Tag: Wordpress

How I started with Blogging

A friend asked me how I started blogging few days back. All of sudden, it ignited a lot of memories from past. Memories of how this all started, memories of how I tried to matured with, memories of my stupidity once and memories of really many remarkable things of my life. But still in place of giving credits of this article to those memories, I would like give the credits to my favourite blogger Deep Ganatra. (I know, he might be a bit surprised if know about it as we kind of didn’t mixed well, when it was the last time and I was arrogant and kiddish kind of or could say, was in Evil Techniques of Blog Promotions.). So, It’s kind of dedicated to him and to let him know that I admire him (even if weren’t reading him in past too much, will read from now on).

Before having the blog on WordPress.com itself, I was just experimenting with FreeWebs.com with the experimental site. In those days, I was naive enough about these blogging and even writing things. I was used to write my diaries and poetries in those days, but wasn’t much aware about blogging in those days. I was reading in Allahabad University and it was kind of outdated enough to know about such stuffs. Friends anchoring me into technology world were Ram Kinkar Pandey, Manoj Narayan Tripathi and internet provided by MNNIT, Allahabad (Younger Brother’s Hostel).

The first reason to come up with a blog was Indian Idol 2 and the day for the first article was 22nd March 2006. Just one day before of the same, I came to meet an amazing online friend from other country. This friendship lasted for next two years and still back there with many good memories with it.

Writing; it was started in just fun as I was working for IIIT-Allahabad in those days, was having good speed internet all day long, much of spare time, I took Indian Idol as a subject and over time, as people started to hit me, I started hitting back and I come to know that it was in me somewhere. Those days and now, I am still learning a thing or two everyday about blogging and this online world, though life gone on a much busy track with lots of responsibility of work life and personal life.

Now, coming toward the same point, from where I started; Deep Ganatra. If I keep some target in my mind about my blogging, then it would be him. Recently, I have been in some details with his blog and got to feel a few similarities between us. May be we are different phases of time/ maturity/ life, but I should look into his words for some guidance. After all, now days, I am loosing things kind of anchoring.

First thing, I am reading from him is about SEO and other comments were like over lengthy CV etc. Still I should say, I am not following all of them :P, but I think, I am starting kind of makeup stuff between. I regard him like a big brother.

If I write, then I could write much on this topic, but making myself stopped here keeping someone’s comments in mind.

How to make a Website from WordPress

This time the target was to work out a complete website out of WordPress and although I had seen many websites based on WordPress, but I was not been into details ever and neither in any more touch with all HTML, CSS etc now days. More than the information itself, it was all about imagination. Even if, I was having sort of a view about what I am trying to make, the challenge was to map the same with the restrictive environment of WordPress.

I am not expecting anyone to learn from this article that “How to make A Website out of WordPress” by this website, as my approach was kind of naïve and nursery kid’s learning, but still for someone starter like me, it might be a good idea to know things easily rather than searching and going through many themes and templates etc.

The requirement was a stylish enough, but simple, lightweight and corporate kind of looking view. A header having customized pictures, customized favicon for the site, a marquee logo, header with pages names, few pages of course, a three column theme holding static messages at left side and dynamic messages on right side and along with all these requirements, one was required to keep it looking clean enough means no sign of wordpress itself.

I guess anyone would require the same from any novice website in a free cost without need of web designing experts. Don’t know, my approach served all the requirement or not, but for the starter, I found a particular theme named atahualpa came out to be a life saviour. I am not going to describe that how it works and how to make it work in your ways, but trust me, it works like a charm. I managed to match most of the requirements of mine and I don’t feel that I could not add more and more customizations in it on my own in easy ways. Have a look over my implementation template as of now.

First look at Website
First look at Website
Suggestions page on Website
Suggestions page on Website

First level menus on the header are actual pages, from which I deliberately have hided posts page. All the second level menus are actually categories and in this way, I found a way to provide many departments a blog of their own. Moreover, by hiding some of the categories, I succeeded in keeping MD’s page and Exe. MD’s page in background (although still there are categories only, but I am not allowing all post pages here). The next task remained is to restrict particular authors to fixed categories only. Let’s see, what I could do.

The top has a marquee logo here and left and right portion is having messages through Text Widgets. Header images as you know are self changing with our control over them. I guess enough hints till here for how to go for one of your own wordpress hosting.

Although till now, I am not able to find the version to suit the web version WordPress.com for some obvious reasons neither did I am finished with the complete design of the site as I am hardly getting any time out of work for the same, but I guess soon I will be back with the complete details and fully working site based on WordPress.

Edited on 16th October 2009: Finally I found a plugin named Role Scoper, which was claiming to have the similar functionality means restriction over users etc. Got it installed on my server, although yet to figure out about its working and more will come out, when users will start using it actually. But I hope, I got a way to accomplish the final remaining task.

One more remaining target is handling Dynamic updates in more managed way means Widgets like Company Headlines or News in same marquee style but getting their entries from some MySQL or some XML file. Although Environment of WordPress is very much restrictive, but I guess, I could find a way around it as well.

Next Article:

My next article might be around Windows Deployment Services Server. Not posting right now as I am struggling enough with it and sometimes its frustrating. That’s why I wish to come out with a clean walkthrough for the same implementation for rest of the world.

WordPress and Wiki

Due to illness, I was out of office, but worked a little over few things related to WordPress at home. One worry resolved now that how to sync two blog one at remote location and one at local hosting. It came out easy in the way that you have to take the backup of updated one and then to import the same to the other one. I was worried about duplicated entries, but the import process itself, skips the duplicate entries, comments, pages etc and in this way make the sync go smooth.

