Archive for May, 2008:
Make WordPress Dance to your Tune
Written by Jai on May 31, 2008 – 1:21 pm - 4,463 views
WordPress is commonly used as a blogging platform but if you dig deeper, you will find that there are many different ways in which this CMS (Content Management System) can be used. You might need to modify your theme differently to reach your target but it is entirely possible. You can also take the help of some already available plugins that will help you do the task.
Given below are some ideas for the enthusiasts and modders. I am also thinking of developing some free themes which will help you to use WordPress in the following ways :-
Giving your Blog a Website look
If you change the front page of your blog to a static one, you can configure WordPress to easily behave like a normal site instead of a blog. In WordPress 2.5.1, there is an option under settings -> Reading of your wp-admin section where you can set the front page of your blog to a static page. After doing this, you can just design your static page to look like a standard website.
Here are some additional tutorials to accomplish this :-
Creating a Static Front Page
Creative a Static Front Page (with many options)
Static Front Page Combined with Dynamic Content
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Written by Jai on May 27, 2008 – 12:27 pm - 5,095 views
CONTEST OVER
WordPress is celebrating its 5th birthday today. I am really happy to see the continued support by the creators and the community for WordPress. WordPress has come a long way and has become the most popular blogging CMS in the world. Bloggers are getting together all over the world to celebrate this day with fellow WordPress bloggers. One of the open invitation parties is being held in San Francisco, California and if you live there, make sure to attend it :- Details here
To celebrate this event on Blog Oh! Blog, I am holding a contest, where I will be giving out 5 premium themes to 5 lucky winners. The premium themes can be from Blog Oh! Blog or any other website that offers premium themes (any theme with a single-user license). To participate, all you have to do is blog about this contest on your blog and leave a comment in this entry. The 5 winners will be selected randomly from the contestants. After you win, you can make a choice for your prize theme and I will buy it for you if its from another website or give it to you for free, if its from Blog Oh! Blog. Want more?
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Written by Jai on May 24, 2008 – 7:12 am - 3,293 views
The most static thing in this world is the term “change”. Why do I say so? That’s because things around us are changing constantly and thus, change is constant. With this note, let me continue with today’s article.
If you are looking for a second opinion or just some reasons to get your blog redesigned, you must read on. Getting a new design definitely has its own benefits. Some people even go to the extent that they change their blog template very regularly to keep things fresh. That is not really necessary but let me explain the reasons why you should redesign your blog at least once in a blue moon (even if its for experimental purposes).
Adding Extras
There is no such thing as a perfect theme for your blog. A redesign gives you the opportunity to extend the functionality of your blog by allowing those extra features that you always wanted. When making the new layout, you can create space for any additional components that have been missing from your blog so far. For example, Social Bookmarking Buttons, Feed Subscription Form, Subscriber Stats, Footer Content, RSS Buttons, Portfolio Showcase, Chat Window, Tags etc. While redesigning your blog, you will also discover new stuff that your competitor has been using for a long time.
Rearranging your Blog
Over the time, your blog might get cluttered just like your living room if its not cleaned regularly. You can remove the unnecessary elements that you don’t use anymore or shift them below the fold to make space for more relevant components that you want to add to your blog. A makeover also lets you focus on those parts of your blog that are getting neglected and not getting enough exposure.
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Written by Jai on May 21, 2008 – 9:12 am - 2,948 views
All right boys & girls! Here comes the moment to announce the winner of the PlayStation 3 contest. I am sure every one who has participated in this contest is waiting to hear the winner’s name. It was a great contest and I really wished that all of you could win since you guys participated so well, but hey, there can only be a single winner! So, here it is…
A total of 45 bloggers had participated in the contest (I know that is a small number but it definitely gives the winner a better chance 
). The winner has been chosen through a lucky draw by putting slips for all the blog names in a box and choosing one among them. Anyway, I am happy to declare Andy from http://blogs.qualitybusinesslinks.com as the winner of this contest.
Congratulations Andy! You just became the proud owner of a PlayStation III + a free PS3 game of your choice!
So, hurry up and forward me your shipping address so that I can arrange for the console to be shipped out to you. Also, let me know which game will you like to have with the console system. You can also contact me through the contact page of Blog Oh! Blog.
For all those people, who did not win this time, do NOT lose heart! Blog Oh! Blog will be coming out with a lot more exciting and wonderful contests. I am really grateful to all you cool people to review Blog Oh! Blog from your blogs. To add a little excitement, the next contest will feature a Macbook worth $2,000. I will highly recommend all of you to subscribe to my feed so that you can know when the contest is up and running.
Congratulations once again to Andy for winning this Bumper Contest!
