Global Evangelists.com » Jeremy

I’m Moving Out

Jeremy — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:54:26 +0000

You may of noticed that I don’t post to this site any more, the reason being is that I have pretty much lost interest in the site.

I found that the work I was putting into the site, compared to the traffic I was getting from the people I was trying to help just wasn’t adding up.

So I have decided to move out.

I will be moving most of the content over to my personal blog, this should take some time to do, so the site will be slowly phased out over a period of time.

I will be setting up 301 redirects to all of the posts and pages I move and will be updating any relevant content, so if you are looking for a specific page on this site and are redirected to my blog then that is the reason why.

I hope you will join me on my site as I have allready started posting some pretty handy tips for you to try.

You can find me at http://jeremyyoung.ws/

Adjusting The Reading Settings In Wordpress

Jeremy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:02:41 +0000

One of the reasons I love using Wordpress (and there are many) is the ability to use the software as a Blog, Website or combination of both.

So, depending on what you want from your site, will determine how you are going to adjust your Reading settings.

But first, lets Log into Wordpress and check out what the Settings look like before we discuss how to set this up.

The link to access the Reading settings is in the left sidebar under Settings.

You will notice in the Reading Settings page there are five main settings, they are…

Front page displays
Blog pages show at most
Syndication feeds show the most recent
For each article in a feed, show
Encoding for pages and feeds

In the example I am showing you here, I want to create a static Home page for my site and a separate Blog page where all of my latest posts will be displayed.

If we take a look at the steps outlined below, this is how it would look on the settings page.

Front page displays.

As you can see by looking at the dropdown menu, I have created several pages for my site, a Home page, Blog page and an About page.

To create a static front page in the Front page displays section I would simply click on the A static page (select below) radio button, and then choose the Home page option.

Then for the Post page option I would choose my Blog page.

Blog pages show at most

In the next section of our Settings page which is the Blog pages show at most section, you can decide on the number of posts you want to display on your blog page.

I personally think 10 is a lot and would normally choose to display 4 or 5 of my latest posts, but this is something you may want to test and see if the different number of posts displayed makes any difference to the number of people reading your posts.

Syndication feeds show the most recent.

I almost never adjust this setting, but again you may want to test this out for yourself. If your Syndication feed number is too high, it may bog down your site and be quite heavy on your database.

For each article in a feed, show.

I always set this option to Full text, so my RSS readers get the full article delivered to them, an important lesson I learned some time ago, was to never force your readers to do anything. If your readers like your content and want to consume it in there RSS reader then let them. They will always visit your site if they want to comment on your posts or browse for more information.

Encoding for pages and feeds.

I don’t think I have ever changed this setting so I just leave this section alone.

As always, whenever I adjust anything in my Settings I click on the Save button when I’m done.

In summary the two main settings I worry about on this page are my Pages for displaying content, and how my content is delivered through my RSS feed.

Check Your Privacy Settings

Jeremy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:18:00 +0000

This is only a short tutorial but a very important one, and unfortunately a mistake I made with one of my sites some time ago that cost me about two months worth of Free search engine traffic.

This is a very basic task but will make all of the difference between getting free search engine traffic or not.

After logging into your Wordpress admin area click on the Privacy link under the Settings tab.

Once the Privacy Settings page is open, you will see there is only two choices for your Privacy Settings

I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers.
I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors.

Make sure the… I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers Option is checked and click on the Save Changes button.

Now your site is visible to the search engines and if you write good quality content with some basic on page optimizing you should expect to start seeing some free traffic coming your way.

Managing The Discussion Settings In Wordpress

Jeremy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:14:25 +0000

One of the main reasons for having a Blog is to receive feedback on your content through comments, It is my opinion that if your site does not allow comments, your blog is not a blog it’s just a website.

A one way conversation that consists only of the publisher of the content.

