Blogger vs WordPress Blog

Hello,

I seem to be having an issue migrating email followers from my old WordPress.com blog (http://gilliantravis.wordpress.com) to my new self-hosted site (http://gilliantravis.co.uk). I have gone through the documentation from JetPack on how to migrate the followers, but when I am asked to "Select WordPress.com Site" I cannot find my old website in the dropdown, although it is a WordPress.com site.

(I am an admin on both sites.)

The blog I need help with is gilliantravistextiles.wordpress.com.

Source: Cannot migrate followers from WordPress.com blog to new self hosted WordPress.

This is part of our "Learn WordPress" series.  In this post, you will find out how to properly set up WordPress after creating a WordPress website. Continue applying what you have learned so far:

(Step by Step) How To Start A Blog On WordPress

Now you simply need to set up your WordPress blog correctly.

8 Important Things To Do:

Delete defaults Posts/Plugins/Comments.

Setup a WordPress permalink structure setting.

Set time zone settings.

Set user registration settings.

Threaded comments.

WordPress ping list.

WordPress media settings.

Disable directory browsing.

When you install WordPress, you beat a stock installation with a few things like a dummy post, a dummy page, and a dummy comment. All you need to do just deletes all the dummy data. And then the first thing to do…

1- Delete Default Dummy Post, Page, and Comment

First of all Logs in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Posts on the left panel > Select All Posts and then delete the default dummy "Hello world" post.

Similarly, go to Pages > then click on All Pages and delete the default dummy page "Sample Page".

And finally, click on "Comments" option on the left panel and then erase the default comments here by selecting "All".

2- Set Up WordPress Permalinks (URL's Structure)

The default WordPress permalink setting is – "http://yourdomain.com/p=123″.

This permalink is very short, but not SEO friendly for search engines. If you don't change your site's permalink setting, It is bad for SEO.

Now Move to Settings >> Permalink and select "Post name".

Click "Save".

Now, when you URLs appear in search engines result, some of the keywords will be visible. This will help you to rank higher and receive more organic traffic.

3- Set Your Timezone to your local time:

The following two settings are found in Settings >> General. Make sure to set your Timezone to your local time so that when you schedule posts, they will go live according to your time. When you installed WordPress, you added a website title as "Site Title" & "Tagline".

For example: Here's CDT, I write CreativeDreamTech as a site title and "Blog For Blogger's" as a tagline.

You can change this anytime from this settings page. These two things are very important with SEO point of view, because this is what shows up in Google Search.

4- Enable/Disable User Registration:

You need to decide if you are starting to have a multi-author blog, or if you are going to be the sole author. If you are extending to allow guest posting, then be prepared to get a lot of spam registrations. However, you can fix that with the help of a plugin.

To leave this, tick off the "Anyone can register" box, and set the "New User Default Role" as "Contributor". If you don't want people to register, don't make the "Anyone can register" box.

5- Set WordPress Discussion/Comments Settings:

Right away, go to Settings > Discussion. This can become confusing if you don't know what to do here. But you don't worry, just follow the above screenshot carefully and you'll be good.

6- Update WordPress Ping List:

Move to Settings > Writing and add in more updated ping services to the ping list.

By default, WordPress only pings only one service. But you can notify many other ping services by drawing out the ping list.

What to read next? 

WordPress Ping List for Faster Indexing

7- Disable Directory Browsing:

In this context, you will need to edit your WordPress .htaccess file.  Don't be panic; it's actually pretty comfortable. This will disable directory browsing which is really significant step for maintaining the security of your blog.

8- WordPress Media Settings:

Right now move to Settings > Media, and use the below screenshot to configure the proper settings: I would also highly commend that you add a plugin which compresses HQ images into best optimus format as they're uploaded.

This medium setting will greatly improve the way WordPress handles HQ images. By default, WordPress creates multiple sizes for every uploaded picture. This is really not a good practice. This will load up your blog with unnecessary files and your blog speed will quickly become bloated.

If you just installed your new WordPress site/blog, make sure that all these 8 Important settings are properly configured or not. Anytime you install fresh WordPress, you should make sure to do these 8 settings before doing anything else. I'd recommend you bookmark this place so you can refer back every time you make a WordPress installation.

Source: 8 Important Things To Do After Creating A WordPress Website

There is no link provided. So if you do not provide the URL or post any any information on one site about you or the other site there is no way to make the connection. In other words, the weakest link between the two is what you yourself provide and not the software.

Your wordpress.com subscribers are found here

http://NAME_OF_BLOG.wordpress.com/my-stats/?blog_subscribers

* Replace NAME_OF_BLOG with the actual name of the blog.

Note that the title there includes Publicize followers from social networks. https://en.support.wordpress.com/publicize/

Your email only subscribers are here https://wordpress.com/my-stats/?blog_subscribers&type=email

If what you are asking is for the personal identities of those who follow you then know that many of us refuse to provide our personal name and email addresses so we aren't spammed. Instead, we use a pseudonym and a throw-away email address for blogging purposes.

Here at wordpress.COM subscribers control their own subscriptions and the frequency re: receiving our posts. We cannot subscribe on their behalf or adjust their subscription settings for them. They have to act.

For more on following see here https://en.support.wordpress.com/following/

Source: Can followers of one of your wordpress blogs automatically see your other ones?

What I post below applies only to sites hosted by wordpress.COM.

You must be logged in under the exact same username that registered the site to be able to access the site. The Admin login link to the dashboard for every blog hosted by wordpress.COM is:

http://NAME_OF_BLOG.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

*Replace NAME_OF_BLOG in that URL with the actual name of your blog.

I recommend bookmarking that link or memorizing it.

If you are not logged in under the correct username account then clear your browser cache https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-your-browser-cache and cookies https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-wordpress-com-cookies and then login correctly under the relevant username account.

If the login information has been lost go tohttps://en.support.wordpress.com/passwords/https://en.support.wordpress.com/passwords/#lost-password

If required use the account recovery formhttps://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/https://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/#account-recovery-form

If you do not have the required access and someone else registered the site you need to contact the person who registered the account and site under it and have them transfer the sites to your username account by using this process. http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/#transferring-your-blog-to-another-user-or-account

I'm not even sure which email address this site is attached to.

If you check each and every possible email address and account and are not successful gaining access to the blog(s) then you must complete the form for account recovery at this link https://en.wordpress.com/wp-login.php?action=recovery and submit it to the Account Recovery Staff, and provide proof ownership, so they can contact you by email ie. not on these public support forums, which are available to everyone with internet access.

Support Staff cannot breach the privacy policy and provide the log-in information. You have to provide proof ownership to Account Recovery Staff to gain access https://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/

Source: Greetings I'm trying to get my blog to show up in my site...

Is this possible with wordpress.com as our host?

No.

There is no FTP access to wordpress.com blogs and no blogger installed plugin capability. Those exist only on wordpress.ORG software installs and no upgrade alters that reality. WordPress.COM hosted sites have some built in plugins.

No FTP access http://en.support.wordpress.com/ftp-access/No blogger installed plugins http://en.support.wordpress.com/plugins/

See: Moving to Self-Hosted WordPresshttps://move.wordpress.com/

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, passwords support docs and support forums, and many people get confused about the two.

