12 Microblogging Tools to Consider - CIO.com
Tue, December 01, 2009 — CIO — If you're thinking about implementing a microblogging effort for your workplace, here are 12 tools to consider. (For more on the microblogging trend and why more businesses are hopping aboard, see our related story: "Twitter Alternatives That Are All Business".
1. Co-op: Allows you to post updates, ask questions, share links and track time. This tool also offers the ability to share your daily agenda with coworkers and enables you to search the transcript for old information. Tool is free.
2. Cyn.in: Combines collaboration tools such as wikis, social networks, blogs, file sharing repositories, microblogs and discussion boards into a secure enterprise platform. Free and paid accounts available.
3. Jaiku: Similar to Twitter but supported by Google. Updates can be posted via Web, instant message and SMS, as well as through third-party applications built by other developers. Tool is free.
4. Obayoo: Allows you to create a private and secure network for your company. Features include archiving messages, creating groups and inviting people related to your work, perhapsclients and contractors, to participate in discussions. Tool is free.
5. Present.ly: Features include creating groups for each project or topic of discussion; sharing documents, video and audio clips. Can be accessed via computer or mobile phone. Tool is free.
6. Sharetronix: Open-source software that allows updates of 160 characters or less. Features include bookmarking favorite posts, sending users direct messages and adding up to 10 tags to describe the user's interests, hobbies, profession, etc. Tool is free.
7. Snipia: Capabilities include creating project groups, assigning and updating tasks to group members, posting Twitter-like status updates, and uploading and sharing files with your team members. Tool is free.
8. Socialcast: Features include public and private groups, e-mail integration, custom filters, user profiles and analytics that provide insight into the people, connections and information sharing occurring in your Socialcast community. Free and paid accounts available.
9. Socialtext: Accessible via browser, mobile device or an Adobe AIR desktop application. Features include a wiki, social networking profiles and activity streams. Free for up to 50 members.
10. StatusNet: Enables incorporation of micromessaging into a business's own Web domain. Features include file sharing, groups, plug-ins and apps, customizable themes, and desktop and mobile access. Support costs extra.
11. WorkSimple: Offers users a personalized dashboard that displays upcoming commitments, tracks deliverables and highlights assignments; social profiles that showcase skills and peer recommendations; and performance profiles that capture employee performance, accomplishments and reviews. Free and paid accounts available.
12. Yammer: Private and secure. Incorporates microblogging, a company social network, discussion board, search capability, groups and can be accessed via desktop, mobile phone, instant messaging, e-mail or SMS. Free and paid accounts available.
Staff Writer Kristin Burnham covers consumer Web and social technologies for CIO.com. She writes frequently on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. You can follow her on Twitter: @kmburnham.
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Applying IA Fundamentals
Webinar: Applying IA Fundamentals
Kelley McDonald, Director of User Experience
October 2009Thank you for your interest in the October 21st webinar, "Applying IA Fundamentals to Create a More Effective Website." If you missed the live session, you'll find the presentation and the recording below.
During this session, Kelley defines fundamental IA principles and how they can be applied to achieve a more effective website. If your website is poorly organized, difficult to navigate, or overwhelming for your users, you’ll want to hear Kelley explain how to apply best practices in user experience design to create a website that’s useful, usable, and searchable.
During this session you’ll learn:
- The building blocks of user-centered web design, including user research, site structure, navigation, content modeling, and interface design
- How to incorporate your users' feedback in your site design process
- How to apply best practices in user experience design to create a website that drives value
To view the presentation slides, Applying IA Fundamentals to Create a More Effective Website
To view the recording, Applying IA Fundamentals to Create a More Effective Website
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10 Things You Must Do Before A New Site Or Blog Launch | Spyre Studios h/t @Ribeezie
26NovPosted by Mike Smith » 67 Comments » Add Your Own10 Things You Must Do Before A New Site Or Blog Launch
Launching a new website can be an intense experience. Preparing yourself for the launch and making sure you’ve got all your ducks in a row will ensure that your launch is successful. Today, I want to discuss with you ten things you must do before a new site launch.
Please note that not all items below are in an order of importance, but all 10 should be completed before the site launch.
1. Do Your Homework
Starting a website in any niche is hard work. Be prepared for it and prepare yourself for the type of visitors you’ll be gaining. Is your website going to be design related like Spyre Studios is? Ensure that you’re catering to those visitors in your planning. What about a freelancing website like Freelance Folder? Should they randomly post articles about sports or do they need to stick to their target market – freelancers? You guessed it, they stick to what their site is about and they know what their readers are after.
2. Create (Or Hire Someone To Create) A Killer Design
I’ve talked about this numerous times before with people, but I believe that design is one of the most important items for a website, especially one that is geared towards gaining clients and/or readership. Yes, if you’re running a blog, your content needs to be great (we’ll be covering that in a minute), but the design is what catches the viewers attention first – so make a good impression. :)
3. Plan Out A Month Or So Worth Of Content
There’s no reason to launch your site if you have nothing to show but 1-2 posts. I’d suggest having 4-5 posts up live and 10+ in the holster, ready to post every few days after the launch. This will let people know you’re serious about the site and will also give you time to promote the site, chat it up with other people in your niche to get some exposure and to write more content.4. Arrange For A Giveaway For Your First Readers To Benefit From
A great way to ensure that you’re getting visitors when you launch is to organize a giveaway. You can do this by giving your services away for free (if you’re a designer, writer, coder, etc…) or find websites in your niche that your readers could benefit from (ie: time tracking software sites, invoicing sites, etc…). The bigger the contest, the better the response, so make sure you either go big or go home :)
5. Set Up All Of Your Google Accounts
Make sure you set up Google Analytics, Gmail, Webmaster tools, Sitemaps, Feedburner etc… You need to set them all up and make sure they’re all working properly so that when you launch, everything is in full running order. There’s nothing worse than launching a site, only to find out 2 days later that your feedburner link was broken or you forgot to set up analytics to track your traffic stats.
