When I’m creating a Wordpress them or editting one, I usually clip out snippets of coding and paste them into notepad incase I’ll need them later. You never know what you’re going to mess up or why, so it’s good to have the original coding to be able to slap back in whenever you need to. Sometimes, I want to keep that coding and saving notepad files in random places around my desktop has worked, but it’s not extremely efficient because when I save them I save them as the date I made them, and if I don’t know what the date was when I saved the clip I need.. well, you get the picture. So what I’ve started doing is saving notes in my wordpress theme. It’s easy to do without a plugin (though it’d be nice to have one).
- Open notepad and save the empty file as notepad.php
- Open your theme’s folder in FTP
- Upload the notepad.php file to the same folder as your other theme files
- Go to your Theme Editor and click on notepad.php
- Paste in your code with some guides that will explain to you what the code snippets are about
So it’s extremely easy and truly has been a life saver at times.
There’s a slight pause in content updating for a few days because I’m working on some new projects and some behind-the-scenes work on the blog.
I’m working on a design for a parenting blog, topsites, message board, and whatever else could possibly be put onto a site. A project like this will reward me with about $250 or more. This screen shot is a preview of the layout I’ve drawn up so far in Photoshop. It uses a daisy illustration and kind of reminds me of an old ad in the 70’s. Maybe not. Either way, it’s been extremely time consuming and I’m looking forward to having it finished and being about to post the result.
I’ve also been working on some things on this site. I’ve been working on the Portfolio page (which I realize is pretty empty) and I added a contact form as well. The Services page is nearly complete but I keep feeling like it’s missing something. It’s hard to sum up everything I’m capable of. I also noticed that, while I claim to be valid CSS and XHTML, my site actually wasn’t. So I’ve spent some time getting the CSS valid (yay) and now I’m working on making the site valid XHTML. You can see I crossed it out down there at the bottom. That really leaves the About page and the Order page completely untouched, but they will come in due time.
I have plans with a friend to make a new site and a few other projects, but I think the one we’re going to work on first is the site. I’m not going to say what it is because I’ve had ideas stolen before, but I’m really excited about it. She may have to design it though cuz I’m feeling a little tapped creatively.
Lastly, I’m working on plans for the first Radkitten Contest, to be held as soon as my content pages are done. I think any time before then is just wrong, why have people come to an incomplete site? So keep an eye out for that, too. I’m thinking that will start about June 21 and run through July 1. I’m really excited about that, too.
Blog content is aplenty when your blog is as new as mine, so I’d like someone to suggest a tutorial or guide or resource they’d like. I want to put up content my readers want. Please leave your suggestions in the comments.
:: I have added plugins to this list to resubmit for Thursday Thirteen 06/04/2009.
I thought it would be helpful to list the wordpress plugins I use on my own sites and tell you why. I use these plugins because they make maintaining a blog easier and therefore multiple blogs as well. Wordpress has thousands of plugins, which is why it’s my CMS of choice. There are many options out there, but Wordpress is the only one that can do anything and everything, all on the same script. If I want to open a store, create a magazine, anything I want to do is possible with Wordpress and its plugins. It makes it hard to imagine why anyone would choose anything else.
Akismet – This comes with your Wordpress blog and you should enable it right away to keep spam comments to a minimum.
Bubs Button Board – Everyone likes to get a free link, so add this to your site. Get them to come to post their own links, then get them to stay with your great design and content.
Contact Form 7 - Great contact form script with multiple forms. Very easy to use.
Clean Archives – Shows a list of your archives in a page in a clean, easy to read format.
Do Follow – I use this plugin on my personal site because I don’t really care about page rank or anything and I think it’s fair that my commenters get link credit.
FlareSmith – A plugin to match my Feedburner account with my blog.
FlickrRSS – Allows me to display my most recent Flickr photos right on my blog. They’re listed at the bottom of my sidebar.
Get Recent Comments – Allows me to show appreciation to my commenters by listing their link in my sidebar with “do follow”.
I Am Reading – Displays the book you’re currently reading, the page you’re on, and the link to buy it from your Amazon Associate account. Good little way to make some extra money.
Link Hopper – Allows you to mask outside links as links to pages on your own site. This looks good to the search engines giving your site a higher rank.
Really Simple CAPTCHA – Adds Captcha to forms on your site. Used with the contact form or on your posts.
TwitMe – Twitme posts on your Twitter when you post a new post, and also lets you post to twitter from your Wordpress admin. I have separate twitter accounts for my portfolio, my personal site, and my hosting site so this helps me manage them all without having to go crazy trying to remember which one I’m signed in to.
WP-PageNavi – Makes navigation my pages easier. Takes out the “Previous Entries” and lists them as page numbers.
I’m always looking for new, good plugins to enhance my site. If you know of any really great plugins that would be useful, please list them here.
Blogging has become extremely popular since people realized you can make money from a blog. I’m not going to hide the fact that I created this site to make money. I have the skills for web design and I enjoy doing it and I’ve always wanted to make money doing something I enjoy. But to supplement the income from the services I offer and to help reimburse me for all the free resources I’m offering, I’ve been looking for other ways to make money from my website.
I found Quick-Est.com, which is a blog that teaches you how to make money from your blog. I guess I always knew you could make money with your blog by doing paid posts, but there’s more you can do as well. The site lists a lot of information about selling advertising on your blog and how to get those advertisers. I can tell the main reason for this blog is making money, there’s ads everywhere and some obvious paid posts. I looked around for information on what kind of income he’s getting from his own blog, but I can’t find anything. Tips are tips, but I’d like to know how well they’re working for him. Regardless, you should check it out if you’re interested in making some money from your blog (probably to pay for your blog).
Jay ordered me an elliptical from Bowflex yesterday and I’m very excited. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking how great it would be to have something to do other than sit on my large bottom while I watch TV. I decided I was going to start taking better care of myself (on Mother’s Day, actually) and I decided to limit the amount of time I watch TV each day. 1 hour still feels like too much, but that’s one show. So I decided I needed an elliptical and a rule that whenever I’m watching TV, I’m working out, too.
So then I realized, ellipticals are expensive. They ranged from $300 (crap) to $3,000. I really don’t have the money or credit right now for something like this, so I’ve been putting it off. The other day a Bowflex catalog came in the mail and I found the one that was made for me. We have a Bowflex card, so we jumped on it. They also had free shipping and a free gift (if you add $19 shipping) that includes a towel, a yoga mat, a heart rate monitor watch, push up bars, and an exercise ball – all for just $999 (or $15/mo on Bowflex card). I really feel like I got a good deal on this.
I’m always a little weary of buying things I can’t experience first, but I did read some reviews and everyone gave it either 4 or 5 stars. I feel a bit more confident about that.
Exercise is so important when you have a job that can put you in a chair for 12 hours straight. I think this was the best option for me to help keep up with my fitness goals while also keeping up with my productivity goals. I cleaned up my office and I have a nice space for it when it arrives. Hopefully, that’ll be soon.
My name is Amy, and I've been creating and designing websites for 10 years. I live
in the lowcountry of South Carolina where there is plenty of natural inspiration. 