The wordpress.ORG login link is here https://login.wordpress.org/ If you do not have an account yet then click Create an account https://login.wordpress.org/register/ and if you have lost an account password click Lost password? https://login.wordpress.org/lostpassword/

This is wordpress.COM support. We provide support only for wordpress.COM hosted sites. Our support docs do not apply to(1) local installs of wordpress.ORG software on your own server or(2) wordpress.ORG software installs on paid hosting, and we do not provide support for them at wordpress.COM.

Also, note that we do not provide Jetpack support https://jetpack.com/support/ for sites linked to wordpress.COM accounts with the Jetpack plugin so they display on the My Sites wordpress.com account page.

Some Jetpack solutions are here http://jetpack.com/support/

Others are in the Jetpack support forum at WordPress.orghttp://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jetpack

However, if help cannot be found at either one then they can file a Jetpack support ticket here > http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/?jetpack=needs-service

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, features, run different versions of some themes with the same names, and have separate support documentation and separate support forums. Read the differences here http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

WordPress.org support docs are at https://codex.wordpress.org/Main_PageSee also https://apps.wordpress.org/support/ for app support.

Source: Wordpress.org same thing?

I've got my hands in two current connected course sites that rely on the Feed WordPress syndication approach— one is Open Learning 17 led by Gardner Campbell and the other is the Networked Narratives course I am co-teaching with Mia Zamora.

We've had a bit of a circle around on a part that has little to do with the concept, but does matter for how the syndicated content appears on the hub site. The theme on first site I cut most of my teeth on, DS106, does not make use of featured images, but most modern themes use them to have a more graphic balanced site.

Here are some on posts syndicated into Open Learning '17:

And here on Networked Narratives:

The thing to keep in mind is that a featured image is really only a WordPress construct for an image chosen to represent a post where-ever it is listed in list of posts and/or sometimes how the single post renders. There is no data for featured images in the RSS feeds used for syndication– it's not part of the content that comes from sites run in tumblr or blogger, and even WordPress RSS feeds lack a place to bring that information in.

The trick around this has always been to use the first image found in the content of the feed as the featured one. A plugin has to make a copy of a remote image (which they all are for syndicated content) to work as a featured image.

For a few years I recommended the Feed WordPress Advanced Filters plugin but the last few sites I used it on, the plugin repeatedly downloaded repeatedly like 10 or more copies if the same image. And furthermore, the plug generates a fatal error on version 4.5 of WordPress.

More recently, while working on syndication sites for VCU, I found one called FWP—SIC–Em sitting in their Rampages multisite. "SIC" is Syndicated Image Cacher and the bonus is that it's developed by the guy who writes the Feed WordPress plugin.

This one did fine for a while; I had it running on this very site too (I syndicated in a few other blogs where I write externally).

We got reports of server outages, non-repsonsiveness, or just the White Screen of Nothing on the Open Learning site. With help from Tim Owens at Reclaim Hosting, we found the problem was a memory leak for the FWP—SIC–Em plugin.

[14-Feb-2017 13:07:16 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 205520896 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 13824 bytes) in /home/xsxsxsxs/openlearninghub.net/wp-content/plugins/FWP--- SIC--Em-master/sicwebimage.class.php on line 305 [14-Feb-2017 13:07:16 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 205520896 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 13824 bytes) in /home/xsxsxsxs/openlearninghub.net/wp-content/plugins/FWP--- SIC--Em-master/sicwebimage.class.php on line 305

Disable the plugin and memory issues vanish. I submitted an issue to the developer, but he tends to be rather lax about paying attention to issues. Line 305 is a call to a function in the unix gd graphics library. I poked around the code to see if I could find an end around, but no dice.

So neither of those plugin are viable. I went back to try the Auto Post Thumbnail plugin (this blurb is from the post announcing it):

As the name suggests, the plugin will automatically assign a thumbnail to your post when you publish it. The first image in your post is used as Post Thumbnail. This is irrespective of whether the image is an uploaded image or inserted through URL. The plugin will do whatever it needs to assign it as Post Thumbnail.

I had thought the last time I tried the plugin that it was not working with Feed WordPress (maybe a conflict of hooking into WordPress? or maybe it was a theme issue), but after running it for a week, it's doing perfectly on the Networked Narratives site (the theme for the Open learning site has its own capability to make featured images, so I'm leaving it unless the folks running it ask otherwise).

This is typical of how we ride WordPress, sometimes going round and round to we find what works… until it doesn't.

I will make some updates to the part of Feed WordPress 101 that deals with Featured Images.

Featured Image: Big Carousel flickr photo by cogdogblog shared into the public domain using Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0). This photo was taken at House on the Rock in Wisconsin where I visited in 2006. It was years later I found it to the the location of the big show down in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.

The post "The Feed WordPress Featured Image Not So Merry Go Round" was originally dropped like a smoking hot potato at CogDogBlog (http://cogdogblog.com/2017/02/not-so-merry-go-round/) on February 23, 2017.

Source: The Feed WordPress Featured Image Not So Merry Go Round

The front page of every site or Home by default is the URL of the site.

Every theme has a detailed theme description page like this one is at https://wordpress.com/themes/pique/That's where set up instructions for it are found. The live demo site is at https://pique.wordpress.com/

All support docs are at https://en.support.wordpress.com/

This is a one or the other situation. You have two choices on any blog(1) All posts on the front page ie. the Home page. By default that is the URL of the site.

(2) A static front page http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/front-page/ and all posts on a different page.

By default the front page of your blog displays all published posts (not pages) in reverse chronological order, with the most recently published post on top. That is for the convenience of your returning visitors, who come to read your latest post, and who are not likely to be happy with being compelled to click through the same static page with the same blah, blah, blah on it every time they visit the blog looking for the latest post.

However, if you do not want all the posts to show on the front page, then you can create a static front page called for example "Welcome" for your site and a "Blog" page for posts. Create your two pages firstFront page:Posts page:http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/

After you do that you go to > Dashboard > Settings > Reading and make the designation change and click "save changes".http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/front-page/

A static page (select below)Front page:Posts page:

Go to http://NAME_OF_BLOG.wordpress.com/wp-admin/options-reading.php and make the required change.

*Replace NAME_OF_BLOG in the URL above with the actual name of your blog.

Front page displaysSave changes__ Your latest posts

Source: How to create a static home page and a separate Blog page

Share It – Creative Timeline WordPress Blog Theme

Share It – Creative Timeline is an elegant and progressive wordpress timeline theme. It is a perfect reel for your blog content, personal resume, corporate history timeline, photography, wedding, travel, gaming, culinary or musician blog.

Equipped with over 300+ theme options and more than 30+ post options for customisation, Share It is fully adjustable and very easy to work with. This is the first timeline in Themeforest in which you have full control on the customisation of the timeline boxes – you may adjust every aspect of the visual look and appearance of the boxes according to your needs and preferences. It comes with unlimited color options as well as the super trendy glass effect option for the appearance of the boxes, which makes the blog look so airy and modern.

Responsive and ready to use as a Facebook application.Tell your story in a memorable and creative way with Share It -Creative Timeline WordPress Blog Theme.

If you like it, please do not hesitate to rate my work.

