Daily Twaddle

I’ve been posting more posts than usual lately. I decided that frequent, short, (sometimes sloppy) posts are better than no posts.

I’m not sure how many of my readers use feeds, but I know that at least three of my friends actually go to my blog to see if I wrote anything new. I want to make sure there is something for them… even if it’s short or boring.

Since this website is personal, I don’t need quality (keyword filled) content for search engines. I also don’t use advertising, so the amount of visitors to my blog doesn’t matter to me.

I usually can’t keep up with other bloggers who write a new post every day or more than once a day. I don’t have time to read more than a couple a week. I also don’t have time to write that many myself. But… I do like knowing that my feed reader will show something new each time I go to it.

I made a list of some blog characteristics I find important when reading other blogs:

1. Fresh content at least once a week, but I prefer twice a week.
2. Useful information like tips or news with a humorous or casual tone.
3. Opinionated authors: “This is what I think and why.”
4. Blogs that keep me on their blog (not refer me to some other guy’s great posts all the time).
5. Pictures with each post - even if they’re generic. I like to get the gist before I read.
6. Replies to my (and other people’s) comments.

With the above criteria in mind, I try to run my blog the way I want others to run theirs. But… I don’t have a picture to go with this post. I’m just going to start with step one.

It’s a process… fortunately not a twelve-step process… although I have been drinking more since the semester started…

- This is the most recognizable smiley, created with a colon and a closing parenthesis : )

But did you know that you can create a lots of different smilies with different emotions? Most blogs enable this feature, so give it a try!

:smile
:grin
:sad
:eek
:shock
:???
:cool
:mad
:razz
:wink
:neutral

Word Press blog owners: To activate smilies go to Options > Writing in your Admin panel and check the box next to “Convert emoticons like : - ) and : - P to graphics on display.”

This is madness! People are actually reading my blog? Okay, yes, my friends and family who I constantly pester. I expect them to read it.

But what about people I’ve never met? That’s crazy! The stuff I say can’t be that interesting! It’s twaddle for god-sakes!

Well, Technorati has the Twaddle in their database. They keep track of their user’s favorite blogs. They also update users with the latest buzz around people, things, or events. They call it “WTF” which stands for Where’s The Fire. But it certainly caught my attention.

I “claimed” my blog since that’s an option. I’ll mess around with their services to see what’s up. Then I’ll give you the rundown. Or maybe you can give me the rundown!

Technorati »

Dun Dun Duuuunnnn… (that’s scary music)

This morning’s version of the Twaddle was 2.0.2 and I just upgraded to 2.1.2. I didn’t know I had an old version until I tried to install an analytics program. I’ll talk about that plug-in later after I use it a little bit.

I read the instructions from Word Press to upgrade “in 5 easy steps.” Sounds simple enough. But, I began to get nervous with each step. First I had to delete half the files in my blog. I took a quick look at my blog after the delete process and I got the “Forbidden” error. Yikes! I needed to hurry up and finish the upgrade!

Word Press suggested that I backup certain files before I begin deleting. I went ahead and made a copy of my entire /blog folder. It took forever to download - but I have broadband (yay for me!). So, I knew if I screwed something up I would have all the original files.

Step four confused me. The directions said to “Visit your blog’s Upgrade Page http://example.com/wordpress/wp-admin/upgrade.php and follow the instructions that are displayed.” But I just deleted the wp-admin folder! Crap! How can I view a file in that folder after I delete it? But I uploaded the new wp-admin folder in Step three. Duh. No problem.

I took a sneak peek of this file (upgrade.php) with Text Edit before I accessed it with my browser. I found the words “So if you see this, you’re done.” What? Could it really be that easy? So, I entered the path in my browser, and wouldn’t you know it? My blog is up and running. No glitches at all.

Speaking of glitches…

If you’re running Word Press version 2.1.1, you need to upgrade right away! Word Press has declared the entire version dangerous.

A gravatar is a small avatar image that appears beside your name when you comment on blogs. It uses your email address to associate your unique icon with your comment. Cool right?

All you do is sign up for a free Gravatar account and upload your graphic. Then, anywhere you leave (or already left) a comment, you’ll see your image!

Of course, it only works on Gravatar enabled sites. And The Twaddle is enabled! Hurray!

← Check out my gravatar! You’ll notice it next to each of my comments too. Righteous!

Tech Stuff

I went through a bit of trial and error when I first installed Gravatar on this blog. So, I’m going to give a quick tutorial for anyone who wants to install this on their blog too.

First I went to the Gravatar site for Word Press and downloaded the plugin. I followed the installation instructions. Then I went into my themes folder, found the comments.php file and stuck this code

<img src="<?php gravatar("R", 40); ?>" alt="" />

next to the commenter’s name div. I messed around with inserting this code in the right spot until the gravatar rested neatly at the left. That’s it!