Jefferson Hennessy asked:


Did you know there is a new open source community project underway called the WordPress Plugin Database, located at wp-plugins.net, which is a user-friendly web site with about 2,500 WordPress plugins and counting?

“The WordPress Plugin Database is a categorized list of WordPress plugins, complemented by a WordPress Plugin Manager that allows one-click installs,” say the database developers. “For users, wp-plugins.net provides a browseable list of plugins, and RSS feeds you can subscribe to in order to get notified of new plugins and updates. For developers, wp-plugins.net makes it easy to publicize your plugin and keep users informed of new versions.”

As for us everyday non-developer WordPress fanatics who are constantly searching for cool new plugins to make our site attract visitors and earn some money, the WordPress Plugin Database is populated with plugins that can help generate web site traffic to your blog, sell your ebooks, share web site links, podcast your message, offer a public forum for returning visitors, and fight spam in the process.

Below is a short list of free plugins I discovered in this new database that can drive traffic to your blog, sell terrific products, and keep visitors on your site for a while – the perfect monetization strategy for every blogging entrepreneur.

Would you like to add a Public Forum to your blog? Simple Forum is a free plugin that is described as a “simple and straightforward forum that does the sort of stuff a forum is supposed to.” Simple Forum currently has 71 features you can use to develop a growing community of returning visitors who are encouraged to speak to each other, and who share common interests with you, the brilliant blog owner and forum manager expert. Search engine spiders love the fresh content provided by a community forum. Simple Forum can support your forum member’s comments in 17 languages: stuff.yellowswordfish.com/simple-forum/

Would you like to monetize your blog by selling your products and services with a WordPress shopping cart? The free WP eCommerce Lite shopping cart plugin is described as “an industrial strength, elegant, easy to use, fully featured shopping cart application suitable for selling your products, services, and or fees online.” You can upgrade to the eCommerce Gold plugin for just $15. If you don’t have any products to sell, you can set up this shopping cart to sell products offered by Amazon.com, Art.com, and so on: instinct.co.nz/?p=16

Reciprocal link directories create backlinks to your site that helps improve your site’s search engine ranking, and most shared link directories are not free. Plus, most blogs don’t offer a shared link directory. The free WP Link Directory is described as “the first and the only one link directory plugin on the Internet for WordPress admin to store and maintain a set of links in classified categories.” This link directory plugin can match your blog theme: alectang.com/wordpress-link-directory/

Podcasting is a web site traffic generation phenomenon that has seen over 6 million people download MP3 podcasts. That’s not including the millions of people who prefer to listen without downloading. Here’s an idea. Why not record your blog articles as a podcast, and then submit your articles to podcast directories? Even if you don’t like the sound of your voice, there are software programs online that you can use to speak your written words with a more pleasing sound.

PodPress is a free plugin described as “a dream plugin for Podcasters using WordPress,” and “a full-blown Podcasters Plugin for WordPress.” With Podpress, you can post a podcast along with your article for visitors to download, or listen to without downloading. Why not interview an expert in your niche by telephone, and post your conversation as a podcast with your article? mightyseek.com/podpress

And finally, every high-traffic blogger would love to find a way to eliminate spam. Spam Karma 2 (SK2) is a free spam fighting plugin developed by the WordPress Plugin Directory guys. SK2 is described as “an anti-spam plugin for the WordPress blogging platform. It is meant to stop all forms of automated blog spam effortlessly, while remaining as unobtrusive as possible to regular commenters.” wp-plugins.net/doc/sk2/

By the way, don’t forget to upgrade your WordPress blog to the latest 2.3 version released in September of 2007. WordPress 2.3 offers new article keyword tagging features, which means improved search engine ranking and more web site traffic for you: wordpress.org/download/



Website content

Alan Mater asked:


Blogger used to be a good blogging platform, especially for beginners. It was easy to use and setup, and not much technical know-how was required. There’s one major setback to using Blogger, though. You can’t take advantage of social bookmarking sites, at least not as effectively as you can with using Wordpress. There are numerous Wordpress Plugins, and some take advantage these sites.

