I have been taking a look at the latest Plugins from WordPress.org and really haven’t found anything interesting lately. As for Themes I have run into great ones. First of all we have this one (Producer Theme):

Producer is a highly flexible theme that can be used to build a standard blog with 4 layout options (includes a photo slideshow layout) or a magazine style blog with 3 static layout options and the ability to build your own widgets based layout. 6 possible configurations for left and right sidebars. Ability to hide one or both sidebars on 404, index, search results, single post, and static pages. Includes page templates for additional layout options. Re-arrange…Learn More

Here’s another (Magazine Basic):

Built for WordPress 3.0. A magazine style theme with a fully customizable layout. Theme options include site width, 1 or 2 widgetized sidebars, header logo, multiple front page grid layouts, new WP 3.0 menu system, Google Analytics, pagination, drop-down menus and tons more. Also includes dynamic SEO keywords and site descriptions. Tested in Firefox 3.6, IE 7 & 8 and Safari 4. Fully optimized for search engine ranking. Translation ready. 100% valid xHTML. Designed by Themes by bavotasan.com….Download Here

What about Premium (You Pay) Themes and WordPress Ready:

As a great cms platform WordPress has many examples for every work  like blogs, companies, portfolios, galleries etc. Magazine/Newspaper style themes are one of the most wanted WordPress themes and they are very useful for managing lots of posts on a page. This type of themes are mostly liked by small and medium-sized teams who can produce actual content every day. It is easy to show many thumbnails and sliders on a page so you can push up your page views easily. But you need to choose right theme for your visitors. For example if your visitors are generally looking for galleries check out a more visual one, otherwise take a look for most text-based ones…….See them all here

Here you have the 2010 best from Smashing Magazine but also the 2007 and 2008:

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since our last WordPress theme collection, but there you have it — the time has come again. Once a year we feature the most useful and interesting WordPress-themes that we are collecting over months and present them in a nice quick overview. The collections from 2007, 2008 and last year are still useful, but some of the themes are outdated or updated now.

Looking back over these previous theme articles, you can clearly see how and why WordPress has rapidly matured into the CMS powerhouse it is today. With all of the features that have been added and improvements made with every new WordPress version and with its ever-increasing popularity among the design and development community, the quality of free themes is evident. Developers are continually pushing WordPress’ boundaries, giving us today’s outstanding free theme collection…... Learn More

There you have a great start in case you would like to change your look. Thi sBlog will be changing it’s look very soon, this why I have been away for so long. I will be updating much frequently in the future.

The long awaited “3.0″ is out! WordPress.org has just released it and I have upgraded. To compare and use the name of one of the greatest genius mind in the world of Jazz is very challenging. I hope this version comes through in flying colors. Not bad so far for me, looks good. It is early though and I’m sure some problem will arise. Here’s the video showing all the new features of “Thelonious”:

You can learn more with reactions , download and upgrade to 3.0 here

Hello, I’m back, thanks for your patience. I have a Plugin that I feel everyone should download. The name is the Hyper Cache and it is important if you have several WordPress Blogs:

Hyper Cache is a new cache system for WordPress, specifically written for people which have their blogs on low resources hosting provider (cpu and mysql). It works even with hosting based on Microsoft IIS (just tuning the configuration). It has three invalidation method: all the cache, single post based and nothing but with control on home and archive pages invalidation……. Go to Plugin Page

Also if you go to the Official Page:

Pay attention: add that line of code just after the define(WPLANG, ”) not at the and of wp-config.php. In the file it self is explained to now modify it under a certain line.

Configuration

Expiration time

What means “expire a cached page after X minutes” and what’s the best value? Hyper Cache stores an html page in it’s repository. On each reaquest for a page, Hyper Cache checks how much old that page is. If the cached page is older than the X time (in minutes) specified, that page is not served by Hyper Cache, but “re-created” by WordPress (like if a cache system was not here).

Hyper Cache then restores the generated page. I use 1440 minutes for my pages (one day), but remeber that a page can be cleared on special events (like comment or modification by the blog owner). You can specify a zero value to avoid any kind of cache expiration. Why it’s better to expire a page (even with a long time)? Because a page is not only the article text, but there are other information, like categories list with posts numbers, latest comment list, latest posts list and so on. With new content, new comments, those lists becomes “old”….. Continue Here

Links helpful information:

Here is a great link from a great Blog that shows you WordPress.org Themes which include various options. Try them out maybe you will find the one you were always looking for. Look through the rest of the Blog, there’s plenty more information available. TechieSouls.com:

WordPress is one of the most widely used blogging platforms and there are ever increasing numbers of plugins and themes being released for it. Vast numbers make searching for the perfect theme for your blog a tough job.

