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Showing posts with label seo tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seo tech. Show all posts
Blogger platform hosts millions of blogs around the globe, and every day thousands of new blogs are created on blogger. In recent months, dozens of new and stunning blogger templates have been released in the blogosphere. All of them are free and bloggers can customize them according to their needs, as most of them are released under GPL or CC license. Here is a definitive list of free and stunning blogger templates.
lemon-blogger-template
Home » Blogger Widgets » Recent Posts Widget for Blogger
Recent Posts Widget for Blogger
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Blogger Widgets
The Recent Posts Widget for blogger displays recent post titles and their summaries in your sidebar. You can customize this widget to display the recent posts of any blogger blog that you like. You can customize the number of posts to display, whether or not to display a post summary and even set the size of this summary(in number of characters).
For Further enhancements, you can add your own CSS styling and improve the look and feel of the widget,
How to add the Recent Posts Widget for Blogger?
Before adding the Widget just take a look at the Widget Settings
Blog URL - This should be the URL of a blogger Blog. If you are installing the Widget on the same blog then you can leave this field blank . This field is useful for those who have multiple blogs.
Number of Posts – The number of posts to be displayed in the Widget
Show post date – If you want to show the date on which the post was made, then tick this option
Show summary– If you want to show an excerpt of the post in the widget then tick this option
Summary Size – This is basically the excerpt size. Anything more than this would be chopped off.
Now that you know about the settings, just click on the below button to add the recent posts widget to your blog
The Widget will be added to your blog and you will be taken to the Page Elements Page.
You can drag the widget to the appropriate position and save the layout
The coding of the recent posts widget for blogger was developed by Beautiful Beta and Hackospere. A Great Thank You goes to Ramani and Hans for making this awesome widget.
If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to comment here
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Written by Rajeev Edmonds | Tags: Blog Design, Blogging Resources
Blogger platform has undergone major improvements in last two years. Not only the blogger development team has added several new features to the platform,, but countless new blogger templates are being developed around the globe. Here are some best widgets and plugins for blogger powered blog that can spice up your blog for better reader experience.
1. Top Commentators Widget by BloggerPlugins - This excellent plugin has two versions. One for blogs having small number of comments and the second variant for blogs receiving lots of comments.
2. Translation Widget by BloggerPlugins - This one click install widget add multiple language translation support to your blogger blog.
3. Recent Post Widget by BloggerPlugins - This is highly customizable widget. You can set number of posts to display, post summary and it's length.
4. Recent Comments Widget by BloggerPlugins - A highly customizable widget. You can set the number of comments to display, author name, date and size of comment. You can also use CSS to gel it with your theme.
5. Label Cloud Plugin by phydeaux3 - This is one of the most popular label cloud generation plugin for blogger. You can customize various options after installing this plugin.
6. Archive Calendar Widget by PurpleMoggy - Very impressive archive calendar widget with customizable options.
7. Archive Calendar Widget by phydeaux3 - Another very popular archive calendar widget. Highly customizable for better browsing experience for the readers.
8. Recent Posts Widget by Feed2JS - This excellent plugin makes plugin installation and customization very easy. Just fill in the form and click the button to generate widget code.
9. Recent Comments Widgets by Blogger-Templates - Just fill in the options in the form and one click widget code generation. Excellent plugin which is highly customizable.
10. Picasa Web Albums Slideshow Widget by Blogger Templates Designs - A unique plugin to show photo slideshow from any picasa account. Ideal for personal blogs, photo blogs and web design blogs.
11. Search Form Widget by Blogger Templates Designs - If you want to add site search box in your blog's sidebar, install this plugin.
12. Google Talk Widget by Blogger Templates Designs - This plugin adds the Google Talk client to your blog so that your readers can directly converse with you.
13. Recent Comments Widget by Blogger Templates Designs - Yet another recent comments widget with customizable options and one-click install.
