Comments (0)

By Editor, January 27, 2010 3:07 pm

"This is just a one time message to say howdy pard! Your first visit around these parts, I see, and welcome to WordPress by F1. We're the folks from F1 Market Solutions, and dang glad to see 'ya! Poke around a spell, and don't forget to drop us a line. Hit your refresh button, and we'll get out of the way. Make it an amazing day, and thanks so much...'The F1 Boys'"

My "Dream Captcha"

NO COMMENT…

Think about this for a minute. If you allow site visitors to leave comments to your posts, they are adding content to your site.

Getting feedback in the form of comments is often the sole benefit of your literary effort, and hey, it’s nice to see that somebody actually reads your stuff. But, you really need to pay attention to what is showing up in your comments.

You might not know this, but you as a the site owner, may be unwittingly hosting content (via comments) that violates a search engine’s quality guidelines (Google), which can harm your site’s standing in search results. Yikes! All that hard work down the dispose-all, thanks to some cretan in Lower Spamistan!

Take a look at some of your spam comments, and you’ll get an idea of what I mean. The worst offenders contain links to nefarious ads, sites or clandestine malware which, when discovered by Google, Bing or Yah0o, will cause your site to pick up a new, free “landing” page greeting your visitors with something a bit unsettling like: “REPORTED ATTACK SITE – WARNING.” Ouch!

If this is happening to you, remember, it’s your site, and you are responsible for everything there – abuse notwithstanding.

What can you do? Well, short of disabling comments altogether, make sure you are using Akismet, the free spam blocker from WordPress. Amazingly, some 83% of all site comments are disingenuous spam (bummer), and Akismet will catch and prevent most of it from ever  hitting your pages.

To level the playing field even more, consider using another freebie; reCaptcha, now owned by Google. Annoying to some (a bit like life), Captcha’s are those puzzle things, one must “solve,” proving same is human and capable of (hopefully) responsible behavior. And, because you asked, “CAPTCHA” is the acronym for: “Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart.”

I realize nobody enjoys being subjected to a “test” simply to leave a comment, but it’s not arrogant to include this site safeguard. Rather, to your credit, and everyone’s benefit, Captcha’s play a big part in stopping the bad guys. Besides, and ponder along – if this wasn’t important, Google likely wouldn’t have bought the company.

Comments (0)

By Editor, January 25, 2010 11:19 pm

FOUND TREASURE

Well, not exactly, but I did find MapPress, a great Google Maps plugin by Chris Richardson. Sooner or later you’re going to write a post requiring a map or directions or possibly satellite coordinates for weekend visitors, and from what I’m seeing, this fills the bill nicely.

On the front end, use is a breeze. Insert any address, landmark, or just search for something you need, like “pizza in Beverly Hills.”

After installing the plugin, you’ll need to include your API Key from Google Maps, free for the asking, and found HERE. (Additionally, a free account with Google is required prior to proceeding).

On the back end, Chris has included plenty of custom settings for your individual taste or needs, such as color markers, zoom/pan/scroll viewing, map sizing, street/satellite viewing, and more. I really like the mini Google search box to find local businesses and of course, pizza in Beverly Hills.

Close

When writing a post, you will see a new meta box for MapPress in your editor, and wherever a map is needed, simply type in the address or place you need to convey to your readers (or latitude/longitude, if you are feeling a might merchant marine), select your graphical display size, hit the “insert” button, and voila! “X” marks the spot of your new map shortcode!

Support for KML is a feature request, and the grapevine has it that plans are underway for the next version. Two thumb-tacks up for this plugin. It’s a keeper!

Comments (0)

By Editor, January 16, 2010 10:35 am

BE SOMEBODY : GET INVOLVED

In response to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti on Tuesday, BloggersUnite is asking bloggers around the globe to donate funds to international organizations providing aid to Haitian citizens and to use your blogs to inpsire others to get involved.

The citizens of Haiti are currently dealing with devastation and suffering that few of us can even imagine. Tuesday’s earthquake has reduced large parts of the the country’s capitol, Port Au Prince, to rubble and devastated their already poor infrastructure making the task of delivering aid extremely difficult.

Click to Enlarge

Official estimates from the region say that approximately 3 million people have been affected by this disaster and that somewhere between 45,00 to 200,000 people are may have died as a result of the earthquake.

How You Can Help

The most important thing you can do is donate to organizations providing aid to the citizens of Haiti. You can  also use your site to motivate others to give. It takes just a few minutes to add a donation widget to your site or write a post informing your readers about how to give. Why not do both!

Doctors Without Borders is one of the organizations in the best position to provide critical medical care to those affected by this disaster. You can easily add one of their donation widgets (and/or many others) to your blog just like the one in the sidebar here by grabbing the code over at  BloggersUnite: http://www.bloggersunite.org/.

Whilst there, take  a minute to join BloggersUnite. This is one social network where you can actually do some social good.

Comments (0)

By Editor, January 2, 2010 5:26 pm

Man. Talk about “pulling teeth,” trying to get WordPress and Google Friends Connect to get along ain’t no walking the dog!

Yes, I know there are a couple of plugins out there that claim to do the job, but this business of having to create and configure special Google “canvas.html” and “rpc_relay.html” files, then place them correctly in your site root, is worse than - a root canal!

The idea behind Google Friends Connect is to allow websites which are not social networks, like this one, to afford a few member functions, most namely – data sharing, which is where Google has been swimming for a while. Control these users, and you control the Internet, they say. Maybe, we’ll see.

Anyhow, all I wanted to do, was get a functioning Google Friends Connect interface, like the friendless one here, to appear in my sidebar. (Not so subtle hint, requesting you join as my friend!)

Preventing my success, has been the WordPress file named “prototype.js”  not being compatible with the Google Friend Connect JSON code. The prototype.js (JavaScript file) is essential for WordPress sites to work correctly. I know, you can finish the big yawn now, end of geek-speak.

Friends, there is hope, and it’s an easy fix. Assuming you have already created your group over at Google Friends, follow these simple steps to create your own sidebar “widget,” no plugins or file uploads required – really!

1. From the admin. section of your Google Friends Connect, click on the “Gadgets” tab, and use the provided styler to get the desired look and size gizmo for your site. It will give you a preview, and generate the custom HTML. Once satisfied, copy the code.
2. From the admin. section of your WordPress site, go to the “Appearance” tab and select a blank “Text Widgit” for use in making your new creation. Paste the code from above in the blank text box.
3. Copy the code you see in the text box below, and paste it directly above the Google code described above.
4. Save your “work” and voila, you’re in business!

<script>
window.JSON = {
parse: function(st){
return st.evalJSON();
},
stringify: function(obj){
return Object.toJSON(obj);
}
};
</script>

That didn’t hurt, did it? And hey ‘Ma, no novacane!

Comments (0)

By Editor, December 30, 2009 12:48 am

Stunning…

Avatar, the movie and music score are OK, but I’m talking about the new act up there from Amsterdam. It’s hard not to be wowed by the likes of WIQET.

Wiqet is a new and incredibly easy to use multimedia tool designed to personalize your site. Make photo slideshows with voice or music, upload your video or make one directly with your webcam. I made the above, complete with sound in all of about three minutes!

Editing tools include the ability to zoom and rotate photos,  add voice comments, upload many types of videos, music files, and make webcam videos. You won’t need any additional software for this, and can do it all on your site, or theirs, including hosting your stuff (assuming you’re not too much of a bandwidth hog, I presume).

Verdict on this one is – get it.

www.wiqet.com

click to enthrall