Computer Chit Chat

How to customize your Wordpress 404 page

Ever searched for something on a blog and didn’t find it? It’s awful to see that 404 message and not have anywhere to go from there. Have you tested your blog’s 404 page? Try testing it out by trying to go to yourblog.com/testpage or some other page you know isn’t there. If you only see Not found go into your dashboard now and get to work. It only takes a few minutes to customize a 404 page and it might keep someone on your sight longer. You can include a number of things on your 404 page including categories and monthly archives, a listing of all your pages and an offer to subscribe to your feed. So rather than seeing “page not found” a visitor could now see something like ” the page you requested wasn’t found but feel free to browse the pages listed below for what you’re looking for”.

To customize your Wordpress 404 page, log in to your dashboard and click on presentation. Click on Theme Editor and then click on the 404 Template link on your right. Find the message you just saw when you tested your 404 page and replace it with a customized message. You can even include the php code to show your categories, pages and archives. Click update and you’re finished. As always, go one step at a time and test, that way if there’s a problem you can undo your last step. And always backup your files.

GigglePrint did not leave me giggling

I heard about GigglePrint through BzzAgent and decided to check it out. GigglePrint offers free business cards and sells business cards, stationery and the like. I bet you’re thinking they sound like VistaPrint. You’re right except they’re not as good as VistaPrint. They don’t have as many designs or products and they charge an arm and a leg for shipping. What I could order for free from VistaPrint and have shipped for under $4 would cost more than $10 to have shipped by GigglePrint. Talk about highway robbery! When I saw the shipping prices I was not giggling. I won’t be ordering anything here.

Places to find free pictures to use on your blog

It’s great to include pictures on your blog, no matter if they’re personal or related to something you’re writing about. It’s not always possible to take the picture you need yourself, so it’s helpful to have a list of places that offer free photos. Here’s a list of some of the most popular free photo sites.

• StockXchng - my favorite
• EveryStockPhoto
• Free Foto
• Free Images UK
• Free Photos Bank
• Free Range Stock Photos
• Free-Stock Photos
• Free Stock Photos
• Image Blowout
• ImageAfter
• Morguefile
• Picture Perfect Digital
• Stockvault

Skribit

I just heard of a new blog widget called Skribit. Skribit is an application that allows people to make suggestions on things they’d like to see you write about. Once you’ve signed up for a Skribit account you need to configure and install the customizable Skribit widget on your blog. Once the widget is installed your blog readers can suggest topics, ask questions and find other blogs to read with similar subject matter. The widget can be configured so that users must be logged in to Skribit to leave a suggestion or so that anyone can leave a suggestion anonymously. Readers are able to vote on others suggestions. Bloggers logged in to their Skribit account page can see what suggestions have been left, who left them and how many votes suggestions have received.

I can see where Skribit would be great for some blogs. I don’t think it’s a good match for me. I have a contact form in place and I don’t really want to have to deal with logging in to yet another site. I also would not leave comments on anonymous, which mean my readers would need to log in to use it and I won’t ask readers to log in to something. Are you using Skribit? How do you like it?

Happy Fourth Of July

The Fourth of July is Independence Day here in the US. It’s the anniversary of the day that the United States declared her independence from England. The US declared her independence with the Declaration of Independence. Continental Congress passed the final text of the document on July 4,1776.

DoubleClick Performics now the Google Affiliate Network

As of yesterday DoubleClick Performics is officially no more. It’s now the Google Affiliate Network. Also as of yesterday, DoubleClick Performics’ Search is being sold to a third party and is now running as its own business unit. The Google press release promises “exciting changes” to the affiliate user interface. Also promised in the press release for the future are “new opportunities for monetization, expansion and innovation in Affiliate Marketing”. I just blogged the other day that I haven’t made any money at affiliate marketing. I also never made one cent from Adsense. I wonder what impact the Google Affiliate Network will have on policies and the other affiliate programs.

Blogatiser social bookmarking

I received an email a couple of weeks ago promoting a new site called Blogatiser. I finally checked it out yesterday, and here’s the story. Blogatiser allows members to submit articles they’ve written. Other members can vote on the articles. The more votes an article gets the higher it rises in visibility on the site, sending the author more traffic. Right now only seven votes are needed to get onto the front page. Yes, I know you’re thinking that it sounds like Digg. Here’s how it’s different than Digg. Blogatiser is a revenue sharing website, sharing 75% of Adsense revenue with its members. Also, Blogatiser is do follow, that is to say that it does not use redirects for your links so get free back links.

Why Socialspark is great for Mommy bloggers

SocialSpark is a form of blog marketing that combines social networking with the opportunity to make money from blogging. I signed a couple of months ago. I am convinced that this is the perfect opportunity for Mommy bloggers to make some extra cash from the comfort of their home. It’s actually perfect for anyone that’s home during the day.

After bloggers sign up for Socialspark they’ll have the chance to make new friends within the social media environment. Opportunities to monetize your blog are presented in a marketplace. Socialspark offers nofollow opportunities, so there’s no fear of punishment from Google for writing a sponsored post. While browsing the available opportunities bloggers can select open opportunities or be placed into a queue to take other opportunities that aren’t open at that moment.

The queue is what makes Socialspark ideal for Mommy bloggers. Once you’ve queued yourself for an opportunity you’ll be notified by an email when a slot becomes available. That email will be sent at midnight and you have twelve hours from then to submit your entry. While it doesn’t work terribly well for me since I start working at 6am, it does seem to be working well for stay at home Moms.

Moms have a lot to say. They use a lot of products and have a lot of opinions. They know what it’s like to try and make ends meet. Moms value the opportunity to make some money to contribute to the household while staying at home and raising their children. And what better way to to that than while blogging? It doesn’t make a difference if you’re a Mom and you a new blogger or an experienced one. Once you’ve joined Socialspark you’ll be surprised at home many blogging friends you make that are more than happy to help out if you have a question or if you need help with something.

If you’re a stay at home parent, go check out Socialspark and sign up. You’ll be making money in no time right from the comfort of your home and get to continue doing the best job there is, raising your family.

Affiliate program question

I found myself wondering something about internet affiliate programs recently. I applied for the Disney Movie affiliate program, thinking I’d place it on my entertainment blog. My application was declined. Now here’s my question. If it’s free to join an affiliate program, and if both the advertiser and the publisher make money if someone clicks on an ad, why would they decline an ad? If nothing else it would be getting their brand noticed, even if noone did click on it. So does anyone know the logic behind this? I really would like to know.

How to install a theme

If you’ve never installed a theme for Wordpress, don’t worry. It’s pretty straightforward and easy. The hardest part is finding a theme you want to use. Once you find it, download the theme to your computer. Unzip the files and upload them to the themes directory of your Wordpress blog. In the Wordpress dashboard click on presentation and activate the theme. That should be it, you should be all set!