Have you ever had one of those conversations where you just can’t seem to get a word in, no matter how much you try to respond with the person your engaged with, they just don’t stop talking long enough for you to present your opinion, well your blog is no different.

If your blog isn’t receiving comments then what your telling your readers is, all your interested in is what you have to say and don’t care to much for the opinions and thought’s of them.

That being said, This tutorial will show you how to set up your Comments Settings in Wordpress.

After logging into your Wordpress site, click on the Discussion link under the Settings tab to get started.

The Discussion Settings page is basically in two sections, the top half being the Comments Settings section and the bottom being the Avatars section.

I have included in the image below the settings I use when setting up a blog, you may want to use different settings for your site, but I will explain why I use each of these settings below the image.

Default article settings – I almost always un-check anything that will slow down posting, usually If I want to notify another blog that I have linked to it I will use the trackback feature when writing a post.

Allowing Trackbacks and Comments by checking the associated check box’s will allow your readers to participate in the conversation of your blog, trackbacks are basically other articles that link to your article from another blog.

Other comment settings – The only two options I have checked are the Comment author must fill out name and e-mail and the Enable threaded (nested) comments options.

I like to choose the maximum of 10 for threaded comments but depending on your theme you may want to see how this looks, but by enabling this option your visitors can have comments within comments so the conversation stays relevant to the original comment.

E-mail me whenever - I leave both of these options checked so I can be notified of any comments made on my site.

Before a comment appears - This may be an option you want to try testing, currently my blog doesn’t get a lot of comments so it’s not an issue for me to approve every comment, but when a site starts getting 10 20 or 50+ comments per post then approving each comment may become a real drain on your time.

If your regular visitors are proven to post good Quality comments, you may want to automatically approve and allow there comments to publish without having to approve them individually.

Comment Moderation and Comment Blacklist - I usually leave these alone and let Akismet take care of Spam comments, There may be a couple of comments that get through, but on average Akismet is very good at filtering comment Spam on my sites.

In the second half of the Comments Settings page, which is the Avatars section I usually leave the default settings alone. More details below the image.

Avatar Display – In this section you can decide whether or not you want to display avatars next to your comments, I always check the Show Avatars option.

Maximum Rating – By default the maximum rating is set as G, I leave this as is. I like to keep the content on my site suitable for all ages.

Default Avatar – This will be what gets displayed if the commenter doesn’t have a Globally Recognized Avatar (GRAVATAR) set up, the two most popular settings I see on most blogs are Mystery Man and Blank.

If you don’t already have a Gravatar, read my post titled How To Show A Gravatar On Your Comments

Once you have configured your Comment Settings click on the Save Changes button and your done.

How To Add Categories In Wordpress

Jeremy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:35:22 +0000

Editing and adding new Categories in Wordpress is a relatively basic task, but should only be done after you have spent some time in mapping out your site in the planning stages.

The first thing to do after logging into your Wordpress Dashboard is to click on the Categories link under the Posts tab.

When the category page loads in your web browser you will notice the page is in two sections…

Add Category and…
The Existing Categories.

After a brand new installation of Wordpress the first thing we need to do is edit the existing Uncategorized Category.

Hover your mouse over the category and click on the Edit link to continue.

On the Edit Category page there are text areas with the existing category names inserted, Simply change the text to your preferred category titles, I have included a more detailed description of each of the fields below the image.

Category Name – As it suggests, this is basically what the name of the Category is and the text you see displayed on the website menu bar.
Category Slug- The category slug is how your category is displayed in the URL, IMPORTANT – don’t leave any spaces or use Capital Letters in your slugs, lower case only and No Spaces.
Category Parent – As this is our default category leave this set as is, only choose the option for Category Parent when adding a Sub Category. (More on this below)
Description – The description is not prominent by default, however some themes may show it.. I like to keep the description as short as possible using the category title in the description.
Update Category – Click this button to save your changes.

That’s basically all there is to editing your categories, to add new categories and sub categories read on.

