Herschel Lawhorn's Blog » Wordpress

Your Questions About Blogging With WordPress

Herschel Lawhorn — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:00:05 +0000

Ken asks…

which platform better i used for blogging: wordpress or joomla? thks a lot.

i'm newbie in blogging. now i want to blog with my own domain name. some of bloghosting offer with wordpress and joomla. i'm confussed. where is the one i must choose?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Hi,
Basically there is a difference between WordPress and Joomla. WordPress is a blogging software- i.e intended solely for the purpose of creating blogs while Joomla is a Content Management System(CMS) which can used to do a lot of things like creating articles, rate them, building a community, branding your products, forums and also blogging.

Both of them are great free open source software and the best one to choose depends on where you want to take your site too. If you are not sure, I suggest trying both of them as it does not cost you anything

For wordpress I gave an excellent site

Thomas asks…

Where is a better place to start blogging, iWeb or WordPress?

I want to start my own blog, and I have a mac so it comes with iWeb so it makes it easier to make, however my friends use WordPress or other blogging sites where they have more choices for page design, etc. Which one would you recommend and why?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

How to start a blog

Learn how to create a blog. This article walks you through the basics of choosing a blog system, setting up your blog, getting traffic to your blog, and making money from your blog.

Read the full article here:

http://www.elated.com/articles/start-a-blog/

Some Themes: http://smashapps.blogspot.com/2009/06/20-most-elegant-free-blogger-templates.html

Tips: http://smashapps.blogspot.com/2009/06/top-10-important-tips-for-beginner.html

FAQs: http://faq.wordpress.com/

Web Site Blog: http://www.instant-web-site-tools.com/blog/

Random WordPress Plugins: Rotating Banners, Header Art, Images, Quotes, and Content on Your Blog: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2007/02/28/random-wordpress-plugins-rotating-banners-header-art-images-quotes-and-content-on-your-blog/

Plugins can extend WordPress: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/

Top 10 Template Generators for Blogs and Websites: http://mashable.com/2007/11/18/10-template-generators/

Ron

Your Questions About Blogger Templates

Herschel Lawhorn — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:02 +0000

Mandy asks…

Blogger templates?

Where can I get some free blog templates besides the choices at blogger.com? I know there are lots out there but I'm looking for some really nice, clean, professional looking ones. In other words nothing with hearts or stars or myspacey in anyway.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Http://www.blogger-templates.blogspot.com/
they provide u with a wide range of free templates..designed by professionals..
Or else if u want to create ur own template ..first upload the background and side bar background and stuff onto a server and use

http://www.psyc.horm.org/

its reely easy
i used dat on my site
regards,
sree http://www.funnybone.co.nr/

Thomas asks…

Anybody know where I can find a huge selection of free XML blogger templates?

I've already looked at these websites: btemplates, eblogger templates, blogger templates, phyzam, and thur's templates. Thanks!

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Http://www.finalsense.com/services/blog_templates/

http://www.suckmylolly.com/

http://www.giselejaquenod.com.ar/blog/2007/10/27/birdies-secret-garden-free-xml-blogger-template/

http://scrapur.com/bloggertemplates/free-xml-blogger-templates/

http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/02/101-excellent-blogger-xml-templates.html

Your Questions About Blogging Tips

Herschel Lawhorn — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:00:07 +0000

James asks…

When you're looking for the best blogging tips from expert bloggers, who do you turn to?

I get overwhelmed by all of the excellent info about blogging that's available. Give me the best of the best! I'm looking to take the advice of the ones who give actionable, easily implementable ideas that work. Names and website info please. Plus, the best tip they've given you that really works. Thanks!

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Though, you will read and be approached by many so-called experts, who tell you how they made millions out of blogging and how you too can earn that much. In addition, they tell you blogging is all play and no work. But blogging is nothing like what most people tell others. It's a serious hard work and the chances of success, to passionate people, are more or less the same as with other real world professions.

To get you a fair idea of blogging, from earning perspective, let I share with you some facts:

Before answering to your question, I want to put a fact: majority bloggers earn nothing, a small number earn something equivalent to a cup of coffee a day, rest make either modest or big money.

So when you ask "Can someone make a living out of blogging?" then the true answer is, even if very difficult, it's possible. One can earn a living, and one can earn big money too. But why one limit the scenario to blogging, most professions and careers present the same picture, more or less.

Now let I give a preview of the earning potential of a blog:

If your idea is to earn by showing ads from ad programs like Adsense, Kontera, Adbrite etc. Then your earnings will depend on the number of clicks you manage to get on your displayed ads. On an average, if your blog content is good, means if the content shows good context ads, and if you have 300 blog visitors then you will have 2-6 clicks on your ads. Studies show ads on websites have a click ratio of around 2 percent. Thus for every 100 visitors one can expect to get 2 clicks on ads. Or in other words, out of 100 visitors to a blog, only 2 visitors click on an ad. This translates into, 1 or 1.2 dollars a day for a 300 visitor a day blog.

