May
31
Hello May 31st!
Filed Under The Meaning of Life | Leave a Comment
I thought I’d better let everyone know that I’m putting my twice-a-week WordPress project on vacation until Thursday.
You see, I’m busy moving to a new host - yipeee!
I’ll be back in a few days, reloaded with promised humor. In honor of brunchy balance, I may also give myself a couple days off [...]
May
29
Big List of Green Web Hosts
Filed Under Green | 15 Comments
submit_url = “http://ablereach.com/green/big-list-of-green-web-hosts/”;
Welcome to the first edition of my Big List of Green Web Hosts. There are 22 here, and I am sure there are more out in the world that can be added later. I only included hosts with English language pages and specific information about what they are doing to be [...]
May
27
My May 27th Coming Soon List
Filed Under Blogging | Leave a Comment
I have a busy week coming up here!
WordPress Wireframes
After taking a break from posting for Memorial Day yesterday, I’ll have the first-of-week WordPress post ready for you later on today. I’m writing about wireframes. There are two basic ways to remodel an existing WordPress theme. You can apply bandaids, one [...]
May
25
Exploring Questions, or Changing the World?
Filed Under Blogging | 3 Comments
Yesterday I started a thread at Cre8asite Forums - Invisible Words: When Buzzwords Don’t. It was easy, a lot easier than writing a blog post. A forum post is part of a conversation, living with the support of a thread’s contextual structure. The whole community is invited to the party, becoming part [...]
May
23
The WordPress Default theme doesn’t include a sidebar in single post views. I don’t like the way Default does this, for three reasons.
Any page can be a landing page. A site should provide new users with whatever they may need in order to feel oriented. A few sidebar landmark links can do [...]
May
21
A Six-Month Checkup
Filed Under The Meaning of Life | 1 Comment
Today is my six month anniversary of starting to blog at AbleReach.com. At first, I thought I’d give myself six months to get comfortable, and then re-assess. About six weeks into it I decided I’d get more from the experience by pushing harder. “Comfort” is over rated. Sometimes, ya gotta break [...]
May
19
There are three ways to get a peek at how pre-existing content looks on a theme: use a theme changer or a theme previewer on the blog’s current location, or install a copy of the content’s database in an alternate location. For some projects, setting up a theme switcher or preview utility can [...]
May
17
Green Web Hosting Quest - turning a rant into an opportunity
Filed Under Green, Marketing | 4 Comments
My site was down for about 12 hours on Friday. 12. Hours. Aurgh! 12! When I called tech support I was told that they have backup servers that can be used if customers like me have an emergency need. “Techguy” said they’d get my files “moved to the backup [...]
May
15
My oh my, that’s a serious title! Anyhoo…
I have this theory that those who come to my site from from an RSS Feed will click through to different posts than social media users, who will in turn head to different pages than Search Engine users.
I want a sense of what characteristics draw [...]
May
14
Flexibility
Filed Under Self Improvement | Leave a Comment
Hello Wednesday!
On Monday I promised to post on Tuesday about plugins that switch themes, either for a private theme preview or as a theme switcher that all visitors of a site can use. The post was half done as of a few days ago, so I felt safe taking a little mental health break [...]
May
12
From here on out until I’m satisfied I’ll be blogging through the process of revamping the WordPress Default theme into a new home for my blog.
WP Default has good bones and was based on Kubrick, another theme with good bones; it will provide a good foundation. If I keep to the same [...]
May
11
Mother’s Day Brunch
Filed Under Brunch | 3 Comments
This is a tribute to all my “moms” and all my “kids,” and an encouragement to be the drop in a bucket that tipped the scales that helped someone know they’re good, good, good just as they are.
Sometimes kids are like visiting deer. Certain telltale signs show how connected we are, no matter how [...]
May
9
How to Answer the Telephone
Filed Under Content Development | Leave a Comment
A massage therapist gets a phone call:
Hello. I was referred to you by my doctor. I work long hours at a desk and…
Before the massage therapist hears another word, he is anticipating a series of topics. He already has an idea of which complaints are likely, and which muscle and nerve groups [...]
May
8
Just say NO to trust, and then what?
