WordPress is currently the largest self-hosted blogging tool on the Internet. WordPress is an Open Source project, which means that there are hundreds of people that are working on it, forever developing it and improving it. Best of all, it is free for you to download and use.
The WordPress publishing system is based on PHP and MySQL programming, and its completely customizable platform is practically the backbone of the Web 2.0 movement.
WordPress is basically a revision of the old b2/cafelog platform, with improvements such as customization of the templates, link management, plug-ins, widgets, TrackBack and PingBack features, tags, and categories, to name a few.
Extremely rapid growth means that WordPress has been reviewed and revised multiple times, with regular publication of new versions and updates to keep it fresh and current as a state-of-the-art publishing tool.
As a blogging tool, WordPress has everything to offer that any blogger could possibly need. It’s simple to get going, you can just begin by downloading the software script for Wordpress, then browse through the hundreds of template choices to find the perfect one for you to use for your blog site.
There are specially designed templates with pet themes, music themes, business, art, you name it, it’s there.
To use WordPress effectively, you will need very little computer programming skill or prowess. The administrative dashboard is incredibly user friendly, meaning you can get your ideas from your head to the Internet in record time.
There is a slight difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com, with the latter being a service that gets you started instantly, yet the first offers a bit more flexibility for those people searching for extra options and customizability.
The WordPress blog platform is the ultimate in flexibility, allowing you to create anything from the most simple static page, to a hip blog, to an informative webzine page with all of the tools you need built right in.
WordPress offers any web lover the cutting edge technology and limitless flexibility for every type of site imaginable.
Key features of WordPress include compliance with every browser, instant updates of your pages with no reloading necessary, multiple page management system, links, and themes. Add in any number of interesting and functional plug-ins, to make your site do everything you need it to. Make posts private or public, and choose to have password access if you need it.
Users can browse freely, or you can develop a registration system to keep track. Any visitor can easily leave comments, allowing you to interact easily with your visitors and establish that “human” relationship that every blogger is looking for.
Once you begin using WordPress, you’ll quickly see how it has become the largest and most popular blog platform available today.
You will be publishing your blog nearly instantly, and be able to manage it with enough skill to look like a pro in no time flat. Your site will look great, function well, and be easy for you and your visitors to figure out.
There are reasons that WordPress is the biggest and most popular platform for a website, and there are probably hundreds of reasons to use it. Here are just a few of the most important ones that you should consider:
1. It’s super easy to use.
This is the best reason to use WordPress for your site. Why would you even consider using something that’s far more difficult when WordPress offers everything you could possibly need and makes it easy for you to use?
You don’t need any advanced computer programming skills to use WordPress, just about anyone that can operate a computer can run a WordPress site smoothly.
2. You have so many themes and templates to choose from.
You don’t have to be an advanced web designer to publish an amazing site, because WordPress works as the perfect web designer.
With the hundreds of themes and templates available for you to choose from, you can make your site look polished and professional, whether it’s a site about your pet, your hobby, your business, or absolutely anything you can imagine.
You can choose to make it a running blog site or an online magazine. You won’t find more choices with any platform.
3. WordPress is incredibly flexible.
You can customize WordPress to meet any of your website needs.
Whether you want a static site with multiple pages, a blog site, the perfect CMS system, or a super-polished high-tech appearing site with streaming video and slideshows, WordPress can do the job for you and make it look sweet.
4. Endless options and plug-ins.
When you use WordPress, you have the option of fully customizing your site with endless plug-ins, widgets, and options to make it everything you need.
Use cool plug-ins to get stats, let visitors leave comments, invite trackbacks, include links to recent post listings, bookmarks, maps, absolutely anything to make your site run exactly how you want it to.
5. WordPress helps you get your content indexed
…with easy assignment of tags and categories, and easy ways to manage those things.
Instantly view any of your posts, see what they look like, and review your categories and tags quickly and efficiently to make sure they’re perfect.
6. WordPress is free.
How much more explanation does this point require?
Some say that not only is WordPress free, but it is priceless, too. You could choose to spend a lot of money on software for a platform, but with WordPress being free, that would be silly.
7. WordPress makes you look like a pro
Your site looks polished and well-designed, and all you have to do is type in your thoughts or your content. WordPress does all of the hard work for you.
