Wordpress Plugin To Resolve All Your Plugin Issues
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Started a Wordpress blog on a self hosted site? Then this post is just for you. What do you do after you are all set to run your blog. Obviously besides posting, you will want to expand the features set of your blog by installing some cool pluggins.
I already have an earlier post on stuff to do after your blog is ready but this one is slightly different as it mentions the mother of all plugins.
GTA game smashes all records
Critically acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV is on course to beat the record for highest first week sales of any video game in the UK.
The title sold a record 609,000 copies on its first day of release, generating an estimated £24.4m ($48.5m).
The previous record holder was GTA: San Andreas, which sold 501,000 copies in 24 hours in October 2004.
But despite its success the game has been hit by reports of software problems and crashes on some consoles.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a sandbox style video game series created by Dave Jones and primarily developed by Scottish company Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and Rockstar Leeds in England and published by Rockstar Games.
TechBanyan - Pagerank 4
In the recently updated Google Pagerank rankings, TechBanyan saw a jump of 2 points, from 2 to 4. For a blog that was started not too long ago, I think it is quite substantial and a positive sign of things.
What does it mean for TechBanyan? Possibly, the site would show up higher for the comparative search terms than those who have lower PR, leading to higher search hits. Only time will tell so lets wait and watch. (I’ll keep you posted if I notice an upward trend in Google traffic).
Interesting thing, all the experts decried that if you display TLA links on the site, Google is supposed to punish that behavior with lower rankings. On the contrary, even after continuing to display TLA on my site (I have a single link on the right corner of the main page) which pays for hosting, Google found it fit to raise the PR rankings of TechBanyan. Google surly works in mysterious ways.
Some of the peer blogs that I regularly visit, like Binaryday, Bishtblogs, Abhisays, Readerszone etc. saw a minor bump too, either up or down.
Sita and Abhi’s site saw the PR go down to 3 while Sanjay reported his went up to 3.
I am not sure how to explain this jump in TechBanyan’s PR from 2 to 4 (or why the other sites saw a slight ranking demotion). But I’ll take a shot at it, and analyze some things that I did w.r.t. TechBanyan. I am sure some of these tips might help your blog as well and push the rankings up.
1. Content is the king
Like the real estate rules of location, location, location, the kingdom of blogs is also driven by similar rules - Content, Content, Content. Write interesting stuff. Make the language easy to read. Insert some humor. Give a unique perspective. If you are writing about some news, don’t just dish out the news but your perspective on it as well. Those who would like your stuff, will keep coming back for more. Also they will turn to you for that stuff ‘cuz nobody else can give that POV.
2. Trackbacks and link backs
I have repeatedly gotten track backs from DesiPundit, a popular Indian aggregated blogs site. So write good stuff, but push it forward to such sites in the hope they’ll link back to you. Be sincere and don’t spam. When I wrote something, it was genuinely about what I wanted to write. But after the post was written, I tried thinking about whom else it could benefit. Be honest and sincere in your efforts.
If the content is good, you will get track backs which additionally help in telling the Google Pagerank software how important your website is. Besides Desipundit, I have occasionally gotten track backs from few other readers on topics as diverse as an India specific social networking site - BigAdda to Chinese American politics etc.
3. Blog roll links
From some of the peers, Sita and Ajay. Thank you guys. (If I missed out anybody’s name, please let me know and I will rectify).
5. Readers of your site. More the merrier. 
What do yo guys think, why do rankings rise and fall. You have a better answer, let everybody know.
TechBanyan Updated To Wordpress 2.5
I started TechBanyan with Wordpress 2.3.1 and it served me well. No major hiccups or security breaches. That is, I haven’t found myself on the receiving end yet.
Yesterday like I also posted, I came across about various posts where “experts” recommended upgrading asap because of known hacks in the version 2.3.2 and earlier. The fact that Technorati took the decision not to index those blogs as well added to the urgency of upgrading to the latest version.
Blog Hacks - Why You Need To Upgrade
There’s a flurry of reports on the internet about potential Wordpress threats and attacks if you haven’t yet upgraded to the latest release of Wordpress 2.5.
If you are still running Wordpress 2.3.2 and below then your website is at grave risk. From what I could make out after a couple of minutes of browsing various security websites, all the experts are saying this thing in unison - Upgrade ASAP.
What kind of vulnerabilities are we looking at here and how do you know you are a victim of this security breach.
Computer Commands That Hackers Use
What I am about to tell you should be used primarily for learning and education. Certainly not for any dubious activities. It is possible to connect to another computer through the internet and browse through their directory structure, update and copy the file etc. Before you can connect you are prompted for a login and password so obviously (and preferably) you need the other person’s explicit co-operation and consent.
If you try to login without consent and approval, it is deemed as hacking. Still, if your intention is neat, meaning you just want to probe and not damage, then you are a white hat hacker. But if you want to hold the other person hostage, then you are deemed a black hat hacker.
Craigslist: Show Me The Money
Do you consider yourself a Wordpress configuration expert, can do some basic Php coding, have skills that enable you to work remotely? If yes, then why not help somebody with their Wordpress driven website from the comforts of your favorite arm chair. Not to mention, earning some exotic money on the sides.
All you need is a proven track record, like your own website or past experience, and a Paypal account to literally hear money jingle in.
Read on to find out how.
Must Do Things After Starting A New Wordpress Blog
When I started TechBanyan, calculated in blog years, I was a bit of a green horn and shortsighted. To me then, starting a blog meant getting the domain name, installing Wordpress and from then on concentrating on the posts.
However to maximize the potential of your blog, there’s a lot of in-between that you need to perform. For instance, there are some tweaks and absolute must-have plugins that would go a long way in making your blog a huge success.
Blogsvine - Way To Increase Traffic To Your Site
Most of you must be familiar with news and links aggregator sites like Digg, Mixx, Reddit, StummbleUpon etc. Another peer web service called Blogsvine has been launched and which can be used by Bloggers to increase traffic to their sites.
Learn From Google
Google has done it again. The media giant has just launched its online education portal focusing on computer science and related technologies all for no charge.
Want to learn how to program or refresh your language skills? Database development fascinates you? How about the latest web 2.0 app tools like AJAX and CSS etc?
Enhance your skills as a developer or programmer or just learn the lingo. The website has tutorials, lecture slides, and problem sets for a variety of topic areas including Distributed Systems, Web Security, and a bunch of other great classes including common tools used in Computer Science such as version control systems and software configuration management.
Want to see what Stanford is teaching its CS majors? You can search for the computer science courses of different colleges that have been released online. Apparently a cluster search of specific colleges whose computer science websites have been added to be searched from.
Head over to the website to find out more.