Can I ask some basic blog questions guys?

JD · 2006-12-10, 10:39 PM

Hello

Well, I am a bit of a dumbass when it comes to blogs.

Sometimes I dont know where to look or what to do to get started properly with blogs.

I have had several blogs for a few months now and because of the basicness and 'no need to know anything about blogs' style of wordpress, I find myself just not knowing how to do anything with the blog (except post and add categories etc.)

I would like to know some really basic stuff like how to make the blog a bit nicer and add my own header and 'feel' to the blog. How to put some ads in the side bit would be nice too. Ive just left mine all text and stuff for the moment. I have played around with using different themes though.

One of the things I've wanted to learn most of all is how I can setup WP to make posts automatically that I have previously written. Is this kind of thing easy to do? I do have 'feed wordpress' which seems pretty cool, but I would like to make my own posts and setit up to make those ones public at certain days.

I realise to 'google' all these sorts of things, and I have been, but often end up at the same pages for some reason.

Any advice where to start or how to do the above stuff muchly appreciated. Ive been reading this blog section of GG&J for ages now and find interesting info you guys post here )

thanks again

JD

NobleSavage · 2006-12-11, 12:12 AM

*I'm not a WP expert so try this at your own risk.

To customize the look and feel you need to mess around with the files in your theme folder

/wp-content/themes/yourtheme/files

It would be a good idea to read the docs at http://wordpress.org to understand how it works. I know a little php and it was fairly intuitive for me. But even if you don't know PHP the docs are pretty good.

As to posting in the future: when you make a post look for a little box on the right site that says "Post Timestamp" and set it for the future. You will probably want to install a plugin called "smart pinger" because I think the default pinger will ping when you create a post and not when it is actually published.

Hope that helps

virgohippy · 2006-12-11, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NobleSavage

To customize the look and feel you need to mess around with the files in your theme folder

/wp-content/themes/yourtheme/files

You can also start with a stylish theme of your choice, and go from there:

http://themes.wordpress.net/

It'll take far less effort to get the end result if you start someplace close to it already.

BadWolf · 2006-12-11, 04:14 AM

JD, I've been adult blogging almost exactly a year, having started my first Thumblogger blog in January of this year. And let me tell you, I've felt like a dumbass most of that time. (It gets a little better over time, though, lol.)

If I could give any advice it would be believe in yourself, take your time, learn everyday and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Regarding headers and sidebar images/ads you'll have to learn basic HTML, which isn't hard. What I did starting out (and still do if I don't know how to do something tricky) is look at other sites and right click using a mouse...select 'View Page Source'......and you can see the actual HTML, Javascript and whatnot that is used to make that website. That is a big help in figuring out what goes where.

BadWolf · 2006-12-11, 05:49 AM

I just read another thread, JD, where you said you've been doing freesites so I'm confused about what you're asking concerning headers and putting in sidebar banners. (Since you must know HTML, etc.) Are you asking for examples on style, etc? Or where you insert the code for ads and headers?

If so, is your blog hosted on your own domain or free hosted? Do you use CPanel, etc. Then someone can give you detailed answers. Peace.

Tvduijn · 2006-12-11, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD

One of the things I've wanted to learn most of all is how I can setup WP to make posts automatically that I have previously written. Is this kind of thing easy to do? I do have 'feed wordpress' which seems pretty cool, but I would like to make my own posts and setit up to make those ones public at certain days.
JD

Have you tried "edit timestamp" which is a basic WP function on the write page?

walrus · 2006-12-11, 08:38 AM

As far as modifying your template, it's a combination of HTML and CSS. Under presentations you've got edit themes which is an on-line editor for your theme. Be sure to back up your existing theme and then play around. Each theme is a bit different on the layout but you've got a header for the top, a footer for the bottom, a main index for the post area between and a sidebar file for the sidebars. Your theme will probably have other sections but those are the main html files.

For future posting, you can do as others have said with editing the time stamp but even using the smart pinger plugin I've heard of people with issues with doing it that way. I use a third party program (blog organizer) which will post to my blogs on the day and time I chose and doesn't seem to have any of those issues since the post doesn't reside in the blog database until blog organizer puts it there.

