September2010

  • Sep
    02

    Why Do We Blog?

    Why do you blog? It’s a question regular bloggers field from time to time, from folks with a preconceived notion that bloggers spend most of their days cranking away on a Comodore in their mother’s musty basement. (I’m an Altair guy myself.) The way I look at it, everyone has a story to tell … even us nerdy mamma’s boys on our Comodores. Blogging, at least for individuals, gives you the ability to tell that story without any gatekeepers – such as a boss or editor who may want to water down your message or twist your words. Blogging...
  • Sep
    02

    Top 25 WordPress Plugins

    Now that you’ve got your WordPress site up and running, you need to install some plugins to get the most out of what the open source publishing platform has to offer. Most all of the plugins you’ll ever need can be found at WordPress.org, while a few others haven’t yet made it into the repository for one reason or another and can be installed manually if need be. Either way, it’s best to use a plugin that’s been tested by the community and has a positive user rating. You should also back up your files before installing any new...
  • Sep
    02

    Create Your own Social Media Site: How to Install BuddyPress on WordPress Site

    It’s been called everything from “social networking in a box” to “Facebook without the terms of service,” but until earlier this year, BuddyPress was a relatively unknown outside the WordPress MU (multiple user) community. The release of BuddyPress 1.2 last month is starting to change that, making it possible to add a social networking layer to the standard, self-hosted version of WordPress (AKA, the WordPress.org install) for the first time. (Note: BuddyPress can’t be installed on WordPress.com-hosted blogs.) So, if you like Facebook or MySpace, but aren’t a fan of the terms of service or other fallbacks of those...
  • Sep
    01

    The WordPress Projects You Haven’t Heard of: WPMU, BuddyPress, BBPress, BackPress

    Like there are many different versions of WordPress, there are also a handful of related side projects WordPress users should be familiar with. All of these projects are open source and GPL licensed, which means there are few restrictions to using them. These projects also use much of the same functionality and integrate well with one another, which is nice for those who are familiar with the WordPress code base and functionality. Some projects are even portable and have the ability to stand on their own if developed correctly. A closer look at the entire WordPress family: WordPress.com vs....