I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a secret, but it looks like my brother is getting ready to switch his site from blogger to a self hosted wordpress blog.
So, you think you can run with the big boys eh Sam? You think you’ve got what it takes? Well I’m not going to be able to shield you forever little guy. You have to make your way into the big bad world sometime. Just remember, I’m not going to be there to dry your tears if you accidentally urinate on your Thundercats duvet this time.
Nevertheless I am able to give him some pointers. Here are some wordpress plugins that I rather partial to:
Around this Date
Picture the scene. There you are at a high-powered business meeting. The room is packed to the rafters with executives and important clients and customers. The very course of your career could well be dictated by your performance over the next forty five minutes. And yet you can’t seem to focus. Your concentration just isn’t there. When you should be thinking about amalgamated beef packaging and incorporated chicken benchmarks all you can think about is something that has been niggling you ever since you got up this morning: “What was Dan doing this time last year??â€
OK, maybe not. In fact I think the only person who looks at the this time last year section on the left had side of the blog is me. But that’s ok. It’s really quite nice to revisit those old posts now and again. It’s what I started blogging for in the first place, to have a record of things that otherwise I’d forget (of course now I blog purely for the glamour and fame).
Comment Email Responder
Received blog wisdom states that one of the best ways to encourage readers is to respond individually to the comments you receive. Some people are excellent at this, Whit for example always emails you an amusing retort to whatever half baked blathering you sully his comments section with. Me, I’m not so good. It’s not that I don’t value people’s comments, quite the contrary - I leap on them like a ravenous wolf (a ravenous wolf that’s self esteem is dictated by the number of blog comments it gets). But the process of going into my control panel, cutting and pasting a commenter’s email address, then going into my mail account and composing a witty and erudite response is organisational task that is quite frankly beyond me.
The comment email responder plugin however allows the blog administrator to respond in the comments section and have a copy by email simultaneously, thus making the whole process one hundred percent easier.
Of course I still don’t respond to peoples comments as often as I should do. This is because I am crap.
Commentluv
My newest acquisition. I saw this over at Lee’s blog and had to have it. Basically whenever anyone leaves a comment the plugin adds a link to the most recent entry from their own blog at the bottom of the comment. Here’s an example of it in action. Unfortunately it will only link to blogs which have RSS feeds available (So Greg, Deb, Rachel & Henry and Steve, you need to get your sites sorted out. It’s not 2005 anymore guys. Sheesh, get with the program).
Extended Live Archives
I bet you haven’t even looked at my archive page have you? Well go have a quick look now, I’ll be waiting for you when you come back.
…
You taken a look? Liar, you’ve done no such thing. I have a stat counter you know, I can tell where you’ve been (and sometimes even where you came from – Paul you should be ashamed of yourself). You’re going to have to take it on trust then, my Archive page is a wonder to behold. It is glorious in its sleek and smooth bountiful beauty. It’s even been praised in reviews of my blog. And all of this could be yours too if you install the Extended Live Archive Plugin.
Wordpress Database Backup
The server where I host my blog has yet to spontaneously burst into flame, but with my track record with technology I know this is only a matter of time. This plugin allows you to email a backup copy of your entire blog to yourself whenever you want. Very handy.
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I apologise for all those who still use blogger, and for whom this post will have had little relevance. However I consider it as payback for your damn blogs commenting system refusing to let me link back to my site unless I have an account with google. Bloody imperialists trying to take over the world.
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 3:26 am
I’d like to know the plug-in / whatever it is you use for your podcasts. Very cool. Not so sure I like the pink one you set up Gary with over at Jerry Chicken but still pretty cool. Other than that I have nothing pertinent to say. I guess I’m trying to see if your Commentluv plugin works for me…
zoe’s dad’s last blog post..Llella did disss…..
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
zoe’s Dad - the podcasting pluging is PodPress (http://www.mightyseek.com/podpress/) it’s rather good and actually comes included in the newest version of WordPress so you don’t even ahve to download it.
Gary uses blogger and so isn’t able to tweak his blog like someone with a self hosted blog can so his options are reduced.. He also doesn’t have to pay for it either mind you
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I worry about Blogger bursting into flames at any moment so I should consider the migration to Wordpress. I already own the viewfromthecloud Wordpress account and the viewfromthecloud.com domain name, so at this point it’s only a matter of paying for a hosting service and taking a few minutes to simply step on over to Wordpress with all my archives and comments in tact.
Oh wait.
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Jeff - I migrated to wordpress with all my posts and comments intact, and it was just a press of a button if I remember rightly. there is an import from blogger option. I had about a year on blogger before I switched.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Importing_Content
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Oh, and Bloggrrl offers a very good deal on web hosting, I used her discount when setting up the Dales walk blog.
http://bloggrrl.com/blog141/making-money-with-affiliates-duh/
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Not only do I still use Blogger, I use the old version. I just have too many bells and whistles that I’ve added in the code that I don’t want to deal with.
My wife is starting a blog and I sent her to WordPress.
Whit’s last blog post..Thing 2 That Goes Bump in the Night
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Ooh! I like the archive — way cool!
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I am with Jeff in that I have the domain name and the space. I just have to make the final jump.
Dan - you will probably get few emails in the next week or so..
Sam’s last blog post..Posing with Ute
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I don’t actually know for sure which version of Blogger I’m using. I know I had to switch over once Blogger Beta forced us to, but then I kept using my old template and I am not using all the new features of “new” blogger. In fact, there’s a tab called Custom Design that lists this message:
We’ve introduced a new tool for customizing the appearance of your blog. Before you can use this tool, you’ll need to upgrade your template. By upgrading, you will lose many of the changes you previously made to your template. However, we will save a copy of your current template so that you can access it later.
So does that mean I’m NOT on new blogger? Cause if I’m not, then I can’t import directly into Wordpress.
And is that why it’s not showing my last post here in your comments?
See, it’s questions like these that make it impossible for me to undertake such a task.
on Dec 15th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Jeff - I don’t know why your last post isn’t showing up, it’s happened to a few other people too. I have no way of tinkering with it so all i can do is apologize.
on Dec 16th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Moving to wordpress was a bit painful, but in the end I’m glad I did it.
on Dec 17th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Responding to comments is something I enjoy doing, and I think it definitely creates more of a back-and-forth environment.
Avitable’s last blog post..Fuck the Turks
on Dec 17th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
when do you find time for all this? i’m lucky if i can get a post in and catch up with a few posts from contacts! i’m thinking of going back pen and journal, frankly.
on Dec 17th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Bon Bon - The honest answer is that I don’t watch TV and I also do a lot of writing during quiet periods at work.
The dishonest answer is that I have a team of ghost writers doing the blog for me.
on Mar 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I starred this post in Google Reader in anticipation of my hosting move — and now that I’m actually making the switch, it’s really coming in handy. Thanks, Dan.
Rattling The Kettle’s last blog post..Ignore the man behind the curtain