Today I intend to help you find the perfect theme by offering a list of great wordpress themes that offer some great theme options allowing customization from the admin dashboard…..Continue Here

Here’s another Link that deals with Custom Fields. If you go through this Blog you will notice that it is intended for more advance users but read through the posts anyway, maybe there’s something that you would be helpful for you. Perishable Press.com:

I recently developed a theme that makes heavy use of WordPress’ custom fields. The custom-field functionality of WordPress makes it possible to rig up just about any customized layout quickly and easily. Custom fields enable designers to organize post content into different sections, making it possible to create non-linear page layouts, with different types of content easily removed from the normal post loop and relocated to different parts of the document. This organizational and design flexibility has the added benefit of making it super-easy to update your content, redesign your theme, and handle blog maintenance in general. Keep Reading Here

That’s it for now, will have more links in the next post.

Blogger’s Weekly will be under construction for a few days as I change over to a higher capacity server so I can have more room to operate in. If you see can maneuver around the website now, it means that nothing has happen yet but there will be a few days where you will not be able to. Thank you, I’ll be back!

If you are interested in Tweeting through your WordPress.org Blog then I have a Plugin that will do everything for you. The name of this Plugin is  the Twitter Goodies:

This plugin shows your twitter profile/search tweets under Sidebar Area (Widget), Post and/or Pages. Tweets will REFRESH AUTOMATICALLY. Also it has reply option inside widget on mouse over action. Admin panel option available under Settings -> Twitter Goodies to set different color combination and twitter widget options. This twitter widget is using Twitter Goodies APIs. Integrate Post to Twitter option added to v1.0.1. Best Twitter Tools and nice Twitter Widget GUI…. Continue Reading

Note: make sure you click on all the pages on the in the menu bar (Installation, Faq, Screenshot..ect)

As you can read above in the main description and homepage of the Plugin, everything will be done for you once you set it up. Once you upload, the instructions will have you register your Twitter account with Bit.ly so you can obtain the AP code. Once you are done editing your widget to your liking then you should check if it’s working.

TweetMeme:

I also suggest the TweetMeme Plugin so everyone can tweet your post:

The TweetMeme Retweet button is the defacto standard in retweeting – used by some of the biggest websites in the world including Techcrunch.com, PerezHilton.com, Break.com, CNET.com, Wired, Time Magazine and hundreds of other massive brands, in total it is installed on over 100,000 websites around the globe.

“The Tweetmeme button is a fantastic way for our readers to engage with our stories and signals which posts are a hit with the Twitter community. The button has been a valuable addition to our site and consistently drives reader engagement.” Pete Cashmore, Mashable.com…Continue Reading

I tested all the Twitter Plugins and these two are the ones that would do all the work for you. Try them out and see if they work for you and if you find a better working Twitter Plugin then please post it in the comment section here.

This Facebook Plugin completes the three which I recommend the most:

WPBook enables users to add your (self-hosted, not wordpress.com) wordpress blog as a Facebook application. Facebook users will see your posts in a Facebook look and feel, and can leave comments with their Facebook identity.

Comments are shared – meaning comments made by users on your blog at its regular domain and comments made by users inside Facebook are all shown to users of either “view” of your content.

Facebook users can also – at their option – add a profile box to their profile, using the “add to profile” button at the top of the default canvas page…… Learn More

And there’s more (Installation )

This here Plugin clearly helps you create an amazing application on Facebook and with excellent step by step instructions. You will use Facebook as an extra promoter and a powerful one, if I might say. After you are finished, then your application will be available for all to download on Facebook. Once downloaded everything that you post on your Blog will be added and posted automatically on Facebook, on the application itself of course! It will be formatted just like a Blog on Facebook, when your readers click on the story. You will have a copy of your Blog on Facebook! The great thing about this plugin is that your readers will be able to post comments on your Blog through Facebook and they will show up on your Blog. But remember all these neat things can happen only if the Facebook subscriber downloads your application. Your application will run right on the left Facebook sidebar of your followers, so they could see any new developments on your Blog. The key is a successful promotion of your APPlication. Look at why the Iphone is so successful, it’s because of the Apps. Great Plugin and if you follow the instructions, you can have the application working in 30 minutes. Onece you are done the Plugin will do all the work for you! Enjoy

Facebook integration is a popular way to promote your blog nowadays. This here, part two will be on using the Facebook plugin  Wordbooker. I personally have uploaded it on another blog and it works great but if you use simple connect already, then you don’t really need it. And vice-versa, if you are not interested in so many widgets and so many sub plugins which Simple Facebook Connect brings in its package, then Wordbooker is perfect for you. It works great!