14. Sudoku Game Widget by Blogger Templates Designs - Want to add some interesting puzzle games for your visitors? Then install this plugin to integrate sudoku puzzle game in your blogger blog.
15. Google Translate Mini-Flags Widget by MadToMatoe - Very useful translation plugin powered by 'Google Translate'. One click install with multiple language translation facility.
16. Recent Comments Widgets by MadToMatoe - One more recent comments widget for blogger blogs. Again you can customize the number of recent comments to be displayed.
17. Reactions Mini-Poll Widget by ThemeLib - Want to host a poll on your blogger blog? Install this plugin and get customizable polls for your readers.
18. Alexa Traffic Widget by TechKnowl - Display your Alexa stats with this customizable widget.
19. Snow Flakes Widget by TechKnowl - Add a stunning snowfall effect in your blogger template in the festive season.
20. Popular Posts Widget by TechKnowl - A very simple popular posts plugin using Yahoo pipes to filter out popular posts on your blog.
21. Flash MP3 Player Widget by TechKnowl - This cool plugin allows you to embed flash mp3 player in your blogger blog. The player is very light with custom options.
22. Rating Widget by Outbrain - If you want to integrate rating system with your blogger posts, then this excellent plugin is the best choice. It has rating system plus related posts integration in same widget.
23. Multi-tab TOC Widget by Beautiful Beta - If you want to display multi-tab table of contents section in your blogger blog, then install this widget. Very popular among blogger users.
24. Tab View Widget by Hoctro - The coolest plugin showing tabbed posts with animated post excerpts. A must for your blog's sidebar.
25. Random/Rotating Banner Widget by FreeYaSoul - Very useful widget for displaying rotating banners in your blog's header. You can customize and can choose any number of headers.
26. Social Bookmarking Widget by Lasvak - This is perhaps the most easily installable bookmarking widget for blogger. Just copy and paste a single line of code in your blogger template and your bookmarking icons are ready.
27. Paypal Donation Widgets by Etienne - Integrate different types of paypal donation widget in your blogger blog with ease.
28. Podcating Plugin by Talkr - If you want to integrate podcasts to your blog, register for this service and get free podcasting plugin for your blogger blog.
29. What's Next? Section Widget by eblogtemplates - Integrate a Wordpress style 'What's Next' section below blogger posts with this excellent widget.
30. Twitter Profile Widget by BloggerBuster - Add your twitter profile and twitter updates with this useful plugin developed by Amanda Fazani.
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Since twitter has gone mainstream, the supporting applications and services are sprouting up like wildfire on Internet. Prominent among these applications are twitter desktop clients available for almost every platform. These handy applications help you manage your twitter activities in a much easier way than managing via web interface. Here's a list of select twitter clients for Mac platform.
Some of these clients have cross-platform compatibility and also works on Windows and Linux. The list is arranged in alphabetical order and in no way represent their popularity based on their position in the list.
Airmailr - A fully featured twitter client for OS X Dashboard. View different timelines (DM's , @replies, friends) and send tweets, replies and DM's. It also supports profile views with complete bio of the user within the widget window. You can also perform twitter search to watch selective tweets. The results are shown as a separate tab via scrollable list. Integrated URL shortening support (is.gd) and easy resizing option makes it quite flexible in usage. It has full growl integration and updates itself automatically. Airmailr uses the twitter's new OAuth standard for better timeline management
AlertThingy - This excellent application mashes up various social media services into a single application including twitter. Apart from twitter updates, you can also access Facebook, flickr, tumblr and many more such services. AlertThingy runs on Adobe AIR and is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Business users can also access Yammer, Basecamp and Huddle from this desktop client. AlertThingy is light on system resources and has impressive interface. If you have multiple accounts on these services, AlertThingy can make your life easy with single point of access to keep you updated of all happenings across multiple social media accounts.
