How to Install a WordPress Plugin (Total Newbie Edition)

Leave a Comment · Posted on May 21, 2013
How to install a wordpress plugin BF

One of the biggest draws to starting a self-hosted WordPress blog is the plugins. Plugins are totally the new shiny object part of WordPress and can be a whole lot of fun to play around with. But when you're switching from a free service like WordPress.com or Blogger to a self-hosted site, how do you enable all those cool plugins? Step by Step Guide to Install a WordPress Plugin There are a 2 ways to install a WordPress plugin on your blog that I recommend for newbies. First, it's … [Read more...]

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Social Media Icons: 7 Sets in Official Colors

3 Comments · Posted on April 30, 2013
Social Media Icons BF

A few weeks ago I went on a crazy social media icon design bender. It was nuts, I went cross-eyed. It was not good, except for the 7 sets of social media icons - that my friends, was all good. Lately, the biggest request I get from my fabulous clients is for social media icons that are official colors of the networks. But they don't want the 3D square button looking things either. You know, subtle but not so subtle. When you look online for social media icons you either get ones that … [Read more...]

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What’s Your Biggest Self-Hosting Anxiety?

15 Comments · Posted on April 23, 2013
self hosting anxiety

Does the thought of self-hosting your blog make your palms all sweaty? Moving your blog off a free platform (Blogger, Wordpress.com, Tumblr) to your own hosting account (aka self-hosted!) is a big step but it's one most people make when they want to start taking their blogging more seriously. What's the difference? Why should you consider self-hosting? Think of it like this: a free site is sort of like living in your parent's basement. Sure, you may own your TV  but you still have to … [Read more...]

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Recipe Plugins for WordPress That Make You Look Like a Pro

1 Comment · Posted on April 17, 2013
Recipe Plugins for WordPress

Being gifted in the kitchen is definitely something I leave to the pros, a culinary goddess I shall never be. However, in the world of blogging, I do spend a lot of time around people who blog about food. Showcasing recipes takes a special flair and you amazing kitchen ninjas need a beautiful way to display your creations so that the recipe not only looks good enough to eat but displays well on you blog too. I can't help with the picture taking/recipe creating part (I am available for … [Read more...]

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Spring Cleaning Social Media Checklist

4 Comments · Posted on April 9, 2013
Social Media Checklist

I nearly chocked writing spring in the title of this post considering I spent a good portion of this morning shoveling a foot of snow - in April, but I digress... Last year around this time, we discussed the finer points of  WordPress blog maintenance and I thought why not shine some light in the dark, murky corners of Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest with a handy social media checklist to get everything spruced up for spring, if it ever comes. Twitter 1. Update your bio & … [Read more...]

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Are you in control of your blog’s email subscriptions?

1 Comment · Posted on April 3, 2013
Email Subscription set up

Subscribers are your very precious, very hard earned blogging reward. Those wonderful people who make up your community, are your main commenters and really make this whole blogging thing worth it. There are 2 main types of subscribers for your blog: your RSS subscribers and your email subscribers. The RSS folks use an RSS reader to puruse your blog. Something like Feedly (which is totally awesome btw) or Google Reader. Email subscribers are sent new posts via email (I know, imagine that!) … [Read more...]

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Are You Making These 3 Critical Blogging Mistakes?

Leave a Comment · Posted on January 14, 2013

When was the last time you took a moment to think about where you want to go with your blog? What's the end game? The goal? The point of it all? When designing blogs for people, I am honored to get a small window in their hopes and dreams because how I design their WordPress blog has a lot to do with what they want to achieve with the site. The most common stumbling blocks to achieving those dreams aren't design related (I didn't just say that, did I!??) or readership or money, it's not … [Read more...]

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Eye-Catching Social Media WordPress Plugins

5 Comments · Posted on December 13, 2012
Social Media WordPress Plugins

Social media sharing buttons are one of the most important elements to have on any website. They reduce the friction between your reader and their ability to share your content and connect with you on social media sites. A hard core fan will still find ways to share your content on social media, with browser extensions or a good old fashioned cut and paste, but do you really want to make them work to share your stuff? Visual clutter is everywhere on the web and sometimes finding those … [Read more...]

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WordPress 3.5 is here, what’s new?

Leave a Comment · Posted on December 11, 2012
Create Gallery WordPress 3.5

It's always a fun day round these parts when there's a new WordPress version to explore! You can download the new version from WordPress.org or you can install it through your blog's dashboard. What's new with WordPress 3.5? Media Manager The biggest change in 3.5 is the media manager. You can now review your media files in a grid with large thumbnails, rather than a long vertical list. The attachment details section is now on the right side when an image is checked. This change really … [Read more...]

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Are you ready to find out what’s missing?

6 Comments · Posted on December 10, 2012
Blog-Improvement-Challenge-Badge1

A number of years ago, I stumbled on an old high school friend who was blogging about her weight loss struggles online. I ended up losing about 3 hours of my day pouring over all of her successes and struggles and seeing so much of myself in her battles. Having known her fairly well back in the day, but having lost touch for over a decade, it amazed me how parallel our lives were, even with all the differences. We connected again after years, all over a blog. The power of the medium … [Read more...]

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