2007 February | The Probabilist . com

How to Blog - 4/8 Design & Tweaks February 26, 2007

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Productivity, Technology, Blogging , 85 comments

Step 4 takes the design perspective into account. If you want your blog to stand out from the rest, you need to start experimenting and tweaking with your php files. The best and most common step is to simply toggle between your offline blog, the files in your wp-content folder and the WordPress codex. Additionally, it’s best to change the permalink structure for better search engine optimization.

When you look at some of the most beautiful and practical WordPress themes, take for instance the Phoenix theme by Nick La, you might get inspired to follow the same path and create your own WordPress theme in the end - all from scratch simply by trial and error learning of how css templates work.

Changing Permalinks

When you’ve installed your blog, you’ll find that the links to your posts come out numerically as a ?p=1 which doesn’t tell what your articles are about. This is why you need to go into the permalinks panel found under the options tab in the WordPress main interface. Choose the “Custom, specify below” tab, enter /%postname%/ in the blank field and press the update button. This way, your post urls will include the title of your posts, which makes more sense to the GoogleBot when indexing your content.

I found that this step was as simple as that on WordPress 2.1, but you might also get a warning message saying that you have to update your .htaccess file. This requires a bit more tweaking then to get it right, but the guys over at Tubetorial give you the fix.

Favicon

A favicon is the small pic located on the browser tabs that go along with the blog’s urls. This is a way for your blog to stand out more - and it doesn’t take much of your time. You can find premade favicons from the web, but to have one that matches with your blog design, just create a 16×16 bmp or png file on paint as I did. You then need to use a separate icon converting program to save it as an .ico file that the browser understands. I suggest @icon sushi. Next, put/upload the favicon.ico to the blog’s root directory and see if it works. If not, then add the following code under the head tag in the header.php file and it should do the trick. (Add the tags)

link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”http://www.yourblog.com/favicon.ico”
link rel=”icon” href=”http://www.ourblog.com/favicon.ico”

Style.css & php files

When you start playing around with these files, you’ll be glad you’ve got yourself an offline version of your blog. When it comes to altering these, it’s all up to your own taste of how much you want to change - as well as learn in the process. For the past two weeks I’ve been working on a new project (which has taken away time to update on this blog) and it’s been an invaluable experience. DIY is cheap and you gradually learn the ins and outs of what’s possible to do, but on the downside, it takes a lot of time compared to paying someone else to do the job for you.

Your first blog may never reach perfection, but it’s all about gaining the knowledge and experience to eventually reach more optimal results, so stick to figuring out at least the basics of the code that creates the blog you see in order to grasp the future possibilities. I’m in a bit of a crossroad at the moment on where I should focus my effort, but I’ll keep you all updated on a reasonable frequency.

Checklist for step 4 - design & tweaks

Permalinks - Change the structure for better SEO
Favicon - Create one to stand out more
CSS & PHP - Familiarize yourself to the basics (and beyond)
Insert images or videos - interactive content can spice up your blog.

In the fifth step of this “tutorial” (Friday, March 2nd), we’ll be tapping into utilities provided by Google to get more out of your blog’s performance.

Bookmark this page or subscribe to my feed to stay updated.

(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

Carnival of Improvement 05 February 23, 2007

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Links], Carnivals , 23 comments

First off, sorry for being a day late on my blogging schedule. I’ve had a busy week on the personal side of things outside this blog and will therefore give you the fourth step of the blogging tutorial by tomorrow.

This week’s carnival was again the biggest one yet. Remember that the deadline is always a Wednesday, which means that articles submitted from Thursday onwards will be featured on the next week’s edition. But as always, first come are first served on each category. I’m also happy to have finally received an article going under the last category. I put it in the top 5 since I had trouble picking out the fifth best article of this week.

Starting next week I might limit the number of articles and only select the most relevant and worthwile submissions from them all. I do intend to have new submitters get their first post on this carnival so that they at least get a link to their blog, but after that, I might get selective. On occasion, I’m seeing fairly similar pieces of advice simply with different wording and phrasing, so I figure it serves my readers too to only choose the most unique and useful articles from now on. I’m a nice guy so I accepted all submitted articles this week. But let’s see how it all goes along and if the amount of articles submitted don’t decrease from the current level.

That being said, enjoy this week’s edition!

Blog optimizing & monetizing

Quality Content (1328) by Money Online delivers some profound pointers on making your articles talk to readers and have them return for more.

Consciousness & Understanding

Who Pushes Your Buttons? (554) is Barbra Sundquist’s pleasant addition on how to find out what’s bugging you and how to get rid of it. It reminds me of my own fairly similar article on tackling things that annoy you.

Driven v. Called (137) by Billy Smith shares with us the revelation of being either driven or called to exist and act.

How To Develop Your Intelligence (453) by Wade M gives us a clear distinction of what intelligence is and isn’t, and how to go about and improve it.

