Life on Snow Hill

The latest and greatest version of WordPress is out and available for download.  Here’s a video explaining some of the newest features:

The biggest features I’d like to point out are:

• Post revisions – WordPress now keeps multiple versions of your posts, so if you make a change to a post, you can always go back to the original (Or any other version you may have saved).
• Gears - a browser extension that basically creates a ‘local server’.  Or, in other words, it caches commonly used javascript and CSS files locally to speed up page loads.  There is a lot of potential for Gears, so keep an eye on this one.
• Theme Previews – Pretty self-explanatory.  Without ‘applying’ the theme to your entire site, you can see what it will look like before you make it a real change.

There are many more smaller features listed in the official announcement.

A little while back I wrote a post on how to be a good blogger.  As sort of a sequel to that, I’m writing this post about how to increase traffic to your blog.  I’ve been researching a little bit, and have found that the settings on my blog are really just about everything they should be (i.e., my blog is set up to ping automatically when I write a post).  However, I was missing a few other things.

I did find a blog post about this very subject over at Seth’s Blog on how to increase traffic.  There are some very good points he makes, but some of it is a bit satirical.  One of the biggest things I took from it was to try to be more a part of a blogging community by linking back and forth to others’ blogs.  This way you’re not limited to being found only by search engines or word of mouth.  This way, there is live interaction with other bloggers and their readers.  Click on over and take a look at his list!

Everybody who ever wanted to have their own blog is in luck!  Head on over to clipblog.us, a site that I’ve set up that was originally for family and friends, but I’m making available to the public as well.

First things first – it’s totally free.  I’m not charging anything for it – yet.  Maybe someday I will if it gets popular enough and I’m able to devote more time to it to be sure it will be up and running all the time in a stable state.

Signing up is easy.  I’ve even got a wiki started that should help you get signed up if you’re not exactly sure how.  When you sign up, you’ll get your own blog name, like myblog.clipblog.us.

Head on over and check it out!

I’ve often wondered what it really takes to be a good blogger.  I mean, I always appreciate those that come and visit, but what would it take to get you to stay?  More importantly, what would it take to convince you to come back?  I spent a little time today researching this, and I’ve found 4 simple rules that I will try to heed to from now on.  These rules (or tips, really) came from blog readers across the blogosphere, and they are what keep them going back to certain blogs over and over.

1. Post Regularly – Regular content is a must.  I think I do pretty well with this one, but I think I actually overdo sometimes.  They say 5-7 posts a week are plenty, with 1 per week being the minimum.  This one is my 3rd today, so I’m over my limit for the day.  I’ll try to space things out a little better, and be a little more ‘predictable’ with the timing of my posts.
2. Be Conversational – Rather than presenting information matter-of-factly, make a conversation out of it.  Write it as if you are writing a letter to a friend, or better yet, speaking to them about it.  Don’t write it out as if it is a formal speech.  Make it personal, and write as a conversation.
3. Be Thought-Provoking – This one is a little difficult sometimes.  Don’t post boring, bland informational topics.  Don’t get me wrong, they do have their place, but if that’s all you do you won’t have many loyal readers.  An idea is to post topics as questions, soliciting feedback from readers.  Don’t make it into a fact, necessarily, but make the post into something that will cause the readers to think about what they are reading, rather than reading it and simply moving on.
4. Respond – When someone leaves comments, don’t leave them hanging out to dry!  Make it a truly interactive experience.  Let your readers know you are listening to them so that it will become a more personal experience for everyone involved.

So from now on, again, I will adhere to these rules and tips.  I hope that it will pay off in the end, and I hope that you, my loyal readers, remain loyal.  More than that, I hope that you’re no longer bored with the content that I post.

Today is CSS Naked Day. Don’t worry, it’s nothing filthy… The idea behind this ‘event’ is basically to promote web standards – proper (x)html, structure and markup. In easier terms (If you’re not geeky), it takes all of the ‘style’ out of the site and gets down to bare bones.

Not only does the event promote proper site design before the ‘styling’ makes it pretty, but in the end it also shows off the talent of the CSS designers and programmers when the styles are finally applied. I know I’m not that talented…

Upgrade or else! WordPress versions 2.3.2 and earlier are vulnerable to attack, and are being attacked. Hackers are injecting spam links into blogs with these holes. Also, and possibly more importantly (if you want your web traffic to keep pace), search engines, specifically Technorati and probably others, are de-listing hacked blogs.

