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.

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

 

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!

Top Five Posts

How to Be Really Cool (1077) by Raymond David Salas is one of these week’s outstanding articles giving you some real life examples of downright cool + successful people. What are your role models like?

Talking to Learn (860) by Mike Estep is a very interesting read, but not because that’s all he wants you to do. This is a definite top 5 post if you haven’t thought about the insights he’s about to share with you.

So, You’ve Decided to Get in Shape….. Again (part one) (1062) is Craig Harper’s introduction and best starting tips to improved physical fitness. (Un)fortunately he’s still unmatched to get rid of his consecutive top 5 placements.

Fake meat only makes you lighter, not your wallet. (1159) by Fitch Hurst gives you an interesting analysis of textured vegetable protein that you might want to try out.

Top 10 Productivity Software (1074) by Ybother gives us a list of many fairly unknown softwares for enhanced efficiency. Check it out.

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.

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

 

Life is undeniably a pretty complex term. When we look at all the different aspects of a human being’s life, what we are responsible for and what we can or can not control, the list can grow quite long and into many layers of details. Take for instance circumstances, emotions, skills, diseases, other people’s behaviour, luck, success and happiness. How many of these, and to what degree would you define to be within or beyond your control? An even greater question that I’ve been battling lately is the question of how much we as human beings are supposed to take control of in our reality in the first place.

Some books and teachings say that we should just let go of our desires, live simple lives and give up the thought of taking control of our destiny - that everything is going along just as it is meant to, which means that trying to alter things is futile and a waste of energy. In other words, life is meant to be a humbling experience where the solution is simply to enjoy our stay on this planet and live with care and love toward ourselves, others and the Oneness of all that exists.

Another way of thinking is that this whole reality is your own creation and you (read I) are fully responsible of all that goes on in it. Therefore, it’s obvious that there’s a lot of cleaning up to do with all the misery and catastrophes that occur every single hour and minute of every day. This revelation either breaks you if you don’t even have the strength to take care of yourself, or it has the power to create a great human being out of you that actively improves the world - through internal or external means (self-improvement or altruism).

Option 1 resembles more of a theistic approach and option 2 an atheistic approach, but it doesn’t have to be that cut and dried. The underlying question is if you have the full control of your reality or if it’s beyond your reach, found in something or someone else’s control. It’s all a paradox that seems to circle on endlessly when you think about the human levels of consciousness as explained by David Hawkins. In broad terms, people below the consciousness of 200 are denying the responsibility of their own life and need to grasp this revelation to reach neutrality. However, to get past the mid levels and reach unconditional love and enlightenment, you have to more or less again give up the control that your ego and corporeal body has access to. So what then is the answer, should a human being strive for control or not?

I wasn’t able to push this question forward until I started asking myself what the word control really means and comprises of. The traditional explanation would for instance consider having control of a car. It then means that you’re the master of the car’s movements and nobody else is able to influence it. This I would name ‘direct control’ and it follows in suit with the subjective reality perspective that everything is happening due to your own thoughts and actions - that circumstances, emotions, skills, diseases, other people’s behaviour, luck, success and happiness are all within your control.

However, I’m also convinced that ‘indirect control’ is an equally powerful concept and a very acceptable mind-set as well. This is the power of being a master at how you relate towards everything - even though you accept that everything is beyond your control. Your control is therefore strictly internal and in a way, you control the external occurrences because of your own relationships towards them. In this case for instance, cold weather does not have control over you because it does not bother you. You are in total acceptance of your surroundings and thus, you are the one in control. It’s still a kind of control after all even though the outcome is beyond your reach.

So what this all boils down to is a separation between internal and external control. Now if we look at the small list of concepts I presented earlier (circumstances, emotions, skills, diseases, other people’s behaviour, luck, success and happiness), we notice that all of them are within one of our ‘controls’ and that in the end, you don’t have to choose one form of control over the other. They can both co-exist and you just choose one according to the nature of the issue. I’m sure you’ll find out which concepts require direct control and which require indirect control.

