QBKL Media website goes live
Hello friends! This is one of those posts that keeps you updated with my activity (and prevents people to think that Blogsessive is gone). Again, it was a busy period of time, but one that has produced something that I’ve been waiting for while to happen: me and my associate, Adrian, have launched the website of our design studio: QBKL Media.
Between writing on Blogsessive and working on client projects I’ve hardly found the time to get the website together, but now it happened and I’m really happy. We went for a simple, minimal, one-page website that focuses on what we want to share with those that access it: Who we are, what we do and how to get in touch. It has already been featured on CSS Mania and Abduzeedo’s “Sites of the week #49″, and this makes me even happier.
Now, all that remains is to push hard to get the alpha version of DNPicker.com up and running. DNPicker is side project meant to take the place of the old “Domain names for bloggers” series on Blogsessive. Things have progressed well in the last week and if you wish to stay updated with what’s going on, follow DNPicker on Twitter. As soon as the alpha version will be ready, I will make available a few alpha-testing account that will be reserved only to those following DNPicker on Twitter to help the conversation, feature suggestion and bug reporting process.
This latest activity has influenced the posting flow on Blogsessive, but unfortunately, once in a while I have to make time for other projects too. Rest assured that Blogsessive lives on.
Thanks for being here!
Free WordPress Themes Watch: Empty Canvas
My friend Adrian Diaconescu has released a new free WordPress theme called Empty Canvas. Those familiar with his previous theme, Corporate Sandbox will observe the similarities between these two themes, but as Adrian says: “[...] don’t download this theme and expect the Mona Lisa. It’s only a simple theme, that does wonders for me.”
Click here to read the full blog post!
The New BuySellAds Website Rocks!
Oh yeah! I’ve been waiting for the new version to come out ever since the first announcement back in January. Now, BuySellAds is finally out of the private beta with such a huge list of new features that just made my life as an ads publisher a whole lot easier!
The new search filters for ad space buyers is much easier to use and definitely more precise. Ad publishers now have more control over their ad spaces and the statistics are definitely the best improvement here, giving publishers (and buyers) information on the number of impressions, estimated CPM, traffic ranking, number of clicks (publisher only).
Also, cashouts have been automated and you can now use you BSA funds to purchase advertising on other BSA member websites. There are a whole lot more new features available, and the new design is also really good and well structured.
I’ve been using BSA for Blogsessive’s Ad Zones and I was happy with it. Now I’m more than happy. The new BuySellAds website really rocks!
10 Beautiful Non-Blog Websites Powered by WordPress
The time when WordPress was used strictly as a blog platform is long gone. WordPress has evolved into a mature CMS that gives designers and developers the right tools to create amazing non-blog websites for their clients. As proof for that stand these 10 beautiful websites powered by WordPress.
FernWoodCoffee.com
Herout-Caves.com
3 Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before Launching a Corporate Blog
Ever since blogging has become “mainstream”, companies have discovered a new marketing tool in blogs. Some took blogs even further and transformed them into brand elements and it proved to be a winning decision, as blogs have the power to give a voice and a personality to a company.
But even so, corporate blogging has not always been the best choice for some. Just as with any other marketing tool, it needs to fit your company’s profile, needs and expectations in order to be truly effective. Is a blog really going to help your company? Ask yourself these 3 essential questions before taking the step and launching a new corporate blog.
This post has been revised and included in the Corporate Blogging Guide.
You can read the revised post here.
New WordPress Plugins You Might Want to Try
While working on a couple of WordPress projects these days, I’ve been on the look out for some new WordPress plugins. During my searches I’ve come across some really cool and useful plugins that you might want to check out too.
Manual Related Links
Tired of the old and sometimes irrelevant automated “Related posts”. This new WordPress plugin allows you to hand pick the links to be displayed at the end of your posts. Also works with off site links. Some might think that it’s a waste of time, other like me will see the value in giving the reader really relevant, hand-picked links.
Download hereWP Version: 2.7+
Author: Aaron D. Campbell
WP htaccess Control
No need to access the FTP or the cPanel anymore to add rules to your .htaccess file. With WP htaccess Control you get to do that from the comfort of your WP Admin screen.
Download hereWP Version: 2.7+
Author: António Andrade aka Dardna
Click here to read the full blog post!
Live Coverage of the Revolution in Moldova
Let me start of by asking you one thing: have you ever doubted the power of social media? The U.S. president, Barack Obama stands proof of its power and now the Revolution in Moldova too.
After the recent election which are said to be manipulated by the communist party, Moldavian teen and teenagers started today that will probably go down in history as the first European revolution covered by live blogging and twittering.
Police, army, students, students that speak my language, as Moldova was once part of my country, Romania. Smoke, fire, fights, gun shots. These are the images that are spread via YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and personal blogs.
Click here to read the full blog post!
Triple Your Traffic with Content Distribution Techniques
There are billions of blogs in the blogosphere. People always say that creating another blog might not be the better thing since almost everything online is saturated. Of course, that’s a complete baloney! Fortunately 60-70% of blogs don’t get traction and just couldn’t seem to make progress. And it’s because of several reasons which I wouldn’t want to talk about here.
Most people fall into this big misconception about blogging. This misconception is about “post and publish”. People think that the key to getting traffic is by creating a killer post, then publishing it. We all know it’s not the case. If no one reads your blog, then no one is even going to notice you created a good post! Obviously the one thing you have to do is to let people know “you” exists in the blogosphere. How? By spreading your content. Today I would like to talk about how you can possibly triple your traffic by spreading your content. Without further “fluff” here they are:
I Need Your Translation Skills!
Hey friends, as you might have noticed, yesterday I’ve released the 1.2 version of the Latest Posts by Category WP Plugin. As the time was short and the update was needed, I decided to leave the localization of the plugin for the next update.
As I’m typing this, the plugin is set to English as default, and I’ve already created the Romanian translation file.
How can you help?
If you’re proficient in any other languages than English and Romanian – like Spanish, French, German – and you’re willing to give me a helping hand in translating 19 short phrases, contact me via email. Tell me which language are you willing to help with and I’ll send you a text file with the required translations.
Not to be picky, but native speakers would be preferred, as each language has its own little tricks.
Each translator will receive a link to his/her website on the plugin download page and in the info files in the download package.
Already in the works: Croatian, German, Spanish, French, Bulgarian.
Thank you!
Things You Can Do To Help WordPress Developers
Today I’ve exchanged a few emails with one of Simple Balance’s users which made me think about several things that users could do to help out WordPress themes and plugins developers.
This article is written purely for the purpose of giving you an idea on how to give back to those that invest time and knowledge to give your free quality WordPress resources.
So, here are a few things you can do to help them out:
Offer to test out their themes and plugins
If their project is still in Beta stage, ask to join the testing group or register we’re this is permitted. Test out the product in whatever environment you have available and report bugs and unusual behavior to the designer / developer. They are only humans and most of the time work on too many project and might miss out things, being so closely involved in the project. An outsider could observe things that they can not.
You can also test the projects after the official release. Help is welcome anytime.
Click here to read the full blog post!
