Using WordPress for Blackberry

I’m typing this on WordPress for Blackberry. If you see any grammatical mistakes, you’ll have to excuse me. I really am glad that this app was developed. For someone who is always on the go, its a great way to blog while still runnin about.

Setup:

The setup wasn’t so bad. I installed it from the Blackberry App World. After I rebooted my phone, I added this blog, and my personal one. At first, I could see my blogs, but I couldn’t add any new posts. I refreshed them, and tada! There they were. As we speak, I’m downloading the new version.

Using It:

Using it is easy. Its like being on a miniature-sized computer that I have to type using its mini keyes. You can add video, photos, and audio. Of course, typing on a real computer is easier and more comfortable, but it’s better to have blogged than never to have blogged at all.

Be Warned:

I’m going to use WordPress for Blackberry more often. One thing people don’t tell you is that as a parent, you are constantly standing around. Now, Ill be standing around and blogging. I’m actually doind this at the airport while I wait to be boarded.

Happy Blogging Everyone!

Three WordPress Syntax Plugins to Show Code Snippets On Your Blog

If you are writing a blog post about coding, you sometimes have to show examples of the code, so that readers know what you are referring to. However, if you have WordPress and try to add code to a blog post, you will notice that the code you have entered disappears. You might be at a loss on what you can do to resolve this problem, and I have the answer. Here are three WordPress plugins that will allow you to add syntax without any issues:

1.WP-Syntax Plugin

WP-Syntax supports a variety of programming languages that you can display on your blog posts with ease. For example, if I am discussing how to modify something in WordPress, and I want to add a php code string, all I need to do is

If it’s another language that you want to display other than PHP, you just need to replace the name in the double quotations to the desired language. For instance, if you want XML, just change it to

To color code the code snippets so readers can differentiate between it and normal text, you can modify the WP-Syntax plugin. There is also a WP Syntax Colorizer plugin that extends the WP-Syntax plugin and makes it easier to modify the color coding. It’s very easy to use, and it changes the color of the code snippet, so it is visibly different than your normal text. Note:If you have a blog with different contributors with different user roles, you might have to install a Role Manager plugin. It might give users without Administrator privileges some issues.

2. Google Syntax Highlighter for WordPress

Google Syntax plugin works very similar to the WP-Syntax plugin. The only difference is that the syntax is slightly different. The coding works like this:

If you want to color code the snippet, then you would need to install the SyntaxHighlighter. The only thing with the Google Syntax plugin is that you might have to add Javascript, if you want some of your code snippets to be viewed properly. This is done by adding:

3.  Syntax Highlighter WordPress

As the other two plugins, the Syntax Highlighter WordPress plugin allows an easy way to highlight code snippets. It supports different programming languages that can be viewed easily on any post. The format is

Unlike the other two, the Syntax Highlighter WordPress plugin does not need any other plugins that need to be installed. You can use it on its own.

These are the three best WordPress plugins to use to show code snippets. Now you don’t have to worry about creating images or placing comment brackets around them, so they are viewed properly. Which is your favorite sytnax plugin to use?

The 30 WordPress Plugins that I Use on My Blog

Every WordPress user probably has a couple of plugins that they use to enhance their blog/site, be it on the back-end or front-end.  Here are the 30 WordPress plugins that I currently use on my blog.  Are there any that you use that I didn’t list?

1.  Akismet – Akismet is a must-have plugin if you want to have extra spam protection.

Version 2.2.6 | By Matt Mullenweg | Visit plugin site

2.  All in One SEO Pack – The All In One SEO Pack plugin is a great way to add SEO to your blog/site without having to be a SEO expert.

Version 1.6.8.1 | By Michael Torbert | Visit plugin site

3.  CommentLuv – CommentLuv provides a way for your blog commenters to show their last blog post.  I’ve talked to some people who say that this is a way to have readers leave your blog, but I think it’s a great way to help your fellow bloggers out.

Version 2.7.63 | By Andy Bailey | Visit plugin site

4.  Easy Contact – Easy Contact provides an easy way to add a comment form on your blog/site.

Version 0.1.2 β | By Scott Allan Wallick | Visit plugin site

5. FD Feedburner Plugin – The FD Feedburner plugin helps to redirect your feed to your Feedburner feed

Version 1.41 | By John Watson | Visit plugin site

6. flickrRSS – The flickrRSS plugin allows you to beautify your blog/site by adding Flickr images.

Version 5.1 | By Dave Kellam and Stefano Verna | Visit plugin site

7. Front-end Editor – I love this plugin.  The Front-end Editor lets you edit your blog posts directly on the page without having to access the WordPress admin dashboard.

Version 1.5.1 | By scribu | Visit plugin site

8.  Google Analytics for WordPress – For Google Analytics users, this plugin is a must have.

Version 3.2.4 | By Joost de Valk | Visit plugin site

9. JS-Kit Echo – I decided to use JS-Kit’s Echo commenting system after receiving no response from Disqus on issues I had after I changed domains.  I must say that I love it.  I plan on writing more about Echo in a future blog post.

