Secret Key for Wordpress Blogs

I’ve been hearing that some blogs are getting “hacked.” I’m still in the process os understanding how a blog can be hacked (there are numerous ways). I think it is a heinous thing to do, but the perpetrators always get away with it. As I dig deeper into the Wordpress forums (about as exciting as perusing a life insurance quote), I’ll be sure to let you know what I discover.

I did find this handy little tip: set up a Secret Key for your Wordpress blog. If you are computer-challeneged, this might be something you’d want to skip or get help with. You DO NOT want to go tinkering around with your php files if you don’t know what you’re doing!! But for those of you who are experienced, this may prove a worthy exercise.

Like I said, I’ll be posting more about all these things in days to come. Until then– blog safely and BACK UP YOUR BLOG on a regular basis!

A Fun and Easy Business Card Maker

Here’s a really fun website for those of you interested in business cards. It’s LogoYes and it has got to be the simplest and easiest site I’ve seen for making your own business cards. These days, everybody seems to want to be promoting something (can be either your business or your blog– anything, really). I’ve had 250 cards printed up for my travel blog, to leave at museums and to give to curious onlookers, lol.

Anyway, LogoYes has a huge selection of classy templates and fonts. I loved the Adirondack-looking mountain logo design. I could do all sorts of things with the software. I tinkered around a little.

Wow, I LOVE that design! Doesn’t the card ooze class and style?

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to create the card. You can see the card-creating interface in the photos above. The website uses a Flash-based software to create the design, which made it very interactive, like a game. Making changes and going back to alter text was extremely easy.

It is very important that logo designs do not lose detail when you make the text/images smaller. LogoYes met that standard; the mountain design looked great whether I enlarged it or diminished it. I was impressed.

This is a great site for the do-it-yourselfer desktop publisher! Prices are affordable; business cards are definitely an investment, so you want to choose your card style wisely. You can try out the stuff for yourself– the site offers a free demo. Have fun!

Another Coupon Site!

I’ve found another great coupon site for your Frugal Hacks out there! It’s called Coupon Money– click here for online coupons. I love the assortment. There are even coupons for Amazon, PetSmart, Overstock, and Staples. Check it out. Remember what Mrs. Mecomber always says: never shop online without checking for online coupons first! Why pay more when all you need is a coupon or promo code to save?

Handy Word Count Tool

Have a blog and need to keep track of your word count? Or, if you are like my daughter, do you tend to write 5,000 words for a 1,000 word essay and need to keep track, lol? I found a handy little online tool called the Word Count Tool. It’s free to use. It’s an online software program. Just copy and paste your words into the box, and click “submit.” Pretty handy. And it’s a lot less weighty than having to copy and paste your words into a bulky program like Microsoft Word or Open Office.

In other news, I haven’t been blogging to this blog much, and I’m sorry! I have a lot on my plate right now. And now that spring is here, the gardens have been calling me. But I’ll be popping in from time to time, giving links to the latest cool promotional products, free software, and security news. I also hope to keep posting my tutorials regularly.

Remember, if you have a geeky question, always feel free to ask. Use the “Contact Me” link at the top. I will try my best to get back to you.

How to Capture a Screenshot

I was asked to explain how one captures a screenshot of your computer desktop. Believe it or not, it is extremely easy! And very fun.

Simultaneously press “ctrl” and “PRTSC/SYSRQ” on your keyboard. This essentially copies what’s on your desktop to your clipboard. What’s needed now is how to paste your copied content into a document. This is where things get varied, because not everyone has the same software.

The most basic graphic program is Paint. It’s not terribly sophisticated, but it will do the job. You can also download a plethora of free editing programs, like Irfanview or Paint.NET. I have a tutorial on using Irfanview here, and I have written something up about making small thumbnails here. You can find Irfanview for free by doing a search at download.com.

I use PaintShopPro, because I like to crop my graphics. Irfanview does not crop images, but it does resize them. Paint and Paint.NET do crop images; they resize images but I think Irfanview does a better job with resizing.

OK, so I’ll just tell you what I do, and you can choose your software program and take it from there.

I make a copy of my desktop image. I then crop the image so I only get what I want in the photo. Then I resize the image to, usually, about 180 width (about how wide my sidebars in my blog are). I then sharpen the image for clarity.