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Written by Jai on May 19, 2008 – 7:52 am - 14,834 viewsDo you really want to intoxicate people with the beauty of your blog ? Well, first you have to intoxicate your blog with this new WordPress theme from Blog Oh! Blog - Blue Weed. This is the latest offering from me to all you WordPress users. The theme has a clean and crisp look with light blue colors fit for almost any blog. Blue Weed is Gravatar-ready, WP2.5 Gallery-ready, Widget-ready, and includes tabbed sections for easy access to your content.
The theme has been tested both in Internet Explorer and Firefox with no visible problems.
Please leave a comment if you decide to use it or not
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Written by Jai on May 15, 2008 – 4:50 pm - 3,263 viewsAren’t you tired of logging into your FTP control panel or using your FTP client to upload your plugin files whenever you want to install a new plugin?
Well, I definitely was getting very tired, so I went ahead and found this really cool solution. Of course, this is another plugin that you have to install using your FTP, but this will be the very last time that you use the FTP. The plugin is called “Plugin Central” and it actually works by allowing you to install other plugins directly through your WordPress dashboard.
After you activate the Plugin Central, you will find an additional panel in your WordPress dashboard that will list some of your already installed plugins, and also giving you an option to update them to the latest versions. Plugin Central lets you update your existing plugins one by one or all at a time.
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Written by Jai on May 13, 2008 – 1:23 pm - 4,460 views
I know that many of you readers come here, read what you want to, take what you want to, do what you want to without me knowing that you ever came here! So, if you have been a silent reader of my blog and want to know the benefits of leaving comments on a blog’s posts, let me give you some tips on why you should be doing it.
1. Do you know me?
If you regularly leave comments on a particular blog, it will make the blog owner recognize you and also your website. When you do this on multiple blogs, you will be socially recognized in the blogging community. Also, most of the blogs nowadays use Gravatars which can help in branding and getting some popularity for your own blog. I think that leaving comments on popular blogs is the best way to be known around the Internet.
2. Building Community
A community is built around people and their views. Leaving comments is a way of showing that you care and want to share your opinion with others including the owner of the blog. The comments can be a suggestion, feedback, appreciation or even criticism. They are good as long as they are not spammy or abusive. So, even if you are just stopping by, try to make that little effort of writing a comment, even if its just a line.
3. Getting What you Want
You should leave a comment because that’s the only way the blog owner can judge what the reader/customers want without getting a written e-mail or any other form of communication.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Nifty Rounded Edges Using Only CSS
Written by Jai on May 10, 2008 – 1:25 pm - 7,995 viewsIf you have a Google Analytics account, you must have seen that Google uses slightly rounded edges in the menu buttons on the left. See the picture below :-
Today, I will teach you how to give these nifty little rounded edges to your menu. Given below is the CSS code. This goes into the head section of your HTML file. :-
CSS
<style>
ul {
width:180px;
list-style-type:none;
margin:0 auto;
padding:0;
}
li a {
display:block;
position:relative;
border-width:1px 0;
border-color:#ccc;
border-style:solid;
color:#555;
text-decoration:none;
margin:4px 1px;
}
li a span {
display:block;
position:relative;
margin:0 -1px;
border-width:0 1px;
border-color:#ccc;
border-style:solid;
background-color:#eee;
padding:2px 6px;
}
li a:hover {
border-color:#aaa;
color:#333;
}
li a:hover span {
border-color:#aaa;
background-color:#ddd;
}
</style>
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Written by Jai on May 8, 2008 – 6:40 am - 2,776 views
I have been a PC gamer for the past fifteen years. I play a lot of games on my PC in my free time, not only to unwind, but also to satiate the hardcore gamer inside me. Off lately, I have been following many gaming forums and websites which are talking about the downfall of the PC gaming scene because of the increasing piracy of the games. This fact is really disturbing for me as I have been an avid gamer and do not want to lose one of my most passionate hobbies.
The downfall is evident from the fact that most of the popular game titles are being released for the consoles even before they make their appearance on the PC, or even a declaration is made that they will be available for the PC. Popular games like GTA (Grand Theft Auto) which were exclusive for the PC in the past years, are now being launched for the consoles first (take the example of the latest GTA IV which has been already released for PS3 and XBOX360) rather than the PC. The foremost reason would be the falling sales figures of the PC titles and the rapid increase in the piracy of games. And because of this reason, major game publishers are switching to the consoles arena where the piracy element is much less. Although some companies are adopting new methods for game distribution like Valve which sells their titles through their online distributor (Steam) which allows you to download all the game content after you have purchased it online. Some game publishers also use strict copy-protection techniques, but then again, these methods install extra software into your computers and totally kill the experience for the gamers.
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