FEATURES

300+ theme options

30+ posts options

5 scrolling effects

5 default timeline boxes layout positions

Unlimited timeline boxes designs

Unlimited color variations

Drag & Drop page builder worth of $28

Site width: Boxed /…

 

Source: Share It – Timeline WordPress Theme

Maybe you've toyed around with the idea of writing an e-book for a while, but you haven't gotten around to it yet. After all, creating an e-book is too hard and time-consuming, right?

While putting together a promotional e-book is no walk in the park, you can do it if you put your mind to it. Furthermore, publishing an e-book comes with many benefits, such as enabling you to promote your website and establish yourself as an authority in your field.

In this article, we've put together a four-step process to help you create your first promotional e-book, covering everything from planning to publishing. Let's dive right in!

Step #1: Pick the Right Tools

The first step to the e-book writing process is finding the right tools. Writing an e-book is a lot different than a regular blog post from a formatting standpoint, so you'll need to find tools that can help you tackle that aspect, as well as some others. With that in mind, we put together a brief list of our favorite writing tools, separated into four categories for your benefit.

1. Writing and Editing

Microsoft Word. You're probably already familiar with this one. It's one of the best tools for brainstorming and writing any type of content. Furthermore, it enables you to set up complex macros to handle repetitive tasks, which can be a significant timesaver.

Google Docs. On paper, Google Docs is very similar to Microsoft Word, except for its superior collaboration features. If you're working with an editor and you need to stay on top of changes and revisions, this tool should be right up your alley.

2. Formatting and Conversion

PublishXpress. PublishXpress offers seamless conversions to the .epub and .mobi formats. All you need to do is upload your source file, choose a cover, and click on the Convert button.

Anthologize. Anthologize is a WordPress plugin that converts WordPress posts into PDFs with just a few clicks.

3. All-in-One Tools

Pressbooks. This powerful WordPress plugin enables you to plan, write, edit, format, and publish e-books right from your dashboard.

Calibre. This desktop app offers a full suite of features to write, format, publish, and even convert e-books between multiple file types.

4. WordPress Tools

PDF & Print by BestWebSoft. What to offer premium or free content on your website as a pdf? This free plugin add PDF and Print buttons to your posts so your readers can easily download or print your content for later reading.

Simple PDF Exporter. Need to export all or your posts, or all of a custom post type? This free plugin bulk exports your posts to a single PDF file making the process quick and easy.

Step #2: Start Writing Your Promotional E-Book

Once you've found the right tools, it's time to roll up your sleeves and start writing. This phase can be lengthy, and it can get frustrating, so it's important that you stick to a process that works for you. With that in mind, here's how we handle long writing tasks:

Choose a topic. This is a personal decision, but for the best results, you should pick a subject that you're passionate and knowledgeable about.

Research. Investigate your topic and start thinking about what information is going to make it into your e-book.

Put together an outline. Once you've researched your ideas thoroughly, create an outline for your project. There are no hard and fast rules for doing so, but you can always look for a template to get you started.

Write your first draft. Sit down and start typing – depending on your personal taste, this step may include generous amounts of coffee. You might want to avoid editing at this stage, since it can slow you down.

Edit and polish your draft. Ideally, you should take a small break between completing your first draft and editing it. Check for ideas that you might have missed, word repetition, issues with flow, and, of course, grammar mistakes and typos.

Proofread. This step is best handled by a fresh pair of eyes, so you should think about outsourcing it to an editor. A good editor should catch anything that you missed during the previous step.

Publish your e-book. We'll talk more about how to publish your e-book further on, so keep reading!

When it comes to writing long-format content such as an e-book, it pays to be as structured as possible, and breaking down the process into several steps will make the endeavor much less stressful than tackling it without it a plan.

Step #3: Format Your E-Book

An example of an attractive e-book cover.

Once you've finished writing your e-book, it's time to work on its layout and formatting, and then convert the document to your desired file type. Getting the formatting for your e-book right is critical so that it renders correctly across all kinds of displays, especially those in small form factors.

When you're satisfied with your e-book's layout and format, we need to convert it to a suitable file type to minimize compatibility errors. These are the most popular e-book file formats at the moment:

PDF: This file type is extremely common thanks to its wide range of compatibility.

Mobi: The Mobipocket (or mobi) format is ideal if you need to render complex content with ease and flexibility.

ePub: This popular e-book format offers a solid experience and is supported by most reading software.

Out of those three, PDF is by far the most popular format thanks to its mainstream support. However, these days most people are likely to have access to reading software that supports a wide range of file types, so you needn't choose PDF by default if compatibility is your main concern.

Step #4: Upload and Publish Your E-book

After all your hard work, all that's left is to publish your e-book and wait for the glowing reviews to start pouring in. There are two main options when it comes to publishing, so let's check out the benefits of each to help you make a decision.

Self Publish Your Book

Your first option is to self-publish your book. That means you won't need to go through a distributing agent, and it's as simple as uploading the e-book to your WordPress website and hitting the Publish button. Self-publishing can be the best route if you're working with a limited budget, or you don't want to share your profits with an online distributor. Furthermore, it enables you to retain control over the entire process, which can save you a lot of headaches.

Using the Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) plugin, you can handle the entire process right from your WordPress dashboard. In fact. we even have an entire Easy Digital Downloads guide to walk you through the process of setting up your online store for the first time.

If you want to offer your e-book for free, the Free Downloads add-on for EDD enables you to do so without forcing buyers to go through the regular checkout process. Instead, all they have to do is supply their email in exchange for your e-book.

Contact A Distributor

The second option when it comes to publishing is to use an e-book distributor. With a distributor, you simply upload your e-book, set a price, and sit back while they do all the hard work for you (in exchange for a fee, of course). Some of our favorite distribution services include Smashwords, Draft2Digital, and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

If you don't have the time to handle all the minutia of publishing your e-book, the right distribution service can take a huge load off your shoulders. However, do keep in mind that most services come with guidelines of their own, and you'll need to deal with them to update your e-book and receive payments. If you don't mind those small drawbacks, then by all means, consider the option.

Conclusion

Publishing an e-book can be a frustrating endeavor if you don't know where to start. However, tackling the project with a solid plan in mind should help you finish faster and save you a lot of headaches.

Here are the four main steps to getting your first promotional e-book written and published:

Find the right tools for the job.

Sit down and write.

Format your e-book.

Publish your e-book on your website or by using a distribution service.

How do you tackle complex writing projects like promotional e-books? Share your experiences with us in the comments section below!

Source: How to Create a Promotional eBook for Your WordPress Website (in 4 Steps)

I have had a lovely week with a birthday and Valentine's Day and I am now about to pack my bags to head off for a girls week with my two sisters to celebrate all our birthdays which all fall …

Source: Smorgasbord Weekly Round Up – Rum Cocktails, Blog Sitters and all that Jazz

Advertisements
Source: Smorgasbord Weekly Round Up – Rum Cocktails, Blog Sitters and all that Jazz

cherylstoverphotography.com and it's hosted by GoDaddy who shows that it is up and running with no issues.

That site is not on WordPress.COM servers. You are posting to the wrong support forum.

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, support docs and support forums, and many people get confused about the two.