Blogo - As the name implies, Blogo is not just a twitter client but a full-fledged blogging and social media application. Blogo supports twitter and Ping.fm updates. Currently it's only available for Mac platform. Apart from twitter access, you can also post to Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, Typo, Drupal, and Expression Engine. It has a built-in rich text post editor. Not only this, you can set automatic updates to twitter and Ping.fm accounts whenever you post fresh content on any of the supported web publishing system. You can re-size it freely and can even switch it to full-screen mode as per your convenience.
Canary - It is one of the promising twitter clients with multiple timeline support. It suports multiple twitter accounts and also recognizes hashtags. Full growl support for immediate notifications. Full URL shortening (Adjix, Bit.ly, Cli.gs, is.gd, Snipurl, TinyURL, tr.im and urlBorg) support makes it an ideal client to share your favorite content. Filters support lets you view selective twitter streams in a separate tab. Canary also supports TwitPic for sharing your pictures and iTunes integration to let your followers know which track you are listening. You can also add, remove, block and unblock twitter users at your will.
Chirp - Currently, only available for Mac platform. It is very light on system resources and supports twitter, Jaiku, FriendFeed, Identi.ca. Chirp supports multiple twitter timelines (replies, DM's and public timeline). It also supports instant search for all services with caching feature for offline use of your search results. Chirp comes with 6 different themes to suit your taste. I particularly liked the tooltip feature. that will show you the followers count of any user on hovering the mouse on this name. Chrip updates itself automatically with a small size binary making the whole update procedure lightning fast.
EventBox - As the name suggests, it supports multiple social media services (twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Flickr, RSS, Reddit). Currently, this application is only available for Mac platform. EventBox has stunning interface that fully utilizes your graphic card capabilities making it one of the best looking twitter client. You can freely re-size its fluid interface. EventBox also supports instant notification of all new updates for each of the supported services. You can enable or disable notifications for selective services via settings option. EventBox future versions will also support del.icio.us, Last.fm and Orkut.
feedalizr - Yet another twitter client supporting multiple social media services. Apart from reguar twitter access, you can also update your Facebook status and send replies to your Facebook friends. feedalizr also has TwitPic support for sharing images with your followers. You can also access and update your Freindfeed account making it all-in-one solution for all your social media activities. The interface is quite impressive with multiple tab support for each stream. The hot topic bar lets you see whats currently hot on twitter. It is almost similar to twitscoop service. feedalizr is light on system resources and updates itself automatically.
Mac Lounge - This excellent twitter client is available both for Mac OS X and iPhone. The first thing that you will notice is the excellent interface which is very soothing to eyes. At present, this application is in public beta phase. It supports multiple twitter accounts and twitter search options. You can easily view different timelines (replies, DM's and public timeline) making things easy to manage and update. The search filtering option lets you create a separate section of selective tweets. This impressive client is not a resource hog and has promising future once it comes out of beta stage. The iPhone version is equally rich in features as its desktop version.
NatsuLion - It is only available for Mac platform (Leopard (10.5)). NatsuLion has different tabs for public timeline, replies, DM's, sent and unread messages. The interface is extremely good and the application is light on system resources. Growl notifications are tightly integrated with this twitter client. Your own tweets are highlighted with different color scheme to easily filter out remaining tweets. This application is ideal for light and casual tweeting giving you enough options to keep in touch with your followers. It is also available for iPhone covering all the features in the desktop version.
Nambu - It is one of the popular twitter clients for Mac platform. Nambu supports multiple twitter accounts and has a good interface. It also supports multi-column view for selective twitter streams. Apart from twitter is also supports FriendFeed and Identi.ca account updates. Groups, filters and twitter search makes it an ideal twitter client for novice as well as power users. It is light on system resources and updates itself automatically. You can open separate tab for every new search for all supported social media services. It shows you actual web site names of shared links via tweets. I'd highly recommend trying this twitter client.
