Starting a Blog

he latest version of Wordpress has been released:

Wordpress 2.6.2 Update – Download

If you allow open registration on your blog, you should definitely upgrade.  With open registration enabled, it is possible in WordPress versions 2.6.1 and earlier to craft a username such that it will allow resetting another user’s password to a randomly generated password.

This Wordpress version requires the standard upgrade installation.

The items fixed in this include the following tickets:

Wordpress 2.6.2 Fixed

Please update now and advise if you have any challenges performing a wordpress blog update with this release.

It’s time to upgrade your blog to version 2.6.1 if you are using Wordpress blog software.  As with most updates, you can upgrade your blog quickly when you follow the instructions.

WP 2.1.6 - Wordpress Version 2.6.1 Blog Update Available. You should also take advantage of the mailing list to stay informed about the Wordpress.org upgrades.

One recommendation we have for your upgrades is to affirm that you must always make sure you have backed up your files and database.  For that one time a year that something goes wrong you will be happy to know you have a full backup.  Just think of it as the periodic backup copy you plan to keep in another location anyway and save it to a DVD.  If you don’t know if you’ve backup up your database or not – well, then you haven’t.  Since some Wordpress upgrades will also upgrade the database, please do this before you need to start over.

We typically unzip the wordpress distribution into a new local folder and then add to that clean folder our config file, theme, plugins, and any other file required.  Once the proper files are moved over (instead of saving per the normal wordpress upgrade instructions and then a server delete) we can delete ALL the files on our server and re-upload just the new set. Read the rest of this entry »

Using Wordpress.com to start your blog is a simple, free, and effective way to begin a new blog.  Some key features that we find most beneficial of using of Wordpress.com are integrated stats and spam control by Akismet.  But those are just a few of the laundry list of features that make this hosted blogging platform and community such a great choice for new bloggers.

Wordpress.com Blog Features

It’s hard to believe that this collage of features is available as a free blog tool.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blog designers can make your blog design pop!  For many people that want to start a blog and are just getting comfortable with writing, the blog design is probably not your top concern.

This is fine.  There’s no reasone to worry about the design if you are creating a completely person blog and don’t have any strategic blog plan.  Find a suitable blog theme and perform the general blog template install.

For everyone else, hire a freelance blog designer.  We talked about this is our recent how to article New Blog Templates. The cost to have a graphic designer create a blog design for you and implement this into a template or theme of your cms choice will typically be under $2000.  Again, if this is not a business or commercially branded blog then you can just use a generic blog template.  If you’ve got important content or a corporate blog purpose then it’s time to view the blog design just like a major branding element of your company.  For a full blog start-up program, (especially if you plan to outsource all design, templating, seo, content structure setup, and blog cms configuration,) plan to budget $5000 to $10,000+ USD.

After reviewing thousands of blogs, the one thing that set the business blogs apart from the diary blogs was the design.  This is not to say that a personal blog can’t also benefit from some customizations.  This just means that you’re probably looking at a do-it-yourself or a simple $50 freelance design project if it’s just tweaking an existing blog into what you want.

Are you on the wedding planning path?  Why not start a blog about your planned wedding?  Starting a blog to help share your success and challenges during the wedding plans could be very healthy.

Wedding Image for Wedding Blog Post - Photo by Ballgame

A wedding blog will also allow you to share your picks and get feedback from others in your wedding group.

First, find a wedding blog template that allows you to demonstrate your wedding class.  Change the colors of the blog once you’ve set your wedding colors.

You can even have a professionally designed wedding blog as this will be a place to share wedding photos long after the big day.

Remember, you’ll even be able to upload video to a video sharing service like Viddler, YourTube, or Revver, that can then be streamed on your wedding blog website.  Don’t forget to ask those people that are intimately featured in your video if they mind the blog video post.  Some of your guests (perhaps they are celebrity status) will not want the video posted.

The wedding blog can be a great place to share and once the entire event is over, the blog can even be preserved for the future.  Your wedding blog could also be a password protected blog and only your invited friends can view the posts. Read the rest of this entry »