Here it a simply explained of this excellent from the author’s Blog:

Wordbooker is a plug-in for self hosted WordPress or WordPress MultiUser blogs which links your blog to a Facebook account.

Once the plugin has been installed and linked to your Facebook account you can have a sidebar widget showing your current Facebook Photo and status. Also when you post a post to your blog it can automatically update your Facebook wall with an extract of your post with links back to the original article. So all your Facebook friends will be notified that you’ve written a new blog post automatically without you having to do anything.

Wordbooker can also post to Facebook Fan Page walls if you are an administrator for that fan page. This allows “commercial” blogs to basically tell all their Facebook fans that they’ve posted a new blog post.

There is a lot more to Wordbooker than that – it is highly configurable at both a “blog” and “user” level allowing each Wordbooker user to set their own configuration or accept the blog level settings….. Continue

Read more about the Wordbooker Plugin here on the download page. Make sure you go through all the links on all download pages so you can get much more information of any Plugin you are interested in.

Click to Enlarge

When you go to the setting page all you need to do is sign in to your Facebook page and follow the instructions there. Of course, once you configure, you can place the Wordbooker Widget, which comes with the installation, anywhere on your sidebar. Works great and very convenient for posting purposes. Enjoy!

Checkout Part One Here

If you are interested in connecting with Facebook, you have two paths in which you can go by. There are two Plugins which work directly and are approved by Facebook. They are Wordbooker and WPBook. You can either use one or both, simultaneously to your advantage. But leaving out Facebook Connect would be unfair! But then again, you can have all three at once! It is really up to you because they do not interfere with each other and have their own personal touch. I will introduce each one of these Facebook Plugins and make it easier for you to understand. They will be exhibited here on Bloggers Weekly, so the Reader/ Blogger, could understand them further. This particular post, Part One will concentrate on Simple Facebook Connect.

Simple Facebook Connect is a series of plugins that let you add any sort of Facebook Connect functionality you like to a WordPress blog. This lets you have an integrated site without a lot of coding, and still letting you customize it exactly the way you’d like.

First, you activate and set up the base plugin, which makes your site have basic Facebook Connect functionality. Then, each of the add-on plugins will let you add small pieces of specific Facebook-related functionality, one by one…. Familiarize Yourself More

Once you download this Plugin you will have to fill out some information. Once you are done, there will be 12 more Plugins installed automatically. These Plugins will all start with “SFC” and you will see them on your “Installed List.”  They will all be inactive. Activate the ones you are interested in. It all depends on what exactly you are interested to show on your sidebars. Go to Appearance> Widgets and you will see them there. Play with it and learn more about this Multi-Plugin Plugin. Here are more instructions from the author’s plugin website . Great Stuff!!

Click on Image to Enlarge and see where the Facebook Simple Connect widgets are Located

This message “Sorry, that file cannot be edited” is stopping me from editing my Template. Is this happening to you? I have three Blogs but only this one cannot be edited. It’s rather weird. After searching around, there seems to be no real answer. All indications seem to point at the latest update of WordPress.org, 2.9.2. Bloggers are reinstalling Plugins and trying all sorts of things but there is no real answer as of right now. They are changing codes, it’s crazy. Besides the Plugins, Bloggers are also blaming it on the Themes too. This seem to have happened in the past (2 Years ago) but here’s a fresh post.

But here, it is resolved?

What could it be??