NobleSavage · 2006-12-11, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walrus

I use a third party program (blog organizer) which will post to my blogs on the day and time I chose and doesn't seem to have any of those issues since the post doesn't reside in the blog database until blog organizer puts it there.

You have a link for that Walrus? That sound nice!

walrus · 2006-12-11, 12:18 PM

Blog Organizer, I use it for simply manging posts on some of my WP blogs but it comes with a blogging module so that you could create blogs directly in BO.

I just find that aspect a little lacking since WP has so many plugins that help with SEO.

johnnybg · 2006-12-11, 03:51 PM

Be careful with future posts in Wordpress. Number of posts in categories will rise even if it is not yet published. Even new, currently empty, categories with future posts will be displayed in that case.

This is a known issue with WP. I hope it gets fixed in future releases.

Offline blog writes are great help in my case. Like Walrus said, you can write bunch of posts, store them locally, and then upload them when time comes.

As for pinging, I decided to turn of automatic ping in WP. I simply go to pingoat and manually ping. That way I'm sure that I'll not get banned.

As for offline blog software here's a list and my experience with WP:
1. Microsoft Windows Live Writer Beta (free) - this is a great piece of software. Maybe the best. Only problem with it is that it can't schedule future posts in WP. When you change the date of post it becomes December 1969 when published. I'm looking forward to final release.

2. w.Bloggar - also a great program. It doesn't support direct image upload to WP for some reason.

3. Qumana - Java based program. Everyting works well with this one. Has problems with lists of posts - some items get doubled (though only one post is published)

4. Zoundry - Good interface. I had some problems with WP but I can't remember what exactly. Probably the date thing like with Live Writer.

Note that when you publish from offline blog writers, WP will start pinging after publishing if it's not turned off.

Hope I helped.

JD · 2006-12-12, 06:21 PM

Wow wow wow, some awesome tips guys, thanks a lot )
johnnybg
I cant believe that issue with wordpress hasnt been fixed, as I heard the same problems a while ago, and thats probably why I didnt start using it to post future posts.
Walrus
That blog organizer looks magic man, I'm gonna check that out, thanks so much for posting that here

Got a lot of reading to do now )

cheers

JD

2006-12-10, 10:39 PM	#1
JD Lord help me, I'm just not that bright Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 107	Can I ask some basic blog questions guys? Hello Well, I am a bit of a dumbass when it comes to blogs. Sometimes I dont know where to look or what to do to get started properly with blogs. I have had several blogs for a few months now and because of the basicness and 'no need to know anything about blogs' style of wordpress, I find myself just not knowing how to do anything with the blog (except post and add categories etc.) I would like to know some really basic stuff like how to make the blog a bit nicer and add my own header and 'feel' to the blog. How to put some ads in the side bit would be nice too. Ive just left mine all text and stuff for the moment. I have played around with using different themes though. One of the things I've wanted to learn most of all is how I can setup WP to make posts automatically that I have previously written. Is this kind of thing easy to do? I do have 'feed wordpress' which seems pretty cool, but I would like to make my own posts and setit up to make those ones public at certain days. I realise to 'google' all these sorts of things, and I have been, but often end up at the same pages for some reason. Any advice where to start or how to do the above stuff muchly appreciated. Ive been reading this blog section of GG&J for ages now and find interesting info you guys post here ) thanks again JD Last edited by JD; 2006-12-10 at 10:41 PM..

2006-12-11, 08:38 AM	#7
walrus Oh no, I'm sweating like Roger Ebert Join Date: May 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,773	As far as modifying your template, it's a combination of HTML and CSS. Under presentations you've got edit themes which is an on-line editor for your theme. Be sure to back up your existing theme and then play around. Each theme is a bit different on the layout but you've got a header for the top, a footer for the bottom, a main index for the post area between and a sidebar file for the sidebars. Your theme will probably have other sections but those are the main html files. For future posting, you can do as others have said with editing the time stamp but even using the smart pinger plugin I've heard of people with issues with doing it that way. I use a third party program (blog organizer) which will post to my blogs on the day and time I chose and doesn't seem to have any of those issues since the post doesn't reside in the blog database until blog organizer puts it there. __________________ Naked Girlfriend Porn TGP free partner account

