Enter The Net

WordPress Users: Activate Akismet to Eliminate 97% of Your SPAM Comments.

The WordPress comment system on Posts and Pages (like the “Leave A Reply” section at the bottom of this Post) is vulnerable to getting Spam Comments. Who knows why people write programs to send wave upon wave of spam comments to our Posts, but they do.

[Actually, the reason they do this is to get incoming links - read an article here to learn how comments should REALLY  be used to improve incoming links.]

Thankfully, every WordPress site comes with a totally adequate free plugin called Akismet. Akismet will eliminate almost all the Spam Comments before they ever reach you. The plugin is simple to activate. Once you start it up, it just simply starts working. If you ever worry that Akismet might be stopping more than you want (as if!) then you can look at the blocked comments, usually up to 30 days after they were blocked.

The only catch is that you need to prove that you, in fact, are human. This is Akismet’s way of verifying that you are the blog owner. And drawing breath. And mostly carbon-based. Etc. To do this, you need to get an API Key from WordPress. Below are the only slightly convoluted directions in how to do that.

To get an Akismet API Key

• Go to WordPress.com
• Click Sign Up Now
• Next page asks for information. Fill it out.
• You do NOT need to create a blog on WordPress to get the API Key, so you can select “Just a username, please.” If you decide to create a blog, it’s cool: you will still get the API Key.
• Once done with this, you will then be told that an email is being sent to activate the account.
• When the email arrives, be sure to click the activation link.
• After that, just wait. Another email will arrive titled “New WordPress.com User:…” This has your API in it, at the lower part of the message.
• The API Key will be a longish series of numbers and letters: “0hhj78c43sx”
• Save this API Key somewhere. It can be used multiple times.

Picking a theme is just a starting point…

Read the rest of this entry »

Below are some links and descriptions related to WordPress Blogs. The resources are listed for HOSTED and INSTALLED blogs.

HOSTED Blogs are free blogs built on the wordpress.com system.

Advantages:

• Free
• Easy to create, easy to use.
• Around 75 good themes available for use.
• Most themes allow you to add your own logo or custom header image.
• Free blogs are great to use to learn the WordPress system.
• Your blog exists in a searchable network of other blogs.
• Links from your free WordPress blog to your main website are helpful on the search engines.

HOSTED blogs use WordPress’s extensive free hosting. Most free WordPress blogs use the domain name www.[yourblogname].wordpress.com.

Links:

• WordPress.com to set up your free blog.

INSTALLED blogs are installed on your hosting service, using your domain name.

Advantages:

• Choice of themes is around 1000.
• Themes can be customized to your liking.
• Thousands of plug ins available to increase site functionality.
• Your blog exists at your domain name.
• Blog can be utilized as your whole site, or it can be installed as a separate part of your site.

Links:

• A good place to buy your domain name: GoDaddy.
• A good place to host your website and/or blog: Go Daddy.
  • This hosting service has an automatic, free WordPress installation service that is quick and easy and saves you several steps.
  • You may register your domain name and host under the same account.
• Themes: You can pick from thousands of themes by simply searching on Google for “free wordpress themes.” There are also websites that sell quality themes at a good price.
  • Official WordPress Themes Directory – around 800 themes. All have been checked for quality.
  • WPThemes Free – Excellent, colorful themes. Some have quality problems.
  • I Love You WordPress - New resource has free and priced themes.
• Plug ins allow you to add functionality to your site. I recommend only using plug ins from the official WordPress plugin directory.
  • Official WordPress Plugin Directory.

Note: WordPress 2.8 has a nifty system that allows you to search for themes and plugins and install them on your site without having to do any FTP work. You simply click “Add New” under Appearance or Plugins and you can search the official WordPress Directories, or you may upload a theme or plugin you found at another source.

Enter The Net has helped dozens of people set up their HOSTED and INSTALLED blogs. Please check the links below, visit the sites and leave comments, if you like!

Our Work:

WordPress Blogs Customized to Match Existing Site Design:

• BioForce Baseball – Portland-based baseball coach dispenses advice and sells training products. Enter the Net customized the blog to match the current site design. Click on HOME tab to see the main site design.
• Primal Body – Primal Mind – Author Nora Gedgaudas has a blog installed on her regular website. Enter The Net installed and customized the blog to match the existing site design. Click on the HOME tab to see the main site.

Custom Design WordPress Blogs:

• Fabulous PDX - Customization to match Facebook look and feel, with addition of Google Calendar and Ads Management plugin.
• Team Oregon 2010 – Light customization for non-profit organization.
• Cocohuts – Light customization for site promoting vacation rental in Hawaii.
• NW Insight - Portland neurofeedback therapist.
• NW Roof Tech – Portland roofing contractor.
• OSH Museum – Museum at the old Oregon State (mental) Hospital

Students:

• Jewel In The Pearl – Portland realtor Jewel Robinson gives us a tour of Portland’s Pearl District. Jewel learned to create this blog in Enter The Net’s blogging workshop. We set up the hosting and installed the blog components for her to use. This is an example of an INSTALLED blog.
• Close In PDX – Realtor Steve Strode shares information about property and events close in downtown Portland.