Blogging Newbie

Manually Installing WordPress on Windows host at Arvixe vs Brinkster

2011-08-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

I thought this was going to be hard, since one of my hosting sites, Arvixe.com, is not that user friendly. Nothing in the Arvixe knowledgebase in this topic.

Brinkster.com is my other hosting site, and it is much easier to use.
The chat session people are friendly and very American, and understand what I want, and are very helpful. Brinkster.com has in their knowledgebase how to install a WordPress site.

I surfed the web and found this great blog on:
How to manually install WordPress on a Windows host at Arvixe.
tech.jaressloo.com/June 2010

In a nutshell here are the steps:

Download the latest version of WordPress from WordPress.org to your local computer.
Open the index.php file, and change line 17 (or there abouts) :
- It says that it’s Line 17 in your index.php file. If you look at line 17 in your
  index.php file in the root directory of your blog (not in the
  wp-admin) folder, you should see a call to wp-blog-header.php.
- So, the natural thing to do is to change
  the index.php file on line 17 instead of saying “./wp-blog-header.php”
  to change that to “wp-blog-header.php” (without the ./ in the
  begging). If you make that change, you’ll see that it works now! BUT
  only for the two themes provided in WordPress (as of 2010).

When I tried it, it seemed to work for all the themes that I chose (August 2011)

Read through the Word Press 5 minute install document.
Login to Arvixe.
Under the Database tab, select a MySQL database. WordPress works with MySQL (not SQL Server)
Add a new MySQL database - give it a name (e.g. wpSQLdbBlogA)

Add a username and password for this new MySQL database '

wpSQLdbBlogA'

(e.g. 'wpSQLdbUsername' and 'wpSQLdbPassword$')
On your local machine, make a copy of this file: wp-config-sample.php
Rename the copy: wp-config.php
Open this file ,and scroll to this section at approx line 17:
// ** MySQL settings - You can get this info from your web host ** //

/** The name of the database for WordPress */
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name_here');

/** MySQL database username */
define('DB_USER', 'username_here');

/** MySQL database password */
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'password_here');

/** MySQL hostname */
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
Change 'database_name_here' to 'wpSQLdbBlogA' or whatever you named your MySQL database.
Change 'username_here' to your Arvixe MySQL database username (e.g 'wpSQLdbUsername'
Change 'password_here' to your Arvixe MySQL database password (e.g. 'wpSQLdbPassword$')
For the last define, 'localhost' - leave this alone. Arvixe uses 'localhost'
Save this file 'wp-config.php'
Create a new website on Arvixe and use FileZilla to upload this WordPress installation to your Arvixe website.
Note: if you want to use this as a blog, as part of a larger ASP.Net website, add a blog directory to that website, and upload it to the blog directory.

Apple Passes Microsoft as No. 1 in Tech

2010-05-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

The big buzz today is about Apple overtaking Microsoft as the lead Hi Tech company in the US.
Apple Passes Microsoft as No. 1 in Tech

Last year Apple was predicted to double its sales of iPhones and iPods. This year they have over 89% of the smart phone market. I went into my local Sprint store to look at the competition. I looked at the Google Android, as the nicest smart phone they had. The Sprint sales rep said that it is selling well. They plan to get iPhones in when the AT&T exclusive contract allows.

I asked to see a Windows phone. The Windows 7 phone is not quite out yet. I played with it awhile. It reminded me of the older Windows phone which I tried and returned because it would blue screen and needed to be rebooted now and then. Alas, even as a Microsoft .Net software developer, when it come to phones, I want a phone that doesn't have to be rebooted when I want to answer a call.

I asked the Sprint sales rep how the Windows phone was selling. He said they only sold 2 out of this store. He said it is only good for business users. People are buying the Google Android and Blackberry.

Time to market is tough. The Windows 7 phone is coming very soon, and will be competing with the Google Android in the market of conservatives who wouldn't want to be caught dead with an iPhone or iPod in their pocket.

As a Microsoft .Net software developer, I'm looking at the big picture here. Microsoft's new .Net architecture includes Silverlight. Silverlight doesn't run on iPhones. iPhones have 89% of the market. The public world wide is increasingly moving to smart phones as their internet connection and away from desktops and even laptops. As a Hi-Tech geek who wants to keep up with the latest trends, this moves me away from Silverlight and towards Cloud Computing, and internet apps that are iPhone and iPad compatible.

The world is going crazy over the iPad. There was a Windows version, but it was not widely accepted. What is the secret sauce? It doesn't have to be re-booted, it's friendly, simple, beautiful, clean, and has personality. Windows Tablet PC came to market first, but really... Put it side by side next to an iPad. The world tried the Tablet PC and it just doesn't make it.