2006-12-11, 12:18 PM	#9
walrus Oh no, I'm sweating like Roger Ebert Join Date: May 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,773	Blog Organizer, I use it for simply manging posts on some of my WP blogs but it comes with a blogging module so that you could create blogs directly in BO. I just find that aspect a little lacking since WP has so many plugins that help with SEO. __________________ Naked Girlfriend Porn TGP free partner account

2006-12-11, 03:51 PM	#10
johnnybg I want to set the record straight - I thought the cop was a prostitute Join Date: May 2004 Location: Serbia & Montenegro Posts: 292	Be careful with future posts in Wordpress. Number of posts in categories will rise even if it is not yet published. Even new, currently empty, categories with future posts will be displayed in that case. This is a known issue with WP. I hope it gets fixed in future releases. Offline blog writes are great help in my case. Like Walrus said, you can write bunch of posts, store them locally, and then upload them when time comes. As for pinging, I decided to turn of automatic ping in WP. I simply go to pingoat and manually ping. That way I'm sure that I'll not get banned. As for offline blog software here's a list and my experience with WP: 1. Microsoft Windows Live Writer Beta (free) - this is a great piece of software. Maybe the best. Only problem with it is that it can't schedule future posts in WP. When you change the date of post it becomes December 1969 when published. I'm looking forward to final release. 2. w.Bloggar - also a great program. It doesn't support direct image upload to WP for some reason. 3. Qumana - Java based program. Everyting works well with this one. Has problems with lists of posts - some items get doubled (though only one post is published) 4. Zoundry - Good interface. I had some problems with WP but I can't remember what exactly. Probably the date thing like with Live Writer. Note that when you publish from offline blog writers, WP will start pinging after publishing if it's not turned off. Hope I helped. __________________ Teen Porn Site Blog Johnny's Porn Nesa (aka johnnybg)

2006-12-11, 12:12 AM	#2
NobleSavage Lord help me, I'm just not that bright Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 103	*I'm not a WP expert so try this at your own risk. To customize the look and feel you need to mess around with the files in your theme folder /wp-content/themes/yourtheme/files It would be a good idea to read the docs at http://wordpress.org to understand how it works. I know a little php and it was fairly intuitive for me. But even if you don't know PHP the docs are pretty good. As to posting in the future: when you make a post look for a little box on the right site that says "Post Timestamp" and set it for the future. You will probably want to install a plugin called "smart pinger" because I think the default pinger will ping when you create a post and not when it is actually published. Hope that helps

2006-12-11, 04:14 AM	#4
BadWolf I'm going to the backseat of my car with the woman I love, and I won't be back for TEN MINUTES Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 83	JD, I've been adult blogging almost exactly a year, having started my first Thumblogger blog in January of this year. And let me tell you, I've felt like a dumbass most of that time. (It gets a little better over time, though, lol.) If I could give any advice it would be believe in yourself, take your time, learn everyday and don't be afraid to ask questions. Regarding headers and sidebar images/ads you'll have to learn basic HTML, which isn't hard. What I did starting out (and still do if I don't know how to do something tricky) is look at other sites and right click using a mouse...select 'View Page Source'......and you can see the actual HTML, Javascript and whatnot that is used to make that website. That is a big help in figuring out what goes where.

2006-12-11, 05:49 AM	#5
BadWolf I'm going to the backseat of my car with the woman I love, and I won't be back for TEN MINUTES Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 83	I just read another thread, JD, where you said you've been doing freesites so I'm confused about what you're asking concerning headers and putting in sidebar banners. (Since you must know HTML, etc.) Are you asking for examples on style, etc? Or where you insert the code for ads and headers? If so, is your blog hosted on your own domain or free hosted? Do you use CPanel, etc. Then someone can give you detailed answers. Peace.

2006-12-12, 06:21 PM	#11
JD Lord help me, I'm just not that bright Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 107	Wow wow wow, some awesome tips guys, thanks a lot ) johnnybg I cant believe that issue with wordpress hasnt been fixed, as I heard the same problems a while ago, and thats probably why I didnt start using it to post future posts. Walrus That blog organizer looks magic man, I'm gonna check that out, thanks so much for posting that here Got a lot of reading to do now ) cheers JD