:: 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.
Why does Radkitten have a default wordpress theme up?
I’ve decided to go a different direction with this site, so I’m working on cleaning it up to make room so things will work with the new design I’ve put up. The stupid thumbnails I had before and the excertps were getting in the way. So please come back in a few days to see the new, improved Radkitten website.
EDIT1:// Incase this looks weird while I work, I wanted to let you know I’m moving all the posts around to it into new categories. Just really, ignore all this. Leave a comment on this entry and I’ll let you know when the site’s finished. Seriously, comment then leave.
EDIT2:// You know what? Why am I even doing this? Who cares if 2-3 people stop in while I’m working? I’m taking off the Theme Test Drive and I’ll just be working on the new template as is. I hope you all like it. It was really nice to have a plugin that was capable of allowing me to view and edit while everyone else saw something else.
With money being so tight lately, I’ve been looking online for new opportunities. I was thinking it would make sense to create an online business for things people need, they’ll stop buying the things they want before they’ll stop buying the things they need. But what can I offer?
One of the things I hadn’t really thought of was investing. Taking tips from Market Outbox I’ve been looking into investing into products people need and will continue to need for time to come. Not only that, assuming the economy will gain momentum again (as it always does) I want to look toward the future and put money into something that’s currently low, but sure to make it through this recession. Another idea is to invest in foreign trades, but personally I don’t feel right doing that because I think we need to keep as much of our money local as possible.
When cutting costs it’s important to remember that you want to try not to give up more quality than you have to. If you can get the same service for a cheaper price, such as satellite TV or webhosting, you’ll have to read reviews and decide if those lower costs mean less or nonexistant customer service and a lot more downtime. < lists some ways to cut costs while hopefully maintaining the level of service you’re used to. But beware, some of his recommendations may be biased based on payment or services he’s received in exchange.
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. 