These social sites act as a “vote” for your website. When people bookmark your blog posts or articles, they are sharing them with others. Other people pick up on your content, and they might bookmark them as well. The more votes the better. Google loves content, that’s no mystery. Google will reward your site for that content and the fact that high authority social bookmarking sites are linking to it. This means more traffic! A lot more in fact.

So how do we take advantage of these social sites when blogging? The answer is Wordpress Plugins. Blogger doesn’t give us any way to automatically bookmark every post we make. It has to be done manually. That’s very time consuming! Services like OnlyWire or SocialMarker can make this a lot easier, but you still have to take the time to use those services.

There is a much easier way to drive this traffic to your blog. You have to be using Wordpress to take advantage of this. Wordpress is probably the most popular blogging platform, and it’s no wonder why that is. It requires a little more technical knowledge, but don’t be scared away. The benefits are far greater!

Wordpress makes use of Plugins. Wordpress Plugins are basically little applications that perform a function or process. There are numerous Plugins that were made for Wordpress, and there will be many more no doubt. They all serve a different purpose.

Here are some Wordpress Plugins that you DON’T want to be without so that you can utilize the power of social bookmarking sites:

ShareThis – Allows users to share and bookmark your posts.

AddThis Social Bookmarking Widget – This allows your readers to bookmark your posts.

ShareThis and AddThis are pretty much the same thing. It doesn’t hurt to have both. You want to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to bookmark your posts.

OnlyWire Autosubmitter – This will automatically submit your posts to your OnlyWire account.

Sociable – Automatically adds links on your posts to popular social bookmarking sites.

Tweet My Blog – This will automatically post a tweet to your Twitter account when you make a new post, bringing more traffic to your blog. You can sign up for Tweet My Blog at my blog; there is a link in the resource box. You’re also going to need a Twitter account. So grab that and start getting followers, the more the better.

This is just a small example of the Wordpress Plugins that are available. You want to make sure you have these Plugins installed so you get traffic from the social bookmarking sites. The potential here is huge, and you don’t want to miss out. If you’re not yet using Wordpress to blog, I suggest you get on board.



Content

Marlon Burrows asked:


WordPress has become a hugely popular open source blogging and publishing platform. The abundance of free themes and plugins as well as its ease-of-use have contributed to the attraction and popularity for using WordPress. While there are some great free themes for WordPress, many only offer basic functionality and simplistic designs.

Since late 2007 however an increasing number of WordPress theme developers have been offering premium WordPress themes – themes which are offered for a fixed price. These premium WordPress themes are usually sold for between $50 to $250. Originally only a small number of talented and well-known WordPress theme designers created paid premium WordPress themes which were well designed, highly functional, top-quality themes that transformed a WordPress installation from a simple blog into a powerful content management system. However as the premium WordPress theme business concept spread, more and more WordPress theme designers have hopped on the bandwagon trying to cash on the new trend filling up their portfolio with premium (paid) wordpress themes.

However with greater variety and numbers of paid premium WordPress themes also comes varying levels of quality. So what specifically makes a premium WordPress theme premium? Some characteristics that should set a premium wordpress theme apart from a free theme are listed below:

Quality and Unique Design

Premium WordPress themes should be just that – Premium. They should look better and be of a much higher quality and unique design than compared to those available for free.

Features

While all themes are different, in general premium WordPress themes should have more “Features” than their free counterparts. What that means depends on the theme in question. However some features may include: “Featured Posts” areas, Multiple layout options for the home page, drop down menus, multiple customs templates for pages, custom field options, print style sheets etc.

Customization Options and Fexibility

People want options, so Premium WordPress themes should be customisable. Buying a premium theme will set you apart from the crowd significantly, but since other people will still be using the same theme, premium themes should be able to be easily customized further, whether it be for the layout, colours, images, or all of the above.