P3:PeraperaPrv - Purely written in Java, this twitter client can run on Mac, Windows and Linux. It supports multiple tabs for viewing different timelines with auto-refresh for each stream. You can customize the appearance (color schemes) of different tweets (replies, DM's). Filtering support allows you to view selective tweets in a separate tab. It also supports URL shortening (tinyURL) to help you share your favorite links. You can also change the application and tweet font size making it ideal for people having vision problems. You can also search and favorite selective tweets from the timeline cache and can group them in a separate tab.
Pwytter - It's a light weight feature packed twitter client written in Python. You can switch to different timelines with a click of a button. Pwytter supports up to 14 different languages and has full unicode support. Timelines are cached for faster response in case of multiple search queries. Pwytter updates itself automatically and have the option of updating timelines either manually or automatically. It is one of the lightest and resource efficient twitter client ideal for low configuration systems. You can use it on Mac, Windows and Linux. It also supports viewing of separate lists of your followers and friends in a scrollable format.
Seesmic DESKTOP - I'm using this excellent twitter client. Still in private beta stage, it is destined to give Tweetdeck a run for its money. The interface is stunning giving Mac effect on every platform. Seesmic Desktop is not a resource hog at all even if several panes are opened at once. Multi-column views, search panes, custom groups makes it an ideal application for twitter power users. It also supports URL shortening, hashtags detection and automatic updates. It is freely re-sizable with option to switch to single or multi-column views. You can also hide and unhide selective panes at your will. I started with twhirl, then Tweetdeck and now I'm hooked to this wonderful twitter client.
Snitter - This twitter client works on both Mac and Windows. The Linux version is still in developmental alpha stage. It comprises all the features of a typical twitter desktop client. If you know CSS, you can easily customize the appearance (color, font size, avatars, shadow) of Snitter. You can also create a separate tab for favorite tweets. Snitter supports keyboard shortcuts to access each opened panel. Window resize, audible alerts and minimizing to system tray are some other features of this handy application. Snitter is light on system resources and is ideal for twitter users having limited following.
Spaz - It is available for OS X, Windows and Linux platform. Packed with powerful twitter search feature, it filters out selective twitter streams as per your needs. Spaz also has built-in support for URL shortening (is.gd, bit.ly, snurl.com) to share your favorite content with your twitter network. It has multiple themes and also gives you the flexibility to create your own theme via CSS overrides. Spaz is written in pure JavaScript , XHTML and CSS making it completely customizable by users. Audible alerts and separate listing of friends and followers makes it an ideal twitter client for every serious twitter user.
Syrinx - This twitter client is only available for Leopard (OS X 10.5+). Bookmarking (marking selective tweets) and integrated search feature are some important features on Syrinx. Growl notifications are tight integrated with this twitter client. It is light on system resources with neat and clean interface. Extensive keyboard shortcuts helps you manage your twitter updates fast and quick. Syrinx allows you to customize the colors as well as sound (audible alerts) that suits your taste. You can also customize the auto-updating frequency and scrolling behavior. You can also pause all the twitter updates and can resume it later with a click of a button.
Tweetr - This light weight twitter client is available for Mac and Windows. You can send files of size up to 10MB via tweetr. Just drag the files in tweetr window. It will automatically upload the file and will provide you a short URL to share it with your friends. tweetr has in-built URL shortening (hurl.ws) support. You can freely resize and drag the window to any part of the desktop. It also supports system tray integration on Windows platform. It also lets you share snaps from your webcam with your twitter followers. The file sending option and webcam support makes it stand apart from the rest. TweetIdeal for twitter users who regularly send and receive files from their twitter network.
TweetDeck - It is one of the most popular twitter clients with large user-base. Multi-column twitter timelines, powerful twitter search and custom groups makes it an ideal twitter client for power users. It has a rich URL shortening support. You can also update your Facebook account via Tweetdeck. You can also use the TwitScoop cloud to keep you updated about what's hot on twitter. Tweetdeck updates itself automatically and has various customization options including custom colors. The only issue that is frequently raised by users is the memory usage. TweetDeck is available for Mac, Windows and Linux platform.