Then, I upload my little graphic to Photobucket. They have a cute little editing program, too. I use this to build a picture frame around my graphic, and I save it like that. And this is what I wind up with:

As always, if you have any questions, leave a comment or email me via the contact form, and I’ll try my best to answer your questions in a timely manner.

Journyx for Businesses

Have a small business? The Internet is now booming with entrepreneurs. I am one! It is only natural that services and products would pop up for small businesspeople. I have a whopping one employee (me!), but if your business is a little, ahem, bigger, you probably have need of some timesheet software. Please don’t tell me you are writing things in little books with pencils, still! Welcome to the world of online time and expense software!

You may want to consider Journyx Timesheet. It’s a premier timesheet and expense management product for businesses, small and great. With it, you can bill for services, track absenses, manage employee timesheets, employee expenses, manage customer invoicing and payroll, and more! It’s a pretty handy-dandy piece of software! It’s gotten good reviews from U.S. News & World Report and Canadian Technology News. Their website has
Timesheet success stories to peruse. There’s a free trial available, too.

SmartFTP Tutorials

Do you have your own blog on your own domain, or manage a website? I have to admit, for a long time I was in the dark about ftp and such. I actually am still learning the ropes, after finally taking the leap into my own domain several months ago. I use a variety of ftp programs, but tend to like SmartFTP more than FileZilla. For the longest time, I had no idea what I was doing! a lot of what I have learned has been trial and error. Emphasis on the error, lol.

I found, by pure accident, some excellent tutorials for SmartFTP users. They are flash movies, and are really good. So if you use SmartFTP, or are even desiring to learn the ropes of ftp, these tutorials may help; they are here.

Window Shopping

Looking for window coverings? I found an outstanding company that sells discount window blinds and more. I’m very impressed with the quality of the website. I don’t know about you, but when I did my first several online shopping transactions (ten years ago now!) I was quaking more than a bowl of jelly! It seemed so unreal, typing in my credit card information to buy something I couldn’t tangibly touch or see. After ten years of online purchases, I have never been disappointed. I am more and more impressed with the convenience and safety of buying things online. Of course, I am always looking for reputable, quality companies and I go back to them.

ShadesShuttersBlinds.com has an excellent website. They even have a telephone number and a blog! Talk about customer service! Plus, they have a terrific selection of cheap mini blinds and a gorgeous shade design selection. The Roman shades are exquisite. Roman shades are my favorite. I cannot sew them very well, so I’ve been on the lookout for some good deals. Aren’t these beautiful?

The company will even mail out little sections of fabric for the customer to see it and feel it. Such incredible customer service is unsurpassed, in my opinion- wow! The blinds are also American made.

The blog is very informative. I am in the middle of a huge renovation project on my house, so I have been keen to websites that offer quality products and information. The blog is very readable, and mentions upcoming sales, too.

The Internet has opened up a huge “window” (haha) of opportunity for us. We can literally buy things “wholesale” and at deep discounts, whereas years ago we were at the mercy of the middleman retailer and his “sales.” Finding a quality company is notable. Check out ShadesShuttersBlinds.com if you are in the market for affordable and beautiful window coverings, or check out their blog for information. This is an excellent company, and they will be receiving my business in the future. I’ve gotta get those walls and windows up first, however!

exp. 6/11

Capture A Frame From Your Video

It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while– I have a video and I just want to capture one frame (that, and buy a huge lcd monitor, but that’s for another day!). Up until now, I haven’t seen any free software for this. But I came across something called Virtual Dub. My Online Discoveries has done an excellent review with screenshots, and I don’t think I can improve on it.

Basically, this little software program slices and segments still photos from your video files, and you can view them within a file. The program looks good, and is in my “programs to download” list. If you try it and like it, let me know!

Lazy!

Oh I am so bad! I haven’t updated this blog in quite a while! I do try to blog a post at least every other day on all my blogs. I’ve been very busy with spring’s arrival, and a few other blog-building projects. I’ve got some things bookmarked that I want to discuss, and I also have several reviews coming up. And I bought a new printer that I absolutely love! I’ll have more on that very soon.

