Show me your blog

Hi Folks,

Your First Wordpress Blog has been downloaded 1000’s of times and I want to know how’s it going?

Already have a blog up and running? Add the URL to the comment section below.

Are you stuck? Tell me about it below in the comment section. I’d really like to know this because where you’re stuck may just be a real easy fix if I knew where the “stuck Point” isfor you.

Not started your first blog yet? Tell me about it.

To leave a comment, click on the title of this post to get to the comment section.

Tags: blog, blogging, first blog

54 Responses to “Show me your blog”

#1193. Mary Blackburn Says:
July 13th, 2009

Hi Craig,

Just wondering, have you heard of the Pretty Link Plugin? I don’t know any html at all and don’t really know how to put my affiliate links onto my wordpress blog, so I installed the Pretty Links plugin but I still can’t get my affilate links to work. I’m not sure if it’s just me, (actually I’m pretty sure it is me) Is there anywhere I can go to find out how to do this, (that’s not too hard or over my head)?

Thanks,

Mary

#1194. Craig Says:
July 13th, 2009

Hi Mary,

I remember when I needed to learn how to do this. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get good at all the little techie things soon.

OK, this is easy. Log into your Wordpress admin panel.

Click on create new post.

Give the post a title and in the post box, add a few lines of text.

Now highlight the word or words you want your affiliate link to be connected to. You do this by clicking once in front of the word then hold down your mouse button and drag over the word then let go of the button. The word should now be highlighted blue.

Above the post box are a bunch of little icons. One of them looks like a chain or links. Click on that.

A little box will popup. That’s where you add your affiliate link. Add it and click ok.

Publish your post and test your link

Do the above and let me know how it goes. Yes, if it does not work or you get stcuk let me know.

Side note about plugins, use the bare minim.

Here is a video

#1195. Becky Says:
July 13th, 2009

Hi, I have two posts on my new blog and one of them shows up as my homepage. I don’t know how to get rid of that, & how do I get the edit link off the bottom of page?
To me that seems like anyone can come in & edit my post. Also I want the url to read (ex) infoandreview.com/earth4energy.com I have the permalink set as /%postname%/ but it still won’t show correctly.
Thanks, Becky

#1196. Nick Bynoth Says:
July 13th, 2009

Craig, Bought Blog Lock Down last week. Great stuff, easy to follow and now feel more confident about the integrity of my blog. Got all the videos and the book but missed downloading the HTaccess file so couldn’t complete the last bit. Any chance of emailing it or sending me a link?

This is my first blog started about two weeks ago. after downloading yoru guide. Keep up the good work.

Thanks

Nick Bynoth

#1197. Craig Says:
July 13th, 2009

Thanks Nick for the comments.

Check your email for the htaccess file

Your blog looks great! Please change the “Powered by wordpress in the footer to “Built to last with Wordpress” OR better, delete the whole reference of Wordpress and just add a link to Wordpress in your sidebar.

#1203. Craig Says:
July 14th, 2009

Hi there Becky,

Let’s get you fixed up.

in the left hand navigation bar of your admin panel you’ll see “Settings”. Click on it. Now you’ll have some new links showing. Look for “Reading” and click on it.

In Reading settings make sure “Your latest posts” is selected.

Then go down a bit and you’ll see “Blog pages show at most” give it a five.

Scroll to the bottom and click “Save changes”.

Next: You are seeing the edit post link because you are still logged in to your admin panel. Your browser things you are. Trust me, know else an see that nor edit a post.

Last: There is no way for your links to look like this “infoandreview.com/earth4energy.com”.

You can learn about permalinks here http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks

I suggest using this style /%category%/%postname%.html

#1204. Mary Blackburn Says:
July 14th, 2009

Craig,

You are the best. I did what you told me and was able to put my affiliate links onto my blog, and they “worked” when I clicked them. WOOHOO!!

Now if I may have another question, how do I put a link to your website on the side of my blog? Also, under Settings/Readings “For each article in a feed show” should I have Full text or summary checked?

Thanks,

Mary

#1210. Craig Says:
July 15th, 2009

Yahooo Mary!! You got it!

Ok, your feeds should be set at summary, this way people will have to come to your blog for the rest of the story which is always the goal

About linking to me, it can be done by using the links option within your admin panel then add the blog roll widget to the sidebar from within your widgets. So within your admin panel you’ll see a Link called “links” in the left hand side navigation. Click on that.
The name of the link should be “How to make a blog” with out the quotations. In the URL section you add the website URL. Click save and you are done.

