Rockstar Guide Books

Aug

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More is Not Better, WordPress Plugins and Your Website

By MJ Schrader | Filed in Plugin

Many people ask me about WordPress plugins. What scares me is how often “Do you know all the plugins?” Currently there are over 10,000 available on WordPress.org. There are others sold by individuals and business. Some plugins are only available to members of certain websites, and many more options.

The other thing people think is more plugins means better. Yes, I do have about 8 to 12 on each of my websites. But if you have played Tetris, you know that there are multiple shapes of blocks. The same is true with plugins, they are not all the same shape. They do not always fit neatly together. The more plugins you have it’s like the more blocks on Tetris you have, you start having holes, and suddenly the end of the game starts coming because pieces are not fitting right.

The same is true with plugins. They don’t always fit together quite right and with more plugins the more likely you are to have problems. The reason I went with Disqus is because it did the job of 3 or 4 plugins. That’s why Platinum SEO is better than All in One, it does the job of two plugins.

Research every plugin. The other problem is knowing if a plugin is a good one. Some plugins are not worth it. Some plugins will cause your site problems. Some plugins do not perform as stated, some plugins may not do what you really need. Know what your plugins are and if they will do what you need.

Just because a plugin gets a great rating and does what you want it may not work with your theme or plugins that you simply “must have.” Decide what is more valuable and go with that. If a plugin does not work or you no longer need a plugin, deactivate it, then delete it. Keep your WordPress website like your desk. Keep what you need, throw away the rest and don’t over load it.

Hope you are having a grand and glorious day!!

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love,

MJ Schrader

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MJ Schrader posted on August 25, 2010
Valerie, Thank you for asking. I am using Techozoic by Jeremy Clark. You can read my blog ...
Valerie Hale posted on August 24, 2010
Thanks for the information. New to blogging and getting ready to upgrade to a wordpress client instead of just ...

Tags: blogboost, plugin

Aug

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MYTH BUSTED: The Web is Dead

By MJ Schrader | Filed in Information

Today’s post was going to focus on blogging and in the world apart from social media and web-centric life. While this was the goal, a tweet showed up on my stream:

Apparently Wired announced the The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. Well, it does not take reading that article at all to announce the web is far from dead. But let’s continue with this argument for the sake of beginners and people who worry about the future.

Wired argues that apps (meaning applications) are taking over the world. And while the internet is available on more things; think of your phone, your game console, even the DVR that streams Netflix; people are not actually on the web.

Well, first off the number of people on the web has grown substantially over the last 15 years. Then few people had dial up internet, waiting forever for the whir and pop that your connection actually reached an open line and connected. Then came broadband and cable. All 3 I got when these were fairly new and geeky phenomena.

Photo by Todd Huffman WiFi in Afghanistan

Yet now these are common and growing, as more and more people join the online community. This means that the graphics of people doing this or that on WIRED is total bunk! People AROUND THE WORLD expect to have these connections and even better to have WiFi so we can connect where ever we are with whatever piece of technology we have with us at the time.

In this aspect, I am behind. The last job and then lack there of have kept my personal technology behind. My cell phone recently died, and I finally got a Blackberry. Since I send daily pictures to Facebook and Posterous, I quickly got the Facebook app. “It makes Facebook easier” and takes your Blackberry from quick, back to dial up days of Internet and computing speed.

Let me assure you, I got that off my Blackberry quicker than… well, my boyfriend’s favorite quote. Do I really think that apps are going to take over? NO. Some people will always value quality over convenience.

Another thing is that this goes back to the fallacy pointed out in the DoFollow myth with people making certain everything they do is Google friendly. Did I find that article by visiting Wired or Nieman Journalism Lab?

No, I had never even heard of Nieman Journalism Lab. I found the article because Bill tweeted it. Since I trust Bill’s judgment and the title seemed interesting I read it. How did I find the other articles? I clicked the links included the first article.

With many articles I would read some comments to see various arguments. Someone with good points I would click their name to see their blog. Then read their articles, and comments and continue this post on for days as I again and again point out that social networking is going to keep the web growing for years to come.

And yet as I do want to continue to have posts for the rest of the week I shall end my argument here.

Speaking of social networking, join my fan page Facebook.com/LoveRockstar and Twitter Twitter.com/Loverockstar and while we are being social, visit Bill Hibbler.Com

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

Bill Hibbler is a wonderful expert, who helped me create the quote I use as part of my branding. “Making your inner rockstar shine in business and life.” This brief sentence encapsulates who I am and what I do for you in 30 seconds. You want to be a rockstar at least in spirit and that is my job.