Live Preview or Demo

There should be a live demo or preview of the theme so you can test it and check it out before buying. If there is no live preview or demo that should be a warning sign. You should ask why don’t they want you to test the theme first? All reputable premium theme sellers will have a live demo full of content for you to test. Explore the live demo thoroughly, testing all pages to see that the theme works properly and there are no errors or mistakes.

Full Support

If you’re buying a premium WordPress theme it should also come with a certain degree of support from the designer. The level of support can vary however and will range from personalised individual support from the designer, to the provision of forums or blog comment sections for asking questions and obtaining support from the designer and other people who have purchased the theme.

Supporting Documentation

Premium WordPress themes should come with an instruction manual or document. This should explain how to upload and install the theme and how to manage any of the options that are built into the theme.

Free Updates

Wordpress is continually being updated and improved and a premium WordPress theme developer should be offering you free updates of the theme when required.

Well Coded and Error Free

There should be no coding errors, misspellings, X images, etc in a premium WordPress theme. The theme has cross browser compatible and been tested to work properly on all the major browsers, plus the theme should have clean and valid code and adhere to strict XHTML and CSS standards.



Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress

Jhoana Cooper asked:


Are you a dedicated blogger? Do you always browse the Internet in search of templates and premium Wordpress themes? If you have answered affirmative to either of these questions, then we have some pretty interesting information for you. It involved custom Wordpress themes and additional information on the subject. Enter the world of blogging with us!

Wordpress has generally been defined as a smart system for those who want to publish their very own blogs. Written in PHP, Wordpress is quite easy to use and highly functional. Millions of users have learned to rely on custom Wordpress themes for their blogs and are now spreading the word to their friends. Premium Wordpress themes represent some of the most popular searches on the web, especially as there are hundreds of websites presenting such templates as great prices. The important thing is that you are patient enough to find the very best.

You may be wondering what the difference between free and premium Wordpress themes is. While you may not have to pay for those that are free, these cannot be compared so easily. Custom Wordpress themes have a professional look and they are recognized for their top quality. The template is simply amazing and you can convince of the difference on your own, once you enter online and start searching. Two other very important features of a premium theme are represented by: the footer contains absolutely no links, plus the footer PHP file is not ciphered.

Premium Wordpress themes are generally used for personal online blogs but you can also expect to find them used for business blogs. If you are interested in purchasing custom Wordpress themes, then all you have to do is go to the website of your choice and click on a simple button. The most common method of payment is through PayPal. Online, you will encounter the greatest diversity of premium Wordpress themes, with various elements of designs and motives. Those who are planning to start an artist’s blog are invited to use custom Wordpress themes, especially those that are art-inspired. We are talking about a 3-column template, with bright shades of red and yellow.

You may have noticed that the number of party blogs has increased in the past few years. People and particularly youngsters are using the revolution in blogging to catch up with friends on partying. They use custom Wordpress themes suitable for their needs, with funky designs and awesome colors. You can expect party blogs templates to come in darker shades, such as black and blue. Premium Wordpress themes for party blogs can also come in simpler tones and designs, suitable for those who are beginners. It all depends on what you are looking for and what image you are trying to create.

If you are a girl creating a blog, then perhaps you might prefer custom Wordpress themes with floral elements. What does red garden suggest to you? Well, you can expect a premium theme that comes with bright red colors and beautiful flowers. This is perfect for your personal blog. There are plenty of other choices out there, such as a pink evening or a windmill sunset in elegant shades of pink and grey. Discover premium Wordpress themes today and prepare yourself to amaze all of your friends with your blogging!



Create a video blog…instantly.

Shriharsha Bhat asked:


 

WordPress is an open-source blog engine released under the GNU general public license. It allows users to easily create dynamic blogs with great content and many outstanding features. It is an ideal tool for developing blogs and though it is chiefly used for blogging, it can also be used as a complete CMS with very little effort. Its versatility and ease of use has attracted a large, enthusiastic, and helpful community of users.

