Your advice please before I start a blog

by Harvey Segal

Posted: 15 years ago 10 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I'm thinking of starting a blog, using Wordpress.

I've set up a test blog and can see that many settings and
options can be changed at any time so my main questions are

1. Is there anything I need to get right
at the start because it can't be corrected later.

2. Are there any major features/options I should definitely use

3. What are your recommendations for permalinks ?

The default is http://...../?p=123
but I would think that having the post title included is very important.

In this case should I also include the year/month ?
e.g http://../2009/01/sample-post/

Also are there disadvantages in not using the default ? It
seems that if I change the title the original one still
remains in the link to the post.

Thanks
Harvey

#advice #blog #start

John Rogers 15 years ago

The two things I always do right off the bat are paste my list of ping services, and set the permalinks.

Depending on what I'm doing, my permalinks settings are either /%category%/%postname% or just /%postname%

I make that decision based on what I'm trying to accomplish with keywords.

John
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John Rogers 15 years ago

You can change the permalink for a post after the fact by editing the post. When you go into edit, look just under the post title. You will find the permalink which can be edited there.

John
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tonyscott

15 years ago

1.Get the thesis theme
2. set permalinks to /%postname%/

Thanks
1 reply

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ExRat

15 years ago

Hi Harvey,

Are you new to wordpress?

If you wanted, I'd happily jump on skype sometime and give you a walkthrough/Q&A session. Please let me know if you do.

If you use all-in-one-seo plugin that will help you to optimise your titles as well as other stuff - I recommend it and so do many others. There are various cheap WSOs I have bought that do a great job of walking through these things, and of course many tutorials can be found online, although each article tends to deal with one particular issue.

The downside is that they change the interface quite regularly, as well as new plugins superceding others, so the info gets dated quickly. But the upside is that anything you need to know is online somewhere, because so many people use WP.

PS I second what John said.

HTH.

Thanks
1 reply

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Roger Davis

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Harvey Segal

15 years ago

Originally Posted by John Rogers

You can change the permalink for a post after the fact by editing the post. When you go into edit, look just under the post title. You will find the permalink which can be edited there.

Excellent

Originally Posted by tonyscott

2. set permalinks to /%postname%/

Yes, I think I'll go for that.

Originally Posted by ExRat

If you wanted, I'd happily jump on skype sometime and give you a walkthrough/Q&A session. Please let me know if you do.

Thanks for the offer Roger but I think my main
questions have been answered. Here's one more

- How easy is it change to another theme midway?

Harvey

Thanks

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JamesEcho1 Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

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- ExRat 15 years ago
  
  Hi Harvey,
  
  How easy is it change to another theme midway?
  
  It's usually a piece of cake. You just have to make sure the new theme is compatible with the current version of wordpress and widget-ready.
  
  The other thing is to make a note if you make any manual additions/changes to the original theme, so that you don't forget to tweak the new one the same.
  
  The good thing about the new versions of WP is that they often integrate any universally popular tweaks as updates, and as time goes on less manual tweaks are required - particularly after they added widgets (the text widget is very useful as it is not just for text, it accepts html).
  
  To change themes, go to -
  
  appearance>themes
  
  Click on the one you want, then click on 'activate (theme name)' in the top right. Done.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Roger Davis
  
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RobinSkeen 15 years ago

Originally Posted by Harvey.Segal

2. Are there any major features/options I should definitely use

It depends on what your focus is. Are you just going to blog for the sheer joy (there can be joy) of it or are you going to have ads on the blog?

Other things to add: privacy policy and CAN SPAM notice. Also, if it has anything whatsoever to do with how much money you can possibly earn, consider having an earnings disclaimer.
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- ExRat 15 years ago
  
  Hi Harvey,
  
  1. Go to 'settings' and set the 'wordpress address' to either have 'www' in it or not, depending on your preference.
  
  2. Do you want analytics? (Add by hand or via plugin - google search for plugin.)
  
  3. Do you want stats? Plugin at -
  
  WordPress › WordPress.com Stats WordPress Plugins
  
  Also -
  
  Search Meter: a WordPress plugin Semicolon
  
  4. Do you want a database back up plugin? -
  Il Filosofo WordPress Database Backup
  
  5. Other plugins -
  
  Adsense - WordPress › AdSense Manager WordPress Plugins
  
  If I expect lots of comment activity I use these -
  
  Subscribe to Comments 2.1 Tempus Fugit by Mark Jaquith
  
  &
  
  Wordpress Thread Comment : ????
  
  6. Do a google search for ping lists. There are loads - take your pick and add them to -
  
  settings>writing
  
  HTH
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  Roger Davis
  
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  Harvey Segal 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by JamesEcho1
  
  If you PM me I can send you a free package (a few ebooks) that gives you the help for everything to do with blogging.
  
  Thanks for the offer James but as I've already seen various
  books, tutorials, etc I have a fear of suffering from
  information overload.
  
  Running a test blog helps and my main concern is that I
  don't do anything which cannot easily be undone hence
  the questions I'm asking
  
  Originally Posted by RobinSkeen
  
  It depends on what your focus is. Are you just going to blog for the sheer joy (there can be joy) of it or are you going to have ads on the blog?.
  
  The blog will be used for short articles and tips as an adjunct to my
  newsletters. There will be no ads just links to my sites and products.
  
  Roger, thanks for all the plugins and other advice.
  
  Harvey
  
  Thanks
  
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  Harvey Segal 15 years ago
  
  As a blog newbie I think I can offer a tip (but correct
  me if it needs to be modified)
  
  ----------------------------------------------------
  
  If you are setting up a test blog you don't want
  any site update services to be notified when you
  make a post.
  
  There is a default service in Wordpress in /Settings/Writing/
  ==> http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
  
  This should be removed.
  
  ----------------------------------------------------
  
  Harvey
  
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Your advice please before I start a blog

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