Facebook badges

2010-04-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Did you know you can put a facebook link on your blog? I stumbled upon this today. I'm not clueless and learning Facebook. I joined 2 weeks ago and I'm lost and learning.

Please comment and give me a clue!

Here is a photo from our Robotics website... LORobotics.org

OMG!!! I got a comment on my blog!

2009-07-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

OMG!!! I got a comment on my blog!

So far I have gone into my dashboard and selected the blog that I got a comment from.
Freaky. I got this email in my Gmail inbox from someone and I had to do a double take.
Did this guy have my email address, or is this a forward from Blogger.
It is an email Forward from Blogger!
So what do I do next? In my Dashboard I selected the blog with the in coming comment and found looked for Comments.
I clicked on Posting tab > Comment Moderation tab.

What do I do next? Stay posted. I will figure it out and write about this soon.

Followers of your blog

2009-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering how you get people to link to your blog. My friends say that is not how it's done. There is a section on the sidebar called Followers. I now have two of my friends as followers. :)
My friend Denice is one of my Followers. She has a blog called Quaffing Wine

I went to her blog and figured out how to follow hers. I scrolled down to Followers on the sidebar and clicked on the Follow button. A popup appears to add viewers as a Follower, as in the image to the right.

Here I added my photo, and added links to my websites and blogs.
It's pretty easy.
Here's an image of how to add a link.
I added my blogs and my websites:

Then I saw you can sign into the Following section. When I signed in, I found my friends and a link to invite others.

Then I went back to QuaffingWine by clicking the back to Quaffing Wine link.

The blog updates and shows my photo. You can click on my photo, and it shows all my links!

How cool it that?

Labels, tags, keywords

2009-06-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

What are Labels?
See my recent post on Oops! I forgot the tags!
In the lower right hand corner of the post text area, is a text box for Labels.
Labels are like website metatags.
So what are Labels and what are tags?
Labels and metatags are used by search engines that use keyword search as a way to find out what they content of your post is about.
This is in the realm of SEO - Search Engine Optimization.

If you are writing on one subject, your posts may have the same Labels (tags, keywords) on each post.

Let's say your topic is Cats. Add cats as a Label to each of your posts.
If one post talks about Whole Foods maintenance cat food which is only $2.49 for a 5 pound bag of great cat food at a bargain price - the best price in town,
then add Labels that include Whole Foods, cat food, bargain, and cat to your Labels. See example by looking at the Labels on this post.

These Labels are keywords, which search engines, web spiders, and other content search enginges use to categorize your post.

Oops, I forgot the tags!

2009-06-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Comparing my posts on this blog and my LakeOswegoMom.blogspot.com blog, I just figured out why nobody came to view my blog. I put Labels for this post on my Blogging Newbie blog, but not on my Lake Oswego Mom blog.
Oops! I forgot the tags!
Okay. Time to go back and fill that in. Use keywords found in each post as Labels/tags and type them into the text box in the lower right corner of the post form.

If you click on the Show all link, it shows you all the tags that you've used on this blog. You can click on them to add them, so you don't have to re-type them each time.

Submit your Blog to Blogged.com

2009-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

So I read through the Technorati site, which looks very professional. Then I tried the other links on the Blogger Help, and the links were broken.

Next I googled for Blog submission sites. I tried a number of them, and found that some charge a fee for submission, becuase of the review process. Others are back logged with their reviews, and are not taking submissions right now. Then I found Blogged.com. It was like Goldilocks finding her way out of the woods! I found Blogged.com and Technorati to be the EASIEST to use. I tried submitting this newbie blog, and after all that work (it asks you far tags, description and categories), it made me sign up, loosing my entry form stuff.

Ugh. Anyway. It is still the EASIEST, so I recommend signing up on Blogged.com first, then submitting your blog. What I alos like about Blogged.com is the fine print (Terms of Service) is simple and straigh forward. No heavy hidden gotchas.

What was confusing is after submitting my blog, I clicked on my Profile, and it listed my blog, but it said:
Your blog is not on Blogged (Click Here to Submit)
Well, I think what is really going on, is there is a period of time you have to wait for your blog to be reviewed. I will check back each day to see how long it takes. Geez, if they are reviewing my blog, I better have enough posts for it to be worth their while looking at.

Share your blog: Getting Started: Technorati

2009-06-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is very interesting. My blog got 22 views in the first few days. How to check this? If you signed up for AdSense, on your Dashboard, select a blog (if you have more than one).

Inside there is a Monetize tab/link. Click on the Monetize link, and it will show you (see previous post)

I decided to try opening another blog, so I have two. My other blog, nobody has looked at, but I only have one post on it. Maybe nobody is interested in that topic. Maybe I have to wait until I have more posts.