Many people find themselves out of life balance when they only rely on one form of control. They get mad at the universe or themselves when there’s no single solution to all of their daily matters that they want to control. Fortunately, there is a solution for how to take control of life, but it takes time and effort to master both kinds of controls for improved life quality.

Or were you more inclined to find an answer to which of the two introduced teachings are more correct? Life isn’t a goal or a destination you strive to reach. It’s a path and an experience where there is no past and no future - only an endless amount of the present moment. Life wouldn’t be very exciting if all our questions were answered, but I hope that you start to recognize the two kinds of controls that you may use and slowly master from now on to make the best of your life and the present moment. This matters more to me than finding answers to all the questions I can think of.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 

The third step is to use appropriate and effective plugins on your blog. This is neither a top list nor a required list where you need to use them all. It serves more of as an introduction to plugins that show what kind of functionality and accessibility your blog may lack if not used. There’s a lot of variation to be found when you want a certain kind of key functionality to your blog - the differences are then found in the instalment, use and appearance. WordPress comes with a few plugins to start with and Akismet is a plugin that you should definitely use.

All links are to the plugin homepages and they all come with guides on how to install and use them, so there’s no point that I retype what’s already found documented elsewhere. The standard deal is to download and extract the files to the plugin directory. Then you just go to the plugins menu in your administration panel and activate the plugins. But it’s always recommended that you first read the instructions found on each plugin homepage or the install or read me file that comes with the plugin. Some are more tricky to install than just to activate and some add their sub-menu to the options panel where you do the plugin tweaking.

Adsense-Deluxe
I like this plugin not only because it automates the insertion of Google AdSense ads, but also because you can use it to automate any code you want to add to a post with a simpler maneuver. It adds a sub-menu to the options menu where you name a new code block and enter the full code in a box. The plugin then generates a tag that you insert in the post.

Brian’s Threaded Comments
This plugin adds the option of replying to a single comment so that it’s clear to whom you’re responding as it boxes in the previous comment in yours. I didn’t get this plugin to work, but there’s another plugin for the job as well, called the Quoter that is presented later on.

Category Replacement Widget
The Category replacement widget lets you change the category view in the sidebar into a drop down bar as presented in the sidebar of my blog. You need the sidebar widget plugin to use this.

Clean Archives Reloaded
This plugin is found in action on the Archives page and includes the dates and comment counts automatically. Since the latest WordPress upgrade, it also includes the pages you create, but this should be fixed in the next plugin update.

Comment Karma
If you want to add the option of voting a + or a - to other people’s comments, this plugin comes in handy. It’s a bit tricky to install, but works fine when you get the hang of it.

Contact Form ][
This plugin displays the contact form found in the page and may need some fine tuning to get it to show up as you want it to. This way you’re less prone to get spam mail since your e-mail address remains hidden.

Count_posts
Count_posts is a really simple plugin. It displays the total amount of posts you’ve published, as shown at the bottom of the Archives page. It just displays the number, so you’re free to add any text you want just by typing it out on the page.

Digg This
Digg This displays a similar button on your post that can be found on the Digg website to the left of the link headlines. It won’t show up until at least two people have dugg your entry and the plugin generates an e-mail to you notifying that this has happened. The downside is that you can’t really test if the plugin works or how it shows up until you’ve got dugg. Here’s what it looks like. You can also enter the code in the index.php file instead of the suggested post.php.

Drop-down Archive Widget
This plugin shows up the same way as the category replacement widget as found on the sidebar, but it doesn’t require you to have the sidebar widget plugin to use it.

Feedburner Feed Replacement
You need to have a Feedburner feed to use this plugin. It’s a simple install and it boosts your feed count number because it taps into many sources that feedburner statistics doesn’t automatically count in, like Firefox Live Bookmarks.