This book walks through clear, step-by-step instructions to build a custom theme for the WordPress open-source blog engine. The author provides design tips and suggestions and covers setting up the WordPress sandbox, and reviews the best practices from setting up the theme’s template structure, through coding markup, testing, and debugging, to taking it live. The last three chapters cover additional tips, tricks, and various cookbook recipes for adding popular site enhancements to WordPress theme designs using 3rd-party plugins as well as creating API hooks to add custom plugins.

Whether users are working with a pre-existing theme or creating a new one from the ground up, WordPress Theme Design will give them the know-how to effectively understand how themes work within the WordPress blog system enabling them to have full control over their site’s design and branding. Users only need to be comfortable with the basics of web development and this book will take care of the rest.

What you will learn from this book



Set up a basic workflow and development environment for WordPress theme design

Create detailed designs and code them up

Enhance your sites by choosing the right color schemes and graphics

Debug and validate your theme using W3C’s XHTML and CSS validation tools

Customize and tweak your theme’s layout

Set up dynamic drop-down menus, AJAX/dynamic and interactive forms

Download and install useful plug-ins and widgetize your theme

Improve post and page content using jQuery and ThickBox

Add interactivity to your themes using Flash

Includes a reference guide to WordPress 2.0’s template hierarchy, markup, styles and template tags, as well as include and loop functions



Chapter 1 introduces you to the WordPress blog system and lets you know what you need to be aware of regarding the WordPress theme project you’re ready to embark on. The chapter also covers the development tools that are recommended and web skills that you’ll need to begin developing a WordPress theme.

Chapter 2 looks at the essential elements you need to consider when planning your WordPress theme design. It discusses the best tools and processes for making your theme design a reality. The author explains her own ‘Rapid Design Comping’ technique and gives some tips and tricks for developing color schemes and graphic styles for your WordPress theme. By the end of the chapter, you’ll have a working XHTML and CSS based ‘comp’ or mockup of your theme design, ready to be coded up and assembled into a fully functional WordPress theme.

Chapter 3 uses the final XHTML and CSS mockup from Chapter 2 and shows you how to add WordPress PHP template tag code to it and break it down into the template pages a theme requires. Along the way, this chapter covers the essentials of what makes a WordPress theme work. At the end of the chapter, you’ll have a basic, working WordPress theme.

Chapter 4 discusses the basic techniques of debugging and validation that you should employ throughout your theme’s development. It covers the W3C’s XHTML and CSS validation services and how to use the FireFox browser and some of its extensions as a development tool, not just another browser. This chapter also covers troubleshooting some of the most common reasons ‘good code goes bad’, especially in IE, and best practices for fixing those problems, giving you a great-looking theme across all browsers and platforms.

Chapter 5 discuss how to properly set up your WordPress theme’s CSS style sheet so that it loads into WordPress installations correctly. It also discuss compressing your theme files into the ZIP file format and running some test installations of your theme package in WordPress’s administration panel so you can share your WordPress theme with the world.

Chapter 6 covers key information under easy-to-look-up headers that will help you with your WordPress theme development, from the two CSS class styles that WordPress itself outputs, to WordPress’s PHP template tag code, to a breakdown of “The Loop” along with WordPress functions and features you can take advantage of in your theme development. Information in this chapter is listed along with key links to bookmark to make your theme development as easy as possible.

Chapter 7 dives into taking your working, debugged, validated, and properly packaged WordPress theme from the earlier chapters, and enhancing it with dynamic menus using the SuckerFish CSS-based method and Adobe Flash media.

Chapter 8 continues showing you how to enhance your WordPress theme by looking at the most popular methods for leveraging AJAX techniques in WordPress using plugins and widgets. It also gives you a complete background on AJAX and when it’s best to use those techniques or skip them. The chapter also reviews some cool JavaScript toolkits, libraries, and scripts you can use to simply make your WordPress theme appear ‘Ajaxy’.

Chapter 9 reviews the main tips from the previous chapters and covers some key tips for easily implementing today’s coolest CSS tricks into your theme as well as a few final SEO tips that you’ll probably run into once you really start putting content into your WordPress site.

For more details on the book please visit http://www.packtpub.com/wordpress-theme-design/book.



Create a video blog