If your idea is to earn revenue by selling products through affiliate links; or sell your own products/services, then again, the earnings will depend on your blog traffic. And the chances of a visitor going for a buy, is again around 2 percent.

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Regarding who new bloggers should look up to, my answer is: You should look up to people like me, the website packagers, who will neither promise you the moon nor overwhelm you with the difficulties. What they'll let you know is the real picture and how to overcome the difficulties that a blogger faces during his/her blog's initial life cycle.

Thanks

Steven asks…

Video blogging tips: How do you talk into a camera?

Yea when I watch videos after I make a video, it seems very mundane.

Also, it's really hard for me to stare and look at a camera and act like I'm talking to a person. I don't know why. Any tips?

Also, I'm not good at acting. People say I don't have enough "feeling" when acting.

So I don't know how to make my blog any more interesting, or how to look directly into the camera for long periods of time without feeling weird.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

This may sound really silly, but it works for a lot of people. Take a paper plate and cut a hole out of the middle. This is where you will attach your video camera lens. On the paper plate draw a face. Now when you talk to the camera it will feel like you are talking to a person. You could name your new plate-person-friend something silly. That way you will smile when you look at the camera. Also, you could just put a real person's photo there - it works just as well. Good luck.

Your Questions About WordPress Blog Search

Herschel Lawhorn — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:05 +0000

Nancy asks…

Should I allow search engines to index my wordpress blog categories?

Hello, I've heard that sometimes it's a good idea not to allow search index to index categories. My questions, under what conditions is such approach a good idea. I don't know whether I should allow indexing or not allow. Please somebody help me.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

I am never heard any problem caused in by indexing the Categories of our WordPress.

I do index all the stuffs from my blog, help my blog gets better SEO & Page Rank.

Sandy asks…

how do you make wordpress post titles appear in google search?

I can find my wordpress blog by searching for the title of the blog, however, if I search for a particular post title it will not come up. Is there any way of making this happen?

Also, any tips on personalising it so it looks more like it's own website

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

I use all in one seo pack wordpress plugin. It let you to fill post title.
Http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Your Questions About WordPress Login

Herschel Lawhorn — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:00:05 +0000

Lisa asks…

wordpress login?

i have created a wordpress system at a free website.
How do i configure wordpress so that user can register their password instantly, meanung no need to check their email

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Currently, this is not possible. This is to prevent spam.

Thomas asks…

I'm getting someone to fix my wordpress...is it safe to give him my wordpress login?

Somehow my login from wordpress is taking me directly to godaddy.com to my cpanel. I messed something up so wordpress doesn't load anymore...that's why this guy is gona help me fix it...is it ok to give him my user name and password on wordpress?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Hi James.

Yes, you can give your login credentials to developers to fix it.

I am also a developer, truely speaking developers have no interest in doing wrong things with the domain and hosting settings.

All they need is money for the work done.

You can simply change your login credentials after the work is done. Just go ahead.

If you still face the problems, you can follow Mr. Lawrence, he gives consultation on wordpress.
Http://starta-website.com

Your Questions About WordPress Blogroll

Herschel Lawhorn — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:03 +0000

Linda asks…

wordpress blogroll?

how do I switch the order? like right now I have 2 sites on my blogroll, so how can I switch the first one to be the 2nd one, as in the order?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Go to the Admin CP and change the order

James asks…

How do I get rid of/rename the blogroll on wordpress?

How do I get rid of/rename the blogroll on wordpress?
I'm keeping it's features, I just want it to be called something else, like my links or something.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Log into your admin dashboard.

On the left hand column you will see Links.

Click on it.

Under links you will see Links Categories

Click on it.

The default title is Blogroll

Here you can add or delete the titles for you links.

Next...

Go back to the Links tab to manage your links.

Cheers!

Your Questions About Blogger

Herschel Lawhorn — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:00:05 +0000

Daniel asks…

Blogger?????????????

i have a blogger and my videos only show up half way? Like the video is cut in half?
what can i do to fix it?
i mean that the actual picture is cut in half

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Your problem is very common.The only solution is to change your template to another.You can get free blogger templates at http://free-blogger-blog-templates.blogspot.com

Ken asks…

blogger!!!?

how do u put u're own pics for the background? also how do u put music?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Putting music files and video files on a web page need you to embed them into the web page using the embed or object html tags..

Please read through this page..

