Category Archives: WordPress
Nov 13, 2007 by Matt | Posted in Featured, WordPress
WordPress is more than a blog engine. It’s an easy-to-use CMS (Content Management System) perfect for running a “webzine.” I’m not a big fan of most CMS systems, though I’m a huge fan of WordPress. Joomla is too convoluted and Drupal isn’t that great either. I’m not going to go around the web bashing other CMSes right and left, but I do like to point out WordPress as a viable option for “non-blog” sites.
The Main Page
The main difference between a blog an a webzine is the index page. While the typical blog just shows the most recent posts, a webzine goes beyond that. There are a lot of ways to display content on the main page. Here are some examples of webzines:
Look around the internet. You’ll find no shortage of different “non-blog” index styles. Do you see how they are all similar? They highlight different types of content. “Featured” posts, “normal” posts, “news,” etc. Before you get into developing your webzine too much, map out the main page on paper. Decide what types of content you will have, and how you will display them on the main page.
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Nov 8
This month’s WordPress theme is Grid Focus.
Nov 7
Everyone’s been talking about WP Super Cache, the new WordPress plugin based off the old WP-Cache 2. By storing static copies of your posts for a predetermined amount of time (then refreshing them after they expire), it reduces server load by a huge margin,…
Nov 6
A sideblog, or asides as they’re sometimes called, is a great addition to a blog. It allows you to post short mini-posts into a spot in your sidebar. Have you just hit the Digg.com main page? Give your readers a heads up. Did you…
Nov 5
WordPress can hold comments for approval before they appear on your blog. While this keeps spammers at bay, you want to use this feature as little as possible. Comments should generally appear on the blog immediately. Why? WordPress normally does not notify the commenter…
Nov 4
I’ve previously talked about sideblogs, or asides as they’re often called. The most common way to setup a sideblog in WordPress generally involves creating a second Loop to display posts from a certain category (a plugin is often used to do this). There’s a…
Oct 29
WordPress is a great blogging package, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. There are several things that I want added/fixed, but who knows when (if ever) they will be addressed. Instead of complaining randomly, I’ve assembled a prioritized “Top 6″ list of things…
Oct 7
It’s coming. WordPress 2.4 will be released on December 12, and 2.5 in the following May. According to Blogging Pro, we will be seeing “some very visible changes to the WordPress administration panel.” What does that mean? Will the admin be redesigned? We could…
Oct 5
301 redirects are useful for numerous things. If you change a post slug is WordPress, then you can place a 301 redirect so anyone going to the old URL will be redirected to the new one. This had the added bonus of letting search…
Oct 3
You’ve seen them. “Digg this post!”, “Save to Del.icio.us!”, “Add to Technorati Favorites”. The question is:Â What’s the best way to utilize them on your blog? On some blogs, you’ll see a strip of icons like this: On others (like this one), we use…