6. Set Up All Of Your Social Media Profiles
You might not use them all, but I’d suggest setting them all up anyways. For instance, when I started putting together the Giant Themes website, I immediately set up an account on twitter to help promote the site as well as make sure no one else is setting up an account under my name, squatting on it and/or promoting nonsense that I wouldn’t want associated with me.Jon did the same for Spyre Studios, even though he uses his personal profile for everything related to design and business.
7. Build Up Anticipation On Other Platforms
Do you already run a blog? Post up some teaser images and/or information about your pending site launch. Don’t have a blog yet? Why not leverage the power of twitter and utilize a hash tag like #GIANTcontest (which I’ll be utilizing myself soon) to make sure people are talking about your site and looking out for the launch. Just opening your doors without any warning could work, but the majority of the time, there’s a higher chance you’ll hit a home run if you build some anticipation beforehand.
8. Find A Host That Can Handle Your Traffic
It’s no secret that the ‘digg effect’ or becoming popular on websites like popurls, delicious and/or twitter will send you a huge amount of traffic and there’s nothing worse than having all that traffic and a “page cannot be displayed” screen. So, do some research and find a website host that can handle these things and has experience dealing with a website like yours. Can you get away with a shared hosting plan or should you go with a dedicated server or VPS? If you can’t answer that question, you need to do more research.
9. Do Last Minute Checks On All Of Your Pages And Content
Are your archives in order? Does the 404 page work properly? Are all of the social media links working on your page? Does your contact form work? These are just a few of the things you should check over just to make sure that your site is in full working order. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve built a site, got it running and then forgot to check the 404 pages or how the site displays the search results. It’s the little things that count – make sure you’re not looking them over.10. Comment Over 100 Times On Various Blogs In Your Niche
Yes, you read that right – 100 times. This is a great way to build awareness for your site as well as build relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Another great result from this is that generally if you are commenting on other peoples blogs, they’re more eager to check your blog out and comment on yours. Now, imagine if 100 comments by you (on various blogs – 1 comment per blog) resulted in 100 comments on your launch posts. That will give instant credibility to new viewers who see 10+ comments on each post. (in theory – of course it’s pointless leaving comments on blogs if you’re not genuinely interested in the posts. It’s all about the conversations) :)
Anything I Missed? Let Me Know
I’m always up for revising my to do list when launching a site, so drop us a comment and let everybody know which items you normally follow. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.
About the author:
Mike Smith is a blog designer at Guerrilla and is currently working on launching GIANT themes on January 1st. He writes for Spyre Studios on a regular basis.
Somewhat Related Entries:
jump to the comment form ↓
Jojo Toth
November 26th, 2009Awesome post, great checklist for every blogger!
David
November 26th, 2009Very true – community won’t come to you, so you need go to them! Of course, you must have content worth reading (which is why I stopped by) and a nice theme to make reading that content enjoyable.
Doug Peters
November 26th, 2009Good info. I still need to setup my social networking icons with links, thanks for reminding me. I have to disagree with the “Giveaway” idea, I view that as a gimmick, but it is worth consideration (just not a must-do). I think that killer content for your niche is the most important thing. Which pbrings up the question of why am I posting the best content to my blog and not my portfolio? Hmmm. I guess I’m not quite ready with my HTML5 experiments just yet.
Thanks! -Doug
jon
November 26th, 2009Lots of worthwhile meat and potatoes to these suggestions.
Thanks,
Jon T.Candied Fabrics
November 26th, 2009Yup, this is great advice…I followed MOST of it when I did my blog moveover/website launch last month. One thing I would add is that if you’re moving a lot of content around like I did (my old blog had 175 posts and LOTS of pix), give your new site a week to settle in before you announce your big reveal complete with contest and links from other sites. We had some DNS issues that 1st week (pointed out to me by old friends/readers of my blog) that made me all the more anxious because I was worried that some of the new traffic would just clack away and never return because that first link didn’t work :-(
Richie
November 26th, 2009Excellent article. Just what I needed.. Bookmarked for generations to come.. thanks a lot
Ben
November 26th, 2009Good advice, you can’t launch a sucessufl site in 2 hours work. Planning is the key. I think I would have added research in articles subimssion sites in step 3.
yukon
November 26th, 2009You missed spellcheck…
Just thought I’d let you Know there is a spelling error in the line…
“Anything I Missed? Let Me Lnow”
Great post by the way.
kurrent
November 26th, 2009A few good points (you can never stress #2 enough), but I disagree with #10. That’s borderline spam in my book. You’re encouraging people to comment with well….nothing to really say.
It’s well annoying to see so many people post comments on blogs with two words replies that say “nice post” or “great article”, simply to get their name and website linked. I am not disagreeing that it is a ‘technique’ to build traffic, but chances are that I’m not going to click that link because it’s just become too commonplace now in comments on popular blogs. If person actually posts something constructive and interesting (a contribution) to the comment thread, I may, just may check out their website.
Design Informer
November 26th, 2009Loads of great advice on this post. I would just suggest to all who will be commenting to really leave meaningful comments that add to the discussion.
Also, regarding number 6, Set Up All Of Your Social Media Profiles, that is really important. Most of your traffic will probably come from the social networks.