Next, in the left hand navigation sidebar you’ll see “Appearance”. Click on that then click on “Widgets”. With in widgets you can drag the widget called “Links” or Blogroll over to the left. Then click save.

#1243. Matt Says:
July 23rd, 2009

Hi Craig,

I can’t figure it out but I noticed after looking at the bottom of your posts that you have the tags listed… and when I look at my blog… I don’t have my tags revealed… and when I’m creating the blog posts… I DO put in tags.

Any suggestions would be appreciated…

Matt

#1245. Craig Says:
July 23rd, 2009

Hi Mate,

I train everyday at Gold’s gym

OK, the issue is I believe your theme. For a test, find a theme that is up-to-date meaning, it will work with Wordpress 2.8. Install it and see if you can see your tags. If so, the theme you are using needs someone to fix it or change your theme.

#1248. Matt Says:
July 23rd, 2009

Hey Craig,

Bingo! I figured out the missing line in my theme and now my tags show up… thanks man!

This brings up a good question… suppose Wordpress gets updated… can the old theme become vulnerable?

Matt

#1266. Thomas Says:
July 27th, 2009

Hi, Graig

Can u tell me how to upload a report or ebook to my blog and how people can download it.

#1267. Craig Says:
July 27th, 2009

Thomas, do you have an auto-responder?

#1280. Craig Says:
July 28th, 2009

Thomas, Upload your report to a folder on your server. Some people like to put them in their images folder.
Then remember the URL to the report, yoursite.com/images/report.pdf

In your auto-responder follow-ups, add the link to your report so they can download it.

Do you need more details?

#1429. Amy Says:
August 11th, 2009

OK – This is probably really simple but I’ve followed all the Wordpress directions, including what the support forum told me, yet I still can’t upload my logo image to my header using the theme Oriental. HELP! I have uploaded the file header.jpg and set the size to be no more than 123 px high. I’ve saved it to wp-content/themes/oriental/images but it’s not working. the support guy said it should show up under http://thepranamama.com/wp-content/themes/oriental/images but that gives a 404 error. What the heck am I doing wrong? Thanks….

#1431. Craig Says:
August 11th, 2009

Have you contacted the theme developer?

I’d say it has to be two things…

The image name, extension (I.E., jpeg, giff, etc..) or the size.

I’ve just checked the theme’s home page, it looks like it does not have a header image.

#1433. Amy Says:
August 11th, 2009

Do you mean that since the theme itself doesn’t have a header image that one cannot insert one?
I was told to use the extension jpg, the size is correct at 123px. So I’m stumped, it must be the theme.

#1434. Craig Says:
August 11th, 2009

Yup. Well, you could add a header image my recoding the template but that’s a waste of time when you can just find another template you like.

As a after thought, header images are a waste of space. Most use them to please themselves not their readers.

#1435. Amy Says:
August 11th, 2009

My header image is my logo – so trying to make everything match my marketing materials to create a unified branding look.

Thanks for your advice, I am bookmarking and subscribing to this site! As I am surely an Idiot when it comes to this blogging thing!

#1448. Chelle Says:
August 15th, 2009

Hi Craig,

I just added an exit pop-up box on my blog to offer visitors a free newsletter before leaving my site. The pop-up works. I used a Text Widget in the sidebar to do this. The problem is that the pop-up occurs every time a new page is clicked. I need it to pop-up when the users leave my home page (index page) only.

Can you tell me how to accomplish this? Thanks, and excellent blog by the way. I’ll be back.

#1460. Craig Says:
August 23rd, 2009

It all depends on the POPUP script you are using. If it does not have the function you’re looking for, you’ll need to hire a coder to fix it or find a popup script that does what you want.

#1463. Chelle Says:
August 23rd, 2009

Thanks for the advice Craig. Just wanted to follow up with how I resolved this- in case your other viewers have a similar issue. I removed the text widget and instead coded my pop-up script in my header.php file. I added an “if then” statement after the tag to only call my pop up script when my visitors view my home page.

Thanks!