Tototl - Currently, Tototl is only available for Mac platform. It supports 3 languages (English, Japanese and Spanish). It is one of the fastest and light weight twitter desktop client. Since it uses SSL for connection encryption, it keeps your twitter login credentials absolutely safe from hackers. The future versions may also support custom themes which will be highly customizable by users and native plugins support. Soon its Windows and Linux versions are also coming out. Tototl is ideal for casual twitter users who does not have large number of active followers. It also uses DSA signed updates for maximum security of your twitter conversation.
Twibble - This excellent twitter client is available for Mac and Windows. It supports multiple twitter accounts that can be managed as separate tabs. It has in-built location awareness support and can tell the exact location of any twitter follower via Google maps. It also understands GPS positioning sent via twibble mobile. Twibble updates itself automatically and supports keyboard shortcuts for fast and easy account management. On windows platform it can minimize to system tray. It's light weight and impressively fast with equally attractive interface. Tweets are highlighted in different colors depending on their type for easy readability. You can customize various options via its rich custom settings option.
Twidget - Currently, it is only available for Mac platform. This light weight twitter client is ideal for casual users who doesn't have large network of active followers. Some of the features include auto-updating timelines, alerts for new tweets, new version availability alert, links to DM's and twitter contacts and much more. You can also favorite selective tweets directly from within the refreshing timeline. Twidget also allows you to collapse and expand the timeline window at will. Future versions will have Growl notifications, audible notifications, URL shortening support, multiple language support and flexible resizing option.
Twidget - Currently, it is only available for Mac platform. This light weight twitter client is ideal for casual users who doesn't have large network of active followers. Some of the features include auto-updating timelines, alerts for new tweets, new version availability alert, links to DM's and twitter contacts and much more. You can also favorite selective tweets directly from within the refreshing timeline. Twidget also allows you to collapse and expand the timeline window at will. Future versions will have Growl notifications, audible notifications, URL shortening support, multiple language support and flexible resizing option.
Twitter Thingy - You can use Twitter Thingy on Mac, Windows and Linux. It supports custom groups and twitter search. You can type in your search queries is an expandable search bar at the bottom of the window. It is light on system resources and has quite attractive interface making it an ideal choice for an average twitter user. You can update your public timeline with a single click and can also favorite selective tweets. You can also delete your own tweets directly from within the timeline. Twitter Thingy caches your twitter timeline for fast response to search and updates. Automatic updates are not supported by Twitter Thingy.
Twitterrific - This twitter client has stunning interface and is light on system resources. It supports multiple twitter accounts and provides access to user profile pages with a single click. It supports audible alerts and keyboard shortcuts. You can also set custom hotkey for showing and hiding tweets. twitterrific also supports deletion of your own tweets and has customizable timeline auto-refresh intervals. Replies and direct messages are displayed inline highlighted with different colors for easy readability. Through custom settings you can also set window auto-hiding. There are two more variants of twitterrific for iPhone and iPod Touch.
Twitter Studio - It is only available for Mac platform. Growl notifications has been tightly integrated with this impressive twitter client. Twitter Studio updates itself automatically and supports profile lookups displaying user information within the application window. You can also set custom notification settings and custom twitter API settings. It also displays refresh rate limit indicator to help you set the optimum refresh rate. Future versions will support Twitpic integration, custom color schemes, tweet deletion support, custom groups, search functionality, menu bar quick access icon, iTunes plugin and much more. Twitter Studio comes with impressive interface and is not a resource hog.