The wordpress.ORG login link is here https://login.wordpress.org/ If you do not have an account yet then click Create an account https://login.wordpress.org/register/ and if you have lost an account password click Lost password? https://login.wordpress.org/lostpassword/

This is wordpress.COM support. We provide support only for wordpress.COM hosted sites. Our support docs do not apply to(1) local installs of wordpress.ORG software on your own server or(2) wordpress.ORG software installs on paid hosting, and we do not provide support for them at wordpress.COM.

Also, note that we do not provide Jetpack support https://jetpack.com/support/ for sites linked to wordpress.COM accounts with the Jetpack plugin so they display on the My Sites wordpress.com account page.

Some Jetpack solutions are here http://jetpack.com/support/

Others are in the Jetpack support forum at WordPress.orghttp://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jetpack

However, if help cannot be found at either one then they can file a Jetpack support ticket here > http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/?jetpack=needs-service

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, features, run different versions of some themes with the same names, and have separate support documentation and separate support forums. Read the differences here http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

WordPress.org support docs are at https://codex.wordpress.org/Main_PageSee also https://apps.wordpress.org/support/ for app support.

Source: Cant Find My Blog

Some WordPress users claim a decision to delay disclosure of a security issue opened the door to hackers. PHOTO: Patryk Sobczak

You can urge WordPress users to keep the platform software up-to-date. But like that proverbial horse and his drink of water, you can't make them do it.

So the news that hackers have been having what one expert described as a "feeding frenzy" on WordPress sites should really come as no surprise. We have all been here before, lamenting vulnerabilities in the world's most popular content management system.

The question this time is whether WordPress acted in the most responsible way to warn its customers about a potentially critical vulnerability. As it stands, its actions are generating a lot of debate.

WordPress Déjà Vu

Anyway, if your business hasn't upgraded to the latest version of WordPress it is now a sitting digital duck for an ongoing wave of cyberattacks. Reports indicate as many as two million web pages on WordPress websites have been defaced in the past three weeks.

According to Mark Maunder, CEO and founder of Wordfence, a Seattle startup that makes a firewall and malware scan for WordPress, the latest incident is just like the previous WordPress attacks ... largely the result of a failure of users to upgrade.

WordPress 4.7.2, a security release for all previous versions, was released late last month. Version 4.7.2 contained a patch for a vulnerability that allows hackers to attack and alter content on WordPress websites. But that's where things get complicated.

WordPress Makes Partial Disclosure

On a Jan. 26 blog post on WordPress.org, Aaron D. Campbell, team lead of the WordPress Security Team and a WordPress Core Contributor at GoDaddy, announced the update. He "strongly" encouraged users to update their sites "immediately," citing three specific site vulnerabilities.

On Feb. 1, Campbell acknowledged WordPress 4.7 and 4.7.1 "had one additional vulnerability for which disclosure was delayed." WordPress "intentionally delayed disclosing this issue by one week to ensure the safety of millions of additional WordPress sites," he explained. Sucuri notified WordPress Jan. 20 that one of their security researchers, Marc-Alexandre Montpas, has discovered the vulnerability. Campbell continued:

"The security team began assessing the issue and working on solutions. While a first iteration of a fix was created early on, the team felt that more testing was needed. Meanwhile, Sucuri added rules to their Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block exploit attempts against their clients. This issue was found internally and no outside attempts were discovered by Sucuri."

Campbell said WordPress "made the decision to delay disclosure of this particular issue to give time for automatic updates to run and ensure as many users as possible were protected before the issue was made public."

Second Guessing the WordPress Strategy

WordPress earned both admiration and anger for the way it handled the vulnerability.

Maunder, writing in a Feb. 6 blog post, noted the initially undisclosed vulnerability "resulted in a kind of feeding frenzy where attackers are competing with each other to deface vulnerable WordPress websites. During the past 48 hours, we have seen over 800,000 attacks exploiting this specific vulnerability across the WordPress sites we monitor."

"The attackers using the REST-API exploit are defacing websites by leaving their own signature on a defaced WordPress page. We are currently tracking 20 different defacement campaigns," he continued.

In all cases where sites were successfully attacked, the owners had not updated to the new WordPress version or installed an effective security wall against this vulnerability.

Maunder also pointed out in a follow-up post on Feb.10 that he total number of defaced pages for all the attacks as indexed by Google grew from 1,496,020 to 1,893,690 in one 24-hour period — a 26 percent increase.

The decision to withhold information was soundly criticized by German online magazine Heise.de, which said WordPress deliberately downplayed a serious situation. In the story (translated from German), author Fabian A. Scherschel noted:

"The sufferers are, above all, the WordPress users, who have not activated the auto-update function of the CMS for various reasons - for example because they are not compatible with the configuration of their web host. For the future, this means that WordPress users will no longer be able to rely on assessing the priority of developers' updates and installing all updates as quickly as possible. If possible, auto-updates should be enabled."

However you feel about the way WordPress handled the issue, the message is clear: The safest thing to do is continually update your sites.

Source: Could WordPress Have Stopped a 'Feeding Frenzy' by Hackers?

This is a popular and the best bookstore WordPress themes that suit you for your e-commerce such as eBooks website.

This features all kind of things that are very useful in well creating a decent-looking plus functioning WordPress books store site.

It is responsive totally and hence on a mobile viewing it will be no issues, and you can rightly customize it to have any favorite color according to your taste.

More Info & Download

Source: 25 Best WordPress Themes for Selling Books

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, support docs and support forums, and many people get confused about the two.

The wordpress.ORG login link is here https://login.wordpress.org/ If you do not have an account yet then click Create an account https://login.wordpress.org/register/ and if you have lost an account password click Lost password? https://login.wordpress.org/lostpassword/

This is wordpress.COM support. We provide support only for wordpress.COM hosted sites. Our support docs do not apply to(1) local installs of wordpress.ORG software on your own server or(2) wordpress.ORG software installs on paid hosting, and we do not provide support for them at wordpress.COM.

Also, note that we do not provide Jetpack support https://jetpack.com/support/ for sites linked to wordpress.COM accounts with the Jetpack plugin so they display on the My Sites wordpress.com account page.

Some Jetpack solutions are here http://jetpack.com/support/

Others are in the Jetpack support forum at WordPress.orghttp://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jetpack

However, if help cannot be found at either one then they can file a Jetpack support ticket here > http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/?jetpack=needs-service

WordPress.COM and WordPress.ORG are completely separate and have different username accounts, logins, features, run different versions of some themes with the same names, and have separate support documentation and separate support forums. Read the differences here http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

WordPress.org support docs are at https://codex.wordpress.org/Main_PageSee also https://apps.wordpress.org/support/ for app support.

Source: WordPress SEO

I don't see how to upgrade my hosted version free blog to the version recommended to protect from hackers. I have already unaccountably lost the text from one post, but don't see anywhere on the dashboard to start the process?

The blog I need help with is sophieandemile.wordpress.com.

Source: How to upgrade my wordpress.com blog to 4. 7.2? A blog post has vanished from my site.

You have to gain access to the site first.

What I post below applies only to sites hosted by wordpress.COM.

You must be logged in under the exact same username that registered the site to be able to access the site. The Admin login link to the dashboard for every blog hosted by wordpress.COM is:

http://NAME_OF_BLOG.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

If you are not logged in under the correct username account then clear your browser cache https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-your-browser-cache and cookies https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-wordpress-com-cookies and then login correctly under the relevant username account.