On the Category page follow the same steps outlined above in editing the category, but make sure you decide on whether or not your new category will be a top level category or a sub level or child category of the top level category.(Sound Confusing?)

In the example below I am adding a Sub category with the title Sub Category.

Category Name – Add Your Category name.
Category Slug – Enter the Category name using lower case letters only and no spaces.
Category Parent – Choose the parent category of your sub category. (My Parent category is called Top Category)
Description – Add the Description of your category.
Add Category – Click To Save Your Changes.

And that’s all there is to adding a new category to your Wordpress site, very simple and extremely user friendly, the hardest part is coming up with the structure of your categories and what to call them.

One More Thing… You won’t see the categories on your blog unless you they have at least one post inside of them.

Configuring The General Settings In Wordpress

Jeremy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:22:00 +0000

The first thing to do after a brand new installation of Wordpress is to add the sites Title and Description.

Your title and description not only show up in your websites header area (depending on your theme), but also get indexed when someone specifically looks for your site in the search engines.

As an example, here is a screen shot of this site when someone searches for the words Global Evangelists using the Google search engine.

The Title and description are the top link you see when your site gets indexed, so it’s a good idea to have a good think about what you put here.

If your targeting specific keywords then the title and description of your site is the place to add those keywords, but add them in a way that both people and the search engines would be interested in what your site is about.

The first step is to make sure you are logged into your Wordpress site.

After logging into Wordpress. Click on the General link under the Settings tab.

In the page to open, there is only a couple of things we really need to worry about, I have outlined each of these below the image.

Enter your sites title, Keep your title short I usually use either my main keyword or the name of my domain.
Write a short description of what your blog is about, be as specific and to the point as possible and if your targeting any keywords try to add your main keyword in here also, your description is also known as the Tagline.
When you use an automated install script like fantasico the default URL doesn’t include the www. if you want to have the www. in your URL add it here. Some people think this will help in your efforts to optimize your site for search engines but I have also heard other very respected online personalities say that it makes no difference, I almost always add the www.

After completing the steps outlined leave the rest of the settings as is and click on the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Because we added the www. you will find you need to log back into your site.

A Free Roadmap

Jeremy — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:30:28 +0000

After taking some time off over the past week I have decided to make some serious steps towards creating a free downloadable PDF to put all of the pieces together that will get you started with building your website.

The content inside of the report will be similar to what you find here on Globalevangelists.com, step by step tutorials with images to help you along the way, but in a well ordered system so even the most computer illiterate will be able to get started using the resource.

I will cover such things as choosing your domain name, keyword research and setting up your site.

Hopefully I can stay on track with this one over the next few days and have this up and ready for download soon.

How To Do Basic Competition Research In Google

Jeremy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:07:15 +0000

When doing any kind of keyword research on the free keyword tools available, it’s important to know exactly how much competition your particular search phrase has before buying your domain name, setting up the categories of your site and even writing your articles and blog posts.

This tutorial will show you a quick and simple way to find out the exact phrase match competition for your long tail keyword phrases.

After doing a keyword search, Go to the Google home page and type in your specific search term inside of “Quotation marks”.

Hit enter on your keyboard and when the search results load up in the screen, look to the right of your screen for the Number of Results listed.

As you can see in the image above the number of web pages for the search term “My Phrase In Quotes” is only 9.

If we were to perform the exact same search without the “Quotations”, the number would be considerably higher.

As you can see, there is now 8,010,000 pages with the words My Phrase In Quotes, which is quite a fair amount of difference between the two.

In the top example using the Quotation marks, you are looking for all pages indexed in Google with the exact phrase, all four words in the exact order.

Whereas, in the second example you are seeing all pages that contain the words My Phrase In Quotes, in any particular order.

There is a lot of speculation as to what is the least number of competing web pages you need to target when using this method.

The least amount the better obviously, but there are other factors that do come into play as far as on site optimization and the strength of the competitions web site is concerned, that I will save for another day.