I clicked on Blogger Help in the upper right hand corner of the window. Then I drilled down to:
Share Your Blog

Team Blogs, Authors, and Readers

Click on Getting Started

Getting Started

Promoting Your Blog

Then click on Promoting your blog. Somewhere half way down the page there is a typo that says:

Sumbit your address to blog search sites and directories. People look for blog content at Technorati every day, are you on their list? You should be. Submit your blog's url to Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex, Popdex, and any other site of that ilk you come across.

Looks like a website submission to a search engine. I clicked on the first one: Technorati. Technorati encourages you to sign up for free and they will give you preferential treatment.
It the fine print, of course they plan to send you lot of spam from their third party supporters, and of course, their newsletter. so as not to get my Gmail inbox full of junk, so that I can't even find the emails from my friends, I normally send all such sign ups to another email address. This is how I sort my emails. You are welcome to do whatever you want. Also in the fine print, you can opt-out of things. Check their Privacy and Terms of Service links below:
Privacy Terms of Service

80% of people probalby never read these links, so if you are in the 80%, don't worry about it.

So I signed up. Then I was confused. The have something they call Claim your Blog
I clicked on it and found that this is where you must list your blogs - like you would list your websites with the search engines. Now if this is getting to complex, there are problably tons of people making money off of newbies, offering help to set you up.

Today their Blog claiming section is down, so I can't add my blogs it it.

Now that I have a blog, how do people find it?

2009-06-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

I am such a total newbie. I wondered how the heck peole are going to find my blog. I sent out an email to my friends to see if they wanted to come see my blog. That is one way of doing it.

Fortunately, I have a couple of friends who blog. I'm such a kindergarten newbie, one said:

"Folks don't "join" blogs they "subscribe to RSS feeds". So if somebody wants to follow your blog entries they'll subscribe to your RSS feed. Most folks I know wait to subscribe to blogs that have proven longveity unless it's a new blog on some ultra kick ass cool topic that they love."

RSS Feeds. Hopefully you know what those are. Real Simple Syndication. These are like news feeds. What a total trip. Here I am thinking I'm set up on Blogger to Make Money Blogging. In the meantime, I opened a blog on WordPress.com the day before I started this one. I decided to write about my Websites. Yesterday, I noticed I got a comment! I checked it out, and WordPress put it in the spam filter box. (It doesn't appear that Blogger has this feature)

I decided to click on the link of the comment I got, and it turned out to be some kind of web spider that goes to an RSS feed! Wow. My WordPress is now part of some RSS feed. Instant audience! Here is what was in my RSS link:

http://health.demo-research.com/wild-cherries-wild-cherry-bark-and-karma-cleanse/

I decided to write another post today, and by this afternoon, I got another RSS link:

http://health.demo-research.com/stillingia-sylvatica-queens-delight-queens-root-silver-leaf-yaw-root/

I'm glad I kept my WordPress blog. Now I'm wondering if I got on this RSS feed because I'm on WordPress, or because I'm writing about Health and botanicals.

Blogger Help - the quick and easy way start to Monetize

2009-06-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

Once you have a Google Blogger account, while you are signed in, click on the help link. Inside Blogger help, the first subject is:

Monetization
About AdSense for your blog
How do I show ads between my posts?
How to put AdSense in your blog's sidebar
All about the Blogger 'Monetize' tab

If you read these four links, they are pretty easy. If you have any questions, please leave my blog a comment and ask me. This way we can start a discussion thread, and we all can learn from this together.

Once you've decided to sign up for Google AdSense, go to the Dashboard (link is in the upper right corner) Dashboard My Account Help Sign out

Scroll down to the bottom of your Dashboard home page . Under Tools and Resources, click on AdSense to sign up.
Tools and Resources
AdSense
Blogger in Draft
Google Reader
Webmaster Tools
Signing up is pretty easy. The one confusing part I found was when it asked for your email address. If you have a Gmail email account, select the first one. If you don't select the other one. (In case they change it by the time you sign up, read carefully, and pick the right one for you. If you pick the wrong one, it will let you know later on in the sign up process.)

Somewhere in the process, you get to pick where in your layout the AdSense will appear. If you want to preview how it will look, take a look at the different layouts. I think the most popular one is the first one, and the second most popualre is the second one.

Personally, it depends if you want lots of ads, or a visually pleasing looking site. I looked at either just the AdSense sidebar, or the AdSense sidebar plus the AdSense bar between the posts. I opted for just the sidebar. Does this mean I get less Ads? Probably so. You decide.

This morning, I went into my Dashboard to see if I could change my mind on the AdSense layout, but could not find how to get there. Intuitively, I went to the Layout tab, and as of this writing, there is no link to take me back to the AdSense layout selection. So for you, be warned. Make your selection carefully. I suppose, as they say, you can always unsubscribe to AdSense and remove it from your blog, and then add it again.