Jon Phillips
November 26th, 2009@kurrent: Good point – in fact in the article it says:
“of course it’s pointless leaving comments on blogs if you’re not genuinely interested in the posts. It’s all about the conversations”
We’re not suggesting or encouraging those ‘nice post’ and ‘great stuff’ comments – those don’t add anything to a conversation (like you said). If you’re not genuinely interested and don’t want to add to the discussion, it’s better not to comment. We’re suggesting that you actually comment on blogs and articles that you have interest in (and they should be genuine comments that add value) :)
@yukon: Thanks for the heads up! Fixed :)
Andy Feliciotti
November 26th, 2009Hmmm comment on other blogs 100 times, I like the sound of that
Noah Levin
November 26th, 2009I like the idea of commenting on other people’s blogs. I read that once but completely forgot, so this acts as a great reminder! Nice list.
JAVED ASGHAR
November 26th, 2009Very nice post, you can really give me tips to enhance the site user experience and working in effective way to put better result on web.
thanks.Jorgen
November 26th, 2009Good pointers
..and for a “killer design” just contact me.. hah j/k. Giveaways are definite a good way to increase the traffic – they alone can get you the digg effect.
Steve Taylor
November 26th, 2009Before the launch of your site you could set up a Twitter account and chronicle the progress good, bad or frustrating on the progress of setting up everything. This way you will have an audience waiting in anticipation to see your new project on Day 1.
Silver Lips
November 26th, 2009Great article.. I am currently in the process of moving from blogspot to self hosted wordpress and this post came at the right time. Thanks so much for sharing this information
Manal Assaad
November 26th, 2009This is just what I needed. I have been working on a website for the past few weeks, and I keep looking for tools to make it all better and it has been time consuming. I don’t want to start with a failed website then work on updating it after getting bad reviews. I am already tweeting all about it and I got people interested, although mostly friends and family members, but I also got some good connections.
I already worked on some of those tips, but need to do more.
Thanks for sharing the knowledge!@TheManalyst
Matt
November 26th, 2009Excellent tips; all very useful. People underestimate the importance of the site launch and are content trickling their site out slowly. This is a great refresher for anybody launching a new blog. I personally need to comment on more blogs.
Valerie from Studio Rose Flash
November 26th, 2009Great post! I think I will refer my website-clients to this article, thanks a bunch! ^_^
prettyscripts
November 26th, 2009Just what I’m looking for. Thanks for the tips.
Mike Riley
November 26th, 2009I’m relaunching my site in a few weeks and I think this just confirmed a lot of things I had floating around in my head as to how to go about this the best way.
Thanks :)
This should count as post 1 of 100…
Neel
November 27th, 2009Very good tips; I want you to list one thing as well ‘Remember these ten tips always, if your a serious blogger’.
Jamie Dolan
November 27th, 2009Great Suggestions! Thanks! I started my blog about a month ago. I’ve figured
out a number of these things from hard work, but still got several new ideas from your article. I really like the idea of a give away.James
November 27th, 2009Nice tips. I inspires me to make a blog, but I have nothing useful to write about! I wouldn’t want one just for the sake of writing one.
But some of the tips can be related to a normal/business website too, so I’ll keep it in mind!
Thanks!
Greg (french)
November 27th, 2009Excellent article. Just what I needed.. Bookmarked for generations to come.. thanks a lot
Nimia Acebes
November 27th, 2009Very useful tips for a new blogger like me. I wish I had read this before I started with my site.
William
November 27th, 2009Excellent post, really enjoyed it. Gonna pass it around!
Annielicious
November 27th, 2009It’s like you read my mind! …….. thank you for all that great information.
Ricardo
November 27th, 2009Great post! Wish I’d read this before.
Ajay Matharu
November 27th, 2009Great post, I think you missed out tagging your post with appropriate keywords to get it listed in the web search sites :)
Charmaine
November 27th, 2009Thanks for sharing. Comment Over 100 Times On Various Blogs In Your Niche is something new to me.
Blog Ideas
November 27th, 2009Try signing up to a forum in your niche and posting relevant content and replies on a regular basis I find this works well for my blog, make sure to put your URL in your signature.
Shawn K. Quinn
November 27th, 2009What an insightful and well-thought-out list!
I launched a new blog not that long ago (wide launch on October 5 with a soft launch in late August) and ran through the list to see how many of them I missed. I’m lacking the stuff for a giveaway, and I don’t think I hit 100 comments even prior to wide launch. Lessons learned, just in time for my next blog/site launches to start 2010.
Arsart
November 27th, 2009Very nice, wish you wrote these six years ago to make us have a greater media for now, meanwhile I will use your tenth advise:)
Tony Stocco
November 27th, 2009If you’re a blogger (or a decent writer) you can write a guest post on another blog in your niche – to get some instant credibility and traffic. Of course you’ll want to link to your new site in the “author box”.
Luc
November 27th, 2009Interesting post… With everyone trying to launch sites lately, you need to stand out. The post has some great ways to do that!
Misty Belardo
November 28th, 2009Great tips here. Planning a website really needs a lot of planning and organization. Thank you for sharing.
hari saryono
November 28th, 2009I think I’ll refer this 10 list when I launch my new site.
Li
November 28th, 2009I am currently working on getting my new site finished, and with everything getting me stressed out, this is a fabulous list to get me back on track and focus on what needs to be done, so thank you!
Craig
November 28th, 2009Great post, just in the process of starting up a blog so very timely for me. Thanks!