But using this method of gauging your competition in Google will give you an insight as to the likely hood of you getting ranked on the front page of Google for your specific keywords or not.

On A More Personal Note

Jeremy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:46:02 +0000

It’s been nearly 4 months since starting Global Evangelists.com and since then I am becoming a lot clearer and more focused on the direction on where this site is heading.

The other week I published a post on Blog maintenance, and I mentioned in that article some reasons why I wanted to reduce the number of posts on Global Evangelists.com to only five per week.

Along with all of my other commitments, Family, Business, Church and other web projects I am working on, I’m finding, because of the nature of this site being mainly tutorials, the time it takes to produce both new tutorials and fix up the older ones is taking it’s toll and burnout seems inevitable.

So I decided I wanted to add a section to this site where I can blow of a bit of steam and just add my 2 cents on certain topics and ideas on what I see happening on the web and or at church.

I kinda want to keep this section of the site fairly low key and with a personal touch without worrying about having to produce a high Quality tutorial every other day.

Some of the overall ideas I have for the site include removing the About, Articles and Reviews categories and putting those articles in a sub category of this blog section or in regards to the About category simply add an about page.

I feel by making this decision it helps to create a balance, and by that I mean, I still get to post often and share both tutorials and the stuff that is happening in my world, stuff that I don’t need to spend a lot of time preparing and making sure it has been tested and retested before I publish.

I guess in all of this, by adding this section to the site it will allow me to be more proactive behind the scenes and continue to maintain and produce high quality tutorials but still give me the freedom to connect with you , the reader on a consistent basis.

How To Install Wordpress Using Fantastico

Jeremy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:01:21 +0000

The easiest and most user friendly way to install Wordpress, is without a doubt with the use of an installation script.

This tutorial will help you get your Wordpress site set up using a software inside of your webhosts Cpanel called Fantastico.

To get started Log into your web hosting accounts Cpanel.

Once logged in scroll down the page until you see the Fantastico icon, this is usually located in the section titled Software / Services. Click on the Icon to Continue.

In the next screen to open, you will notice on the left sidebar a link with the text Wordpress, the link should be located under the Blogs section. Click on Wordpress To Continue.

On the next page you will see some basic information about Wordpress, the current version, Support forum, Wordpress home page etc… and a link with the text New installation.

Click on the New Installation link to continue.

The next step is to fill in your admin details.

If you are hosting more than one website on your hosting account make sure you choose the correct domain name to install Wordpress on.(Top Arrow)

When deciding on the admin user-name, make sure you choose a name that is anything other than Admin.

For security purposes using Admin as your default username is a very bad idea.

When you are finished inserting your details simply click on the Install Wordpress button at the bottom of the screen.

One more step and your all done, after Clicking on the Finish Installation button you will be asked to send a backup copy of the Admin details you just entered to your email address.

I have deleted the top section of the Admin Details Email page in the image below for Obvious reasons.

Once you have completed all of the above steps you should now have your very own Wordpress website ready to start modifying and adding content to.

If you go to your site you will see the default Wordpress theme, Don’t worry installing a new theme can be as simple as a couple of mouse clicks.

When using an instalation method as this one, you don’t get an option to change the defalt table prefixes for your database, The default database tables are known to be a target for hackers and is a potential security issue, So if this concerns you make sure you change the default Wordpress table prefixes in your database.

Global Evangelists.com » Jeremy

I’m Moving Out

More On This Topic...

Adjusting The Reading Settings In Wordpress

More On This Topic...

Check Your Privacy Settings

More On This Topic...

Managing The Discussion Settings In Wordpress

More On This Topic...

How To Add Categories In Wordpress

More On This Topic...

Configuring The General Settings In Wordpress

More On This Topic...

A Free Roadmap

More On This Topic...

How To Do Basic Competition Research In Google

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On A More Personal Note

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How To Install Wordpress Using Fantastico

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