5 plugins every new WordPress blog needs
Installing WordPress is just the first step for starting a successful blog. Sure you could simply set it up and start posting, but I rely on a few plugins for optimizing every WordPress blog I run. These plugins will make your life easier, save you potential headaches down the road, and optimize your blog for search. Continue Reading »
$100 Google AdWords Credit Giveaway
Who wants a $100 credit for Google AdWords? I received a promo code in the mail yesterday, but it’s only valid if you don’t already have an existing AdWords account. Since I do, it’s no good to me, so I thought I’d give it away to one of my readers. Continue Reading »
Adding A Google Buzz Share Button To Your WordPress Blog
There’s a great little tutorial over at on how to add a Google Buzz share button to your WordPress Blog.
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Optimizing your images for Google and SEO
Image optimization for SEO is something that often gets overlooked in website optimization. There are a number of simple techniques you can apply to your images to make them easier for Google and other search engines to find. Therefore, improving the overall optimization of your website for search.
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Open Source Bridge: Day 1
I arrived down in Portland last night for the conference. Check below for my summaries on some of the sessions I attended. Here’s a blurb on what Open Source Bridge is all about:
“Open Source Bridge is a new conference for developers working with open source technologies and for people interested in learning the open source way. It’s not a typical technical conference.
Here’s what makes it different: It’s entirely volunteer-run, by developers, for developers. This is the conference you’ve always wanted to attend. Session tracks are technology agnostic, based instead around shared community experiences and focused on similarities between projects, not differences. The geekery doesn’t end when the sessions do. There will also be a 24-hour hacker lounge for code sprints, bug bashes, session deep dives, bouncing ideas, starting new projects or just mingling and taking in the vibe.”
Microblogging with Laconica
is an open source microblogging platform. Founder, Evan Prodromou, gave straight forward presentation on what Laconica is and some of the things you can do with it. I left the session feeling excited about this software, and I’m looking forward to downloading it and playing around with it on my server.
Laconica is written in PHP and relies on MySql for the database end of things. Jabber is supported for IM, OpenID for authentication, and twitter integration that allows you to pass information back and forth. Currently they’re working on integration with Facebook and a paid, hosted service for the near future. This is definitely a piece of software to keep your eyes on.
Getting started in free and open source
This was a good intro to open source presented by Cat Allman and Leslie Hawthorne from Google. They touched on joining your first project, discussion etiquette, and general info about open source for newbies like myself. I’m going to write a more detailed post on this session in the near future. For now, I’ll leave you with this link of interest. is a great resource for your first open source project – from concept to completion.
Free Form Generator with Google Docs
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe is a fairly new free service being offered by Google. It’s a web-based word processor and spreadsheet service. However, the best feature is that it allows you to create free web forms for use on your website! Check it out at .
14 Free Tools For Analyzing Why People Leave Your Website
There’s a great list of over at .
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