Connor Crosby
November 28th, 2009Very nice post, this will be very helpful for my site launch of CreativeMedia2.com (Creative Media Squared).
wparena
November 28th, 2009These are very helpful hints…hope before lunching my next blog I’ll keep them in my mind
Ryan
November 28th, 2009Very helpful comments. I’d also make sure to invest in a personal development program. Running your own site takes serious mental effort too. If you don’t have a deep desire to do this backed by a belief in yourself you’ll be more likely to quit.
Em
November 28th, 2009One comment submitted. 99 to go ;)
Giselda Ap.dos Santos
November 28th, 2009Very useful for me! I am planning my blog but before reading your post I was almost sure that if I started with just one post, without any other up live in the holster, it would be ok. But now, I am sure I was wrong. Thanks for sharing these hints. It helped me a lot. My blog would start beeing a great disaster! It’s really helpful.
Mike Smith
November 28th, 2009wow. I am so glad everyone enjoyed the article. Thanks so much for the awesome comments.
Anton Ranestam
November 29th, 2009Really good post and very good tips on what to do before launch. As you mention it’s always best to get an account on all the social platforms. Which many people doesn’t seem to understand, so really good that you cleared that up.
Anthony Feint
November 29th, 2009Great tips. Definitely register your social media profiles. Its a horrible feeling to find someone registering your name on a network – i learnt from experience
Kartik
November 29th, 2009Nice post and really helpful.
Steven Williams
November 29th, 2009Really informative post, thanks. I’ve actually just finished launching my own website (which still actually needs tweaking still!) and blog, so this is quite useful.
Dan sales letter creator johnson
November 29th, 2009Great helpful hints in the reading of your articles. Going to keep some of these in mind on my next one. Think Positive and have patience are other keys
designfollow
November 29th, 2009great tips
thank you
Fred
November 30th, 2009Remember to set up all relevant Google and Twitter alerts! Very important went launching a site and product/service to monitor the different conversations or why not what your competitors are saying about it :)
Best
FredS. Preston
November 30th, 2009Such a great blog. Intuative, yet practical. tx.
Vivek
November 30th, 2009Awesome. I wish I had this great checklist at the point my blog was launched.
Latief@AnotherBlogger
November 30th, 2009this is a great tips on one place :)
a question bro, if I want to create a new blog, how many articles that I have to prepared before I launch the blog? I’m in the middle preparing my new blog and I found your great article, lucky me!
thanks for sharing this article with us.Andrea Delumeau
November 30th, 2009great advice, thank you! i found this article through twitter!
i see leaving comments now in a new light, i will now make more of an effort, before i did not consider it as being that important!
the give-away is also a novel idea to me, we are a library, maybe we can give away books?Muxxex
November 30th, 2009Love it.
Just recently relaunched an old blog and did much of what the post said.
Having a good bit of content before going live was a big help because some of those days that I would have been writing, I was able to fix some small tweaks and try to promote :)
Who Linked To This Post?
- designfloat.com
- 10 Things You Must Do Before A New Site Or Blog Launch | Design Newz
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- Daily Review #37 | The Queue Blog
- Links of the Week 25 - Inspect Element
- CSS Brigit | 10 Things You Must Do Before A New Site Or Blog Launch
- Sweet Tweets: Design Resources of the Week #26
- Mes favoris du 27-11-09 au 30-11-09
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The Four Temptations of an Innovator : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum
The Four Temptations of an Innovator
Nov 24, 2009 -
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “How can we unleash innovation all across our company?” Through the course of working with dozens of different organizations and teams, I’ve noticed four common traps that get in the way of building a culture of constant innovation.
- Swinging for fences. In sports we worship the game-clinching grand slam home run, the three-point field goal at the buzzer, the blinding slapshot in overtime, the “Hail Mary” pass, and the hole-in-one. Likewise in business, we worship the killer app: it’s impressive, it’s newsworthy, and it puts us ahead of the competition for a time.
But moments like these are rare. There are no baseball teams with a roster solely made up of home run hitters, and the most accomplished home run hitters generally have a low batting average and a high strikeout rate. In business that translates to huge risk and is usually accompanied by high cost.Therefore, it might just make more sense to have the whole team focus on making it to first base every time at bat.
Getting too clever. This is the “bells and whistles” trap which can easily get out of control in an effort to outdo competitors. It carries with it the danger of complexity and customer alienation. How smart is your phone, really? Great pictures, music, video, but wouldn’t you love to be able to make a call without the call ever dropping?
Mention “innovation” and people immediately think technology. The pace of technological progress sweeps us off our feet, and we get all caught up in the gizmo while losing sight of the why behind the what. The simple truth is that business innovation is about value, not gadgetry. People don’t want products and services, they want an elegant solution to their problem. Put another way, they don’t want a fancy shovel. They want a hole in the ground.
- Excluding the everyman. A lot has been written about how innovation should go beyond incremental improvement, and how it entails seeking and taking big risks. How it’s all about big ideas and radical departures from convention. How it means completely scrapping the old system, and how you need deep pockets just to play the game.
Those biases are limiting at best, and only serve to inadvertently exclude the everyman from innovating. If you want company-wide innovation, you need to define innovation in a way that includes everyone, irrespective of function or role. The best definition of innovation is from JetBlue founder David Neeleman:“Innovation is trying to figure out a way to do something better than it’s ever been done before.”
This simple definition wrestles to the ground a complex concept and makes it accessible to everyone at every level.
- Incentivizing creativity. Combined research from the Employee Involvement Association and Japan Human Relations Association reveals that the average number of ideas submitted per employee annually is 100 times greater in Japanese companies than in U.S. companies. Why is this?