If the login information has been lost go tohttps://en.support.wordpress.com/passwords/https://en.support.wordpress.com/passwords/#lost-password

If required use the account recovery formhttps://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/https://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/#account-recovery-form

If you do not have the required access and someone else registered the site you need to contact the person who registered the account and site under it and have them transfer the sites to your username account by using this process. http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/#transferring-your-blog-to-another-user-or-account

I'm not even sure which email address this site is attached to.

If you check each and every possible email address and account and are not successful gaining access to the blog(s) then you must complete the form for account recovery at this link https://en.wordpress.com/wp-login.php?action=recovery and submit it to the Account Recovery Staff, and provide proof ownership, so they can contact you by email ie. not on these public support forums, which are available to everyone with internet access.

Support Staff cannot breach the privacy policy and provide the log-in information. You have to provide proof ownership to Account Recovery Staff to gain access https://en.support.wordpress.com/account-recovery/

Source: delete blog

socialMe is a fresh and responsive WordPress social media blogging theme from MyThemeShop developer club. This theme is specially designed to use for social media heavy loaded contents and online community-based websites to discuss general or particular topics. socialMe WordPress Theme is well planned and created to use for social community websites, hence you will find all necessary features.

It is also pre-built with following 5 different multi-author blog websites to help to promote your brand and engage your visitors! You can check in the demo:

Default Demo

Blogging Tips

Food Blogging

Dating Community Website

Online Shopping

4 Predefined Responsive Layouts

socialMe WordPress Theme has been designed with 4 predefined fluid responsive layout which allows you to use on all smartphone devices, tablets and desktop computer. The design is very clean and coded by professional Coders with SEO optimised structure. The socialme theme will catch the eye of your visitors and keep them reading your content.

Dedicated Author Box & Contributors:

socialMe WordPress Theme is also coming with dedicated author box section which will allow you to display the author profile head shot photo, number posts posted on the blog, a number of followers and profile editing options.

Highlighted Features of socialMe WordPress Social Theme:

16 Powerful Widgets to Create Unique Web Layout

Social media integration buttons let people follow you on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and etc.

3 different pagination types of styling your pages

Fluid responsiveness to fit the dimensions of any display.

Off canvas mobile menu to navigation on mobile

Parallax scrolling effects as a modern and stylist layout

Unlimited colour options

SEO optimised and speed optimised to increase engagement

Lazy loading images to save more time

WooCommerce plugin support to create online shopping stores

Add unlimited footer widgets

Ad management options to display ads on the desired location

Unique author intro widget

WP Review Pro compatible and create professional looking review plugin

BuddyPress basic support to create online community and social networking website

bbPress Basic support to turn your website into fully functional forum and social integration

Google AdSense Optimized and well planned to showcase the ads and increase CTR revenue

WP Notification bar, unlimited background options, WP subscribes pro, recorded video tutorials, WP mega menu support and etc.

590+ Google web fonts and font awesome icons

Advanced type settings and Ajax loading

Child theme support and translation ready!

Extensive documentation on theme installation and video tutorials

Import and export settings for theme panel

Google Schema.org support to ranking high in search engines

Dedicated 24 x 7 direct theme support

Source: socialMe WordPress Social Media & Multi Author Blog Theme

There no backup required. Your content will remain exactly where it is now and there is a preview function when using the customizer.

The only themes we can use on WordPress.com hosted blogs are licensed and adapted to run on our multi user software the themes are found here http://wordpress.com/themes/ and in your Dashboard at > Appearance > Themes

Every theme has a detailed theme description page like this one is at https://wordpress.com/themes/motif/ That's where set up instructions for it are found. The live demo site is at https://motifdemo.wordpress.com/

All support docs are at https://en.support.wordpress.com/

re: switching themes

Note that switching themes https://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/#switch-themes can be easily done, provided you are logged in as Admin under the same username account that registered the site. Themes are just "skins" on WordPress.COM hosted blogs. You can quickly and easily change themes on any WordPress.COM hosted blog to another one found here http://wordpress.com/themes/ and no data will be lost or negatively affected by the change. The only time you may have to do a lot of work is if you are changing to a dramatically different theme with different features and/or if you have done any CSS editing.

Provided you are logged in as Admin under the same username account that registered the blog go to Dashboard > Appearance > Themes, Browse themes until you find one you like and click the "activate" or the "preview" link, or type in the name of the theme you want to use when it appears.

The theme customizer https://en.support.wordpress.com/customizer/ provides a preview function for exactly that purpose ie. so you can view what a theme will appear like prior to changing one.

Source: changing wordpress theme

What is the exact URL of the site you deleted?

If you are referring to a site that was hosted by wordpress.COM, the relevant wordpress.COM support doc is found at http://en.support.wordpress.com/recycling-blog-names/.

Deleted blog URLs are not recycled, regardless of who registered and deleted them and no exceptions are made except for the one stated there.

You can register another .wordpress.com URL and then purchase an upgrade plan so you can map to an existing domain.

Register another .wordpress.com blog http://en.support.wordpress.com/register-a-blog/

Purchase a domain mapping upgrade knowing it does not matter what the underlying .wordpress.com address is when you are domain mapping.http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/register-domain/

Source: Deleted Domain

Our next recommendation is a particular plugin for customizing the checkout procedure only. It can let you re-order, rename, hide, or extend the fields which are part of the checkout page. The plugin is already used by 40,000 users and it's regularly updated to keep things compatible with latest WordPress script. It even offers customization for billing and shipping sections. For a plugin which is available for free, you'll be surprised to see the number of features it possesses.

Plugin highlights:

It has fifteen different field types which can be used directly or customized further.

It can let you set a particular field to appear or hide for a particular user in different situations.

It comes with built-in sort orders and export orders functionalities which make the management easy.

It saves the fields information for the user profiles which is automatically filled when they return back.

Full Details & Download

Source: 7 Best WooCommerce Extensions and Plugins for WordPress

For today's post, I have composed a list of recommended Best SEO Plugin For WordPress. You do not need to practice all of these SEO plugins, but each works in a different way, so I would suggest choosing and using the ones that best suit your needs.

In this list I have included a best seo plugin for wordpress just about free SEO plugins and some premium plugins, so there is something useful here for all visitors.

As you might expect, more or less of the premium plugins have distinct advantages over the free ones. For example, Easy WP SEO is far better for keyword optimization than the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin.

I will also link to my previous review of individual SEO plugins, and then you can learn more about them and decide which SEO plugins are appropriate for your website. If you think there are any WordPress SEO plugins missing from our list, do let us know, and we would be glad to go over them and possibly add them to our list.

Best SEO Plugins for WordPress Website's:

1- Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin:

WordPress SEO by Yoast is a best free SEO plugin for WordPress.  This single plugin takes care of many facial expressions of your WordPress blog's SEO.  Using SEO by Yoast you can make out the following things:

Add meta value for the homepage

Add meta value for single post

Social SEO

Create a sitemap file

Control indexing of your website

More You Like: How To Set Up WordPress Yoast SEO Plugin

If you are using the All In One SEO plugin before, it's time to move SEO content and migrate to Yoast's WordPress SEO plugin. This plugin integrates features from some of the most popular plugins like Robots Meta and RSS footer.