Here we have three interesting Plugins which will make it much easier for you to manage your blog. Each of these Plugins will perform different tasks. I will give a brief introduction to each one of these two Plugins but with enough information to point out and direct the WordPress Bloggers here, in the right path. Let me start with the Universal Post Manager:

This Plugin will make it much more easier:

This Plugin allows you to share your blog posts by Social Bookmarks, E-Mail, Subscribe via feeds, manage HTML tags, disable HTML tags one after another checking according all check boxes in admin panel, filter phrases , create shortcuts (for replace to links, images), Print your pages and posts and save your posts, pages as PDF, XML, Text, HTML and Word Document….Find out More

As you can notice at the end of my posts, there are buttons located for the reader to choose from, just in case they would like to Print or Save the post.

The “Stream Video Player” Plugin

I have searched for many streaming video players Plugins to place videos on my WordPress.org Blog and the best one that I found is named very appropriately.  It is named for exactly what it easily accomplishes and that is to stream video by form of a player. The name of this Plugin is Stream video Player, visit the Plugin install page. After you install this Plugin, you will see it show up as a separate button on your Dashboard. If you visit the FAQ link there and click on it > then click on  How to encode video and use the plug-in. Great video explaining everything you have to do and in detail. These are must watch videos, before you go any further. This Plugin will add a button on your post editor, you’ll see it and the video will show you where it is. Once you click on this button you will be directed to move the the crossdomain.xml to another folder, it will tell you exactly which one. Retry that button again and you will see a box like this:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Here you will have to add or change three things (Where the asterisks are) but there is one thing which is very important and I will show you here in this illustration:

Here in the Video Provider you must click on the type of video you are choosing to exhibit. Remember, if it’s a video of yours that you uploaded to your website then click on “VIDEO.”

One more very important thing>>> Make sure you upload your images and .flv files to wp-content/uploads because as you will notice, this is where the Plugin designates and uses to upload from. If it is a YouTube Video then copy and paste the link in the VIDEO box and it will pick it up. Just play with it and you will get it. Good Luck, you will not need it, this Plugin is well documented!

Not to mention, you will get a widget so you can place videos on your sidebars also! Enjoy!

Here’s an example of the quality, great stuff:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

If you have not noticed yet, I have added a very interesting and most interesting link on my sidebar. Well, I wouldn’t have thought of doing so if it were not important. The sidebar, in my opinion, is critical real estate and cannot be wasted with unnecessary links. It must be inhabited with important links that will help your Blog’s main goal and in this, Blogger’s Weekly, Percent Mobile helps the WordPress Bloggers in an ultimate manner. Just register, completely for “free” and find out how many readers are visiting your Blog. In today’s world many people are communicating through their cell phones and because of the quickness and accessibility of the internet, you can “promote” your Blog. Now that Twitter and Facebook users (Almost Everyone) are using their phones to exchange information, this measuring tool has become a necessity. And to make it even more interesting, it works hand in hand with Worpress.org. Yes, if you install the Plugin WordPress Mobile Pack then you can work directly with Percent Mobile! What better tool can you use to monitor your mobile phone traffic and help you tweak your Blog to optimal results. Also, if you have multiple Blogs, you can monitor them all! It is totally FREE! Not to mention,

From PercentMobile Website (7 Reasons to Consider Mobile Analytics by PercentMobile):

Easy to understand mobile Analytics reports.

No one wants to spend hours puzzling over the meaning of their mobile data, so we built PercentMobile from the ground up for people not specialists. All the action takes place on a single screen and the mobile analytics reports are extremely easy to filter and interact with. The complete experience is designed to help you understand your mobile traffic and turn findings into action…..Read the Rest

I have started a new Category and and have named it “Useful Plugins.” I will, every now and then, post WordPress.org Plugins that could make it easier for the Blogger to improve their Blog and make it more intriguing. Here are some very interesting Plugins that can take you to another level, well another location within your own Blog. The Blog will be located on a page you create. After you set it up, only the posts you choose will post to that particular page, which is a Blog on its own. Why, because the posts will have their own tags and will have a place to comment. So for example, if you would like to separate, let’s say, your posts by authors. This way, their posts will show up on different pages. They could have their own readers and so on. They could also place a sort of  intro/tease of their post on the front page, as a “Sticky Post” and direct the readers to their own Page/now Blog.

Here’s the  Blog -In-Blog (From Download Link):

Blog-in-Blog allows you to use the WordPress platform more as a CMS system, but still have a blog page on your site. Posts in a specific category can be used to feed the ‘special’ blog page, and can optionally be hidden from the home page. You can have more than one category hidden from the homepage, and subsequently more than one page full of posts…Continue

Also in that same exact page you can check the FAQ link and it will explain the fields that will be available on this separate Blog which you will have inside of your Blog.