A Review of IZEA’s SocialSpark

I’ve been a member of IZEA’s PayPerPost for several months now. The experience with the IZEA community has been nothing short of wonderful. Not only have I made dozens upon dozens of new friends, learned more about the art and science of blogging and web design, and honed my writing skills, I’ve been getting paid for writing opportunities (opps, in the IZEA lingo) while enjoying the community!

SocialSpark is the latest release from this extremely innovative company. It’s been their baby for many months, and they were quick to release it and open it to bloggers and advertisers alike. I’d seen many “behind the scene” videos that detailed the development and the woes of deadlines, technical problems, and exhilaration of this new idea. So, my history with SocialSpark goes back a little ways.

I love IZEA. Do I love SocialSpark? Yes! with a few reservations. I joined SocialSpark in early April. The website, while beautiful and loaded with goodies, is slow and confusing to navigate. I’m trying to be fair and not compare it too much to the minimal PayPerPost experience. I very much like the ease of using the PayPerPost website, so I found the SocialSpark design a shock– a lot like culture shock, lol!

Navigating SocialSpark is difficult. A lot of computer newbies have found it somewhat painful to use. Just to get to my inbox of messages or view opps, I have to click a series of links. It would be a great improvement to redesign the site slightly, with fewer clicks, more options, and many more shortcuts. Right now, the cumbersome design and elongated chain of clicks is a large hurdle that dampens the glitzy SocialSpark experience. But don’t take me wrong– SocialSpark is still very navigable. I’ve been spending a few weeks at the site and can now say I’m becoming comfortable with the site.

Also, there’s a definite learning curve to SocialSpark, with its own unique language– queue, opps, sparks, props. It’s not for the faint of heart! However, IZEA has one of the best– nay, THE best– public forums I have ever seen. The IZEA boards have been my lifeline to understanding everything there is to know about IZEA, and more. And I’ve made a good many very dear friends there. The community is the best blogging community I’ve ever had the pleasure of joining. So that makes the annoying problems sting a little less. So overall, I believe SocialSpark is sorely lacking when it comes to intuitive navigation. But SocialSpark is truly still developing, and there are a lot of things still on the table. And that takes us to the very beauty of SocialSpark. Just the fact that I can offer my input and they will listen to it is what makes you say WOW about SocialSpark.

SocialSpark is exactly what the word means– it’s social. It was created to be a conglomerate mega-pool of users, bloggers and advertisers alike, to share ideas, create ideas, listen, and be listened to. You can create a profile (see mine) and make friends- even with advertisers! You can send and receive messages, share and write non-sponsored opps called “sparks” to get the word out (or to use as an impetus for a bad case of writer’s block)! SocialSpark is the big boy in the social networking neighborhood, kind of like a networked Starbucks. You converse, hash out ideas, and enjoy the refreshments with others. I love SocialSpark for this, and especially for bridging the vast desert land that had existed between blogger and advertiser.

SocialSpark is still a tween, in my opinion. It’s not quite full grown, and is still budding. There are some bugs to be worked out and of course there are tweaks needed to make it more friendly (better clickability and better linking). But I think these will all be resolved. And judging by the incredible support by the people at IZEA and the community in general, I think SocialSpark will absolutely shine in the near future. If you are interested in joining, I highly recommend it.

this review is sponsored by SocialSpark

A Review of A Blessed Life

Boy, reviewing blogs is fun. I am discovering so many great new blogs that I otherwise wouldn’t ever see. A Blessed Life is a very, very cute little blog. It’s kept by Sheila, a Kansas wife and mom who has one adorable son and is expecting another. The little boy is the silent center of the blog (he, uh, doesn’t post anything yet). His cute photos and his presence are detectable all over the blog. Judging by the comments, A Blessed Life is popular with other mommies of little babes.

About the design: it’s a typical Blogger design (”dots” is it?) but it has three-columns. So I assume it is not one of the basic Blogger templates, but a revised theme. The background is very dark and the font so small that it emits a moody atmosphere. This seems at variance with the perky baby in the sidebar. It’s just too dark for me! I suggest a different theme or brightening the room. It would be cute if Sheila could find a baby nursery type of theme, or make one herself. The blog is difficult to read because it is so dark and moody.