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Bill Hibbler posted on August 23, 2010
Totally agree, MJ. I've got 14 browser tabs open in Firefox right now plus two in Chrome. The web isn't ...

Tags: blogboost, myth busting, search engine

Aug

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Get More Traffic with Networked Blogs

By MJ Schrader | Filed in Information

Yesterday on Freebie Friday I mentioned Networked Blogs. As blogging is the major focus of this website I am happy to return to this subject. Networked Blogs is the application to tie your blog and Facebook together for an easy way for you and your followers to share favorite posts.

The advantage is this gives you more exposure which can increase your blog followers

Today is going to cover some steps to implement.

Add the NetworkedBlogs app to your Facebook.

From the new page, click the Add a new blog.

You will need to verify your blog. There are 2 ways to verify your blog. One get friends to say you are the blog author, which has the advantage of getting friends to subscribe and get you started towards the 20 followers. When you have 20 followers you will be listed as blog on networked blogs.

The alternative is that you copy the html code they give you and paste it somewhere on your blog. You can paste in a text widget on your blog.

If you have a fan page, visit your fan page and click the + sign. This will allow you to add a new tab, from the drop down select Networked blogs.

You can also repeat the above step on your profile.

Now your blogs will automatically post to your wall.

If you want to add a specific post to your wall click the Networked Blogs button under the status box. Then select the post you want.

To add the widget, just click widget on your blog profile page. Select the widget you want, you have two choices. Then select all of the code in the box. Then go back your blog and choose widgets under appearance. Then pull a text box over to your sidebar and paste the code into the text box. Your widget should appear.

This will help you get more website traffic which will help grow your business.

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

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Tags: blogboost, installation, social media

Aug

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Personal Settings for Facebook Privacy

By MJ Schrader | Filed in Information

Yesterday was about getting Facebook fan pages, but you need to know how to have your regular Facebook set. This is something that worries some excessively, and others do not even bother setting. Yet with Facebook being one of the more personal forms of social networking it is good to know some basic settings.

Settings:

Go to the far right, if your monitor is not wide screen you may have to use the slider button at the bottom of the page to see Account. Under account you will see Privacy Settings. Select and click.

From here you can set up who sees what on your page. While you can choose recommended, you probably want to customize it. At the bottom of the table choose customize settings. Personally, for the settings of everyone, I make them friends of friends. Their friends of friends suggestions I limit to friends. And the Friends only setting I reduce to certain lists.

Lists will be covered tomorrow.

ON ALL OF THESE, you can choose custom which allows you to select lists or people who can see things or those people or lists who are restricted.

Beneath the table (look at the image above) select Applications and Websites, Edit Your Settings. here you can change your settings on applications and websites on Facebook. First scroll down to Instant personalization, then edit settings. This shows your information on partner sites, while they say no information is shared, for many this is not a preferred situation.

Uncheck the box at the bottom of the new page. The click back to applications. Now the rest of the settings are personal preference. If you want you can turn off public search which will show you on search engines, but people will still be able to find you on Facebook searches. You will want to check each of these, and see what settings they have and then set them according to your needs.

Back to Privacy.

Now scroll back to the top to Basic Directory Information and view settings. Here is where you can change if people can find you on Facebook and change other settings to fit your personal needs. Most of these I have set for Friends of Friends. Everyone can find me because I do have a business.

Then you can click Preview my Profile, this is where you will see things set up under custom. So you can select a name you restricted or a name you granted more access.

Hope this helps!

Live ♥ Laugh ♥ Love

MJ Schrader

Tomorrow: Lists

Thursday: Photo Albums

Bonus: Personal Setting VIDEO!!

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Tags: blogboost, social media

Aug

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Crazy Way to Conquer Video Blogging Fears

By MJ Schrader | Filed in Information

This week has been covering video blogging. Many laptops have a built in web camera or you may have another camera, so not having a camera is not always the problem. Some of you may be considering doing the slide show just to avoid being on a video. Perhaps you have fears of being in front of a camera, maybe you are afraid of looking silly.

One way to practice is having a friend sit behind the camera and talk to them instead of the camera. Oddly being silly in front of the camera may help you gain confidence. Also just practicing in front of the camera can help you feel more comfortable in doing a video.

Below is one of my first recordings, done quite a while back. This was a practice take to help me gain confidence and as you can see I was being silly. Hope you enjoy.