For one thing, Americans reward the wrong thing in the wrong way. The average reward in Japanese companies is 100 times less than the average U.S. reward of nearly $500. But we have it backwards because we reward only accepted ideas. This has killed the creative drive of corporate America.Kaizen, the Japanese word for continuous improvement, is all about idea submission, not acceptance. Kaizen fosters a strong ethos of lab-like curiosity in companies like Toyota, and it’s a proven, grassroots way to harvest human creativity. For example, Toyota implements on average one million ideas a year—that’s about three thousand ideas a day. Each one is an experiment in trying to figure out a way to do something better than it’s ever been done before.
Companies that have mastered company-wide innovation generally have embedded a discipline around making a number of small bets across a broad and deep portfolio of ideas, rather than one big bet-the-farm gamble on a would-be killer app. History has shown that constant business innovation isn’t as much about throwing the Hail Mary pass as it is about running a solid ground game.
Matthew E. May is Chief Strategist for send to a friend http://bit.ly/7Qov9z" title="twitter" rel="The+Four+Temptations+of+an+Innovator+%3a+The+World+%3a%3a+American+Express+OPEN+Forum">0
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Top Wordpress Plugins 2009 | Business 2.0 Press
Home » Web » 30+ Must Have Wordpress Plugins
30+ Must Have Wordpress Plugins
February 23 2009 10:36 pm EST by Chris
11-15-2009 5:19 pm
Web
Tags: blogs, wordpress, wordpress pluginsWelcome! We hope you find what you're looking for | Ensure to Bookmark & grab the RSS feed before you leave for the best in Business, Tech, Web 2.0 newsYou were searching for "stumbleupon wordpress plugin 2009". See posts relating to your search »
Here is the most comprehensive list of all the Wordpress plugins you need as of today to maximize the potential of your own blog. For months, I’ve been able to bookmark hundreds of plugins, and now I’ve done all the work for you by sorting the best plugins you only need to truely leverage Wordpress! In no particular order, here they are!
All in One SEO Pack
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
Optimizes your Wordpress blog for search engines by Automatically optimizing your titles and META tags.IntenseDebate
http://intensedebate.com/
Replaces default comment system with advanced commenting, threaded replies, karma points (not for individual comments), Gravatars, RSS, ability to reply to comments from email (great to reply from your Blackberry), all in one management from the website for users. It also comes with the optional Intense Debate Top Commentators sidebar widget to display your top commentators, great to encourage commenting (however, the Disqus one below is a lot more comprehensive).Disqus Commenting System
http://disqus.com
Replaces your comment template with the more advanced Disqus comment system. Disqus is also the only system to support Facebook Connect out of the box. I’ve contacted IntenseDebate directly and they told me there is no current plan to support Facebook Connect. Disqus also features RSS, Gravatars, threaded comments, comment karma, and lets you easily see comments made by the same user on other sites. I prefer Disqus as it offers Facebook Connect support out-of-the-box that could help you tap into the Facebook community. Disqus also features top commentators, recent comments widgets. Also, with Disqus you can enable video comments with seesmic.Digg Digg
http://www.mkyong.com/blog/digg-digg-wordpress-plugin/
Adds Digg, Reddit, Yahoo Buzz buttons with counters for your readers to easily vote for your posts from your page. I was able to contact the author who also told me Stumble Upon support is on its way as well.Sociable
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/
Automatically add links to your favorite social bookmarking sites on your posts, pages and in your RSS feed. You can choose from 99 different social bookmarking sites including Digg, Reddit, SU, Mixx, Propeller. You can also add e-mail and print buttons. It also supports TwitThis, but the plugin can be made easier by using TinyURL (or another URL shortening service) and automatically logging the user into Twitter with the URL and Title already shown.Google Analytics
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/
Google Analytics provides highly advanced website tracking and management information free of charge. Use this plug-in to easily add the code so Google Analytics can immediately begin to track all of your pagesLifestream
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/lifestream/
Lifestream displays your social feeds and activity from many social sites. Includes support to display your Flickr photos, Facebook feed, Friendster feed, Youtube videos, Twitter updates, any other RSS feed, from your other blogs, etc.DB Backup
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/
Easily backup/restore your posts and entire Wordpress database. Download or send your back to your email.WP Greet Box
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-greet-box/
Displays different greeting message to your new visitors depending on their referrer URL. For example, when a Digg user clicks through from Digg, they will see a message reminding them to digg your post if they like it. The plug-in also includes out of the box support for getting messages from users coming from Reddit, SU, Facebook, Google (shows searched keywords as well), Mixx, etc. You can also easily add your own custom greeting from people coming from any site you choose.WP-SpamFree
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-spamfree/
An extremely powerful anti-spam plugin for WordPress that virtually eliminates comment spam, including trackback and pingback spam. I find the plug-in works surprisingly well by eliminating all automated spam. It does somewhat use a bit of bandwidth sometimes.WP Super Cache
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/
This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts. Some people have complained about compatibility problems with other plugins, so exercise some caution here and follow the instructions carefully. However, the plugin is very good and can save you a significan amount of bandwidth.Google XML Sitemaps
http://www.arnebrachhold.de/projects/wordpress-plugins/google-xml-sitemaps-generator/
Generates a XML-Sitemap compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog. This format is supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and MSN Search.Category Posts Widget
http://jameslao.com/2008/04/18/category-posts-widget-13/
Displays any amount of posts you want from a specific category in your sidebarSecure and Accessible PHP Contact Form
http://green-beast.com/blog/?page_id=136
Lets you create a very secure contact form with custom fields so your readers can easily contact you.Popularity Contest