And here, you can understand more how it works, from the author’s ( Tim Hodson) Website. There are several steps you have to take and the Blog-In-Blog can be setup on you Blog.

You have an Administrative panel where you can pinpoint the category you DO NOT want to show on your Homepage/ Frontpage. This will only the posts you wish to go on your Blog -in-Blog. All you do is go to Setting>Blog-in-Blog and you will see it. There is one more thing which is very important and is pointed out on he link above (here link).  You must open a “New Page” , this will be the Blog-in-Blog itself, and name it whatever you like. Here is where you place this code and substitute the category “id=” with the id number of the category which you designated for the blog :

That’s it and you are done with any more editing for that page (Your Blog-in-Blog).

On my last post, I entered the scary and so-called dangerous “Editor” and familiarized the readers with changing the look of the body of their blog. Here in this post, I will concentrate on changing the sidebar look and adding a piece of code that will give you full control of your widget fonts. By the time you finish reading this post, you should have sufficient information to successfully edit the look of your Blog. So let’s go back to the editor and take a good look at the sidebar and the widget code we have to add:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Copy this Code:

.widgettitle {
font-size: pt;
font-family: ‘Comic Sans MS’, Book Antigua;
font-weight: strong;
color: #;
border-bottom: 3px solid #000000;
padding: 0  0 5px 3px;}

Once you copy this simple code into the Stlyessheet (style.css), then you can edit and change three dynamics of the widget titles, 1.  Type of Font (Font Family, I have chosen Comic Sans MS in this code), 2. Choose either Strong which equals Bold or leave blank which is Normal. 3. Change the color of the Fonts. All the titles of your widgets will change at once! Notice that I have “Book Antigua” also? That doesn’t mean anything, the Font will only adjust to the one in the ‘ The Single Parenthesis ‘ so if you place the single parenthesis on either side of Book Antigua then Comic Sans MS will not work. Play with it, don’t get scared.

Changing the Link Fonts (Color and Hover):

Click on Image to Enlarge

To Change the color of the background of your Header:

Click on Image to Enlarge

By understanding what exactly CSS is and learning the  basic structure of WordPress templates, one could easily edit their Blog to their taste. It is not difficult at all and ones you match a particular code to the layout of your template and theme. There isn’t too much to know so it will be a breeze. Once you you know what happens when you change a value then all you have to do is find the look you are totally satisfied with. So to start and before anything, you must need to know one definition. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. If you are interested in PHP editing and template design, this is a great start. But if you don’t have the time and are just interested in changing the look of your WordPress Blog, then all you have to do is take a look at the style.css file:

Go to Appearance and select Editor. Scroll down just a bit, until you get to the body tag: body {

Look at illustration here:

Click on Image to Enlarge

Basically, you just need to change the values on there, save it and view your Blog to see the changes. Make sure you write down the original values somewhere so you don’t forget. Don’t get scared, just be careful and observant. In Part Two, I will show you how to change the Fonts on the sidebars and a tag you can add to help you change the Fonts for the widgets. Here’s great color picker .

Here’s some places where you can go on to learn more and will help you further:

Part two will be posted soon. Again, don’t get scared to change the values, have fun!

It’s been quit a bit of time since I have posted here but I have been very busy with the holidays and with finding more ways to improve the look of a WordPress blog. I have been installing and evaluating as many Plugins possible. On my next post I will list them all and give you my opinion of them. I have run into so many tutorials, some that are very helpful but many that are incomplete. Most of the tutorials that are from individual Bloggers are pretty helpful but understanding the terminology and having some firsthand knowledge before reading their tutorial is a given. Another words, if you are not aware of the the terms that are being used in the tutorials then you will be faced and prompted to open browser windows. Before you know it, you will have 10 tabs open and will find yourself opening them all just to understand the wording of the tutorial.

For this reason, I have created Blogger’s Weekly and basically why I am doing this. I’m just trying to make it even more easier for you. BUT please do not get me wrong, there is a world of educational and knowledgeable information on Blog and Website enhancement out there and WordPress.org has most of it. My goal is to investigate them all, to the best of my ability and relay it to you in the simplest manner. Everything is out, if you are really interested but if you don’t have the time, that’s where Blogger’s Weekly will come in handy. And because of the information I gather is from other sources, I will list the blogs and websites also, it is only practical and of course, fair.

