Posts Tagged ‘WordPress’
Social Media – Think before you leap
OK, we are all hooked on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg and you name it. Before you (the business owner) take a leap into the world of Social Media – Stop and Think!
Social media comes and goes. Yesterday it was MySpace. Do you hear anything about MySpace anymore? Nope! Twitter is fading fast as well. Only a few dedicated ADD types even bother. Maybe you use Facebook to stay in touch with your family but is it good for your business?
Recently I did an informal poll among young people 18 to 30 something. What did they say about businesses that use Facebook? I was a bit shocked. When they see a Facebook site come up under a business search they skip it. Why? They overwhelmingly said if a business uses Facebook it only shows they don’t have anything important to say. Not my words, theirs!
Next, think about your time commitment. Do you have time to fool with all these social media sites? Even if you do, would what you have to say really matter? If it does you should consider adding a Blog to your website.
Fully hosted WordPress websites contain a blog and website option. These blog posts can keep your website looking professional. If you need to update your social media site you can usually do so with some kind of WordPress to Twitter, Facebook etc plugin. WordPress also offers more than any social media site could. You can send professional newsletters to a subscription list, send an SMS text message to subscribed clients and automatically delete your time sensitive blog posts that might contain an expiring coupon.
All in all leave the social media to the kids and customers.
I’m sure WordPress will be a study of mine for years to come.
We’ve recently learned that Wordrpress MU (multi user) operates much faster than the standard WordPress easy install. If you load these two websites you may see what I mean:
Open two windows or tabs with your browser. Then open both these websites which use essentially the same tempate and tell me which one loads faster for you. After they are both open hit refresh and time them.
One is WordPress MU and the other is simply WordPress.
MU also has the capability of serving up websites underneath it. For example, you can offer websites and blogs to everyone under your domain.
It could by keystonealliance.com/Board, keystonealliance.com/Bob, keystonealliance.com/Some_Other_Person_or_Business
This is very powerful when dealing with large organizations. You can also use this for an Extranet very quickly.
Here is my Extranet using WordPress http://paontheweb.com/partners/
Notice it takes you directly to the log in screen. If you don’t have a Username and Password you are not getting in. Nor will this configuration allow someone to attempt to register.
There are some drawbacks with WordPress. Anytime you plug something in to enhance the system you may break another part of the system. This is because there are thousands of developers creating plugins. Also, when you see there is a plugin update the system can break with the update. Most businesses do not need the number of plugins we use making it unlikely your system will encounter an error.
One of the nice things we offer is a full system backup that runs daily and weekly. You do not need to rely on the WordPress backup which can fail to function as you would like.
All in all this is still the best web development software out there. It hooks into Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites via plugins or RSS feeds. It really can’t be beat!
WordPress Plugins We Recommend
Recommended WordPress Plugins
We are sure there are many plugins we have not investigated. If you find a plugin you find exceptionally useful feel free to let us know in the comments area.
You can search for and install the plugins below from the Plugins / Add New area of your WordPress admin area. Most of them need to be configured.
- All in One SEO Pack
- Google XML Sitemaps
Akismet – API Key required - WP-SpamFree – Great tools if you don’t want to keep a record of the spammers like Akismet does. It is fire and forget after a quick setup.
- Resize At Upload Plus – Great for resizing images so they don’t slow down your site or blow out your template.
- WordPress.com Stats – API Key required – Not the best stats program but great for a quick view.
- Custom Admin Branding – Want to see your own logo when you login? Takes a bit of work to set up properly.
- WP-DBManager – Can be a bit buggy but if you want your database emailed to you and you want it optimized regularly it is a great tool.
- My Page Order – Simply slide your pages and sub pages where you want them and save the order.
- Auto Tags – Requires some setup but I think 7 tags each is good. There is no recommended setting.
- Admin Management Xtended – If you want to save a post for later or change the date it is a great little tool.
- Page Links To – Allows you to link navigation to off site pages.
- Subscribe2 easy subscription widget – Must enable the Widget but has lots of great settings. Of course, you need a high end server or VPS if you have over 250 subscribers.
- No Comments On Pages – Easily enable or disable comments accross the board.
- MapPress – Needs API key for each site. Allows you to add one or more locations to a Google Map on your website.
- Custom Meta – Removes widget link to WordPress.org etc.
- SwfObj – Makes inserting Flash easier.TinyMCE – A good customizable tool bar. Requires some setup. Watch your screen resolution doesn’t interfere with how it displays.
- Email Users – Add Role Manager if you have several admins, authors, etc and want people to be able to send each other emails.
- WP -> Twitter – Have your posts automatically go to your Twitter page.
This is not a plugin but is a hand piece of code to make your WordPress site run faster:
Cache Code Put in wp-config.php found in the root. Paste below the firs set of PHP code:
// Enable the WordPress Object Cache:
define(ENABLE_CACHE, true);
