Daniel Felice

Creating a Social Community with WordPress

// October 28th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Projects, Wordpress

When the initial idea of Explore With Me was discussed, we wanted to create a travel blog as well as allow other travellers to sign up and create their own travel blog. This is when I discovered WordPress MU. After we figured out we could host other blogs, we then decided we should create an online social community for travellers.

This is when I said “OK, good idea, but how the hell do we do that!?!”

I then turned to my trusty friend – Google. I searched for “WordPress + social community” and to my surprise it actually brought some good results.

This is where I met BuddyPress.

BuddyPress is currently in development. It was created by a guy called Andy Peatling who started the development earlier this year. Since then Andy has landed a job with Automattic – the guys who develop WordPress, WordPress MU and anti comment spam plugin Akismet.

BuddyPress is a plugin designed to work with WordPress MU and allows people like me to turn their WordPress MU blog into a social community with functionalities such as adding Friends and Groups, sending Messages and writing Comments.

At the moment the plugin is still in development. The final version is due out at the end of this year.

I am currently running a beta version of the plugin on Explore With Me. Please feel free to sign up and test it out.

Check out BuddyPress.org for more information and don’t forget to visit Explore With Me!

Different Learning Methods

// October 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // General

I have been using WordPress for the past 6 months or so now and up until now haven’t really learnt the way it works. I mean, I know how to post and do everything I need to do from the Dashboard and I know enough PHP to get me by, but it wasn’t until the Explore With Me Project that I really learnt the insides of it.

For me problem solving is the most effective learning method. Some people read guides, others go to classes but for me I learn the most about something when I break it and then try to fix it or if I have a problem with it and need it to do something it doesn’t.

I taught myself HTML at 15 by looking at other websites. Right click > View Source was the best way I learnt how to build a web page and by looking at source code 10 years later I still learn from it. I haven’t had too much experience in PHP but pulling apart a WordPress theme helped me understand the way WordPress uses it for the most basic of functions, and also increased my knowledge in PHP.

I have been working on the new site for the past few weeks and it has been a massive learning curve. This project isn’t a simple WordPress project. It is the combination of a few different ideas that are making it more difficult than it should be.

I am normally one to figure it out on my own before I asked anyone for help – whether it is web development or my real life job. Sometimes I stick with it long enough to get a result and other times when I get stuck I have to concede and ask for help.

This learning method proves far more effective than reading guides, books, powerpoint presentations, blogs and whatever else you want to throw in front of me. I think this is becuase I like to know how things work and I am a very persistant person – just ask my girlfriend!

Everyone is different and what works for me won’t work for you. I am interested to know what works for you. Do you prefer reading books or do you prefer reading code?

Explore With Me & WordPress MU

// October 26th, 2008 // No Comments » // Projects

After getting Explore With Me up and running a few weeks back I pretty much had to start all over again when I decided I wanted to use WordPress MU instead of the standard version. WordPress MU has the ability to host endless numbers of blogs on the site – the way sites such as WordPress and Edublogs works.

We had the idea to allow our audience to create their own travel blog through Explore With Me. We thought it would be a good idea to host blogs created by other travellers and then later on we will setup a social community type environment so travellers will be able to connect with one another.

In our quest to be the “one stop shop” for everything travel related we thought it would be a good idea to setup a social community specifically for travellers. There are a few sites that do this already, however before Facebook there was MySpace and before MySpace there was Bebo – so if done properly we aim to be better than everyone else offering this type of service.

The configuration of WordPress MU meant that we had to export everything we had already done and then import it back into the WPMU database.Though if we started from a fresh install it would have been much easier to setup and configure. The setup is a little different to the standard WordPress, however anyone with basic knowledge of web hosting and web site configuration should be able to manage.

Not only do we now have to take care of our own blog we have to make sure that our members have the latest and greatest themes, plugins and other WordPress hacks that will enable them to create a professional looking travel blog.

We will also have to create a support forum and a few “How To” guides so our members can learn how to use WordPress and if they come across any problems they can share it in the forums.

The configuration of Explore With Me is nearly done, so now it is working the backend making sure members have themes, plugins and anything else that I can think of.

The social community plugin won’t be available until the end of the year so that will be the next big phase of the site. Though we will aim to launch in a few weeks and then add the social community when it becomes available.