Http://www.theedifier.com/blogging-blogger/videos-uploading-free-hosting-posting-formatting.php

Your Questions About Blogging For Dummies

Herschel Lawhorn — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:00:02 +0000

Donald asks…

Is "Blogging For Dummies" Trademarked?

I'm trying to figure out if "Blogging For Dummies" is trademarked. I wouldn't use it to make money or for any commercial purposes, but rather an independent website. Would it be legal?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Already taken:

bloggingfordummies.com
bloggingfordummies.net
bloggingfordummies.org
blogging4dummies.com

Still available:
blogging-for-dummies.com
blogging4dummies.net
blogging4dummies.org

try to find other possibilities at domain registrar company such as http://www.dynadot.com, http://www.namecheap.com, etc. You don't need to pay for this domain information lookup.

As long as nobody registered the domain name you want you can register it for yourself.

Arcoix

John asks…

What exactly is Blogging!?

Please break it down for me like blogging for dummies.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Blogging is short for 'web-log'ing. It's simply a way of sharing your feelings and thoughts (much like a diary) with friends, family and the whole world if you should desire. There are many websites that have blogs including Myspace and LiveJournal. I use both, and just post to whichever one I feel like on whatever day. I go to the site, long in and put down my thoughts and feelings knowing my friends will read it and leave comments or send me e-mail if they have thoughts about what I've written. I find it fun and kind of relaxing, and for me it's easier to remember than writing in a journal every day. Happy blogging.

Your Questions About WordPress Tutorial

Herschel Lawhorn — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:00:02 +0000

Ken asks…

What's the best WordPress tutorial series?

I'm looking for a well-produced, step-by-step tutorial series on using WordPress., from beginning to advanced. Any ideas/recommendations?

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Installing WordPress on your website

http://www.techgist.com/2009/09/20/installing-wordpress-on-your-website/

Important things you must do after WordPress Installation
http://www.techgist.com/2009/09/27/important-things-you-must-do-after-wordpress-installation/

Steven asks…

Where can I find a tutorial for creating wordpress theme 3.0 from scratch?

I want to create a new wordpress 3.0 theme but I can't seem to find a nice good tutorial. I only end up finding "how to enable wordpress 3.0 for your theme" but I don't want that. I want something from zero. Could you help me?
I don't want any 2.x tutorials. Only WordPress 3.0.
I really can't believe only one man in the whole Yahoo! world could answer me.

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

These are old but should help some:

http://themeshaper.com/wordpress-themes-templates-tutorial/

http://www.wpdesigner.com/2007/02/19/so-you-want-to-create-wordpress-themes-huh/

http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development

Your Questions About Blogging With WordPress Tutorial

Herschel Lawhorn — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:00:05 +0000

Mark asks…

How can I make wordpress 2.7 look like a regular website instead of a blog?

My site: http://spy323.xtreemhost.com/

So far I've made a static page, added a theme that has some nice options, and added a favicon.
The main thing I want to get rid of is the comment thing.

I would appreciate it if someone linked me to some to tutorials on how to tweak my wordpress site.

If you respond with a dumb answer like "its not possible" "wordpress sucks" "i <3 wordpress" or "wordpress is just for blogging" i will give you thumbs down

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

Hello-

To make your site not look like a blog, you would have to set a different theme or template. My website is http://www.pomirc.com and that is a wordpress template....

The best thing I can advise, is just go to google and search for free wordpress templates...

Http://wordpresstemplates.name/

Hope this helps! Best of luck to ya!

John asks…

Questions regarding Blogger to WordPress.?

I have a free blog with Blogger. It's growing really fast and becoming more popular everyday. When I'm researching blogging stuff I always read that people suggest a paid WordPress blog if you're serious about blogging. I want my blog to look professional (& fun). Here's the problem, while I feel I'm pretty good at navigating and setting up the free blogger stuff, I'm a newbie to all this web hosting, WordPress theme stuff. I know I would need to 1) register a domain, 2) select a web host (not sure how to do that really) and 3) choose and set up a WordPress theme. I'm looking for a good tutorial on how to do all of this step-by-step. I'm great at following instructions! Thanks for any help or advice you might have for me

Herschel Lawhorn answers:

If you're already on blogger, the easiest thing for you to do would be to point a domain to your blogger.com site. So you can have a custom domain for about $10/year, depending on where you register it. Most people who are only pushing content and not trying to write their own backend code (php/python/ruby/etc.) shouldn't have to pay for hosting when the blog sites will host it for free.

See google's documentation:

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55373

If you find that too difficult, put an ad in the Technical Gigs section of your local craigslist, offering somebody $50 to set it up for you. Once it's set, you'll just have to pay the domain registration every year and you can keep updating your blog as you've been doing.