Court from CourtneyTuttle.com made me aware of a new link train to get on board with. It’s the MyBlogLog wagon!
MyBlogLog is a great way to meet other bloggers in your field, and joining the MyBlogLog train can help you to get a bunch of extra links for your site.
Join the train to find some new […]

Why do you blog about your topic? What made you choose it?
I blog about Life Learning tips because:

Life is a learning experience. The more I pay attention to and use what I learn, the better my life becomes.
I am passionate about sharing what I learn in order to help others.
It provides a […]

What are The Learning Blog Awards?
This is an award that highlights outstanding blogs from which we learn a tremendous amount  of useful and interesting information. Presenting:
The Learning Blog Awards!                 
Learning Blog Award recipients consistently provide well written information that is both useful and interesting.
Here are the winning blogs. Each of these blogs can now proudly display the award […]

WordPress Widget Plugins
Many of my readers have found value in my post Moving From Blogger to WordPress. And they have asked for more posts along these lines. Today I’m going to share with you the WordPress plugins I am using along with helpful hints on setting them up and on using them.
Here are the Plugins […]

Using and Installing WordPress Widgets

Many of my readers have found value in my post Moving From Blogger to WordPress. And they have asked for more posts along these lines. Today I’m going to share with you how to install and use WordPress plugins.

WordPress vs. Blogger

Blogger makes adding widgets very easy inside their template, but anyone with experience using Blogger knows that that ease comes at a price, less overall flexibility. So WordPress will give you much more flexibility, but you’ll need to spend a little upfront time setting things up. Once you get the hang of adding plugins you’ll be able to do it very quickly.

Getting Started

Once you’ve set up WordPress and picked your theme, then you’ll want to add plugins which are like widgets in Blogger. The first one you should add is SideBar Widgets By Automattic, Inc. which adds a “Sidebar Widgetsâ€? panel under the Presentation menu in your WordPress Admin panel. This will give you up to 9 widgets. Many people will need more. See my post on the easy way to increase the number of sidebar widgets beyond 9.

For plugins that require PHP coding, you’ll want to add Executable PHP widget by Otto. Both of these should be added to your plugins>widgets directory on your server.

Adding Plugins

1. README. Each plugin usually has a text file called ReadMe. Read this! Better: print it out for ease of reference. It will have installation instructions, FAQ’s and troubleshooting information.
2. UPLOAD. For each plugin you add including the two listed above, you’ll need to upload them via FTP to your server. In most cases you’ll be uploading to the Plugin directory, usually located in this order /public_html/wp-content/plugins/.
3. CHMOD. (optional-see ReadMe file for the plugin)For some plugins you may need to make the file writable. To do this go to your FTP client and click on the properties of the plugin file. Then change the file attributes by typing in the number 755.
4. ACTIVATE. In your WordPress Admin panel go to Plugins. Scroll down to your newly uploaded plugin and click on Activate.
5. ADD. Go to Presentation in your admin panel. Then go into Sidebar Widgets. In here you can set how many text Sidebar Widgets you want. (If you want more than the default 9, you can get instruction for increasing that amount here.)

Using TEXT Widgets

1. DRAG. Drag the sidebar widgets into your sidebar column.
2. CLICK. Click on the X on the widget.
3. TYPE. Type in the html code into the box that opens. Type the title for the widget.
4. CLICK. Click outside the widget box to finish.
5. SAVE. Click on save options.
6. REVIEW. Check your site to see if it is loading properly.

Using EXECPHP Widgets

1. REPEAT. Use the same steps as above.
2. TROUBLESHOOT. If the element doesn’t show up properly on your blog, you probably need to add runPHP plugin by James Van Lommel for these widgets to work properly.

Hopefully this will help former Blogger bloggers to start using Wordpress plugins with ease. Good luck.

For more information subscribe to my blog to ensure that you don’t miss the upcoming post on some great useful Wordpress plugins that I use along with a reference on where to the users choice awards of plugins.

If you found this post helpful, you may support my blog below with a donation. Thank you kindly.

Technorati Tags: Install, Plugins, Widgets, Wordpress

UPDATE Feb 2008: If you are using Wordpress 2.3, here is an article that gives you information how to get more widgets with WP 2.3. If you are using an older version of Wordpress then read on.

If you are using the plugin Sidebar Widgets by Automattic, Inc. you’ve noticed that there are only 9 text widgets available. If you need more than 9 text widgets, here is the simple hack to increase this number.

You will need to edit the widgets.php file which is not as hard as it seems.