#1464. Mary Blackburn Says:
August 23rd, 2009

Craig,

I see that wordpress 2.8.4 is out, I just installed wordpress on a new domain using the fantastico deluxe icon, and it is the 2.7 version. My question is should I upload the new 2.8.4 version? I read that there have been some security issues. What should I do? I totally trust your advice.

Mary

#1465. Craig Says:
August 23rd, 2009

Hey Mary

I’d hold off just a little… At least until 2.8.4 is fully sorted out.

#1484. PLR_Blogger Says:
August 28th, 2009

I hope I am not too late answering this post.

I have two blogs I am working with right now, http://liveofftheweb.com and http://paragonrv.com. ParagonRV.com is a domain my father wanted for a business he never got off the ground. I decided that since it was the closest name I had to any kind of niche, I would at least put it to use. I only work on it occasionally, but hope eventually I can automate it enough that I can turn it over to him and let him work it and earn a little extra income.

I started on June 1 and decided to give myself one month until launch. I picked a theme that I liked, but found it did not allow me to use the affiliate pages so I had to steal a photo from one them, edit it and put it into the theme with the layout I wanted.

Once I got the theme setup, I modified a PLR article to create a unique article for the site. That took much longer than I planned so I searched for free articles by other articles at various articles sites. I scheduled them to post one per day for one month begining July 1, 2009. Then I discovered how much easier that was. I know it would have been better to have used unique articles, but I had quite a surprise that I will mention later. When I finished the one month of content, I realized I did not want to wait so I added articles backwards to June 15. Then, just to have two full months, I added enough to last through August 15. I completed the project as you see it now about June 12 and waited for the site to go live.

Before it went live, my Google toolbar said the site was rated at N/A meaning Google did not know it existed. On Monday, when the site went live, I Googled the name and found nothing. I googled some of the content and found nothing. I did this again Tuesday and Wednesday as well and went on to other things. I did not check it again until the next Friday a week later. To my great surprise, I found the Google ranking at 5 on my Google Tool Bar.

WOW, several gurus I have read from said to expect to take about 3 months to reach a page rank of 3.

I got tied up doing other things after that and have not had much time to work with that site but I occasionally get a new comment, sometimes I think it is really spam, but sometimes I get good remarks. I was greatly surprised when I received a great comment concerning a place in Utah about 12 hours after it posted.

I know the blog is not really setup correctly and I have a lot of work to do on it and I need to market it, but I felt that getting something up was a milestone I needed to see for myself. I believe it has a much greater potential than I originally thought before it went live and I have a lot more work to do with it still.

In the process of setting up the site, I learned a little about setting up affiliate links, affiliate programs (such as Amazon.com and eBay.) I also learned how much of a pain in the … WP can be when you cut and paste html into its editor. I had to reformat each and every article or it would trash the formats and merge all the text into one paragraph.

I understand there are other sources for advertisements that resemble Google ads and some seem to think they perform better. What can you tell us about that?

I have taken so much space with ParagonRV that I will leave LiveOffTheWeb for another day.

Thank you for this wonderful blog and assistance.

PLR_Blogger

#1500. Terry Says:
August 31st, 2009

Would like some advice to see if I need to do anything else or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Terry R.

#1504. Craig Says:
September 2nd, 2009

Terry congratulations on getting this blog going!

Here are a few tips.

Your theme has a function to add images to the article samples on the front page. Please use it to brake up the text so it does not look like a blob of text which is what I am seeing now. When this happens, people click away faster. Check your Google Analytics bounce rate now. Then check it after you add images. I would bet the bounce rate will go down after you add images which means they are staying longer.

Would you like more sign ups to your news letter? Try adding a popup Against your optin box in the sidebar.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-popup-scheduler/

I also suggest, whatever suggestions you get from me or anyone else, always test and measure. This way, whatever happens, you have hard numbers to with zero guess work.

#1524. Ikenna Ezea Says:
September 12th, 2009

Hi Craig, thanks so much for your idiot proof blogging guide, it is without a doubt the most informative and user friendly guide I’ve come across. I am a Nigerian based in Abuja, Nigeria and i am currently trying out some schemes for making money on the internet, i have a blog i am still working on, though its already on-line, (online4wealth.wordpress.com) I’m still compiling content to add to it. i would like your advice/suggestions on what i have done so far so i know how best to build it further and particulary, i’d also like your advice on the best affiliate programmes to use for this site and how to add their links. Also i would like your permission to promote your free products and your site so any viewer can link to you and get the same opportunities i’ve enjoyed from your service.