A ” Static”, not necessary

There is a very simple way to create a “Static” page (Read Here ). A static page is used when you would like to have a separate Homepage, with a different look. I investigated this concept and kept running into a wall. My main goal was to create a homepage which only listed the specific articles from one category. Here on Blogger’s Weekly, I have created 6 categories but I have one which all my posts appear. So this is the one I want to display on my Front Page or Homepage. Remember in WordPress, Homepage and Front Page are the same. I search through so many Plugins that would display my Category Posts but they were incomplete. You have no idea, how many ways I tried to make it happened.

My idea was to have all the recent posts from one category listed on the Homepage but with an image, an excerpt (Adjustable) and a link to that specific article. Not so easy, believe me. Nevertheless, I will spare you any further here with any hardships because I experienced them for you. Although it was frustrating, it was very educational, so it was worth it. Well now, it is pretty simple and a “static’ page is not necessary at all. Unless you want to create a Template Page, with conditional tags, inside of the loop or outside of the loop, queries and many more obstacles that you really do not have time for.

In case your interested here are just some of the WordPress links I investigated:

The “Widget Context” Plugin

Before anything, I want to suggest a very critical Plugin, if and only if you are interested in having a Homepage or Front Page (Same Thing) that is different from the other pages, which is basically what this whole article is about. Well with this Plugin you can have “total” control of what specific sidebar widgets you would like to show and the specific page you would like to show it on. So like this you can have a Front Page with different sidebar widgets than the other links, of either pages or posts. Once you install it, it will rest on your widget page. Just go to Appearance>Widgets> click on a sidebar widget and you will see the Plugin literally unfold right in front of you. Just scroll down and you will see the options available! Great Plugin! (Learn more)

Click on Image to "Expand"

Thumbnail Excerpts

Thumbnail Excerpts is the answer to it all. This Plugin has its own administrative panel which has all the sufficient settings needed to display, edit and add all the the posts on your Homepage/ Front Page. Once this Plugin is installed, you can go to Settings>Thumbs Excerpts and choose what you want to display on your home page. Go back and forth so you can get familiar with all the adjustments. Here’s another plus about this Plugin go to any post you have saved and open it up:

Note: When you “Publish”, make sure you click on the box beside the category you choice to be on your Homepage.

If you have any questions, please contact me , thank you and enjoy!

I am going nuts here and for the last few days. All I am looking for is a simple Plugin that will perform a simple task. My goal is to have a slide show that will show my most recent posts in a widget. Please don’t get me wrong, they are out there. But where the frustration sets in, is when I test them. They either are not upgraded or have been abandoned, are not working properly or do not offer a widget. I’m really surprised because this is very important tool for enhancing your Blog, especially for readers to read archived articles. I went through so many plugins, including “Sliding Posts”, “Featured Posts Slideshow” and others and nothing worked. It looked rather bleak and I had to look outside the box and to a rather reliable source and that would be Widgetbox. Now as you can see, on the right sidebar, my widget stands. Of course with the use of the “Executable PHP Code” Widget, I neatly placed it there.

As I was writing this post here, I decided to quadruple check, just in case and I ran into a plugin, it was a total surprise to me, I found it. Yes I did and the name of this plugin is “Smooth Slider.” It does the job and if you follow the instructions, it will work. In my case, I just placed it o my left sidebar, in the bottom by placing it on the Executable PHP Code Widget it will show on every page. So upload the “Smooth Slider” and you will be able to show your posts as a slideshow presentation.

Steps to take:

1. Upload the Smooth Slider Plugin.

2. Go to “Settings” and click on “Smooth Slider”

3. Here you can see how your widget will look and will be where you edit it also. But before you do anything you must notice one thing that occurred when you uploaded this plugin every post that you have written has acquired an option that you can click on now. So you can see how it works, just click on it, update the post and go right back to “Smooth Slider” (Step 2) and you will see your post there. You will also see how it will look when you add it to your Blog.

4. So now, add all the posts that you would like everyone to see on your post slideshow. Don’t worry, you can add and delete as many as you like and whenever you add/delete more in the future, it will automatically update!

Note: Before you go on, please adjust the width of the slideshow presentation to the same width of the sidebar where you will be placing it and save it in the bottom, by clicking on “Save Changes.”