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Shows your readers your most popular posts based on views, comments, pingbacks, among other criteria. You can also change the weight of each criteria to determine the most popular post.WP Since Last Visit
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Indicates with a small “New” picture beside your post to users who have not yet seen your post from their last visit. Also works with comments.Twitter Tools
http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress
Allows you to pull your tweets into your blog (as posts and digests) and create new tweets on blog posts and from within WordPress.Wordpress Download Monitor
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/download-monitor/
Download Monitor is a plugin for uploading and managing downloads, tracking download hits, and displaying links.Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
http://mitcho.com/code/yarpp/
Gives you a list of posts and/or pages related to the current entry, introducing the reader to other relevant content on your siteWP Page Numbers
http://www.jenst.se/2008/03/29/wp-page-numbers
Adds pagination to your Wordpress navigation, good for search engines.WP-PostRatings
http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/#wp-postratings
Allows your readers to vote on how they liked your article. You can also display your highest or lowest voted posts on your sidebar.WP-PostViews
http://lesterchan.net/portfolio/programming/php/#wp-postviews
Allows you to display the number of times your post has been viewed.AdSense Manager
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/adsense-manager/
Lets you add Google AdSense, Yahoo, AdBrite, among other ads, to your sidebar or anywhere else on your blog.Smart YouTube
http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/wordpress-plugins/smart-youtube
Allows you to easily insert Youtube videos in your post, comments and in your RSS feedVideo widget
http://www.nikohk.com/plugin-wordpress-video-widget/
Easily display videos from many different video sharing websites on your sidebar or blog, including from YouTube, DailyMotion, Google Video, Metacafe, Reever, MySpace, Blip.tv, Quicktime, Windows Media Player, among many othersFlickrRSS
http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/
Lets you easily display your Flickr photos on your blog, comes with a sidebar widget. Note: Lifestream plug-in also supports this so you may not need this plugin.Facebook Connect Community
http://www.sociable.es/facebook-connect
Allows your users to sign in with their Facebook account. It also supports comments to be sent to the users news feed, which can draw you some good viral traffic. However, it does not work with IntenseDebate. I just contacted IntenseDebate and they told me they do not plan to offer Facebook Connect support, which is unfortunate because that would make life a lot more easier, especially for people who want all the advanced features of IntenseDebate but also want the ability for comments to be sent to the Facebook newsfeed.DropCap First Character WordPress Plugin
http://www.rc.au.net/blog/2006/07/27/dropcap-first-character-wordpress-plugin/
What it does is it makes the first character of the post BIG in a magazine style.Front Page Excluded Categories
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/front-page-excluded-categories/
As the title suggests, it blocks categories you don’t want from displaying on your home pageSubscribe-Remind
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/subscribe-remind/
Invites your readers to subscribe to your RSS feed below each postExec-PHP
http://bluesome.net/post/2005/08/18/50
Executes PHP code in posts, pages, or your sidebar.Did I miss a plugin? Drop a comment and I might just add it.
And remember, to truely leverage your site, ensure you have your custom domain (not you.wordpress.com), a good and reliable blog web hosting company, a good clean theme (see here, here, and here), and of course, most of the plugins above.
Questions about this specific post? Contact Chris at chris@business2press.com Short URL: http://bit.ly/RpLlS Share Related posts:
Showing 50 comments
JoeAnne11 3 months ago in reply to Anh dep
lortech
thanksLike Reply Reply
Chris
joe I work for Frontier Marketing in Duluth, Georgia. We have an offline newsletter called the Internet Marketing Dirt that circulates to 3,500+ subscribers.
Is it OK to add this great article in our March 2009 addition? You can have a resource box with your URL or whatever you want.
Please let me know ASAP! =) You can reach me at jasonatfrontier [at] gmail.com
Thanks,
Jason
Frontier Marketing Intl LLCLike Reply Reply
aybecker i guess what i'm saying is focus more on writing quality content and getting decent back links over getting every plugin ever created.
Like Reply Reply
Anderson - Robin
Like Reply Reply
thx for sharing.Like Reply Reply
princevasquez
Let me know if you do.. thanks.Like Reply Reply<?php wp_list_categories('title_li=') ?>
but you'lll have to add your own styling.
Like Reply Reply
princevasquez Thanks
Like Reply Reply
I am using it for two months and I love using it...
Great post..Like Reply Reply
alwayswordpress You can find the post here: http://alwayswordpress.com/blogging/7-best-word......
Thanks!
Like Reply ReplyThanks for providing such a helpful list. I will install some of the plugins that I don't have. AddThis Button is another great plugin.
Like Reply ReplyCheers,
sain-web.comLike Reply ReplyI've created a mobile plugin for wordpress written in WAPL that means every single device in the world works perfectly when viewing your blog. You get to retain your brand identity from web to mobile as well as being able to customize every single element on the site.
It's called the Wapple Architect Mobile Plugin for Wordpress and there are a ton of features in the latest version. If you fancy checking it out, here's the homepage: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wapple-arch...
It'd be great to hear what people thought and if you need any help get in touch at http://mobilewebjunkie.com
Like Reply Reply
Excellant Entry I found the facebook plugin quite interesting to include on my wordpress!!!I've just done a post with top 10 plugins for this year if anyone interested? If so follow this link:
http://www.kinocreative.co.uk/resources/20-usef...
From Tony Simpson :D
Like Reply Reply
ashokeban
alllenooctave
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HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
If you’ve used TwitterTwitter
for more than a couple of hours, you’ve probably already seen a tweet or two containing a word with the hash symbol (”#”) attached to it. That’s what Twitter users call a “hashtag,” and at any given time at least one of them can usually be found among the trending topics on Twitter. But what exactly is a hashtag?