Google Sitemaps
This plugin is part of the Google utilities entry I’ll post next week. It generates an XML sitemap of your blog so that Google can index it for better targeting.

MyAvatars
A simple plugin that checks if a comment poster is registered to MyBlogLog and then places their picture/avatar in the comment box.

Quoter
Quoter functions like the quote button in forum posts. A blog reader can also highlight a text from your entry and by the click of a link, quote the text and reply to it in the comments. It’s a bit tougher to install than most plugins, but I got it to function properly. I might install it on this blog.

Related Entries
This plugin is found in action at the bottom of this post, below the ad banner. It’s a great plugin since it gives the reader some place to go after reading a blog entry. You can’t keep all new readers, but this plugin helps a bit.

Sidebar Widgets
This is a pretty basic plugin as it enables the widgetizing of your sidebar. It comes with its own menu where you drag, drop and order your widgets as you want to them to be displayed.

Subscribe To Comments
Subscribe to comments simply adds the check box way down where a reader enters a comment. It adds a stickiness to the blog as it sends an e-mail whenever someone else has replied to a user’s comment.

Ultimate Tag Warrior
I personally don’t use this plugin, but it’s great to add tags to your posts. There are a few other plugins that go hand in hand with it too.

WP-PostRatings
This is the rating plugin I use for people to vote on my posts and also to display them on each of the four pages in an descending order. It’s a nifty plugin, but don’t rely on people using it actively because only a very small fraction will. It took me over two months to get my first rating, and now I’m at 68.

WP-PostViews
The WP-PostViews plugin is only visible to the blog admin. It shows how many times a post has been viewed when you go in to edit/manage a post. It comes in handy if you want to see which posts fare well on your blog.

WP Category Posts
I’m using this plugin in the Categories page, but it requires you to manually enter each category to the page to make it display as it does there. The post count is automatic though.

I’m happy to include more plugins that anyone suggests, and although I’m not an expert at using them, I’ll do my best in helping out how to get them to work if the plugin homepages don’t provide sufficient info. There’s no checklist for this step. Just try installing any plugins in your offline blog that seem interesting and delete the ones that you don’t end up using to avoid clutter. There are lots of plugins to be found at the WordPress plugin database link directory.

In the fourth step of this “tutorial” (Friday, February the 23rd), we’ll be changing permalinks for better search engine optimization, looking into css and html tweaking and how to add more media rich content to spice up the blog appearance.

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

(No Ratings Yet)

 

Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior is the first book I’ve read this year that can be labeled as fiction. First published in the early 80s it’s a autobiographical novel blending in the author’s own experiences as well as fiction to remind us of life’s greater purpose and possibilities.

It is the story of Dan, a young gymnast moving to San Francisco for University studies and starting life on his own in ways he could not have imagined. Although very successful in acrobatics, his overall life does not offer any remarkable and memorable moments. Instead, he only seems to find some degree of peace and satisfaction from his training while all the rest is just blending in with indifference, mediocrity and unawareness of what awaits him.

Troubled by a reoccurring dream, he takes off into the night and stops by a 24/7 gas station where he meets an old, but swift man whose words and answers perplex and frustrate Dan. Still quite intrigued of the man’s behaviour, he decides to return to the gas station each night to find out why the old man seems to be the one in his dreams and why he constantly manages to outwit and outperform Dan who is three, four times younger than him.

Slowly but steadily Dan begins to listen to the man’s teachings, whom he calls by the name Socrates. Dan’s gymnast career seems to come to an end when he severely injures his foot, but given the newly awakened spirit, he starts to push his limits to not only start exercising his athletic abilities again, but also to become a master of life and unreasonable happiness. The path of the peaceful warrior doesn’t appear easily, quickly or rationally, and Dan gets to live through quite a number of demanding tasks and tests in order to reach his ultimate calling and be who he is meant to be.

