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Archive for December, 2008

Wooha – WordPress 2.7 Is Out There !!

Dec 12

Posted by David Hobson in Webmaster | 2 Comments

Just seen my wordpress admin dashboard showing “WordPress 2.7 Coltrane” and I followed the link to know that WordPress 2.7 version is available for download now. They dedicated the release to the famous musician John Coltrane.

This version has lots of changes including major changes in the admin panel. Everything is ajax based drop down menus for easy access to things you want. And many more features. It might look cluttered at start but once you are on, it will make things easy.

They say

Nearly every task you do on your blog will take fewer clicks and be faster in 2.7 than it did in a previous version.

You can upgrade it manually OR use the one click upgrade plugin for hasslefree upgrade. Also, Look at this video for all the features available on it :

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Bought A New Blackberry Storm

Dec 11

Posted by David Hobson in Technology | 4 Comments

verizon blackberry storm case Bought A New Blackberry StormMy dad gave me a nice xmas gift yesterday – the phone I was looking for – BlackBerry Storm. I should say, it’s amazing. Looks, features, battery, internet – all are awesome.:cool:

The Blackberry Storm has a strange clicky touchscreen, which is very different to the iPhone touchscreen in that you do have to press the screen quite firmly for each action, literally until you hear a little click. The manufacturer RIM calls this system the ‘ClickThrough’ and although it feels a bit odd at first, you soon get used to it and come to appreciate its solid, responsive feel. The ClickThrough is designed to ‘separate navigation from confirmation’ and you have to press the part of the screen you are using like a button to carry out actions, so basically every time you type a letter you have to lift up your finger after pressing each letter, just like on a conventional keypad. If you are used to the flowing, sliding style of other touchscreens you may find this awkward at first, but after a bit of practise I found I was just as quick with this click action, and also much less likely to make mistakes. This is truly an innovative and unique bit of touchscreen technology, and if you give yourself a chance to get used to its solid, practical feel you will not want to go back to the old sliding touchscreens.

So that’s confirmation, what about navigation? Well the navigation options are similar to other Blackberry models, with the four standard command buttons at the bottom of the screen (menu, send, end and back) which makes things pretty straight forward, but one complaint is that it doesn’t magnify the options you are selecting as other touchscreens (iPhone and LG Vu) do, which can be a bit annoying as your fingers can get in the way. However this is more than made up for by the very responsive accelerometer function, which detects which orientation the Blackberry is in almost instantly (landscape or portrait) and adjust accordingly. Also the browser technology has been updated, but because it is on Verizon it still does not have Wi Fi which is a bit of a let down, although the EV DO broadband connection is perfectly serviceable and I have never had any problems using it for emailing and surfing the net.

In terms of the look of the Blackberry Storm, well quite simply I love it, the casing is smart, funky and well designed, and the screen is bright, colour rich and has excellent viewing capacities. I watch a lot of downloaded videos on it and they come out perfectly, making it one of the best visual media phones I have ever used. The audio quality is pretty good as well, and plenty of audio formats are supported which should suit even the most devoted music lovers, and the 8GB microSD card gives it plenty of memory back up.

As with any touchscreen it is a good idea to get a case for it as soon as you can to prevent scratches and scuffs, and there is a good range of BlackBerry Storm cases available online and from the manufacturer. I got mine from my friends shop Everythingberry.com and they do have loads of different styles from smart leather cases through to body skins and hard carry cases. Also bought one from the few cases for BlackBerry Bold 9000 for my wife’s blackberry. icon smile Bought A New Blackberry Storm

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Blog Contest Update – Social Bookmark & Earn

Dec 7

Posted by David Hobson in Contests | 12 Comments

cashprizestn2 Blog Contest Update Social Bookmark & EarnHere is a 2nd update on ProBlogineer Xmas Blog Contest !

Announcing two more prizes- All via random drawing :

  • 7th $20 Cash Paid via paypal
  • 8th $10 Cash Paid via paypal

You must be using social media sites for interacting with your users. Let’s try it out. Follow the actions and earn points :

Post a comment with your usernames and what all you have done. So lots of points there – and more points means more chances of winning.. Keep watching for more updates. Best Wishes icon cool Blog Contest Update Social Bookmark & Earn

Here is the 1st update.