Here’s how:

1. UPDATE OFFLINE. Open widgets.php from your files on your computer.
2. SAVE BACKUP. Do Save As on widgets.php and call it original_widgets.php so if anything happens you can go back to the original. (Of course you could always download it again too if you have a problem.)
3. CHANGE FILES. Make the following changes:
4. FIND: widget_text_setup(), CHANGE the number 9 to your desired number where it says if ( $number > 9 ) $number = 9;
5. FIND widget_text_register(), CHANGE the number 9 to your desired number where it says if ( $number > 9 ) $number = 9;
   for ($i = 1; $i <= 9; $i++)
6. FIND widget_text_page(), then look for <?php for ( $i = 1; $i < 10; ++$i ) echo CHANGE the number 10 to be your desired higher number plus one. For example if you are changing the number of items to 20 then you will put 21 here.
7. UPLOAD. Save and Upload this new via FTP to your server. You may either overwrite the old file or delete the old file and then upload the newer version. (Keep the same name of the file)
8. INCREASE. Go into your Wordpress admin panel>Presentation>Sidebar Widgets and using the dropdown menu click on the number of widgets you want.

You now can have as many Sidebar Text Widgets as your blog can handle! Happy Plugin Time!

If you found this post helpful, you may donate below. Thank you kindly.

Technorati Tags: automattic, plugin, sidebar widget, Hacks, wordpress

My Lucky Day!
I recently won a blog redesign from the world famous author of The Thinking Blog, Ilker Yoldas. I wrote this review of her blog, The International Woman of Mystery, to win this fabulous makeover.
And you are looking at the results. Here is the before and after:
           
This gifted designer also created a streamlined […]

The B-Word: Burnout
Do you get scared when you hear the word Burnout? If you do, then you’ve probably experienced it. If not, then you are probably still a newbie, hyped out on adrenaline and caffeine, and still very excited about this endeavor, blogging your way to fame, fortune, or fantasy.
But then it hits. Ugh. The […]

What is ECTO?

Ecto is a desktop blogging client for MAC and Windows that is compatible with most major blogging platforms including Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad, amongst many others.
Why I Started Using ECTO.
I switched from Blogger to Wordpress for two reasons. One was for more flexibility with my template and the other was for a better […]

Do you ever find yourself staring at a blank screen agonizing over what to write today? Maybe you simply skip over that excrutiating habit and move straight into full out procrastination. Web surfing is a great way to procrastinate. Here’s the good news: you can surf and solve your dilemma at the same time!

The Bad News First

Well it’s not so bad. This part is fun and easy, and it takes only 10-15 minutes. First walk away from or hibernate your computer. Here’s what you do. Write down all the problems/questions you want answers to right now. Here are some examples:

• What should I write today?
• How can I meet a guy/girl to date?
• How can I get my blog categories to show up as a cloud?
• How can I ensure that I teach my child the values that I think are important?
• How can I grow a tomato plant?
• Why does being in love make a person feel so good?

Now once you get started thinking of your problems/questions you want answered you’ll probably find that it is very easy to generate a lot of these. Once you warm up with your own problems/questions, then ask yourself which ones your readers would also find interesting. Each one can be the topic of an article or blog post.

Here’s Where You Get to Surf

Oh joy! Time to research the answer to your question. But don’t get too carried away. Gather some preliminary information and then get started with the outline for your article. You can surf more if you need more information later.

Let’s Do a Funnel

 An outline funnel that is. Take your question and identify how you will write your article. A good way to do this is to start broad and then focus in on the conclusion. Here is an example of a generic outline you can use.

Generic Article Outline
• 1. Question or Problem Topic you will discuss.
  2. Possible Solution(s) and their description(s).
  3. Best Solution/Answer (if applicable).
  4. Conclusion/Summary/Call to Action to Get Started.

Example Article Outline

1. How Can I Grow My Own Tomato Plants?

2. Things You need to do.

a. Get Seeds - explain different methods.

b. Plant Seeds - explain different methods.

c. Transplant - explain method.

d. Care of Plants - explain watering, fertilizer, how much sun, etc.

e. When to Harvest

f. Troubleshooting - things that can go wrong & solutions.

3. Conclusion - How to get started Today!

Begin Countdown

Give yourself a time goal to get your first draft written. I like to use this as a way to keep myself from getting distracted during the process. Once the article is written then go back and edit it to polish it. Add a good title and lead in that will hook your reader with something interesting or useful to them.

Voila! You’re done!

This is just one way to skin this cat. I hope you have fun with this! Please let me know your thoughts and any ideas you’d like to add!

If you find this site helpful, you may contribute a donation below. My heartfelt thanks & blessings to those who take the time to do this!