A note of warning again: Once you sign up for AdSense, there is a review period. I guess someone reviews your blog for integrity. I'm thinking that if you unsubscribe to AdSense and then resubscribe, this starts the process all over again. If I ever find a way of changing this layout, I will write about it on this blog.

Good News:
This morning when I opened my blog, there was an AdSense sidebar filled with ads! :) Notice that there are up down scroll arrows ( see image in this blog post above) which allows you to scroll through the ads.

Warning:
Somewhere in the Terms and Conditions, it says that you cannot click on your own ads (the ads presented on your blog). Tempting, yes, but because you get paid per click, they don't want us upping our own clicks. BTW, it also says that we cannot ask viewers to click on the ads either. Viewers have to decide themselves if they want to click on them.

Monetize Tab:

Now that we have been on AdSense for a day, When you click on the Monetize tab, it shows the progress of your account looks something like this:

Today's Earnings: 0.00			View payment history
Page impressions	Clicks	Page	CTR Page	eCPM	Earnings
AdSense for Content	8	0	0.00%	0.00	0.00

AdSense Reports Switch AdSense Account Customize Ads Remove Ads Help

Newbie Central - Blogger is a great place for newbies

2009-06-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

I clicked on the Monetize tab this morning, and it opened up into the world of Google AdSense.
There is a lot of information, but the great thing I absolutely love is Newbie Central.
How many times have you signed up for things and there is TIM (Too Much Information) that overwhelms you?

Well, if you are as new at blogging as I am, I think Blogger is a great place for newbies to start.
If you do click on Monetize, on the right lower sidebar under Help resources, there are two great getting started links:

Newbie Central
Demos and Guides

If you are truly a newbie to blogging and Advertising on the web, I'd say, go ahead and sign up. It's free. Read all the links along the sign up path, and remember, you can always turn it off if you change your mind. In the meantime, signing up for Google AdSense and placing them on your blog, allows you to learn how they work.

If you already have a Gmail email account, you may have noticed how ads appear next to your email when you are reading it. The ads seem to key off of certain keywords that Google finds relavent in the email you are reading. I think that is how it will work with your blog as well.

Who's going to find your blog? Check out Blogger Help. I'll be reading this next. I'll blog about this tomorrow.

WordPress says NO to Blogging for Money

2009-06-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Anthony at WordPress.com Support in an email this morning.

The answer is:
"NO Blogsvertise nor any type of blog advertising can be done on WordPress.com!"

It's official. So Blogger it is.

Yeah, there are lots of people who do blog advertising on WordPress.com. Maybe the rules have changed. I guess when they joined, there were no such restrictions, and the newbies have the restrictions. Lucky them. Lucky Blogger. It encourages people to blog on blogger. Even if one doesn't want to Blog for Money, it is nice to know Blogger is a site with less restrictions.

This is day 3. I will have to investigate Blogger's Monetize tab tonight. Any other newbies out there? Send me a comment, and let's connect and explore this world of blogging together.

Blogger vs Word Press - Where do I start?

2009-06-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Day two of my entrée into blogger land! Yesterday I wrote my first blog ever! My kids blog and text.

"Mom!!! Your first blog looks like a travel blog! If you write about anything else, you have to open a new blog!"

I wrote about our weekend trip to Gig Harbor. What got me started? We went to Barbara Hawkin's Silva Life Systems workshop in Gig Harbor, and I asked:

"How am I going to make an extra $20,000 per year to put my kid through college?"

Barbara: "Visualize your kids graduating from college instead of worrying about how to make the money. When you do this, the answer will come."

Of course. So Saturday night, we went back to our motel, and I googled "Silva Method" and Weight control, on my iPhone. I clicked on one of the links, and up popped an article on Blogsvertise.com.

Me: "Hum. Manifesting made easy."

Okay. So the next morning at the workshop I told Barbara and everyone about this. Blogging for Money? Can this be better than trying to write apps for the iPhone, or building commercial websites, or is this a distraction?

Okay, okay, okay. When I got home from work Monday night, after feeding the kids, I went online and did some research. One of my girlfriends her in Lake Oswego is a blogger, but she has never done it for money. Between the two of us, we covered a lot of territory. She is on WordPress, so I started my first blog on icontoo.WordPress.com last night. Tonight, I read on, and find that Blogsvertise is looking for blogs that are mature - at least 30 days old.

I kept researching, and it was unclear whether I could blog for blogsvertise on WordPress. Another blogger friend from the Silva Life Systems workshop turned me onto a Blogger vs WordPress blog. It said you can't do this on WordPress, but you can on Blogger. So here I am on day two.