I also worked a little over Wiki Hosting. Managed to put a local installation through manual DB creation, user creation, local settings etc, but still struggling with making it easy to work with like WordPress. I had read that it could be configured to create pages through Microsoft Word or Windows Live for a Wiki, but not able to do the same till now. Anyway, it was a late night try. Will give one more eve over it. Also have managed the Dummies Book over it, expecting it to be helpful.

Installing WordPress on Local Server

Yesterday means 12th August 2009; I took a project from office side to install WordPress locally. Something which was included in my To-Do list from long, but it was just like I was not getting time and chance.

In place of going through the way of Geeks, I chosen to be low and go through Xampp means an unsecure and Layman way to deal with Apache, MySql and PHP at once. In fact, not even dealing, but just bypassing most of the tedious work.

The output was just as great as WordPress itself been for me from years. I really rediscovered many little things about it. While the web version was a bit restricted view of the full functionalities lying beneath, I really got into a world, which was truly amazing.

Next step was trying Export and Import, which I was about to try one year back, but didn’t used then. It went almost effortlessly easy and I was able to import whole of my blog in a matter of few minutes only. The whole download size was only 1.2 MB for all my 90 articles. There were really many options unrevealed now, which could be available, only if you are hosting it yourself.

I am going to explore its features more and more as I get time.

My First Post Through Mail

WordPress facilitate option of posting the blog over mail only. This particular feature might be very handy, if you are wishing to post the article on the go by your cellphone, in which your IMAP or POP3 account might been already configured. I am just trying out my first post through it.

Writing Blogs: Why? How?

I many times have asked many of my friends to write upon something in their blogs, but wasn’t lucky enough to find them really into it. Sometimes, I really think that is this really that hard to write? I mean it’s just expressing your thoughts into words!!!! Isn’t it?

What is Blog? The million dollar question and why to write one? If you go into the details then it was an abbreviation for the word “Weblog”, which later shortened up into the word “Blog“.

Purpose? Some find it as an online diary, some as a medium of expressing thoughts to get a greater audience without much efforts, some as providing news information without any official approval from any authority and some as even commercial purpose advertising in cost-free ways (Yes!!! I know that cost may be involved in blogging, if you move over higher scales, but I will come to that later place). There might be as many reasons as one finds for connecting internet. Fame, networking, serving community etc.

What it serves to society? It offers really really a lot. You get to know many untold details about products including appliances, movies, shows, company and any commercial brand. You get to know inner and un-censored observations of many over almost any of the issue. I could admit freely that before going for any big decisions and I always seek inputs from these sources and never got disappointed. Many campaigns has been successfully ran over blog and affected even governments. Many issues got lightened up by the blogs first and only then media got notice of the same. No news of now days got an early off in air before the blogs themselves. It’s sure has becoming a real world phenomenon as Googling.

Word of caution: Yes!! It’s not completely free as it seems to be. Many writers have been nailed down by concerned government, if the material went illegal or offensive. In fact, other countries have started keeping effective checks on any material going on air. India still has much to do in the way. But a blogger also needs to keep as much caution as he could and should cross check all the things before publishing to web.

Similarly, it goes to viewers as well that to believe on lines of Blogs only as much as they believe on words of any neighbour passenger over issues. Always keep your mind even after reading and always take a second opinion.

How to start? Taking a start with blogging is as easy as creating an email ID and also free in the similar ways. The big names are WordPress, Blogspot, TypePad, Windows Live Spaces and Rediffland etc. Even Google has introduced their services in the same way, but I haven’t used them neither aware of them much, but sure will get to know about them very soon.

First thing is to take up a free account from any of them with a proper distinguished name in connection of your theme of blogging and then it comes to core theme, writing. Although exposure and reach matters sometimes more, but powerful writing makes blog attractive. Powerful doesn’t mean it to be complicated and nearly perfect of literature standards, but powerful meant to its being affective, smooth and as natural as it can be (Except you are writing over something very technical or have professional motives, which better suited with any other way). For writing purposes, all the blog services provide their web applications means you could write online easily without knowledge of HTML etc, just if you know routine word processor things. But I suggest you to choose some offline medium as well, because it goes comfortable and cost effective for sure. Obviously, one could always save a .Doc file and then copy paste the same, but I meant with something else.

Microsoft recently introduced two prominent ways to support blogging; One is in-built in their latest Office Suit: Microsoft Office 2007 (Costly one) and another free way is Microsoft Live Writer (I personally found the same very handy and cost effective solution against Microsoft Office 2007).

How to make it accessible well known? The next and most important thing is how to present the things in a way that they get noticed on web otherwise your blog will be an unknown address, which is known to only a few one. Obviously, it’s not possible that you may tell each and every known one about the web address or everyone might be searching with your name for some relevant content.

Only sometimes after starting with Blogs, one get to know that he she is not getting enough visitors on way and only then one realises that there are other things one should consider and it’s no more about writing only. There are other ways, through which any blog gets traffic its way. Commonly used term is Tags. Tags are the keyword, which might be most important in your blog or in the particular article written by you, some word, on searching for which, you wish to get your link appeared on the Google results.

There are other paid services, which do the entire advertising etc for you on a little cost and I have seen that they are much effective. But this is only for people, who are using it for commercial purposes. Anyway, so these were a few things, which one should know about blogging.

Have you started using one? Not yet? Why? Start with one. The world is waiting for you.

I am back again …

Really lots of days, when I was last online. Didn’t felt like writing, or was busy enough or not getting anything that special to write on… whatever the reasons might be .. but it was sure that my blog was missing me …. So expect me to come back soon. 🙂