Thanks so much.

#1525. Ikenna Ezea Says:
September 12th, 2009

Hi again, i forgot to add: i do no have an independent domain, as the providerds here are not exactly reliable and companies like paypal do not service Nigeria, thus it is difficult to get an account from foreign web hosters. so i currently run my blog off wordpress.com itself. is this still sufficient for my plans or do i really need to get a domain for myself?
Thanks a lot

#1526. Craig Says:
September 13th, 2009

Hi Ikenna,

it’s too bad because where your blog is now, you can’t add affiliate links or you will get the blog deleted from Wordpress.

I’d use blogger.com if I were you.

About the best affiliate programs, I don’t know. That’s really up to you doing your homework

Yes, feel free to tell others about my free report.

Thanks!

#1527. Craig Says:
September 13th, 2009

Get off Wordpress.com because they will delete your blog if post affiliate links.

I don’t know how you can get your own hosting buy it is the way to go.

I’d suggest blogger.com because it’s free and they allow affiliate links within posts.

#1532. Ikenna Ezea Says:
September 14th, 2009

Wow, didnt know about that. guess i gotta migrate to Blogger.com then. thanx 4 the info. by any chance is ur idiotproofbloggin e-book usefull for blogger.com’s GUI? or do u have a seperate guide book for blogger.com?

#1808. jim kelly Says:
February 17th, 2010

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the offer to ckeck over my blog

problem:- adding adverts to my side bar,i am able to insert one and no more

this blog has been up now for 4 days and ranking 1 and 3 on google but i can never

know how to moneytise it

regards

jim

#1809. Craig Says:
February 17th, 2010

Hey Jim,

Your main keyword phrase is “JIM KELLY GOLF” are people searching for that phrase?

What phrases are you getting top rankings for??

You can add ads using widgets btw.

Maybe it’s me but I’m seeing your site getting no traffic.

Are you tracking?

How many visitors are you getting daily? To what pages?

#1810. jim kelly Says:
February 17th, 2010

Thanks Craig,

If i decide to set up a blog on internet marketing.i already have two domains,please

comment on their suitability http://www.internet-money.org and http://www.internet-

marketing-for starters.com

be brutal and honest as i have been a newbie now for 3 years and its time to make some

sense of it

regards

jim

#1816. jim kelly Says:
February 18th, 2010

Hi Craig,
Todayi am ranking 2 and 5 on “jimkellygolf” with 23,000 vpm

also no4 on”jim kelly golf.com” with 1,520,000 vpm

what does widgets btw mean? (a video on this would be great)

tracking?? i am low in confidence on inserting code but i did it today,but can’t see it on

my blog.

You have a great site here craig and i hope i am not abusing your kindness with asking

too many questions

regards

jim

#1817. Craig Says:
February 18th, 2010

Hi Jim,

Search this blog for “Widgets”.

You are not going to see tracking code on your blog. It runs behind everything.
Google Analytics is the way to go for tracking.

I searched http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com and found that no one is searching for your keywords. I could be wrong but this is way you are getting no traffic.

Use the tool above to find a good keyword.

Please hold on, I’m creating a bootcamp to teach all this stuff in order and will mail everyone about it soon.

#1818. Craig Says:
February 18th, 2010

Hi Jim,

even at my level (Meaning a few products under my belt and a decent coaching business) I would not recommend getting into the I.M. Niche. It’s too saturated but that’s just me.

If you really want to do it, go for it but ask yourself, are you going to be a me too IM blogger?
Hard niche friend.

#1821. jim kelly Says:
February 19th, 2010

HI CRAIG,

I posted an article on my blog and within two miutes this guy at
http://www.thegolfaids.com had this same article on his site and as the article was my personal experience it certainly was;nt a duplication
Is this legal as this guy does’nt have to look for new copy he just takes mine.There are at least 5 other articles belonging to me on his site
regards

jim

#1827. jim kelly Says:
February 23rd, 2010

Hi Craig.

Is it possible to retrieve a wordpress blog deleted by mistake
regards

jim

#1828. Craig Desorcy Says:
February 23rd, 2010

Yes Jim.

Contact your host provider and ask them to install the back up they have from the last back up. For me it’s Sunday. Hopefully you did not post too much content since than.