I have written this detailed tutorial which demonstrates you how to setup the SEO by Yoast plugin.

You can download this SEO plugin for free from WordPress report over here.

2- Broken link checker WordPress plugin:

The broken link checker plugin is a really useful plugin for finding all internal and external broken links (404 links). 404 links are nothing but a dead end for search engine spiders, and it's highly advisable to take out such links. This plugin may cause some issues with certain blog posts. It is possible that it could still freeze your hosting for a while. For this understanding, I would suggest running this plugin on a low traffic day.

3- SEO Smart Link WordPress Plugin:

SEO Smart Link WordPress plugin allows you to automatically link your words to any post link. This is really useful for on-page optimization. By finding your site's high ranking keywords using the Google webmaster tool, you can boost your site's ranking.

Before you use this plugin, you necessitate to be certain of your internal linking and be aware of Google's linking algorithm. This is one plugin I'm applying here at creativedream's, & a major reason for such strong interlinking of content with each other.

4- SEO friendly Images:

By optimizing your images, you can drive a significant quantity of traffic from image search engines. Even here at Creativedream's, almost 10% of traffic is from image search engines, and that is a great deal.

This plugin adds ALT attributes into your images, though you need to take care of the picture name. If you upload images with names like image002. JPEG or DSC001.  JPEG, I would suggest that you make it a point to start presenting your images more useful names right away. For example, in this post I have imparted the name "WordPress SEO" to the image I used.

Related: OnPage SEO Tricks To Rank On The First Page – 2017 Edition

If you are just researching various SEO plugins for WordPress, you may wish to just use the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin, as it offers most of the features offered by many other individual plugins.

Download SEO Friendly Images Free

Here are a few examples that inspired me:

Google XML Sitemap Plugin: This WordPress plugin is widely used now-a-days for generating a sitemap of your website/blog, but I advise that you ignore this plugin as you can now use the sitemap feature of the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin.

All in one SEO Plugin: SEO Ultimate: Again, you do not need either of these plugins as WordPress SEO by Yoast offers all of the essential characteristics.

Robots Meta: All the features of this plugin are integrated into SEO by Yoast plugin as well.

Do let us know in the comments section below, If you believe I have missed any useful or helpful best SEO plugin for WordPress.

Source: Top 6 Best SEO Plugin For WordPress To Get Higher Rankings

This is the first in a series of tutorials designed to help make your WordPress efforts more easily manageable by using WP-CLI. 

WordPress Command Line Interface, or WP-CLI, is a simple but powerful command line tool that when used right, can simplify most tasks required to run a successful WordPress website. For example, with WP-CLI you can upgrade "WordPress core" or install a plugin with a single command, no logins and clicks necessary! Your WordPress site will feel like a well-oiled machine.

In this series of blog posts, we will cover the basic but useful tasks with WP-CLI such as upgrading WordPress core and managing your plugins. By the end of it, you'll be comfortable using WP-CLI and discovering even more ways you can use it to simplify your life!

Installing and configuring WP-CLI

If you are using DreamPress or have WordPress installed on a shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting account with us, you can just log in to the server and you'll find WP-CLI waiting for your commands. Login to your remote server and check it out:

[user@dreamhost-server]$ wp --info

WP-CLI needs the path where the WordPress installation lives to get started. The easiest way is by providing the path in the command line. For example, if you have one WordPress site installed in /home/user/domain, the command to check WordPress version should be:

[user@server] $ wp --path=/home/user/domain core version

If you only run one domain, you can enter the path in a YAML file, storing path and all the most used options there. Add this line to your ~/.wp-cli/config.yml config file:

path: "/home/username/domain"

After you have added this to your config file, run the following to confirm your path is correct:

[user@server]$ wp core version

This shows the version number of your WordPress install. If it succeeds, your path is configured correctly; if it does not, check your path again to make sure there are no typos.

If you manage multiple WordPress sites, it might be easiest to install WP-CLI locally and configure it to manage multiple sites. If you are on MacOS and have brew installed, you can use it to install wp-cli using the following:

[user@localhost] $ brew install wp-cli

Otherwise, install PHP, then download WP-CLI so you can run it locally.

[user@localhost] $ curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar [user@localhost] $ chmod +x wp-cli.phar [user@localhost] $ ln -s wp-cli.phar wp

Make sure WP-CLI can run with the following:

[user@localhost] $ ./wp --info

Now you need to configure WP-CLI to manage multiple sites, using the ~/.wp-cli/config.yml config file. For example, let's assume you have a production website on a server named prod.example.com with WordPress, in the path /home/example/prod.example.com; you also have a staging site at staging.example.com with WordPress in the path /home/example/staging.example.com and each site's ssh user is example. In the YAML configuration file you'll create two alias entries, @prod and @staging like in the example below:

@prod: user: example ssh: prod.example.com path: "/home/example/prod.example.com" @staging: user: example ssh: staging.example.com path: "/home/example/staging.example.com"

Then when you want to run commands against the production site, you would use the @prod aliases to pass commands to the appropriate server:

[user@localhost] $ ./wp @prod core version

And to reach the staging server, use @staging alias:

[user@localhost] $ ./wp @staging core version

If you manage production and staging WordPress sites for multiple customers, you can see how handy that is—for example, you can upgrade all WordPress sites to a new release from your own computer, no extra clicks necessary!

In the next episode, we'll show you how to manage your WordPress core version using a handy terminal application. Stay tuned!

Have questions? Leave a comment below, or chat with us on Twitter @DreamHostCare!

Source: Automate WordPress Management Tasks with WP-CLI

Do you think setting up an online e-commerce store is a tough job? If you ask me, then, yes, it is a tough job!

But, with the help of plugins like WooCommerce, we don't have to go into technical details, and worry about the coding part!

All we need to do is to understand how this plugin works, how its extensions work, and how exactly we can make it work.

This step by step guide I'm compiling here will cover how to start an online store with WooCommerce. I'll try my best to make it through and to the point.

Here is is what we will cover in this guide: 

Pick a domain name & host

Setup WordPress

Select a Template

Install WooCommerce

Fine tune your New online Store

Step 1 – Pick a domain name & host

Choose a domain name (this will be the name of your online store i.e wpmultiverse.com)

If you are having trouble in generating domain name ideas, you can try tools like Shopify business name generator, Namemesh, Nameboy, etc. Just provide your main keyword and these tools will generate thousands of domain suggestions for you.

A web hosting account (this is where your website lives on the internet).

When looking for a good hosting company, I would should one that is fast, offers WordPress optimized hosting, tech support, WordPress one click installer. For this I recommend going with:

SiteGround hosting

They offer all the above plus a free domain, and SSL certificate saving you over $60. Their lowest package starts at $3.95 per month.

You can see the full comparison we did of the best WordPress hosting here.

Step 2 – Setup WordPress

This is, of course, the very first step, as WordPress is required to work with WooCommerce.

Considering you're not new to the WordPress, the setup part is easy. You need to ensure that every tool is configured in the right way and there are no loose strings left.

Step 3 – Select A Theme

The next step is to get a WooCommerce compatible theme. Almost every premium theme is compatible with this plugin as it is a very popular solution.

Still, you should confirm this before making the purchase.

Once the theme selection is done, get it installed and activate it.