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How To Bring Traffic To A Blog

Dec 5

Posted by David Hobson in Blogging Tips | 23 Comments

ecover bundle How To Bring Traffic To A BlogSometimes the hardest part of running a blog is not in creating the content itself, but in building up good levels of site traffic, and encouraging new and repeat visitors. Here are some tips on how to promote your website and blog, and keep it up to date and relevant:

Web Presence
If you are publishing online you need to be a part of the whole web scene, and create a good web presence that will reach as many people as possible and draw them through to your blog. This is often referred to as ‘social media marketing’ and is basically a way of marketing by utilizing the popular and varied social media scene on the Internet.

  • Social networking is an excellent way to increase your web presence and every time you create a profile or post, or send a message to your online friends, make sure you include a link back to your website and tell everyone about your blog. E.g. Twitter is currently one of the popular tool in blogosphere.
  • Also take time to look at other prominent blogs on the web (especially those that cover similar subjects to yours), and leave comments and posts that have details of your blog and link back to your website.
  • Post relevant articles on magazine sites such as ezinearticles.com or articlecity.com. For example if your blog is about health issues then post articles about natural supplements or natural remedies for example, and leave a visitor hook in each article such as ‘find out more at …’ and then put your website link so that the person reading the article is encouraged to visit your blog for more details.
  • Visit forums that are related to your blog and make posts, again leaving links and details that lead back to your website and blog.

Content
If you want people to visit your blog then it does need to be interesting and informative, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours slaving away over it. Ofcourse, a Premium wordpress theme would help a lot to make your blog look professional.

  • Adopt a conversational, friendly style as this is easy to read, and will help you keep things short and sweet. Aim to make at least two blog posts a week to keep it up to date, and the length should be around 300 – 600 words, too much longer than that and people may get bored and lose interest. Always talk about one topic per blog and try and include some relevant and topical subjects, such as current news/politics/celebrities, as this will be good for picking up keyword referrals on search engines.
  • Make it personal – blogs that feel like you know what you are talking about are much more accessible to visitors, so if your subject is online marketing for example, write as if you are describing your own experiences, instead of just a bland text book guide.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Many bloggers ignore SEO as they don’t really understand how it works, but it is an essential part of making sure that visitors are referred from search engines to your blog.

  • Once you have created your website and blog you must submit it to as many directories as you can, such as Google and Yahoo, to ensure that it is included on their search engine sites.
  • Make sure you have plenty of relevant primary and secondary keywords in your blogs so that when people use a search engine, links to your websites are included in the results. For example if you are writing a blog about the latest web hosting offers, make sure the product names and relevant words like ‘web hosting coupon’ are used frequently to create a good keyword density, and ensure that the primary keywords are used in the title, as this is what the search engine software targets.

Mailing Lists
Set up your website so that it allows people to bookmark you and become free members. This will generate you a mailing list (visitors will have to sign up and provide their email address to become a member), which you can then use to email people every time you update your blog.

  • If you have a large amount of members you can use free or paid services to manage all your subscriptions.
  • If you want to send out news and information yourself then you can set up an autoresponder system, which will help you send out newsletters easily and keep in touch with subscribers.

And there are more many ways to bring appresiable traffic to a blog. Will be posting more in future updates. icon wink How To Bring Traffic To A Blog

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Blog Contest Update – Tweet & Earn Points

Dec 5

Posted by David Hobson in Contests | 10 Comments

Here is an update on ProBlogineer Xmas Blog Contest !

As I said before, I will be posting on “How you can earn more points to maximize your winning chances?”. Here is an easy way to earn extra points – all you have to do is tweet your followers.

Just post a simple twitter on your profile like below (don’t add @ or other signs ) :
twitteruf1 Blog Contest Update Tweet & Earn Points

And you can win points depending on your twitter follower’s count as below :

  • If you have <100 followers – you earn 1 point
  • If you have 100-200 followers – you earn 2 points
  • If you have 200-500 followers – you earn 3 points
  • If you have 500-1000 followers – you earn 4 points
  • If you have 1000+ followers – you earn 5 points

So if you follow this step, comment below with your twitter username and current followers count. More updates coming soon !!

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