#1829. jim kelly Says:
February 23rd, 2010

Hi Craig,

Please take a look at http://www.yoga-select.internet-money.org/

Setting up a new blog and inserting a plug in,i did this

regards

jim

#1831. Craig Says:
February 24th, 2010

Looks like your blog Jim does not like the plugin you’ve installed. I’d remove it.

#1836. jim kelly Says:
February 25th, 2010

Hi Craig,

I installed”easy google analytics for wordpress”

I activated but see nothing

can you explain where i have gone wrong or have i installed the wrong plugin

regards

jim

#1837. Rebecca Massey Says:
February 25th, 2010

Hi, on my blog the sidebar only shows on the last post I made. If I click to any other articles all it shows is the article – no banners or anything. I assume it is my theme but don’t know for sure. Can you help me? http://fitnessprolive.com
Thanks, Becky

#1838. Craig Says:
February 25th, 2010

Hi Rebecca,

Seems like a theme issue. I’d change that first. You may also want to go with black text on white. It’s proven we do not like reading white on black.

Best,

Craig

#1839. jim kelly Says:
February 26th, 2010

hI CRAEG,

I have looked ,looked and looked again, but with no success,help please

sidebar,i want to increase the width of my widgets

regards

jim

#1842. jim kelly Says:
February 28th, 2010

Hi Craig.

I;m lost as how to put a clickbank product in the sidebar and have it as a live link to the
same product.

I can’t thank you enough for the service you have given as the learning curve is’nt so steep
with you around. thanks

regards

jim

#1844. jim kelly Says:
March 3rd, 2010

Hi Craig,
Posting tags, must be easy ,however i am missing something as i can’t get the hang of it
Have you any instuctions on it?
Is there an automatic posting method as all my posts have the same tags

regards

jim

#1847. Judith Williams Says:
March 10th, 2010

Hello Craig, I’ve had my blog up for a few months now and realize I still have a lot to learn. I am wondering how to add a blogroll to my blog. How does this work and how does it benefit me? Also I would like to know how to make some money with my blog. I noticed in your answer to someone else you mentioned that Wordpress does not allow affiliate links. I have Hostmonster as my host so does that mean I can have the links? Do you offer anything that gives instructions and tips on how to use a blog to make money? I have a DVD and workshops available but have not made any money with them from this site. I had an old website that is now obsolete that was ranked in the search engines but this one is still unheard of. I got a google thing that tracks visits etc but don’t understand it. I guess I will have to read their info. I received your email this morning about the new service you are offering and would love to have it but $$$ is too tight right now. I am wondering if you are still looking at and offering advice on blogs now that you have this new thing you are doing.

#1848. Craig Says:
March 11th, 2010

Hi Judith,

I do not use blog roll. But if you want to, it’s a way to share traffic with others in your blog roll. Google “Benefits of Blog Roll” and study up on it.

If you have a blog hosted on wordpress.com you can not post affiliate links. You have no worries because you’re self hosted.

Just because I offer a paid service does not mean I am not helping folks out from time to time here.

BTW, please break up your writing so it’s easy to consume… like mine.

Best,

Craig

#1865. jim kelly Says:
March 19th, 2010

Hi Graig,

Can you spare two minutes ,wordpress tags.When i post an article i have to manually upload 50 tags and is so time consuming and a drag
I expect it’s so simple
All my posts use the same tags,cani set it to automaticly upload tags to a new post

thanks

jim

#2142. Olga Says:
August 22nd, 2010

Hi Craig,

I just installed the word press 2010 theme and while everything went well as I installed it based on your e-book I find that I’m somewhat frustrated as far as making changes such as replacing the header with text instead of image.

I have just spend part of the day looking through articles on word press to see If I could connect to the answer I’m searching for but came up feeling more frustrated as I went from article to article.

is there a simple way I can find instructions of how to make changes? I’m in the midst of putting content into the blog and have not finished but the overall look of the home page is a concern of mine and would like to have it pleasing to the eye of the visitor.

Would appreciate any info you can share.

Olga

#2149. Craig Says:
August 26th, 2010

I do not know of a simple way.

I’d contact the theme designer and ask.

Also, when I first started out doing this stuff, I’d post in forums asking how to change specific things.

I like your blog, it’s clean and easy on the eyes.

Show me your blog

54 Responses to “Show me your blog”

Leave a Reply