There are high chances that the theme will have the WooCommerce plugin. If not, then you can install it manually. It's not that big deal!

And yes, you can use a WooTheme theme, which is developed by the same developer behind WooCommerce plugin. So, you can expect maximum compatibility and lesser work.

Let me know which theme you're picking up!

Step 4 – Install WooCommerce Plugin

This step might not be needed if the theme is compatible and packs WooCommerce within.

Still, if you have to do the installation manually, then it can be done easily.

Log in to the WordPress Dashboard and click on the Plugin option you see in the menu bar on the left side.

Click on the Add New button and input the search term, 'WooCommerce.' Hit enter and the search will begin!

Select the plugin and then click on the Install button to proceed with the installation procedure. Finally, click on the Activate button!

Now, click on the 'Install WooCommerce Pages' button to finish the installation procedure. This step will take a few minutes as it will import e-commerce related pages.

Step 5 – Configuring WooCommerce

You're almost there to hit the publish button, i.e., to launch the e-commerce store. Let's now begin with the configuration part!

General

This part of the configurations will let you set up the Base Location where the operations are carried from, Selling Location where the products will be delivered, and Currency Options.

You can also adjust the style and scripts to play with the visuals and come up with a custom looking webpage.

Product

The next tab will open the product's listing settings which can be controlled. Keep in mind, these are the general settings which are applied to all the products, by default.

Of course, you can make exceptions at individual product pages.

Over here, you can control the image sizes, ratings, listings, data, and the download method (in the case of digital products).

Tax

Every e-commerce store has to pay certain taxes and those are included in the product's cost. In the invoice, all those taxes have to be mentioned clearly.

This particular tab will help you set the number and amount of taxes which will then work on automation.

So, you need to check with the tax system in your country and configure this tab accordingly.

Checkout

The number of pages to be part of Checkout Process, how exactly it is going to proceed, the payment gateways and the end point (last webpage) are configured at this tab.

For best results, keep the number of pages to a minimum and ensure faster checkout options are available to the users. Remember, this is a very important phase in the lead generation.

Shipping

Shipping charges are also part of the process and this particular tab will help you configure it properly. You can mention shipping charges, how it is calculated and how exactly it is displayed.

You can even configure certain exceptions like if the total cart value is beyond a particular price point, then the shipping charges will be none.

Account

Every user has a custom profile and this is where the account settings can be configured. These configurations will act like global settings.

Email

WooCommerce plugin also takes care of the email newsletter, as this particular tab features the required tools.

In my opinion, going with a newsletter specific plugin is a better idea. Like, MailChimp or AWeber as you'll have better control and the newsletter will look more impressive.

Additional Settings

You can proceed with adding or deleting or editing a product anytime whenever required. It is again easy and you can proceed with the available options there.

In addition to these all, one can also add coupons and make them work on the product's sale pages. Simply Add Coupon button and then proceed with the available options.

Once you are finished with this, the coupon will be activated on the product pages.

Final Words

This was all about how to start an e-commerce store with WooCommerce and I hope you found it helpful. Still, there are a lot of points left which can lead one to the issues.

All you need to do is to mention them in the discussion section below. I'll take it from there to fix them!

Good luck with the new project.

Source: How To Start an Online Store in 5 Steps

 Author blogs: Are you blogging for the right reasons?

1) Getting Rich Quick

Nothing infuriates me more than those books and blogs promising writers they can make a gazillion dollars of "passive income" with a blog in the next month if they take this overpriced course or buy that book of rehashed advice from 2005.

The only people making a lot of "passive income" from blogging are the people selling the overpriced courses and worthless advice. Pyramid schemes always provide "passive income" for the people at the top of the pyramid. That's not going to be you at this point. The boom is over.

Blogging is work. Writing is work. There's nothing "passive" about it. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying.

I used to subscribe to a couple of hype-y "how-to-blog" blogs, but I had to unsubscribe because these people are getting so desperate. One blogger now sends an email 15 minutes after you click through to read his post saying, "You've had enough time to read my post. Now share it to Facebook."

Creepy!! I'd just shared his post to Twitter, but I deleted the Tweet and unsubscribed. You're not the boss of me, dude. And I'm not responsible for your bad life choices. If you really were making the fortune you claimed to be making a decade ago, why didn't you invest it?

Another sad truth is that Internet ads pay less than they used to. You're not going to make more than pennies a day from ads (especially "affiliate" ads that only pay when somebody clicks through and buys something.)

Your best bet is to get a deep-pockets sponsor to bankroll you, but even so, that's not likely to pay a lot of bills.

Medium, the popular blogging platform started a couple of years ago by Twitter and Blogger founder Evan Williams has not found a way to make money. You probably won't either.

Author blogs are for promoting your own brand. You're making money by not spending it advertising elsewhere, but that's not going to buy you a house in the Hamptons.

2) Overnight Fame

The days of Julie/Julia  over.

Yes, you can still raise your profile with author blogs, and I strongly recommend you use a blog as one tool for getting your name out there.

But nobody's likely to become an overnight sensation with author blogs in these days when everybody and his grandmother has one.

When Julie Powell started her Julia Child blog in 2002, the term "blog" itself was only 3 years old. Blogging was a whole new concept.

Now, WordPress alone, with about a quarter of the market, hosts more than 76.5 million blogs.

The odds for instant fame are not on your side. I highly recommend that authors blog, but we need to be patient.

3) Exploring the Inner Workings of Your Psyche

Journaling is a great aid to mental health. It can also get your creative juices flowing. I'm a firm believer in those "morning pages" Julia Cameron talks about in The Artist's Way. Whenever I'm going through a rough patch, I go back to morning journaling and it always helps.

But you know what I don't do? I don't publish the stuff. Because good journaling is by definition bad writing. It's dumping your unresolved issues on the page so you can examine them. Not other people.

They don't want to. That's why shrinks charge the big bux. Other people's unresolved issues are amazingly boring. And think what the trolls and fake news nuts could do with all that personal stuff about you if you do get famous.

This is why paper journals are still such a great boon to creatives. You might even want to get an old fashioned diary with a lock on it. Ruth Harris has some great recommendations for lovely journals in her Gifts for Writers post.

Not much of our lives is private these days, so grab what little privacy you can still hang onto.

Don't blog your angst. Think of your reader, not your own needs.

4) Revenge

Blogging anonymously in order to dish the dirt on teachers, colleagues or even celebrities is likely to backfire unless you're brilliantly funny. (Or you're a clever Macedonian teenager who knows how to make money generating ridiculous disinformation for the "alt-right".)

If you're a brilliant humorist, why not be proud of it and use your own name?

There's no point in being an anonymous snarkasaurus if your goal is to be a bestselling author someday.

Blogging anonymously is a waste of time, because the whole point of author blogs is to get your name out there.

Put that anger into your private journal (see above) and use it in fiction later.

5) Attracting an Agent

There may have been a time, back in the early days of the millennium, when agents perused blogs looking for clients.

I don't think they ever looked to blogs for novels—because novels all about structure, and the structure of a blogpost shows nothing about your abilities to structure a novel. But they may have gone looking for nonfiction.

However, that was the Jurassic period in terms of Internet history.

This is the age of the e-query and agents get hundreds a day in their inboxes. They don't need to look elsewhere for amateur writing.