Also, the posts, which are rich in content, suffer from what I call “Stream of Consciousness Formatting.” in other words, the content of the post is all in one huge paragraph, with no visual break. Here’s an example, if I may:

Feb. 3, 2008 Sunday- My husband called from Florida and little Noah wanted to get the phone from me. As soon as i handed the phone over to him, he said “dada”. I asked my husband if he heard it, he said “no”. Maybe because he was talking to him at the same time. So, I gave the phone back to Noah. He said “dada” again” then “dade” the third time. It surely made his Daddy’s day. We had been watching Baby Mozart a hundred of times this weekend as if it’s the only show on earth. There’s a part where the green snake would say “Blah”. Noah, as soon as he saw the snake, said “aaaah” in a growling way just like how the snake said “blah”. It was funny coz he surely knows it’s coming. Noah has been doing a lot of discovery with his toys. Whenever his toy phone rings, he would give it to me then I would pretend his friend Marky from the daycare was calling him. I would give it back to him and he would say “hi” or just blab. He knows what Cheerios are this time. Yesterday, I said Cheerios and he looked at the top of the cabinet where his Cheerios are located. This morning, it’s fascinating coz he gave me his little book of numbers. I counted and pointed to him 1 kite, 2 pancakes, then 3 balloons. As soon as he heard the 3 balloons, he turned his back and looked at the 3 balloons I got for my birthday few weeks ago. He even stood up and compared the balloons on the book to the real balloons. It’s amazing how his thought process is working at this age. Last Thursday, he was eating his Cheerios form his toy box and the big cow was at his back. he manaeged to sit on it while eating and without me telling or helping him to get on it. He knows how to put his toys in his box. He is just so amazing. He is getting smarter as the day passes. There was a loud thunder this morning and he cried. He got scared. Of course, mommy comforted him immediately. He already knows how to share. Whenever we say “share mommy”, or share daddy”, he would raise his hand and put food into our mouth. Last Friday, it was funny coz he stood behind his kyeboard and started playing it wit his butt. He was having fun doing it. Wish i took a video of that. Baby Kaeden, our soon-to-be-born baby had been kicking last Friday. I felt his kicks when I placed my hand on my tummy while lying on bed. I had been feeling him move the past few days (as if there’s a goldfish swimming inside me ), but had not really felt it with my hand. This time it was real. Can’t wait to see and hold him in my arms. Thank you. Lord, for another baby.

OK, that’s all in one paragraph. That’s much too tedious and takes too much effort to read. Break things down. I was a mom of little babies, too (I had 3 under age three for a while), so I know how hyper one can get! Take a breath, Sheila! LOL.

Now don’t take this too hard. The posts are really interesting to read. But the format makes them too hard to read. Only friends and grandmothers are going to stay that long to slog through the lack of readability. And that’s fine if that’s all you want to read your blog. But if you want people to come back and read your content, the design must encourage it. The cluttered posts, coupled with small font and a very dark background, will repel more readers than draw them in. The posts are interesting– the one about the tornado warning was absolutely gripping– so there’s a lot to work for. Of course, young moms don’t always have the time to reconfigure their blogs! There are free Blogger templates out there; consider looking around. Pay attention to other people’s blogs as you surf, too.

The sidebars are rich in content and display Sheila’s personality. I like that in a blog. The sidebar content is balanced. But again, the font is so tiny! And there is no header at the top. this actually isn’t necessary, as long as you have a very clear indication of your blog’s title and it’s general description somewhere at the top. Here, the title is in the sidebar above the profile, which is OK, but it is dull and not very reader-friendly.

So overall, A Blessed Life has a lot going for it! I’m sure the posts will continue to be very entertaining in the unique way that having a houseful of children will provide! Put more effort into the blog design and watch this blog shine.

A Review of A Hand Me Down Life Blog

Thanks to Entrecards, I’m becoming very familiar with the multitudes of bloggers out there! I’ve visited A Hand Me Down Life several times dropping Entrecards, and have become familiar with it before I even considered reviewing it.

The very first thing that I notice is the dark colors of the blog. I have to wonder if this theme reflects Sue’s  blogger personality. The theme is a little drab, although it has a FANTASTIC Javascript capability with the Archive page. I wish all themes had that! But the theme is dry and uninteresting. Also, some of the sidebar content spills out into the background, and it looks sloppy.

