Linux Squared – Gimp – E-Book Design

Man, ……… I’ve had a couple of weeks of hectic “Extreme Blogging“. So extreme in fact that I’ve had to skip a week, while I got it together enough to be able to post. It all started with my trying to update an E-Book template that I had found on the web, when I first started out Blogging. No matter how …

Double Posting with Two Windows

I came up on this the other day for the first time when I was doing a really long post! Most of what I do is on the Micro level, so I rarely get a chance to post anything of any real length. When I did, I hit a huge snag that just about did me in, as I was trying to make a deadline with one of my blogs.

Here it is: When editing a “Draft” you have the ability in WordPress to Preview these changes, as you are logged in to the admin area, in the preview you will notice the word “edit” next to the date and your name. When you press this edit to clean up your copy you will open a new tab in firefox or a new browser window in Explorer. Now it only does this one time, however you now have two tabs or two browser windows open for you to edit in. Once you save in one, you will not be able to save in another. The trouble is, when you hit the preview button and after reading your post you decide to edit and hit the edit link, you should be forced to back-up, like hitting the back button on the tool bar of you internet browser, not the ability to open a new tab or new browser window. Man, ………. I seen some bugs, but this is a killer.

After I had work through my copy and realized my problem, I was like four hours doing this post, and I was forced to stay with it, because I was looking at a deadline.

Once you publish your post and you decide to edit that post, you still get this behavior with WordPress. I’m sure there is a work around, I just don’t know it yet. I just wanted to get this info to you as soon as I realized the problem. So, do yourself a huge favor and when you hit the “Preview Changes” button; after you are through editing, just turn off the tab or window!  If you know of a work around, leave a comment and help us out, please. Thanks. See you next week!

Beyonce Smoking Hot ….. Website!

I’m Never Going To Get This Long URL In My Twitter Post

Tiny URL’s ……. what’s up with that ?  I don’t know about you but the fact that my post URL goes from: “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” to: http://fe.f48/EFA1.z ……… leaves me a little unsettled. If you ask the Tech guys they’ll tell you how it shows good form.  That’s GEEK speak for …… we can’t figure out how to sanely shorten a URL yet.  If you’re a blogger …. have I got an EXTREME solution for you !

When looking to add your URL to your Twitter feed,  it makes sense to drive home the name of the blog instead of a string of numbers along with the fact that the search engines really don’t like Tiny URL’s.  So I came up with this solution that by-passes the Plug-In route, (I need another Plug-In like a hole in the head).  So ……. try this;  the theory is pretty straight forward, first go to your “Dashboard” in the Admin Area of your WordPress Software.  Then go to “Settings” and click on “Permalinks” and go to “Common settings” and click on “Custom Structure”.  Add this code:  /%postname%/ …… now click “Save Changes”.

I usually like to see the whole URL of my post to show,  meaning;  site name, category, post name.  The Permalink “Custom Structure” looks something like this: /%category%/%postname%/  If yours is set-up in a similar fashion you will have to drop out the /%category%/  Of course it does not effect function,  you just won’t see it show up in the URL of your blog.

Now when you add your URL to your Twitter feed,  you no longer have to add:  http://bloggingextreme.com/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation

You simply add this:  http://bloggingextreme.com/what

That’s it.  Now,  if you have two posts that start with the word “what”,  WordPress will seek out the earliest post. If that is not the post that you want, you will have to add another word or letter.

Like this:  http://bloggingextreme.com/what-i

Get it ?  Good ! ………. Nuff said !  If this doesn’t work for ya ……. sorry,  I tried !  You’re back to the alphabet soup thing. 

I’ve got an update.  Since I published this post. Allan over at iwoodpecker.com passed along this killer tip to the above.  You can actually go with a numerical system if you want.

Like this: http://bloggingextrme.com/p0001

That way you don’t have to worry about two posts that start with the same word.  Just remember,  to avoid the number showing up in the post title, edit at the perma-link level and don’t forget to place the  “p”  in front of the number.

Thanks Allan!!! Great Tip!

Dealing With WordPress TV

For those who follow this blog, you are probably aware that I’m not a big codex fan. Dealing with the endless forums and broken links, I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever found a solution to my problem through the codex. I am however, kinda impressed with WordPress TV …….. kinda.

While I’m pretty sure that the codex is a lost cause, I have hope for WordPress TV. Video after all is the going rage these days for the blogger. However, while working with WordPress TV I have noticed some bugs that you should be aware of.

I just can’t put my finger on it. How is it that the WordPress software is bullet proof, but the support is so weak? I just don’t get it. I digress !

One of the cool things about WordPress TV is the ability to actually embed the video inside your post. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Youtube this ! But WordPress TV is at least a little better in quality than the other video services that allow you to embed. To control traffic to their sites some of the better one’s don’t even let you embed. So to have a good quality video to embed inside your blog about blogging is like kinda cool.