The way to attract an agent is to write an outstanding professional query.

If you've got a popular blog you think you can turn into a book, then put together a fantastic book proposal and a query that will knock their socks off.

But don't expect agents to wander by your blog with an offer of representation any more than you'd expect them wander into your bedroom with a six figure advance. Doesn't happen.

Lots of blogs have been turned into bestselling books, and I think for nonfiction writers, starting your book as a blog is an excellent idea.

But don't expect an agent to come calling without some serious effort on your part.

1) Getting Your Name on Google's Radar

A static website gets less traffic than an active blog, so the search engine spiders don't notice it.

The more active the site, the more likely the spiders will find it. (Spiders will begin with a popular site, index the words on its pages and follow every link found within the site.)

A blog that's getting hits and comments will get noticed. It may take a month or two, but it will get Google's attention, then when somebody Googles you, you'll be on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (known as a SERP.)

Last year I did an experiment starting a new once-a-week book blog, and found it only took about 4 posts to get it on the first page of a search for "Anne R. Allen's Books."

Whenever you query an agent or publisher or reviewer, or you send a story to an anthology or literary magazine—pretty much every time you want to do business online—the first thing people will do is Google you.

A blog is one of the best ways to get your name on that all important SERP.

2) Establishing Yourself as a Digital Age Professional

A blog is like your own international newspaper column. Writing to deadline and coming up with a topic once or twice a week is great for building your professional writing muscles. (I don't recommend blogging more often than that when you're trying to build a career writing stuff other than blogposts. Some people call this "slow blogging." I recommend it, especially for novelists.)

If you treat your blog as an aspect of your job as a writer, you can prove to people in the industry that you're a professional. If you're querying agents or editors, this can make all the difference in whether they decide to do business with you.

Plus writing for a blog teaches you to write for the digital age.

By checking your stats, you can see immediately what posts are getting the most traffic and learn what works for a Web based audience.

You'll also learn to use SEO, keywords, bulleting, subheaders and white space to draw the eye through a post. This is useful for composing any kind of content for the Web.

Once you're a published author, you're going to need to know how to write guest blogposts (one of the best methods of marketing your book) as well as other Web content. Why not start practicing now?

3) Networking with Other Writers

Blogging is a form of social media, and social media is about, well, socializing. Blogging provides a great way to socialize with other writers. The writing blogosphere is generally friendly and welcoming.

Joining a writer's blogging circle like the Insecure Writer's Support Group or a genre blogging group can do amazing things for your career. You can find opportunities for great things like:

Blog hops

Anthologies

Boxed sets

Joint promotions

Exchanging beta reads and critiques

Interviews and spotlights

Sharing information about agents, publishers, and warnings of possible scams

Blog hopping is especially useful for new writers because it gets the attention of those spiders I mentioned in #1

Besides, writing is a lonely job and while you're writing away in your garret you may not have time to get away to the local café to hang out with IRL friends, but your blogfriends can give you moral support through those tough times of rejection and bad reviews and cyberbully attacks.

They may even help more, because they've probably been through it themselves.

4) Controlling your Brand

Social media comes and goes. Facebook can kick you off for imagined infractions. Goodreads can attract trolls. Nasty people can invade and turn once-friendly groups into nightmares.

But a blog is your own domain. You can kick out the troublemakers and make your own rules. If you want a politics-free zone, you can have it.

In these days of fact-free "news" stories and cyberbullying, you really want to have someplace online where you can interact with people and nobody will come barging in with fists flying, trying to pick a fight.

Blogs are good for that.

You can also create your own look and the atmosphere that will attract the kind of readers who are most likely to be interested in your work.

5) Interacting with Fans and Attracting Readers

I think author blogs are one of the best marketing tools out there. So does agent Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media.

A blog is a fantastic place to make friends with people who may later buy your books. If you're blogging about the topic or setting of your novel or memoir, you will attract people who are familiar with the place or the situation you deal with in your book.

These connections are pure gold.

It's not that you want to try to hard-sell your book to everybody who wanders by. But these people can become contacts who can introduce you to corners of the Internet you might never have discovered otherwise. They can also end up introducing you to agents, editors, writers' conference directors, and other people who can make all the difference in your career.

A blog can help you make contacts all over the world. Some may buy your books and spread the word about them, some may be helpful with research and a few may even turn into personal, long-time friends.

What's better than making friends? That is a really great reason to blog!

***

What about you, scriveners? Do you have a blog? Do you monetize it? Did you fall for any of the "get rich quick" promises of some of the blog gurus? Have you blogged and given up on it? What did you get out of blogging? 

by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) February 5, 2017

NOTE: We've already had 2 big power outages in my neighborhood this weekend and we're expecting another massive storm, so if I don't respond to your comments, it's because I'm living the third world life here on the California coast. 🙂

BOOK OF THE WEEK

HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE is on a 99c Countdown for 5 days!

Everything you wanted to know about contemporary publishing (traditional or indie) but were afraid to ask: from your first draft to that movie deal: blogging, social media, marketing, platform building, querying, dealing with reviews and rejection and internet trolls. It's all in there!

Co-written with NYT bestseller and Amazon million-seller Catherine Ryan Hyde 

February 4–February 10  It will be only 99P at Amazon UK  and  99c at Amazon.com

How to Be A Writer in the E-Age: A Self-Help Guide

It's also available in paper for $12.99  

OPPORTUNITY ALERTS

Creative Nonfiction magazine seeks TRUE personal stories or profiles about people starting over after a failure or setback. Up to 4000 words. Paying market. $3  submission fee. Deadline June 19, 2017

C.G. JUNG SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS ESSAY CONTEST $10 ENTRY FEE. Theme: Memories, Dreams, and Sensualities. They are looking for personal essays that add something unique to the conversation about Jungian ideas. Winners will have the opportunity to read their essays at our conference, Jung in the Heartland: Memories, Dreams Sensualities, October 2017. Winning essays published on the website. 1st Prize: $1,000. 2nd Prize: $500. 3rd Prize: $250. 3,500 words. Deadline: May 1, 2017.

LitMag pays up to $1000 for short stories! $250 for poetry and short-shorts. No reprints. They don't consider work that's previously been published either in print or online (including personal blogs.)

Write non-fiction? Impakter Magazine is looking for non-fiction articles and interviews (1000-3000 words max) in 4 verticals: Culture, Society, Style, Philanthropy. Articles about politics are also welcome but need to meet the magazine's standard of high-quality content.  The magazine publishes daily (except week-end) and each piece attracts 10-40,000 viewers (in majority college-educated millennials). No submission fee.

Publish with the Big 5 without an agent! Forever Yours, Digital-first Romance imprint of Hachette is now taking unagented submissions, from novellas to sagas (12K words t0 100K words.) No advance. 25% royalty. Professional editing, design, publicist. Print books over 50K words.

ROMANCE AUTHORS! And a list of 31 small presses that specialize in romance and do not require an agent for submissions. Also compiled by the Authors Publish Newsletter.

25 PUBLISHERS YOU CAN SUBMIT TO WITHOUT AN AGENT. These are respected, mostly independent publishing houses–vetted by the great people at Authors Publish. Do check out their newsletter

Source: Author Blogs: 5 Bad Reasons for Authors to Blog and 5 Good Ones