5. Now, go to “Appearance” click on “Widgets” and place the “Executable PHP Code” widget wherever you would like everyone to see the Slideshow. Open the widget and copy this code in the box:

<?php if ( function_exists( ‘get_smooth_slider’ ) ) {
get_smooth_slider(); } ?> 

Save it and view your your blog! There it is!!

6. If you follow these steps, it should show up. Afterwords, you can go back and tweak it all you like. every time you click on “Save Changes” it will make the changes on the widget, automatically, nice!

You can always go to the Smooth Slider install Website and watch the video on the bottom. This will show you how to place it on your Index PHP page. I recommend not to play around with the editor too much unless you know what you are doing. Just use the video to learn how to edit the Smooth Slider plugin. To place it on your sidebar, there’s no easier way than using the “Executable PHP Code” Plugin. There you have it, if you have any questions contact me . Enjoy!

Wave is here!  A new and more convenient way of IM (Instant Messaging) has emerged. And if you really think about it, wave is the perfect definition and example of IM. If you have not tried it by now, please do. Have someone with Wave, invite you by way of Gmail. It’s a real breakthrough program and in my opinion, will be making a real Wave and in the immediate future. You are taken to a virtual location where you can communicate in real-time and I mean just that! As you type you simultaneously see the words and sentences form right in front of your eyes, you literally have nothing to click when you are finished typing your message, because it is there already! An amazing tool and will make a great impact on our interactive society. Checkout the website and watch the Wave Video and so you can understand it even further.

Do you like it? Are you interested? Will it help you communicate further? Do you really need it? These are the questions you must ask yourself. So Upload the WAVR Plugin, the only functional one at the moment and try it out. You can place your wave on a post, like I’m doing here and/or you can post it on a page also. Here it is at work:

[wave id="googlewave.com!w+0qa9aVokA " server="https://wave.google.com/wave/?#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252B0qa9aVokA "]

If you have had the chance to take a look at the “Essentials” page here, on Blogger’s Weekly, you would have noticed a widget named Executable Php Code. If you have not downloaded it yet, I suggest you do so because it is very powerful and rather easy to use. You can place an Embedded Object Tag in this Widget and drop it on the sidebar. It can be done in three easy steps:

1. Click on Appearance, then Widgets and drag the “PHP Code” widget to the sidebar where you would like to display your embed.

2. Click on the down-arrow and open up the widget itself:

3. Click on this link which will open a new tab and you will be directed to a YouTube  video (Just for this example 2001 A Space Oddesy)

4. Copy the “OBJECT” code here:

5. And paste it in the blank box here:

6. Now (Almost Done), you must change the “Width” to the width of your sidebar. If your sidebar is 300 in width then change the 425 to 295. (Remember: there are two locations where you need change the number)Always make it a little shorter. Now Click on “SAVE’.

7. Now Click on View Blog on the top left-hand corner and the widget will be there. The width should be perfect but the Height will be off , so go back and fix the height until it is satisfactory to you.

8. Your done now! Practice this over and over, it’s pretty simple.

This PHP Code Widget can be used over and over, as many times as you which. Once you use it, another empty one will appear on your widget page. Also this will work with any “Object” tag from any website, as long as you can get it, you can post it! Great Stuff!

The “Essentials” page is completed now, so the process of creating a Blog with WordPress.Org with a webhost provider is practically finished. Practice is all that is left.

From “The Essentials” Page:

Now that you have setup your blog and you are able to log into your dashboard, you should immediately, without any pause, upload the Essential Plugins. These Plugins are the basic ones and will make it much easier for you to handle and take complete control of your Blog...Continue Here

APTURE

Apture is absolutely incredible and fortunately works with WordPress. When you upload this Plugin, you will realize how important it is for your blog and how well it works. All I can say is try it out, you will use it in practically every post. You can use it to direct anyone to a Webpage or Webpage Slide Show, to play a video, to play an audio, to upload a word document and a PDF. And there’s more, here’s there website, which you will not even have to visit because you can setup your account through your dashboard. Apture is a great company and a future contender, if not already. Not to mention, their support staff is very supportive and very eager to help you. Apture is here to stay!!!

Just completed the Setting up blog page:

In this section I will help you set up your Blog onto your website. I will make it as simple as possible. You still are going to involve yourself further but WordPress.Org will be very helpful and straight forward. Remember, if you really are interested in having a blog on your website or having a personal unique blog, you will go further here…..