Version 2.2.0 | By js-kit.com | Visit plugin site

10. MediaRSS – I use this so the image I use in my blog posts can show up on RSS readers.

Version 1.1.4 | By Andy Skelton | Visit plugin site

11. MobilePress – MobilePress is a great plugin so that your blog/site can be mobile-phone friendly.

Version 1.1 | By Aduity | Visit plugin site

12.  Most Commented – Plugin to retrieve your posts with the most comments.

Version 1.6 | By Nick Momrik | Visit plugin site

13. Official StatCounter Plugin – I have been using StatCounter for years.  This plugin allows you to enter your StatCounter information without having to mess with code.

Version 1.0 | By Aodhan Cullen | Visit plugin site

14. Recent Comments – Retrieves a list of the most recent comments.

Version 1.18 | By Nick Momrik | Visit plugin site

15. Recent Posts – Returns a list of the most recent posts.

Version 1.1.3 | By Nick Momrik | Visit plugin site

16. Redirection – Manages 301 redirects and monitors 404 errors

Version 2.1.24 | By John Godley | Visit plugin site

17. RSS Cloud – RSS Cloud plugin pings RSS Cloud servers

Version 0.4.1 | By Joseph Scott

18. SEO Friendly Images – Automatically adds alt and title attributes to all your images.

Version 2.4.4 | By Vladimir Prelovac | Visit plugin site

19. SEO Slugs – Removes common words like ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘in’ from post slugs to improve SEO.

Version 1.0 | By Andrei Mikrukov | Visit plugin site

20.  Shared Items Post – Plugin that works to show your Google Reader Shared Items.  I only use it once a month, but you can change the frequency to whatever you like.

Version 1.3.0 | By Craig Fifield, Google Tutor | Visit plugin site

21. The WordPress Bar – This plugin adds a navigation bar to external links.  Very similar to the DiggBar.

Version 0.6.2 | By Anthony Montalbano | Visit plugin site

22. TweetMeme Retweet Button – TweetMeme plugin to show your retweets and allow your readers to tweet your blog posts.

Version 1.7.2 | By TweetMeme | Visit plugin site

23. Tweet Stats – Plugin that allows you to show your most tweeted posts and your most recently tweeted posts.

Version 1.0 | By Improving The Web | Visit plugin site

24. WordPress Related Posts – Plugin that generates related posts at the bottom of each blog post.

Version 1.1.1 | By Denis | Visit plugin site

25. WP-PageNavi – Adds a more advanced paging navigation to your WordPress blog.

Version 2.50 | By Lester ‘GaMerZ’ Chan | Visit plugin site

26. WP SUP – Adds the SUP-ID HTTP header to your site’s feed and pings FriendFeed’s public SUP feed.

Version 1.1 | By Derek van Vliet | Visit plugin site

27. WP Super Cache – Helps with your blog’s caching

Version 0.9.8 | By Donncha O Caoimh | Visit plugin site

28. WP Widget Cache – Goes alongside the WP Super Cache plugin.  Helps cache the output of your blog widgets.

Version 0.25.2 | By Andrew Zhang | Visit plugin site

29.  Zemanta – Zemanta helps you find related images, links, and content without lifting a finger.

Version 0.6.3 | By Zemanta Ltd. | Visit plugin site

30. Google XML Sitemaps – Generates a XML sitemap of your blog

Version 3.2 | By Arne Brachhold | Visit plugin site

Three Ways to Stop Copying Other People’s Writing and Images

The Internet has made plagiarism as easy as pressing Copy + Paste.  I was reading the forum of one of my LinkedIn forums when I came across a post labeled “Attention All Bloggers – Read At Once!”  Mike Clough wrote how someone had copied his post for word-for-word, and had even taken his images. Here is what he said:

“A terrible thing happened to me last week. After being really excited about the popularity of a post I made to my blog (the most views ever by 300%) I began to research why I had such a great response. Unfortunately, I found something that really upset me. It had absolutely nothing to do with the popularity of the post but it did cause me to take action. I found that another blogger had ripped off my post word for word (even the graphic I used) and posted it on his blog without even giving me credit or links back to my blog. Upon further investigation, I found that every post on his blog was ripped off from some other blog. Not a single one of them was his own. Over the next view days I learned a lot. I learned this is a very common practice (it is probably happening to you as well if you are a blogger) and I learned how to get the plagiarized copy removed from the offending site.”

Even though I know that this is rampant on the web, I never really thought that this could happen to me.  Usually I hear people talking about images, but never actual blog posts.  After reading this, I looked through WordPress plugins and found one called “Copy Alerts” to find one that scans the Internet, and if it finds one that is similar to your post, it will shoot you an email.

If you are going to use someone’s post or his/her image, all you have to do is one of the following things:

1. Shoot him/her email.  You never know.  All you probably have to do is trackback to the original post or image.
2. Use APA style for citing sources.  You can do like I did above.  Put quotation around it, italicize it, and link to the person who said it.
3. If you need images, go to Flickr.  There are plenty of images that have the “Blog This” option.

It’s time that we stop taking other people’s work.  They spent their time and energy to develop something that they are proud of.  More often than not, all you have to do is ask.  If there is a chance that the person says no, there is usually another post or image that the person will probably say “yes.”

It’s like my mother always taught me.

“Treat others the way you want to be treated.”