Twittia - This light weight twitter client is only available for Mac platform. Growl notifications are integrated with this excellent and simple-to-use twitter client. You can view your public timeline, DM's and replies in different tabs. Twittia also allows you to set custom refresh intervals with desired volume of audible alerts. It also supports Twitpic to share pictures with your twitter network. The interface is clean and attractive making it an ideal choice for an average twitter user. It also supports twitter search for displaying selective tweets containing the keywords you are looking for. You can open multiple search tabs at a given time giving you custom twitter streams containing the keywords that are under your watch.
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Security has always been a major issue on self-hosted Wordpress blogs. Hackers look for vulnerable web sites whose security can easily be breached to exercise their evil intentions. With every new version, the core engine of Wordpress is getting more and more secure. Still some extra steps are needed to harden its security to the maximum. There's no silver bullet that can guarantee complete protection from hackers, but we can make sure they get a tough time while attempting any intrusion.
There are three sub-systems that needs your attention to secure it from potential threats viz., blogging CMS, back end database and web server. Normally we have complete control on blogging CMS and database, while web server administration is normally maintained by hosting service provider unless you own a VPS (virtual private server) or have your own dedicated server. Remember, your Wordpress installation is only as secure as your web server. If there is any weak link in the server, all the security measures discussed below will go in vain.
Securing Wordpress Directory Tree
The basic strategy to make your installation secure is to restrict public access to sensitive files and directories. Whenever any CMS is installed, the directory tree is assigned certain access permissions that may vary according to the their importance, functionality and usage to help protect them from unauthorized access. Following is the step-by-step method to protect your Wordpress files and directories.
Assigning directory permissions - Start with assigning correct permissions to your Wordpress installation tree. Here are some of the basic rules to follow.
1. No file or directory should have a permission of 777.
2. No file should have a permission of 666, except those theme files that are edited via built-in theme editor through Wordpress dashboard.
3. Ideally, all files should have permission of 644. Similarly, all directories should have permission of 755.
4. Some servers require permission of 'wp-content/uploads' folder to be 777.
Disabling public browsing of directory tree - Add the following code to .htaccess file to prevent any kind of direct browsing activity. This ensures no one can view the contents of directory by simply typing directory paths in their browsers.
Although the same effect can be achieved by placing blank index.html files in every directory, but it is the most inefficient and least preferred method to disable directory browsing.
Securing wp-admin, wp-content, wp-includes and wp-config directories - Apart from disabling direct browsing of directory tree, some extra steps should be taken to restrict access to important directories.
Add the following lines to .htaccess to protect wp-config.php from unauthorized access. As the name implies, this file contains important Wordpress configuration settings needed to connect to your blog's database. It includes MySQL username and password.
Adding following lines to .htaccess will protect wp-admin.php from unauthorized access. This will ensure your admin dashboard is protected from intruders.
Here xx.xx.xx.xx are the static IP addresses used by you or other administrators/contributors of the blog. In case you get a dynamic IP address each time you connect to Internet, this method will not work at all. In that case, you can use AskApache Password Protect plugin to protect wp-admin, wp-includes and wp-content without any need to edit .htaccess yourself. This excellent plugin acts as a firewall and adds an extra layer of security protecting your sensitive files from automated spam bots and hackers.
Securing Database
Hackers often target Wordpress database to insert countless spam links within the posts. Whenever you install Wordpress, by default every table gets a prefix of wp_ regardless of the table type. Intruders use this information to launch certain type of SQL injection attacks on the database. For better security, you must change this default prefix to something unpredictable. There are 3 methods to change this prefix.
Changing table prefix at the time of installation- This is one of the easiest method to provide a random table prefix to your Wordpress database tables.
At the time of installation, you get a chance to edit the table prefix. Choose a random and unpredictable table prefix that cannot be easily guessed.
Changing table prefix manually - This method can be painful for technically challenged. It requires editing of more than one .php files along with execution of multiple SQL queries. However, if you are comfortable with basic blog maintenance (technical) skills, this excellent tutorial shows you how to change table prefix in Wordpress through direct file editing.