There are actually other choices for platforms that are available out there. But, these reasons make WordPress better than the rest.
It’s easier to use, nicer looking, and offers more bells and whistles than most of the others.
Regular readers of Web2Center know how much I like Linkify. However, I recently stumbled across another blog content tool that is equally interesting.
I have only used it on 2 client posts so far so I have to take a minute and investigate. Why don’t you join me…
This video/post will let you look over my shoulder so we can see if this Zemanta blogging tool is worth the real estate in your admin panel.
So, here’s what I’ve done so far. I found Zemanta on the GoToWb20.com site as soon as it came out. Actually, I have a Google gadget on my iGoogle homepage that keeps a running list of all the new web 2.0 services that post to GoToWeb20.com.
I visited Zemanta.com and installed the Firefox plugin, restarted and then spent about 5 minutes looking for some sign of it. I found an enable/disable command in the Tools dropdown in Firefox but thats it.
A bit confused, I went back to Zemanta.com and forced myself to read and realized that it would be something that shows up inside the Write Post module of Wordpress. And, sure enough, there it was top right.
So, I start typing and…. nothing. Type some more… nothing. OK, now I am wondering if I have fallen for some sort of unfunny April Fool’s joke.
Then, I thought, perhaps I need to hit the “Save and Continue Editing” button. So, after a refresh, Zemanta went into action.
Multiple choices appeared right there in the Write Post module.
1. A “Gallery” of images appeared in the sidebar, one of which was this image: Image from Wikipedia
I have no idea how this image fits or why it was suggested but the other images were more closely related to Firefox and Wordpress.
2. An “Articles” list appeared with links to articles from blog like techcrunch.com, readwriteweb.com and, of course, this one from Zemanta.com about “experimental” WP 2.5 support.
And, just below the wysiwyg, 2 more choices.
3. A “Links” list of terms related to the article like web 2.0, Firefox and April Fool’s joke that allow for a one-click link back to Wikipedia or the website itself. I clicked April Fool’s joke and it created the link above.
4. And finally, a set of suggested tags that I won’t really know what is for until I publish this post.
I just clicked on the tag “Zemanta” and noticed that Zemanta was added to the tag list along with some code just prior to this sentence.
So, here we go. Publish post….
Check out this video for an inside, over-the-shoulder look at how Zemanta works on your blog. (to be posted soon)
Here are 5 E-A-S-Y Wordpress tweaks anyone can do that will get you points with both types of visitors.
1. (SEO) Include your main keyword or key phrase in both the blog title and the tagline, preferably twice in the title.
For example: The key phrase Web2Center has recently locked in on is “Social Marketing”. Therefore, we updated the blog title to read: “Social Marketing Strategies from Social Marketing Expert Peter Lenkefi”.
2. (SEO) Clean up the header code by removing unnecessary links and scripts.
For examples: Joost Devalk provides brilliant advice on this, he says:
3. (VEO) Add “space” to your blog.
For example: If you have a text heavy blog and are not one to use line breaks, go back through and creates some. The online reader needs more eye “space”.
Also, consider adding some bold and italics, perhaps a few …ellipses (sparingly) but be careful of those exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!
4. (VEO) De-clutter the sidebar.
There is no shortage of bling for Wordpress sidebars. While each widget has a purpose, not all of them give value to your blog. Check your stats, your analytics and your readers… I think they all will point you to “less is more”.
If you just can’t do without the all the bells & whistles, you can always put the flashy stuff and “extra” widgets in the footer.
5. (SEO & VEO) Graduate from the school of TEXT.
Google needs rich media on the first page for every keyword you can think of. Why not be the ONE who gives it to them?
Forget trying to rank by creating 100+ anchor text back links. One well tagged and titled video and you are there.
Your visitors will thank you for content options as well.
I just watched the Yahoo! Shortcuts demoand it looks like something that could really improve the quality level of content on blogs.
This Wordpress plugin doesn’t do anything new; but it makes creating posts with rich content -maps, pictures, relavant links, etc- so much easier that more bloggers will be reminded to add “goodies” to each post.
Maybe the days of long pages of text are finally over!?
Now, excuse me, I’m off to install the shiny new plugin and give it a whirl.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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