SBA — Blogging With Success

SBA February 28, 2011

Moving to WordPress Addendum: Blogger to WordPress Redirection Plugin

In this addendum to the Preparing to Move to WordPress series, I show you how to bypass the Blogger redirect menu. You recall the menu is basically a warning that readers are being redirected to your WP host and forces them to say ‘yes’ they want to continue. Not only does it look scary but it takes extra time since readers msut click again!

So what you really want is for Blogger to use the old url and go directly to the correct post in WP. Well, the only way to do that is with special software (plugin) since Blogger is not that cooperative when you abandon blogspot!

Filed Under: Resources, Tutorials, Video Tagged: Blogger to Wordpress, Move to WordPress, Redirection Plugins

SBA February 14, 2011

4 Lessons Learned from Mommy Bloggers

From the Archives –A few years ago professional bloggers predicted “Mom blogs are poised to become the next big “It” when it comes to the internet.. ” Well they’re right on target! Add the increasingly popular coupon blogs and you have a mega hit. Some bloggers mentioned in the original post are no longer in the niche but many more (including ‘Dads’) have climbed in.

Filed Under: Goals, Monetizing, Resources, Tips Tagged: Blogging Lessons, Couponing, Grab Button, Mommy Bloggers, Money Saving Blogs, Wisdom

SBA February 8, 2011

Blog Styling Tips: Introduction

While Ishan is away, I’m updating posts from our Archives for your entertainment! Most bloggers’ eyes glaze over when you mention “opening up the CSS or Html code.” Although many on Blogger.com are apt to dig into the ‘HTML’ tab, WP users tend to search for a plugin or new template.

Today every blogger should know basic coding terms. Even when copying code for a coupon widget, a bad format can mess up your entire sidebar. It’s useful to know how to make an offsite link open up a new window. Your comments stand out when you can add images and other formatted text on others’ blog posts. This article has useful resources and an overview of html basics.

Filed Under: Resources, Tips Tagged: Blog Styling, CSS, HTML, Tutorials, Widget Code

SBA February 7, 2011

Quick Tip for a Cleaner Sidebar – Put Social Icons in a Table

Is your sidebar taking the spotlight from your blog’s content? Well don’t stand for it! Use these tricks to organize your widgets for a cleaner design. This tip shows you how to save space by using tables to put your icon ducks in a row.

Filed Under: Blog Promotion, Design, Tips, Video Tagged: FaceBook Icon, sidebar widgets, Social Icons, Twitter Icons, WordPress Tables

SBA January 28, 2011

Preparing to Move from Blogger to WordPress- Keep Search Engine Traffic

Okay, you’ve finally moved from Blogger to WordPress.

No need to look back. Just learn how to keep your readers, and of course those valuable search engine hits you worked so hard for while on Blogger!

Let’s see the videos that recorded how one blog owner did just that by properly redirecting traffic.

Filed Under: Goals, Resources, Tips, Video Tagged: Feedburner, Move to WordPress, Permalinks, Redirection Plugin, Search Engine Traffic

SBA December 8, 2010

Preparing to Move from Blogger to WordPress – Bring Your Readers

Okay, you’ve outgrown Blogger and finally decided to ‘move on up’ to WordPress.

Sure you love Blogger, after all that’s where you honed blogging skills and built a great community (for free). But the land of WP is so exciting, you can’t wait.

Let’s discuss how you pack your valuables and setup your new blog house without losing readers or doing too much heavy lifting!

Filed Under: Goals, Resources, Tips, Video Tagged: blog hosting services, blog software, Blogger, Domain Name, web hosting, Wordpress

SBA October 25, 2010

Plugins That Make Blogging With Success Easier: How to Install Page Links To

This post is a screencast on how to install a plugin, using “Page Links To” as an example. This video is part of our series about WordPress plugins the make blogging easier. The plugin by Mark Jaquith “allows you to make a WordPress page or post link to a URL of your choosing, instead of [...]

Filed Under: Tips, Video Tagged: Install Plugins, WordPress Plugins

SBA October 5, 2010

Plugins That Make Blogging With Success Easier:Using the Thesis OpenHook

This is a second article highlighting plugin tips we think our readers will find useful. Plugins (the right ones) make your blogging life much easier. We recommend ones that have worked for us or that we find in a trusted site. I found the Thesis OpenHook plugin after I customized Thesis the old-fashioned way. I [...]

Filed Under: Tips, Tutorials Tagged: Blogging Tips, Plugins, Productivity, Thesis Customization, Thesis Hooks, Wordpress

SBA September 22, 2010

How to Recover Lost Sidebar Widgets

There are a couple of ways to lose a sidebar widget that you worked forever to customize. It could be your grab button scrollbox, your custom subscribe and follow icons, or images with teaser text links. You may have accidentally pressed the delete button (there is no confirmation!), dragged it from the sidebar and missed [...]

Filed Under: Tips

SBA September 10, 2010

Plugins That Make Blogging With Success Easier: Simply Show IDs

We’ve added a new feature highlighting posts with tips we think our readers will find useful. There are so many plugins that you can’t keep track of all of them! Yet, finding the ‘right one’ can make your publishing so much easier. Every minute save leaves more time for content. On the flip side, you [...]

Filed Under: Resources, Tips Tagged: Blogging Tips, Plugins, Productivity, Wordpress