The Twitters are at the top, then the search bar, categories, and the recent posts. Then there is some colorful content (the MyBlogLog widget, blogroll, Entrecard widget, etc). The Energy PopMeter splays out beyond the sidebar. The button and badges are unevenly spaced. I use Firefox browser, so perhaps this is a browser issue…. but the blog gives the immediate impression of a poorly-designed theme and not much effort. It looks unprofessional.

However, Sue, don’t lose heart! These things are very easily remedied. It is the CONTENT of a blog that really matters. The posts are thoughtful, and some are downright fun. I LOVED seeing the rubber claws for the cats, lol! (Wouldn’t the cats eat them off?!) and I loved the Nippy Deviled Eggs recipe, mmm. Plus, a week ago I’d read the post I’ve Always Wanted to Start My Own Militia, and thought it was a wonderfully creative way to write that opp. So there’s a ton of creativity just bursting to come out, but unless a reader is very persistent, it’s hard to get past that boring theme and delve deeper. The theme functions well; I suppose Sue could even keep the basic theme and tweak it. A lot. If she knows coding. A new header, a wider sidebar or small widgets, a different background, better title fonts… it can be done, if ya know how and have the time. But then again, there are loads of themes out there that would require less work…

Another few things– there’s no little button for an RSS Feed. That’s a very important feature on a blog now. And it needs more personality, like Flickr photos, or ??? or something. This is a personal blog, so it needs more things that make it personal. Consider adding some content that will let the reader know more about you and your likes and dislikes. I’d sure like to know more!

I look forward to seeing this blog develop. It’s still relatively young, so there’s a lot of growing space. And I’ll be back tomorrow, to drop my Entrecard and read the latest post!

Free Animation Program

I haven’t tried this out yet, but it looked so interesting and I have some readers who love graphic design that I thought I’d give you a heads up on this. There’s a little 3D modeling and animation program available for download called the Anim8tor. It looks really nice! I’ll bet kids would have a blast with it. The author says it’s not “professional” grade, but it’s free and it looks like a ton of fun. He put a lot of time into it and I think it’s great when developers offer their creations for free.

There’s texture support for bump maps, soft shadows, spotlights, fog, and more, for graphic files such as .BMP, .GIF, and .JPG formats. It looks like a great beginner’s tool. I know my young son, who loves creating graphics on the computer, would love this. I intend to download it and try it out. Soon. I hope. My son has a math book to finish, and that’s really the only reason why I haven’t tried it yet! LOL.

One quick reminder: when you download files–any files but especially executable files like those that run programs– always be sure to run a scan through your anti-virus. and always make sure your anti-virus is updated. Almost all software is safe, but it definitely pays to check and double-check. hotel deals are nice to have, but you don’t want them popping up in browser pop-ups, all over the place, because you didn’t scan and now you have spyware! Be sure to always scan your files.

Blogger New Feature

I’ve pulled away from Blogger for the most part (at least for the blogs I monetize), but I do still have a few blogs with them, and I do still pay attention to what they are doing. The latest feature just released is the ability to pre-schedule posts. Wordpress has had this feature for a long time, and I’m glad to see Blogger take it on. It’s a wonderful feature, and I use it a lot with Wordpress. This is from their news release post:

Scheduled post publishing, which we talked about testing on Blogger in draft last month, is now live for everyone. If you set a post’s date into the future, Blogger will wait to publish until that time comes.

Have you ever wanted to announce something on a certain date but knew you wouldn’t be at a computer to make a post? Or you wanted to keep posting regularly but knew you’d be on vacation for a few weeks? Scheduled post publishing is here to help you out.

There are a few extra steps to take for “bumping” posts, but anything is an improvement here.

I kind of lost repect for Blogger after hearing that Google was arbitrarily deleting or suspending accounts they didn’t feel were “worthy.” Sure, some sites were probably spam– I’ve come across a lot of them– but not all of them were! If you had a harmless blog about the wonders of wood shutters and dared to monetize your blog without Google’s AdSense, you risked deletion. With a week after I heard about Google’s actions, I hopped on over to Bluehost web hosting and Wordpress. The transfer from Blogger to Wordpress was agonizing, but the risk of losing a year’s worth of posts just because I monetize my blogs was too great.

Anyway, Blogger is introducing new features every few months, it seems. They are doing a good job of keeping up with the big dogs. And Blogger is a terrific place for a beginner blogger. Plus, it’s still FREE!

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