Changing table prefix via plugin - Fortunately, Wordpress has large repository of plugins available for almost every requirement. You can also use WordPress Table Prefix Rename Plugin to achieve the same effect.
Regular database backups - Backups are lifesavers in event of any catastrophe that may bring down your entire site. You can use WP-DB-Backup plugin to backup core as well as additional (plugin & 3rd party script tables) tables of your blog's database. Make the habit of taking backups at least once a week followed by saving of more than one copy in two different locations.
Securing User ID's & Login Procedure
Almost every CMS has built-in user access control mechanism that defines a hierarchy of user-types with each type having different set of privileges. Wordpress is no different and supports pretty good user access control mechanism. Hackers target this system to gain complete control of the CMS leaving no chance to recover from the disaster. Here are some methods and safe practices that can help you in strengthening Wordpress access control mechanism.
Delete default administrator account - As soon as Wordpress installation is completed, we get a default administrator account with user id admin and random system generated password. DO NOT use this account for maintaining your blog. Create a second account with administrative privilege and delete the default admin account.
Strengthen login procedure - With the help of these 2 plugins you can make your Wordpress logins more secure and safe. Chap Secure Login encrypts your password to prevent anyone stealing it while it's in transit to the web server. Login LockDown is an excellent plugin that helps prevent brute force attack to guess your passwords. It disables the login function after specified number of failed login attempts within a given time frame blocking an IP range for specified period of time.
Fine-tuning user access privileges - For multi-author Wordpress blogs,
Role Manager plugin is a boon. If you want to exercise greater control over user access permissions, this plugin can help you assign specific rights at granular level.
Image Credit: Peregrino Will Reign
Role manager can create custom roles with tailor made access privileges that can be assigned to any Wordpress user on your blog. You can even change and tweak the default roles provided by Wordpress, although it is not recommended and should be avoided.
This ensures removal of Wordpress version information while generating html files for client side.
Keep search engines away from Wordpress folders - You'll never want your blog's entire directory tree to be indexed by search engines. This may expose the contents of sensitive directories making it easy for hackers to analyze and find the potential loopholes. Add the following line to robots.txt file, which is located in the root directory of your blog.
Miscellaneous Steps To Harden The Security
Hide Wordpress version - Older versions of Wordpress have several loopholes that can be easily breached by seasoned hackers. It is always advised to hide your Wordpress version to mask any vulnerabilities (if any) that may exist in the release you are using. The best way to hide this information is placing the following code in function.php file of your theme.
Adding this line will ensure none of the search engine bots are allowed to index the directory content.
General Safety Precautions
1. Create strong passwords and change them frequently.
2. Keep your plugins and Wordpress release updated.
3. Regularly backup files and database.
4. Create a disaster recovery plan and simulate it on a test blog.
5. Avoid using plugins from unknown sources (may include malicious code).
6. Use WP Security Scan plugin to find any vulnerabilities in your Wordpress installation.
7. If possible, avoid remote publishing via 3rd party publishing tools.
8. Use SSH or SFTP for secure editing of files and directories.
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Every new blogger faces this big question that "What topic to choose for his/her blog"? Some people blog just for fun or hobby and some blog purely to make money from it. If you fall in the latter category, it is imperative to give some serious thought about choosing your blog niche. The success of your blog in terms of money depends heavily on how wisely you select the topic of your blog. Following are the guidelines, which will help you in your quest to select an appropriate topic for your blog:
Image Credit: cambodia4kidsorg
Personal Interest: If you are blogging on the topic that you love and are passionate about it, then you have already won the half battle. The first and the most important thing is to select a topic that you love to explore, read and talk about. Readers are only going to come back on your blog if they find the content appealing and useful, which you can only serve them if you are comfortable and expert in your domain. You will also loose interest very soon in generating fresh content if it is not of your choice. Having the favorite topic in hand for the blog does not mean that you will surely get profit from your blog. There are other factors involved. Read on..