Filed Under Branding, Monetization | 1 Comment
I have a post in the works about trust and marketing, and I’m stuck.
I have issues. Specifically, I have issues with advertisers who don’t get that marketing is hand in glove with trust. I’m going to clear the air.
Yes, it’s true. I am going to rant. I’d put this [...]
May
7
I’m Your (Twitter) Pusher Mom
Filed Under Social Networking | 8 Comments
Not so long ago I was trembling with trepidation over Twitter. It’s only been a few days, and I’m already hooked. Hooked and recommending it to others.
I’m Your Pushermom
I’m your Mama,
I’m your Daddy
I’m that blogger
In the alley
I’ll connect you
When in need
Want some clicks?
Have some tweets
You know me,
Get my feed
Your green thumbed
Stumble Mum
I’m your [...]
May
6
I Dofollow Comments
Filed Under Blogging, Wordpress | 15 Comments
My nofollow comment status is coming down.
Dofollow Comments as a Linking Philosophy
A good conversation is worth fistfulls of gofollows or nofollows or any kind of follows. Why? Because people who have participated in or read a good conversation on a blog are likely to come back and do it again. Unlike Search [...]
May
3
How many dozen screens has this potato passed through since it was last touched by human hands? And yet, in our mind’s eye it’s touchable, as fresh as it was the day it was first “screened.” You can almost smell it.
Let’s Play Pass the Idea
Yesterday I passed on an IM about a Stumble [...]
Apr
28
RSS Subscribers Got Green Hunger?
Filed Under Nonprofits | Leave a Comment
Recent ups and downs in my RSS subscriber numbers are making me curious. I’m wondering if there is an unmet need for information that would help bloggers who combine “green” or cause marketing with the usual WordPress-and-content stuff.
Early in the morning on April 22nd I published Cre8Green: Small Steps for Big [...]
Apr
26
Whenever WordPress sends out notice that an update includes a security fix, I install it on my own blog right away, for two reasons.
That phrase security fix
I want to know how it acts on my blog, before I need to use it on someone else’s
The folks at WordPress are telling us that WP 2.5.1 includes [...]
Apr
25
Mom Remodels WordPress
Filed Under Content Development, Wordpress | 4 Comments
Yup. That’s me. Empty nest and all, I am forever “Mom.”
::waves to a certain grown one who sometimes reads this blog::
I, the Mom afore mentioned, mentioned in my 101 Day Round Up earlier this month that I was up for doing a little documented WordPress theme redesign, starting with the WordPress default theme [...]
Apr
24
Yesterday Cre8asite had a brief fling with free beer.
I believe that the ability of a title tag and description tag to pull an unusual number of clicks in the SERPs is one of the most powerful parts of SEO. It can certainly yield traffic, put people in a certain mood… and the search engines might [...]
Apr
23
My Bouncing Baby Benchmarks
Filed Under Content Development | 10 Comments
My measures of success are a little different than most blogs. Though I like traffic and subscribers, at least a little, at this point my priorities are more towards personal connection, enjoying writing and the occasional nerd post. I’m all about the personal value judgment.
I did promise some statly benchmarks, so here [...]
Apr
22
On Thursday last week I mentioned having a secret. By now you’ve probably figured out that my clue-comment about “cousin Cre8asite in the kitchen with the team” had something to do with cooking up the idea for Cre8Green Week.
A few days ago Kim Krause Berg, our fearless leader at Cre8asite Forums, had [...]
Apr
16
How to Have a Blast With a Crash
Filed Under Self Improvement | 4 Comments
You know, life is fickle, or maybe it’s just me. All together now, “It’s just you, Elizabeth. It’s all on you. You’re the only one who hears the voices. Nobody understands. You are totally, uniquely, unintelligibly…”
Heh.
Ever had one of those weeks when everything feels settled, the hard questions are anwered-ish [...]
Apr
14
A Preface to my Bouncing Baby Benchmarks
Filed Under Branding, Content Development, Social Networking | 2 Comments
Question: What did I want from my 101 days?
Answer: A sense of direction. An orientation beyond web design.
Question: Why couldn’t I just pick some keywords to write about? Use that to form a bridge between my beloved web stuff and a prospective audience?
Answer: Because keywords are only a part of the picture. [...]