Hashtags are essentially a simple way to catalog and connect tweets about a specific topic. They make it easier for users to find additional tweets on a particular subject, while filtering out the incidental tweets that may just coincidentally contain the same keyword. Hashtags are also often used by conference and event organizers as a method of keeping all tweets about the event in a single stream, and they’ve even been used to coordinate updates during emergencies. In fact, hashtags were first popularized during the 2007 San Diego wildfire, when the tag #sandiegofires was used to identify tweets about the natural disaster.
You can create a hashtag simply by appending the hash symbol to a word, like this: #hashtag.
How to Utilize Existing Hashtags
Because hashtags tend to spread so quickly and because Twitter users often search hashtags for content from people they aren’t following, using hashtags can be a great way to extend your reach on Twitter and connect with your current audience in a more meaningful way. There are a wide variety of already established hashtags — and new ones being created daily — that you can join. You need to be careful, however, that your use of hashtags is consistent with both your brand and the tag itself.
Unfortunately, as hashtags have become more popular, they’ve also become a vehicle for spam. You should never use a hashtag on a tweet unrelated to that tag, and you should never stuff your tweets with currently popular hashtags with the sole purpose of appearing in Twitter search results. Proper etiquette dictates that you should only use hashtags if your tweet is actually relevant to the tag’s associated meme or topic.
So which tags should you participate in? That depends wholly on your business and your purpose for using Twitter. For example, it’s probably a bad idea to participate in the #robotpickuplines hashtag if you own a health club and use your Twitter account to offer customer service to members. But if you own a record shop, you’ll more than likely want to join in the #musicmonday hashtag, in which people tweet about what music they’re listening to and suggest other musically-inclined users to follow every Monday. Or if you own a restaurant, why not tweet out your specials or some recipes on #tastytuesday.
Use sites like Twubs, a hashtag directory, and What the Trend?, a wiki that attempts to explain what certain hashtags (and other Twitter trends) mean, to locate and identify hashtags that make sense for your business. Also, pay attention to tags being used by your followers and search for them on Twitter to see what sort of tweets are associated with those tags. If it makes sense for your business to jump on board, compose tweets that are on topic and compatible with that hashtag.
How to Start Your Own Hashtags
While you certainly shouldn’t use hashtags to describe all of your tweets, they can be very helpful for small businesses as a way to track social media campaigns or create memes that help establish a sense of community and build your company’s mindshare among your core customers. The first step in creating a hashtag is deciding on the tag word itself. You should pick something memorable, easy to spell, and perhaps more importantly, as short as possible. Remember that Twitter gives everyone just 140 characters per tweet, so no one wants half of it to be taken up by an unwieldy hashtag.
Once you’ve figured out the tag itself, the next step is simple: start using it and promoting it. Make sure your tweets using the hashtag are worthwhile and add something of value to the conversation. Promote your tag or the social media campaign that uses the tag via other social media channels, such as your blog or email newsletter. Tweet out calls to action explaining your new tag at regular intervals (but don’t overdo it!). For example, let’s say you own a bookstore, and you’re running a Twitter contest to give out a gift card to your store. Your explanatory tweet might be something like, “What’s your favorite summer reading material? Tweet using #beachreads to win a $100 gift certificate to Al’s World of Books!”
How to Keep Track of Hashtags
Of course, now that you have people using your new hashtag, you need to be able to keep on top of it so you can respond to participants. One of the easiest ways to track hashtags is by using Twitter Searchtweetzi Twitter Search
. You can watch people using your hashtag (or any other tag you want to track) in real-time, and subscribe to an RSS feed of the results. Monitter and TweetGrid are two other good web-based dashboards for performing real-time Twitter searches of hashtags.
You can also use the built-in search functionality of popular desktop clients like SeesmicSeesmic
, or set up alerts on business-oriented Twitter dashboards such as HootSuiteHootSuite
or CoTweet.
More Twitter resources from Mashable:
- Tweet Ideas: 13 Things to Do on Twitter Besides Tweet
- 40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them
- 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates
- 6 Gorgeous Twitter Visualizations
- HOW TO: Do Good on TwitterImage courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto
, urbancow
via mashable.com
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The Art of the Paragraph | Copyblogger
Anyone can write a paragraph, but not everyone knows how to write one that other people want to read.
You’ve seen it:
You open a book, and the whole page is one long block of text.
Each sentence in the paragraph makes exactly the same point, said in a slightly different way, and you wonder why they didn’t just say it once and be done with it.
Every paragraph is the same length (five lines, maybe?), whether it makes sense or not, and it gives the piece a monotonous rhythm.
The paragraph makes a point without telling you why that point is important, and you can’t help thinking, “So what?”
Like a little island, the paragraph doesn’t connect to any ideas that came before it or after it, and it seems vaguely out of place.
We all hate paragraphs that make these mistakes. Those of us who are in the National Society of Writing Snobs (raise your hand, if you’re a member) even get a weird sort of thrill from pointing them out.
Yet, somehow, they keep showing up.
Not just in the work of third graders, but in the writing of people who call themselves professionals, including yours truly.
It’s like Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss in the movie What about Bob? — every time you think they’re gone, you open the door, and there they are again, grinning and happy to see you.
The question is: what are you going to do about it?
It’s okay to write a bad paragraph, but publishing one will only endanger your bond with your readers. Before showing your writing to anyone, you should always go back through and check your paragraphs to make sure they are in tip-top shape.
