So it’s been about a weeks since it was out, so I figure, why not? After all I have the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin, so this should be a breeze. Now this plugin makes upgrading Wordpress ridiculously simple. It handles file backups, database backups, deactivating and reactivating all plugins, etc.

So I go through the process and I’m not totally disappointed. There were the normal problems we have with all upgrades and some new ones:

• Theme Issues: This only happened on one of my blogs. Heck, it’s an old theme, so that’s to be expected. The widgets didn’t quite work right, but it was fixable.
• Plugin Issues: Of course there will be those. Some plugins haven’t been updated yet, some just required me to update them. And with the new plugin update feature, it was quite easy to fix these problems. Then, there are some plugins I just had to totally disable, but upgrades for these are coming out everyday. I’m down to one old plugin that hasn’t been updated yet.

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New Domain

I has finally occurred to me that I should have gotten my own domain name a long time ago. Really, I don’t know what I was waiting for, but it was about time. Since my focus is Web 2.0, WebDevelopment2.com was an obvious choice. I’ve already written about moving wordpress to a different domain, so moving to this domain was walk in the park. I loaded up PhpMyAdmin and exported my database. Pulled up Notepad++ and did a search and replace for my old URL to the new one. Saved the file, zipped it back up, and uploaded it to the server. Since I usually deal with large databases, I didn’t even bother trying to load into PhpMyAdmin. Bigdump is now my favorite database importer for MySQL.

Finally, I loaded up the .htaccess file on the old domain name and slapped in a RewriteRule with a 301 redirect to WebDevelopment2.com. And Viola, here we have Wordpress blog perfectly redirected, without losing a single inbound link. Sure, the Page Rank on the domain name is 0 (for now), but with a name like Web Development, it won’t be for long.

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Here’s a quick tip for today:
Interlink Your Posts: aLinks Plugin

Popularity: 7%

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After reading this post, I have come to the conclusion that Web Developers can learn a lot from this.

I cannot over stress the importance of number seven (7) and eight (8):

• Everyone suggests researching webhosting companies, but for your first year, just use a web host that can get the job done. I use Dreamhost, and it’s fine except for the 20,000+ visit days …

• If you’re serious about your site, get your own domain name that somewhat relates to your topic (obviously cleverdude.com doesn’t relate to finances). Jim recommends GoDaddy.com, but …

A good domain name is essential to any website. Take your time when picking one. The same goes for a host. I would definitely go with reviews for this. Resist the urge to go with advertising or price solely. I made that mistake and I’m currently riding out my contract so, hopefully, I’ll be able to move with little problems. Just because a web host is advertised in your favorite magazine doesn’t mean that it’s the better deal.

If you’re a blogger, this is a definite read. If you’re a web designer, scan through the list and extract those that apply.
Source: 50 Tips for New Personal Finance Bloggers [Clear Dude]

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Now, I’m going to be deliberately vague because I don’t to give this blogger any traffic.

This is what happened. I developed a new a interest lately. As a result, I was looking for a blog that I could use as a reference. All my searches returned this one blog. The name of the blog was specific to the actual topic. I went on the blog and to my dismay, I saw post after post which looked like emails from a mailing list. The funniest thing is that the Google Groups mailing list from which he was sponging his information was one that I had recently subscribed to. I actually found a pos, which was me asking a question to the group.
This is what I assume he did. He went into the Blogger configuration and set up the Blog by Email option. And he used the same email address that he used to sign up to the group. So, every time a message is sent to the group it is forwarded to his email address and ends up on his blog.

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MightyAdsense - Automatically Inject Ads

The MightyAdsense Plugin has many useful options. You can store up to 10 different sets of ads for various locations on your blog. You can insert them into your template by calling one simple function instead of having to paste entire code snippets for the ads. Since all your code for the ads are stored in Wordpress, it makes changing the format of an ad a breeze.

But here's where the magic comes in. You can chose certain ads to be automatically inserted into posts and pages. One your homepage, category list, etc; where you list many different posts on one page, you can chose to insert specific ads into certain ads on the page. Namely the first, second, and third posts. This is the set up I have for my first post:

The second post I leave blank, but have the following on the third:

Now this is what I have on every page/post:

PayPerPost Says No Ads

PayPerPost has recently modified their Terms of Service:

Inline Ads and Links. There are to be no third party links, ads or other detractors located within the sponsored post.

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Now I know I'm late, very late. But I finally decided to find out what all the fuss was about. The great thing about Widgets is that you can drag them all over the place. Of course, they are made for the sidebar, but you can reorder them however you like or just remove them. And the great thing is removing doesn\'t mean deleting. They are there to be reused at your whim and fancy. Here is an example of what Widgets can do for you:

Widgets are, however, a bit awkward to design. A lot of plugins these days come with widgets built in, but there are those that don't. For these, it's a bit of a pain to use.

For this purpose we have the King Text + PHP Widget Plugin. This plugin enables you to define empty plugins that you can paste text, HTML, or even PHP into.

I've converted all of my blogs (except this one :)) to use Widgets. It takes a bit of time to set up, at first, but the flexibility they offer you is just great.

Popularity: 4%

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Recently, I've had a problem with a blog that I manage. Due to a server issue, the database was totally screwed up. It was weird. The first thing I noticed is that the posts for the last five (5) or so days were gone. I thought that some absent minded tech had inadvertently restored a previous backup.

Then I noticed that not only posts were gone, but some settings reverted back to their original values. Upon closer inspection, I realized that certain entries in certain tables in the database were deleted. Hmmph, who knows what the problem was. So I figure that it should be a simple enough task to get a backup from my web host. I was wrong about that, very wrong.

Now let me first state that I was also wrong in not maintaining my own database backups. There is absolutely no excuse for this, so I take full blame for my problem. If I had a database back up, I wouldn't have been in the situation that I'm in right now. Anyway, moving on. After over 4 days of moving back and forth with tech support, they were able to supply me with their earliest backup, which was dated the day after my database meltdown. So I was screwed, or was I?

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