When you reach the video that you want to embed, you will see the word “embed” in the top left of the video. Once you click on the control menu button, you will see a drop down menu that gives you several choices. Unfortunately, those choices don’t include anything that will fit your template more than likely, so you will have to adjust the dimensions in the embedded code.  I’ve provide the code so that you can check out the dimensions change.

<center><embed src=”http://v.wordpress.com/wp-content/plugins/video/flvplayer.swf?ver=1.15″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”585” height=”400” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” flashvars=”guid=NBZ853Xn&amp;width=400&amp;height=224&amp;qc_publisherId=p-18-mFEk4J448M” title=”Introducing WordPress 2.9 Carmen”></embed></center>

The “Copy To Clipboard” thing is kinda cranky too, so be patient. It doesn’t always want to copy or paste for that matter.

Here it is for those who need a quick look see:

Adding A Widgeted Footer To Your Theme

If you follow this blog you know that I am a big fan of Studio Press.  So for this week’s post I thought I would give you the instructions on how to add one of those way cool footer widgets to the bottom of your theme. It has four columns.  Unfortunately I don’t have a header to match the footer just yet, but I’m working on …

Adding Twitter Links To Your Posts

It seems that Twitter is all the rage these days, really pretty cool when you think about it. I personally think tweets should be more than 140 charters, but what do I know ? I don’t have a Twitter Account for this website yet, but I do have one for Bloggers Market.com. I have a link at the top of the homepage, but for the coming …

SEO Solutions

These two content areas at the top of the homepage were meant for material that I want displayed for most of the year and need to be read by most all that pass by. Unlike the Featured Content which I update with the latest tech solutions to your blogging once a week and Jeffrey’s Corner which I try to update about twice a month, “SEO For Blogs” will only be updated about once a month. That way most will get to read it before it is relegated to the archives bin and it also gives me the chance to focus on what is really important in this field with respect to your blogging.

Blogging for a dollar is not rocket surgery, it comes down to driving traffic to your website and converting that traffic to sales. Nuff said !

When considering what it takes to achieve this goal, first and foremost I guess you need to write pretty good; you will need a good blogging platform and the skills to manage it. You will also need some marketing skills and you will have to do the SEO thing, whether you like it or not. When I started out this was the most challenging area of blogging for me. It is my hope that I can provide you with some focused ideas so that you can maintain your sanity.

Thanks for stopping by !

Making Life Easy

Ok, Ok, I’m here already and the flakee “Blogging 101” article is gone forever; I know, not very extreme. I hope to add content to this area of Blogging Extreme at least once a month. These two content areas at the top of the homepage were meant for material that I want displayed for most of the year and need to be read by most all that pass by.

This months post deals with making life easier for yourself when it comes to your blog. When I started out blogging, no one really wrote how to manage a blog efficiently. As blogging becomes more competitive, you will have to make sure that you are managed as efficiently as possible; to save time is nothing else.

Life is hard enough, make it easy on yourself and follow my suggestions or put some thought into your own blog habits and make some hard and fast rules to follow. In the coming months I’ll be writing about, managing your future posts, how to manage breaking news, how to manage your media library so that you don’t lose your mind, how to manage your plug-in library, efficient software upgrade, and database management just to name a few.

It would be nice if all we had to do was write, but a blog is a business even if you do it for a hobby …….. if you want to be read you will manage it like a business anyway. There is a way and a means to an end where you can manage with joy. It can be fun. It can be a nightmare. Having to meet deadlines and hassling with tech issues does not a happy blogger make. So make life easy on yourself and check back here for a dose of blogging sanity.

Life After Bloggers

Here at Blogging Extreme, I deal with the most advanced technical problems that bloggers face. This website is not an exhaustive look at the cutting edge of the art. But it will provide you with the answer that you are looking for at the strangest of times. In other words; I’m not the whole pie, just a piece of the puzzle.

Those that have been looking at their blogs for a year or two, maybe more, know that it can be a time killer to have a tech problem that cuts like a knife and seems incurable. With a little patience and time (Google helps), your back in action and that eight figure year looks closer than ever ……….. until the power goes out.

As I sit here this morning, in 18 degree temps, my ISP is frozen, literally ……… I’m in and out. Man ….. it’s just 18 out. It’s not like I’m at the North Pole. Oh well ……. there goes my four figure year !!!

I hate to think that I have banked so much of my future on this interweb thing. While it provides me with a much needed income, if the lights go out, I’m screwed.

While technology is way cool, it’s a really frail thing. I’m afraid if the lights go out, we’re all screwed. Hey …….. I’m just sayin ……….

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