Your Automation and Monetization Model

While I have found that this method works best if ALL 3 products used at same time as they seem to compliment each other and address shortcomings - I realize that it might be just a bit too much to swing when you just getting started. But once you start generating the income I recommend you come back to this post and get what you missed…

1. Get WordPress Traffic. This product is a MUST if you are planning to create Automated Blog. It is a set of 3 plugins providing some very unique and tightly integrated services:

Poster Pro. This plugin allows you to grab all PLR articles and set it to be published on your blog at predetermined intervals. Mass import feature allows you to import HUGE number of articles and schedule it years ahead (if you have that many). You can also manually publish and edit articles.
Socialize-It Pro. This one is my favorite! Any content published on your blog will be Auto Submitted to multiple Social Networks, that includes all automated content. Plugin has a Randomness function built into it to prevent been banned for spamming. I still would be very careful with networks like Stumble Upon and Technorati. Not a ban you want to get.
RSS Agregator - Allows you to import RSS feeds and posted as content on your blog. Has quite a few control functions but I personally don’t use it. Be careful when you pick RSS feed to import to avoid loosing your AdSense and YPN for copyright infringement. And if you decide to use it - look for article directories or new sites that allows you to export their feed.

I recommend using the first 2 plugins from this product to publish that PLR content you might have (or easily find on Internet) and to promote it via social networks. Socalize-It Pro will also integrate itself into blog and all other content published will also get to benefit from it, which is exactly WHY we need it.

Which brings us to product…

2. 10 Days Cash Secret by Nail Snearing. Great product that provides you with a plugin and, set of training videos and affiliate feed formating tool that allows you to create a Niche Blogs filled with content generated from Affiliate Product Feed!

This one is a holy grail of Automated Blog Content. Several thousands of posts, ALL consist of products directly related to your blog niche and with integrated affiliate links. You are provided with a plugin that imports formated Affiliate Product Feed and then publishes it via cron at regular intervals.

Power of this product is creation of blog posts optimized for a VERY long tail keywords but since each of them is actual product name - you get high click though and as result very nice affiliate commissions. Although the product says “10 days” - in my experience it took me more then two weeks to get a first sale and a few cents in affiliate commissions. Nothing to be excited about but since then it has been steadily producing as traffic to the blog continues to grow and as I write this article I get 1-2 sales a week from a fully automated blog. Commissions range from few cents to a few dollars but that depends on what Affiliate Product feed you get.

CAUTION: I have seen that if you pick a feed with too many products - cron job tend to create a very high load on your host server and CAN lead to your account been disabled on shared hosting. 3500 or less products seem to perform quite nicely on hostgator shared hosting.

3. Get Easy Blog Pro. While this product can stand quite nicely on its own and turns your blog into an Article Directory either very broad or highly targeted (it is your choice to make) I found it to work BEST when combined with 2 products above.

It permitted me to specify automated publishing of VERY targeted articles (based on categories I chose) to my niche blog that is already filled with PLR content and Affiliate Products and provide continues flow of fresh content.

TIP: Using a script to pull articles from Article Marketer gives you a lot more targeted content since they provide you with more categories to choose from but also due to that - produces less articles. It also gives you more control over how Content is published.

We all know that your blog slowly dies as content flow stops! Unless you have a very large number of PLR content - it will run out soon and your blog filled with affiliate products will loose its effectiveness. This product will make sure it WILL NEVER happen.

You get high quality content published to your blog that sends Search Engines into feeding frenzy and push traffic to your affiliate products.

Idea is Simple. And So is its implementation.

Automated Blog Profits are possible but will require some work on your part to set it up initially and expect to install a few blogs in order to see returns enough to talk about. As I have mentioned in beginning - you will not become Authority Blogger using this method and will have to create a whole Blog Empire in order to benefit from Automated Blog Profits.

Whats Next? Rinse and Repeat process with enough blogs to generate the income level you need and then enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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Become A Product Reviewer

TheSpot-er — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:30:05 +0000

Everybody wants to make money with blogging these days. But before long most bloggers realize that it actually takes a bit of elbow grease to get there. While many try their luck at niche marketing, others yet travel as affiliate marketers. Some succeed and most will fail.

As you probably heard, it is a numbers game alright. There is one method however you can make your own. That is to become a product reviewer. So how do you do this and what is needed to do this effectively?

You’ll need to find a suitable market in which to get active in. You’ll want something that supports many affiliate programs as this will make it easier to get earning fast.
Now it is time to find a suitable domain name. Ideally you want to have your niche keyword and the word review in the domain. So if you found the niche “gambling’ to be good for you, then try something like gamblingrewviews Dot com or bestgamblingreviews Dot com.
After your domain is registered (I recommend GoDaddy.com for that) and you have installed a WordPress blog for this, it is time to move to the next part.
Start writing your reviews on popular products within your niche. Use places such as eBay, Amazon and Google to see what is hot right now. To write them effectively follow the principles below:

Use the name of the product in your title and in the post. It is good to review the product from a neutral perspective. if you sound too excited, readers might find it artificially inflated and click away.