Let Off Steam: 4 Types of Releases You Need to be Happy and Healthy (1412) by Patricia does a great job at giving four solutions for problems of different magnitudes. Try a little match-making to find the ones that work for your issues.

The Magnetic You! (281) by arathi brings us some advice on focusing our thoughts more clearly to attract the right kind of opportunities and avoid unnecessary difficulties.

Unpopular Geeky Kid At School To Movie Star - Build Self Confidence (1387) by Conan Stevens is a personal story about how to gain self confidence through diligent effort. Whatever you go for, it pays off in the end.

How to Ace Your Job Interview: 88 Surefire Tips and Tricks (2321) by Jimmy Atkinson is as self-explanatory as it gets. Take a look into it since it’s bound to include something you might have overlooked.

Stinking Thinking - Change your thoughts, change your life (702) by Alan is a great reminder of what kind of an attitude we should hold towards people and issues. It’s all about how you relate to things and not the things themselves that matter.

Understanding and Getting Over Your Difficult Childhood: Part One (954) by Cardin Lilly Routh gives you a fresh start to understanding the bad things that may have happened in your childhood, how to overcome them and what you’ll gain from it.

Working Hard Doesn’t Do It (401) is Jordan’s piece of advice on gaining appreciation and doing what you love.

Finances & Investing

Real Estate Myths Home Buyers Fall in Love With (1095) is Steve Leung saying that by challenging the reasoning behind some widely-held notions and remembering that your personal requirements are the key real estate decision process, you can gain more confidence in any decision you choose to make.

Tithes and Charities (2458) by Reb Chaim HaQoton is one long list of recorded acts of charity and tithing.

The One True Secret of The Rich (497) by Matthew Paulson is bringing you the long awaited secret to great wealth. Are you prepared for it?

Health & Exercising

Introducing new habits to eliminate pain patterns (460) by Shelley M. Fondren takes a peek into the life of a busy Certitifed Massage Therapist and her quest for total wellness.

Motivation & Productivity

Present Moment Goal Setting (461) by Praveen is a very powerful and consistent method of goal achievement. Make sure you internalize it.

How to decrease your e-mail checking (561) by Michelle/Katie presents four steps out of e-mail check-up addiction.

The C Change (592) is John Lampard’s thoughts on career change as inspired by the Australian term “Sea Change” to help you on your way.

10 Practical Stress Reducing Tactics (587) by SpiKe offers some great solutions on achieving more with less effort and anxiety.

Its all about Family (447) is Alan’s message for what and why we strive to achieve and succeed in life - to pass it forward to those we care about.

No Plan B! (573) by Walt shares a powerful insight that having a plan B is for quitters. I agree with this article, although some may consider it irresponsible and reckless.

Leadership Through Conversation (282) by Sagar Satapathy/Priya Jestin offers some helpful information on improving the quality of the underlying leadership you find yourself in.

Strive for excellence…just begin! (1023) is Arvind Devalia’s advice to forget about being perfect because it prevents you from beginning - so strive for excellence instead.

How to Set Clear, Definite Goals (1065) by Debra Moorhead is a step-by-step guide to more targeted goal-setting, which is the key to better achievement.

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew? You’re Bound to Choke (749) by Paula Gregorowicz tackles the question of when to say no when other people are in need of your time.

10 Best Colleges to Attend (515) is Ted Reimers saying that one of the best ways to improve yourself is with a college education. So here is a list of the top 10 colleges to attend academically speaking.

Open Call For Project MastermindX (350) by almomento is calling out people actively interested in personal development to join the biggest mastermind group in the world.

Psychology & Relationships

Thoughts on Being Funny (2297) by Chris gives you many useful pointers on being a spontaneously funny, witty person, but on the correct occasions.

A Wikipedia Guy’s Ultimate Resignation Letter (366) is Silicon Valley Blogger saying that if you’re going to quit a job, you shouldn’t do it this way.

Trust Tip 32: Answering “Why Should We Choose You? (587) is Charles H. Green’s advice when at auditions, job interviews, sales pitches, even on dates, people ask
“why should I choose you” all the time. The surprisingly effective way to handle this question is to tell the truth.

Being Effective With People: Part 2 (Speaking Your Mind) (73) is David Maister asking “If you were defending your life, how many people would stand up to testify for you?” The answer remains to be answered by the reader.

Pick a Publicity Shot (156) is Jack Yoest’s post waiting for opinions on which photo suits best. My choice is number two.

Wake Up On Time (894) by SengAun Ong delivers a few helpful tips to successfully wake up the same time every day using Pavlov’s techniques.

Ask Niels: How do I build an emotional connection? (413) is Niels Hoven’s answer to create a deeper connection on a first date so that it won’t be the last date.

Widgets & Software

This is where Rickey posts recommendations of note… (553) by Rickey Henderson was a bit difficult to categorize since it includes some offbeat tips to improving your life.

Join me again on next week’s Thursday and feel free to submit your entry to it by clicking here.