Depending on what the case is, I’m sometimes a fan of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. But I upgraded mine pretty much as soon as the latest version came out. I did it mostly because I’ve been excited about WordPress since I switched to it back in December of ’07, but I’m all about upgrading due to security fixes, etc.

In other words, this is broke, so fix it!

As you may notice, I’ve made yet another fairly significant change to the site.  This time, it is something more for the front-end rather than the back-end changes I made over the weekend.

As is obvious, there are now two columns on the right-hand side of the page.  I wanted to make things easier to find if, for example, you wanted to view a recent post.  There is now a ‘Latest Posts’ section where you can see the titles of my 10 latest posts.  Just click on it and you’re there!

I also wanted to display a listing of your most recent comments (I need some help here, people..I don’t get many comments.  Am I that boring? )  So now that is easier to keep up with.

Oh, and if you’re into this sort of thing, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds of my posts and your comments.  If you use Firefox like me, it’s easy to add my posts as a ‘Live Bookmark’ to your site.

1. Simply click on the RSS icon next to ‘Latest Posts’ (It looks like the orange icon here)
2. Now, click on the “Subscribe Now” button at the top of the window.
3. Now a window will pop up asking for the name.  The title of my site should be filled in automatically, so you don’t have to worry about that part.
4. Make sure it says “Bookmarks Toolbar Folder” next to the “Create in” label, and click the OK button.

It’s that easy!  Now you have a new button on your Firefox toolbar called “Life on Snow Hill”.  If you click that button, you’ll see the latest entries I’ve posted on my site.  Sometime in the near future I’ll try create a whole how-to page for Firefox users as well as others who frequent my site.

Now that that’s out of the way, the other most noticeable feature I’ve added is the ‘Asides’ area.  As of this posting, there is nothing in it, but it will be used to simply post a thought in a few lines rather than taking up an entire post with it.  It may be funny, it may be a status of the website, or it may be something totally random.  I just thought it would be a neat addition to the site overall.

To be able to fit all these things on the site, I had to add another column.  Here is where the K2 theme comes in really handy.  It makes it really easy for me to manipulate all of these ‘pieces’ of the site and arrange them how I want to.  I had been looking into other themes, and then realized that K2 would actually do everything I wanted.  So, if you ever start a WordPress blog, I highly recommend using the K2 theme.

I’ve upgraded my website again. WordPress 2.5 was released yesterday (Saturday, March 29, 2008), so me, being the technical geeky guy that I am, had to upgrade. Unfortunately, the K2 theme that we’ve all grown so fond of, isn’t working properly (They say that Release Candidate 5 is working – I’ll have to check that out this week). I’ve had to ditch that for now, and am in search of a new theme. So if any of you know of any awesome WordPress themes out there, let me know and I’ll give it a look! Who knows, if I get enough suggestions, I’ll put out a poll and let everyone vote on which one I should use.

As for the improvements, well, unfortunately you probably won’t really see any resulting from the upgrade itself. Most of the improvements are in the back-end, where I manage everything on the site. But, if you are the geeky type, I won’t leave you totally in the dark. You can get all the latest info on WordPress 2.5 here. Just scroll down to the “WordPress 2.5 Information” area.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have a more cool theme installed and running so that you won’t be bored with the default blue theme.

Updated 2008-03-31 – If you didn’t notice already, I got the K2 theme reinstalled.  I had to download the latest release candidate (5) and it is working like a charm.

I’m still using WordPress.  I’m just using a theme-based enhancement on top of it.  I guess it’s sort of a ‘shell’ on top of WordPress.  It is called "K2".  If you keep reading this post, it will get a little geeky.  You’ve been warned.  K2 adds a few features to the WordPress blogging experience.

AJAX – it allows your browser to talk to my server in a bit of a different way.  It allows you to see changes to a web page without having to reload the entire page.  If you use Windows Live Hotmail, you’ve seen AJAX in use.

• Live commenting – lets you leave a comment without having to reload the page.
• Livesearch – allows you to type your search in the box and instantly have the results shown to you.
• Rolling Archives – a navigation system designed specifically for K2 which lets you navigate through archives and search results without having to reload the entire page again.

These are probably the features that are most noticeable and beneficial to you, my loyal readers.  There are others that work behind the scenes that make it easier for me to, say, add that cool image of the road I live on at the top of my blog.

I don’t believe I have that many readers out there, but I know I have *some*.  Drop me a comment and let me know you’re there!  If I’m too boring, let me know what you’d like me to write about.

When the weather starts warming back up, I’ll have some projects going on outside that will be more interesting than what I’m writing about now, so if you’ll stick with me things will get better.