Popularity: Assessing the popularity of the chosen niche is the next step. If people do not search for the topic you have chosen, then no matter how hard you work, the results will never be promising. Start analyzing with search engine results. Google the first keyword that comes in your mind related to the topic and see the results.
This method will give you idea about two things. How much content about that topic is on net and does it have some advertiser base or not? On top right of results page you can see the number of pages having the keyword that are in Google's index. If your keyword is made of several words put them in double quotes and then search. A large number suggests that the topic is quite popular. On the right side of page if you can see long horizontal list of sponsored links then be assured that your chosen niche is highly competitive. To sum up, if people are not looking for that topic on major search engines then your blog is a dead duck.
Profit Potential: The popularity of the topic alone doesn't mean it can give you profits. The most critical thing is to look whether it has sufficient advertiser's base in major PPC Advertising networks. Google Adsense and Yahoo Publishers Network (YPN) are the two most popular PPC programs. Google has provided Google AdWords Keyword Tool and Google Adwords Traffic Estimator to look for high paying keywords related to your blog niche. You can use these tools
to get a fair idea about the traffic and average CPC for the relevant keywords for AdWords/Adsense. Although the provided data is not accurate estimate, still it will give you fair amount of data to assess the earning potential of your blog niche. For more accurate keyword research you can use WordTracker and can get the list of targeted keywords for the topic of your blog.
Content availability: To keep running your blog, you need fresh quality content at a consistent pace. Some bloggers face this situation where they start very enthusiastically, but soon they end up in searching for fresh ideas for their blog content space. For making a successful blog you have to feed it with new valuable content continuously. Choosing a niche that has scope of vast amount of content creation is a wise decision. You can subscribe to news bulletins, discussion forums and your peers in the Blogosphere to get new ideas and topics for fresh new content.
Give some thought before you start posting on your blog, as it will be the deciding factor in the success of your blog. Check out these Free Blogging E-books , which will equip you to become a successful professional blogger. Good Luck...
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Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. It has millions of members with a large user base of professionals, readers, bloggers, intellects and casual readers. Recently, facebook has revamped its interface and provides immense opportunities to promote your online business. There are several techniques to promote your blog or website on facebook.
Make Your Profile Visible
Make sure you do not restrict your facebook profile from getting indexed in search engines. Update the privacy settings and make it open for everyone, including the whole facebook community.
Add Blog Info To Profile
Needless to say, adding your blog information to your facebook profile is one of the most important settings in your profile. Add your blog URL to your basic information section and make it visible to all.
Use 3rd Party Apps
There are tons of 3rd party applications for facebook that can be easily integrated with your profile. You can browse the categorized application catalog and can use the selective applications that can promote and highlight your blog. Most famous are RSS aggregators and social media services mash up applications.
Publish RSS Feeds
Use RSS feed aggregator applications like Simplaris Blogcast and Blog RSS Feed Reader to publish your blog feed in your facebook profile. Customize it according to your needs and integrate it with your profile page.
Join Relevant Groups
This is one more method to give more exposure to your blog. Browse through various groups on facebook and take membership of those groups that provide promotion of blogs, social networking and social media marketing services to members.
Make a Facebook Page
Facebook page is an excellent strategy to promote your online business. With page application you can create a dedicated page for your blog and fill it with tons of added sections. People can subscribe and become fan of your facebook page, and can take part in polls, discussions, forum posting, photo uploading and tagging and much more.
Advertise On Facebook
Image Credit: Facebook
Running a PPC campaign on facebook is one more option to give good exposure to your blog. You can get low cost advertising solutions with ad customization and filtering targeted readers for your ad.
Socialize and Network
And last but not the least, create a strong network of friends and keep your profile updated. Spend time in sharing and posting things on your wall, and interact with communities.
Over To You
Do you use Facebook as one of your blog promotion strategies? How much time you spend each day on facebook? What other techniques you use on facebook for promoting your online presence?
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