Here are some questions to guide you:
1. Does it pass the Guy Kawasaki test?
You know how we all have blogging mentors who we look up to?
Well, Guy Kawasaki is one of mine. Three years ago, he wrote a post passing on some of his blogging wisdom, and one of his pieces of advice stuck with me:
. . . Imagine that there’s a little man sitting on your shoulder reading what you’re writing. Every time you write an entry, he says, “So what? Who gives a shiitake?” If you can’t answer the little man, then you don’t have a good blog/product.It’s true. Every time you write a paragraph, stop for a moment and see if it passes the “Who gives a shiitake?” test. If you don’t have a good answer, then delete your paragraph and start over.
2. Is it a two-headed baby?
Babies are adorable. Two-headed babies, on the other hand, are something you would see on the cover of National Enquirer. It’s just . . . wrong.
Paragraphs work the same way.
A good paragraph has one head. In other words, it has one point, one idea, and all of its sentences work together to support that one idea. Do it right, and it’s adorable in its simplicity.
If you try to stuff more than one idea into a paragraph, however, you’ll transform it into a monster. Grown men will shy away from it. Small children will burst into tears. English teachers will clutch their chests and fall over dead.
Okay, maybe not. But you will confuse readers, and that’s serious business. Don’t do it.
3. Is there an echo in here?
Some writers have what I call an “Echo Problem.”
They start with an idea, and then every sentence in the paragraph echoes the same idea, although in a slightly different way. For example:
I hate green beans. Every time I think of them, I feel nauseous. Green beans are the absolute worst. If you put any green beans on my plate, I won’t eat them.This paragraph only has one idea: I hate green beans. Every sentence in the paragraph just echos the same idea. They’re unnecessary.
When you write a paragraph like this, it feels like you’re expounding on your original point. But you’re not. All you’re really doing is adding fluff and boring the reader.
A good rule of thumb is to read every sentence in your paragraph and ask yourself, “Could I remove any of these sentences and retain the same meaning?” If you can, then by all means, get rid of them. It’ll make your writing tighter.
4. Are you writing in a monotone?
Ever listened to a speech, and the speaker used exactly the same vocal inflection from beginning to end?
It’s annoying, and it’s not just because humans are predisposed toward rhythmic language. When we’re listening, we also depend on the speaker to use vocal inflections to tell us what’s important. For instance, if they’re speaking quickly and then suddenly start drawing out their words, we know to pay attention. The change in inflection means something important is happening.
Makes sense, right? But did you know it’s also possible for your writing to be a monotone?
Paragraphs are the vocal inflections of the written word. Good writers vary the length of their paragraphs to show the reader what’s important. Some paragraphs will be 3-5 sentences, but every once in a while, they’ll throw in a one-sentence paragraph in order to emphasize a particular point. It stands out, and it tells the reader to pay attention.
Try it for yourself.
5. Are there on-ramps and off-ramps?
So far, we’ve talked about the paragraph (singular), but it’s time we dedicate some time to paragraphs (plural).
Lots of beginning writers treat paragraphs like little islands unto themselves, floating in the great ocean of ideas without any connection to anyone or anything. It’s jarring. Sometimes you can see how the paragraphs relate to one another, but sometimes you’re also left scratching your head.
It’s far better to look at paragraphs as if they are towns along a highway. Yes, they are separate, but they also have on-ramps and off-ramps that make it easy for people to get back on the highway and get to where they’re going. Similarly, good paragraphs use connector words and grammar to help the reader move on to the next idea.
We could do a whole post on this topic (and probably will, in the future), but the best rule of thumb is to look at each of your paragraphs and see if it’s possible to understand them without reading any of the others. If it is, think about adding some connecting on-ramps and off-ramps. It’ll make your writing more readable.
Are these rules that you must follow?
No, they’re just guidelines.
The point is to consciously think about your paragraphs and the way they affect your readers. Next to sexy topics like headlines, link building, and SEO, it’s easy to forget about them.
But don’t. Like most things, it’s the little nuances of your writing that add up to create a profound impact on the reader. Your paragraphs are one of those nuances, and if you’re serious about your writing, it’s important to learn how to use them.
About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Cofounder of Partnering Profits. Get more from Jon on twitter.
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YouTube Direct - YouTube APIs and Tools - Google Code
The YouTube APIs enable you to customize and display YouTube videos on your site. Now with YouTube Direct, you can add more interactivity to your site by soliciting video submission from your site visitors. This simple tool allows you to tap directly into the vast YouTube community to engage with your site, and it allows you to filter that activity in a private moderation console. There are 2 components of YouTube Direct:
- Embeddable Uploader: Embed this widget on any relevant page on your site, customize the look, and start accepting user-generated videos from your site visitors.
- Moderation Console: Create video assignments, customize the embeddable uploader, and review and moderate submitted videos for display.
The Moderation Console is designed to run on Google App Engine - Google's highly scalable hosting infrastructure. You need to sign up for App Engine account to deploy the console. Not only is it easy to deploy and run applications on Google App Engine, it is also free to get started.
Here's a video that walks you through the features of YouTube Direct:
YouTube Direct is available as an open source project with the Apache 2.0 licence. To get started, download the latest release of the project and read the Getting Started Guide. If you would like to contribute to this open source project, please send an email to one of the project owners. To report bugs, please file it in the issue tracker.
To find out more about YouTube Direct and who are using it, please visit http://www.youtube.com/direct.
via code.google.com
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YouTube Direct
via youtube.com
Gather videos from your readers. If you approve them, YouTube will publish them and link back to you.
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