You’ll want to cover both the good and the bad about each product you review.

Don’t forget to include images when appropriate and your affiliate link so that you’ll get paid on sales.

Here are some ideas to get your started in the right direction:

Book reviews
Movie reviews
Music reviews
Video reviews
DVD reviews
Clothing review
Affiliate program reviews
and more

This could lead you to build over time a nice sized blog that will attract quite a bit of search engine traffic and convert to sales. Have fun with it and do a regular number of reviews every week.

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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75 Freebies Still Up For Grabs

TheSpot-er — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:09:26 +0000

In last few months I have pretty much stopped participating in JV Giveaways for several different reasons. One of them being low quality of offering too often create what I personally call a “Giveaway fatigue“.

Not only do we stand a good chance to ruin our relationship with our subscribers by sending them to a rather questionable quality event but also put a black eye on our own reputation for recommending it. But this one time I want to make an exception… I want to invite you to an JV Giveaway Event that doesn’t suck!

My friend Mike Mazella and his partner David Thompson have been running their Lightning JV Giveaway for a few years and each run was marked by a hand picked contributors with superb gift offerings. I have participated as regular member in his first one and been a JV Partner in last two.

This time is a bit different - they have opened up their event a bit but didn’t budge on quality. Unique Gift Contribution is still an absolute MUST in order to quality for the event. Not to mention a few other.

Why Do You Care?

Because on my last count they have 70+ absolutely unique gifts up for grabs!

eBooks and reports with MRR and PLR
Software and script, some with just the usage license but some with resale rights
Graphics - a huge saver for every blogger and marketer, designers are expensive!
… and much more

But with deadline quickly approaching you might miss the chance if you don’t act now. May 16 they will close the doors! Grab your FREEBIES!

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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5 Questions For A Theme Make-Over Magic

TheSpot-er — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:36:55 +0000

Do you ever feel like you need a make-over design on your blog? You know, the whole deal with all the trimmings? I do right now and spent hours in the past month to find the perfect theme to do it.

I had a clear vision of what I wanted and while I saw several themes that offered parts of that whole picture, it was never exactly what I wanted.

Until…

I found it. Finally.

Task accomplished. Next.

Well, not really, the fun has only just started

A theme make over takes a lot of planning and ideas for it to come out in a satisfactory manner in the end. Admittedly we can just slap on a free theme and leave it at that.

While that works for many, it never has for me. I do like the idea of free, but I also understand that by running a business, we have to spend money on branding and other business expenses.

Having the right blog theme for our business is part of the branding process and one that should never be underestimated.

And while I was happy with my theme in the past, I no longer am. I feel that I have outgrown it and need to move on.

Maybe you feel the same. Perhaps you also toyed with the idea of a blog make-over, but weren’t sure on how to go about it. If that is you, then I hope those 5 questions below will help you move ahead in the right direction.

If you struggle with finding the right theme for you I suggest you go back to the start and ask yourself the following 5 questions.

What message do you want to convey with your blog? I touched on this in the post perception matters.
How many columns do you really need? Often we find that we can make do with less clutter on our blog. While I have two sidebars now, my new theme design will only have one. My focus is on the content of my blog and by using two sidebars I have allowed clutter to sneak in and take away the focus of my readers.
Color me pretty: while pretty colors are all the rage with teenage girl bloggers, for business owners they are a bad idea. It doesn’t matter if your favourite color is purple (even if you are from Mars), what matters is that your readers will get the right message when they visit your blog.
Logo, Feed button and other graphic hungry design. If you happen to use a free theme design, you can vastly improve it by outsourcing the design aspect of a new logo, etc. to a graphic designer. That is exactly what I have done with my freelance writing site. I will also do this with my new theme and still save money in the process.
Is the design you want suitable for growth? Many bloggers fail to think about this. Remember, if your design hasn’t got room for growth you will waste precious time and resources by having to upgrade too soon.

I’m sure you now have a much better image in your head about your new blog theme design, or at least know how to go about it efficiently. By taking the time to plan you will achieve better results in the end.

Feel free to ad your own tips to this. I might even get some inspiration for my own make-over.

Don’t Build A Blog! Create a CASH sucking funnel using Step-By-Step Guidance of Web 2.0 Wealth - Unleashed!.

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Forcing Brians Threaded Comments, SezWho and WordPress 2.5 To Play Nicely

TheSpot-er — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:12:56 +0000

Since I have made a small contribution to Brians Threaded Comments (v. 1.5.18) plugin, mainly in a form of suggestion I feel responcible for sharing how to Force Brians Threaded Comments work nicely with WordPress 2.5 plus and SezWho 2.1 plugin.