There’s a great message to be found in this book and I enjoyed every page of it. As the tagline goes “A book that changes lives”, I’m inclined to agree with that statement and also recommend this book to anyone of any age. It speaks of the course and meaning of life, how we should relate to different occurrences in our lives and how to face the inevitable destiny we all have to one day. Get your own copy and find out if your level of consciousness is in balance with the way of the peaceful warrior.

(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)

 

Step 2 is a short and easy step and serves the purpose of providing the basics for those of you who still haven’t had a blog online. That being said, here’s today’s agenda. We’ll look into what you need to be able to run WordPress, what kind of a host you might choose, how to upload your files and how to go from there. Yes, it’s quite a beginner’s tutorial today. But let’s get on with it so we can get to the more advanced details later on.

The first part is easy. Your web host provider must have PHP and MySQL support, or else your WordPress installation won’t work because it uses the MySQL database to function. Remember to check this when you choose your web host provider and service package. If you’re aiming really high and intend to drive lots of traffic to your blog, remember that a cheap alternative on a shared server might not stand up to it. Storage space shouldn’t be an issue unless you’ll be using lots of pictures, audio and video files to spice up your blog.

I have provided a list of web host candidates that you may choose from. I can’t really vouch for any of these except the last one, since it’s the only one I’ve personally used and still using.

• Dream Host
• Blue Fur - Even the cheapest solution is said to stand Digg front page traffic.
• Go Daddy
• A Small Orange - Reader recommendation.
• midPhase
• AN Hosting - Specifically for blogs.
• bluehost
• Laughing Squid
• Planeetta internet - Just in case you live in Finland.

Once you’ve signed up, you should get the necessary login details to be able to start uploading WordPress to your web host. Make the decision if you want your home page to be your blog (insert WordPress files to the root directory) or if you want the url to be yourpage.com/blog for instance instead (upload the wordpress folder to the root and rename it to “blog” or your word of choice.

To do this, you first need an FTP application. My choice is FileZilla, which you can download from SourceForge. Run the installation and place it where you want. Run the program, choose File > Site Manager and enter the following details:

• Press the “New Site” button and give the connection any name.
• Enter your domain url in the “Host” field.
• Choose “SFTP using SSH2″ in the “Servertype” dropdown field.
• “Logontype” should be “Normal”.
• Enter your username and password in the following fields.
• Click “Connect” and you should land on the web host directory.

This is where different web host providers have different category listings. Find out which is your root directory and upload your WordPress files or your wordpress directory there by dragging them from the left window to the right. I suggest clicking on the “Advanced” button and inserting the wordpress folder directory in the “Default remote directory” to save you some time by always landing where the action is when you connect to your web host. Remember now that your wp-config.php file must have the information that works with your web host database. Run the install.php file to install your online WordPress version and pick up the login details.

Here’s a tip. I recommend having a duplicate of both your online and offline wp-config.php files in separate directories. This way you’ve got an easy copy paste solution whenever you’ve done something wrong on either your offline or online WordPress directory and choose to upload or download it all from one host to the other to get it all working back as normal again.

Whenever you upgrade WordPress to a newer version, just copy all the files to your existing wordpress folder. Refresh your admin panel and the few steps are easy to just click through.

Checklist for step 2 - starting offline

• Web host - Choose a blogger friendly solution that fits your needs.
• FileZilla - Download, install and configure to have a file upload tool.
• WP Config - Keep duplicates of your wp-config.php files for easy copying.
• Upgrade WordPress - Keep an eye out for upgrades and always install them.

Pretty basic, huh? In the third step of this workshop (Monday, February the 19th), I’m listing the most essential WordPress plugins that you should know about, how to install them, how to use them and why. They may not all suite the context of your specific blog, but there’s bound to be something new to everyone who is following along with this tutorial. I hope I haven’t bored you too much, the rest of the steps provide more value to established bloggers.

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

(No Ratings Yet)