I know it might seem like a lot of acronyms but they will all make sense once I have describe the problem and then will provide a simple solution…

This “issue” only exists with a specific although should be fairly common combination of core and plugins: WordPress 2.5.* (anything above 2.5 since this relies on built in Gravatar support), Brians Threaded Comments (v. 1.5.18 since this is when it first introduced implementation of Gravatars or MyAvatars into the plugin) and SezWho (v. 2.0 plus since this is when I first started using it :D).

What Is The Problem?

BTC 1.5.18 provided us with option to enable display of the Gravatars provided with WordPress 2.5 if commenter has a Gravatar account. Plugin has also integrated a CSS class to display the Gravat in a very specific location within the form. Which is quite nice and if you only use BTC with WordPress 2.5 - you shouldn’t DO ANYTHING! It will simply work once you enable Display Avatars under Discussion Settings.
However - if you decide to implement SezWho 2.0+ plugin which also enables you to display avatar but a bit more portable - you got some issues. There is no obvious way to disable avatar display in Brians Threaded Comments and even when you do - you are left with a CSS defined space for the image - with no image in it. Makes a bit of a mess - which shouldn’t be there

See the image below that show the issue:

How To Fix The Brians Threaded Comments to Work With SezWho?

Disabling the Gravatars will not help as shown in image above and the only solution is to actually edit the file that comes with Brians Threaded Comments plugin and force to ignore Gravatars. Please be advised that you will have edit it back if you want it to work later…

See details below the image:

Navigate to Plugins->Plugins Editor - you have to be able to write to your files from admin interface.
Click on Brian’s Threaded comments to open briansthreadedcomments.php for editing
Locate function btc_has_avatars() - almost at the end of the file.
Change the true to false as shown on image.
Update File - save the changes to your file!

Now you managed to get rid of the Gravatar display in BTC plguin you can go into your SezWho admin interface, under your active blogs choose one that you were editing the files on and Click on Edit Presentation.

Now simply enable Avatar display by choosing the size (I use 32 px) and its alignment - I like the right. See image below:

That is it - now you have just configured your blog and made sure that Brian’s Threaded comments, WordPress 2.5.1 and SezWho 2.1 work nicely on your blog. Enjoy your labor. Not sure if SezWho for your blog or not? Read my take on it in this article:

SezWho 2.0 On WordPress Blogs Near You�

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SezWho 2.0 On WordPress Blogs Near You…

TheSpot-er — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:47:33 +0000

WordPress Web 2.0 SpotEr now uses power of SezWho 2.0 to build community. I have seen it implemented on Andy Beard’s blog for a while now and while I liked many aspects I wasn’t 100% convinced it was right tool for me. SezWho 2.0 release solved all the issues I had with service and now it is a proud part of my blog plugins.

As blogging becomes more and more popular and people are taking a dive into the process it becomes more and more important to be able to evaluate reputation of the person you might be engaged into conversation with on a particular blog. Credibility score across multiple platforms to build stronger communities is now possible…

A bit “hypey”? Perhaps, but the reality still remains.

I value my time and it when I engage into a conversation on my or any other blog with someone I would like to be sure I’m talking a person who is responsible for his or her words and actions.

False sense of anonimosity created by internet can lead to verbal excess not accepted else where in society and create one issue.

Been able to carry your earned reputation across the Net as you browse it and comment is second. After all - if you contribute and provide value - don’t you want to be able to display it?

There are multiple services that solve this problem but each one of them requires that your comments are hosted on their servers. Well, that is just not acceptible for me! I consider comments to be integral part of the content on this blog and in many cases value contributions of the commenters as much as the content itself, if not more.

Giving that away is simply Not An Option! SezWho managed to address all that AND add some nice Jazz to my blog content in form of ratings and multiple comments options. Reputation and all past comments made on blogs using this service are also available for each commenter. Just have a look at image I swiped from SezWho blog or just use comments options on this post:

Installation of the service is as easy as one plugin install, then registering with service for account and providing a blog ID into plugin options on your blog. Once completed - all the options are integrated into your theme and simply works.

I did have to disable images fro comments since I use Brian’s Threaded Comments. Something worth evaluation in the future.

How Does It Help With Community?

This blog is all about WordPress and how to use it most effectively. While I hope you enjoy the content provided by the team writing for the blog and find it useful (perhaps will even rate it? ) comments on this blog often contribute just as much.

A question or suggestion within a comment quite often becomes an inspiration for a next guide and I do greatly appreciate when you take the time and provide feedback, share your own experience or perhaps ask questions. Well, now you comments can be rated by anyone on this blog - and no need to register with SezWho if you don’t want to!

And you actually do register with them - your reputation earned on this blog or any other that uses the plugin will be shared across the platfrom and follow you. Your words will mean just that much more and your comments will have more weight! Can you think of better way to build a Social Authority?

Content Rating is BACK! I had to previously remove it due to couple issues I have encountered with plugin on my blog. Well - now you can once again rate content and help me help you. Rate what you read on this blog and allow us to create information you need!

Those are just among the few that comes to my mind right now and I hope you will take full advantage of it! Enjoy.

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