If you would like to help us out and test the site – please sign up as a member and create your own blog. Any suggestions are welcome as I am new to this so I am bound to be missing a thing or two!

Must Have WordPress Plugins

// October 20th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Wordpress

There are thousands of WordPress plugins on the Internet and most bloggers will install whatever suits their needs or niche. I have a few WordPress blogs and no matter on the type of blog or the size of it, I always seem to be installing the same plugins on each.

There are a handful of Plugins that are a must have for any blog. I have a hanful that I constantly use when setting up a new blog that are an integral part of how it performs and functions.

My list of must have WordPress plugins:

• Wordpress.com Stats:This is a must have for any WordPress blog. WordPress.com stats allow you to see your traffic in real time and allows you to see your best performing posts, search engine terms and referring links.
• All in one SEO pack: This is another must have if you want to optimise your site for Search Engines.
• WordPress Automatic Upgrade: This plugin will let you automatically upgrade the version of WordPress whenever a new version is released. Saves you having to download it every time!
• UBD Block Ad: This plugin will allow you to manage your 125×125 ad blocks on your blog. I use it on my sidebar. You no longer need to edit your HTML files, all you have to do is paste in the code and your ad will be displayed.
• Akismet:This plugin is packaged with WordPress. Akismet will detect any comments that are Spam and not publish them on your blog. As your blog becomes more popular you will notice how handy this plugin actually is. I currently get about 30-40 spam comments each day and it picks up every single one.

Am I missing any? Let me know if you have any plugins you think should be added to the list!

Explore With Me Update

// October 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // Projects

Just a quick progress update on explorewithme.com. We had a productive weekend and nearly finished the design of the site and are continuing the add articles to the site.

Explorewithme.com hits have been very very good considering the site has not even launched yet. I am embarrassed to say, but it received more hits last week than this blog did! We even have users who have added the site to delicious.com and subscribed to the RSS feed.

We added a forum over the weekend to attempt to build a bit of a community among travellers and we have another idea that we hope will take off – though I can’t discuss that with you yet and probably won’t be able to until the end of the year – but it is very exciting.

Before we officially launch we need to add more articles and tidy a few things up. A logo needs to be designed, redesign the forum, fix the contact forms, create an about page and a lot more! Then it is just a matter of getting the word out and drive traffic to the site.

If all goes well we will launch in the next week but definitely by the end of the month!

Content is King

// October 16th, 2008 // No Comments » // General

As most of you know by now my girlfriend Ruth and I are starting a travel website. Things are coming together nicely on the technical side of things so now it is just a matter of writing some content for the “official launch”.

The design aspects of the site will be finished this coming weekend if all goes well, so now it is down to the business end of things and it is time to start blogging. We hope to have some solid content in time for the launch of the site as there is no point in launching a site if there is nothing for the users to do.

We have all heard it before that “content is king” and you’d be a bit silly not to believe it. But it is not enough to just have content anymore, especially since the popularity of the blog has exploded in the past 2 years.

Anyone can write a few paragraphs and call it a “blog”, it doesn’t mean they are a good writer and it doesn’t mean they get hits. Content alone does not mean that your user’s are going to keep on returning.

How many blogs have you visited a blog, read a few posts and never returned again? Some of you are probably doing it right now.

Why didn’t you return?

Most of the time the reason why you don’t return is because the content wasn’t memorable enough for you to go back to the blog, or even remember what the blog was even about for that matter. The post didn’t leave you wanting more.

Your content has to be good content. It has to make your readers want to know more, want to come back tomorrow and most importantly want to keep on coming back.

Before you launch a new blog it is important to have some good solid content to keep users coming back early on in the game. You don’t want to start with one post as you won’t have enough for the user to read and therefore no reason for them to come back.

We plan on going live with explorewithme.com with at least 20 blog posts so we can engage our audience early and leave them wanting more. The more content we launch with, the more the users have to do and the longer they stay.

Ads for Niche Blogs

// October 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // Making Money

I have struggled to find some good advertising campaigns for this blog over the past 6 months that actually convert. Out of all of the ads on this site, only a few of them get clicks and even less convert into actual sales.

I mentioned this in another post that the reason why I think it is hard for MMO blogs to make money off affiliate ads and links is because other MMO bloggers are the ones who are visiting the site in order to learn how to make money on their own blog therefore aren’t going to click your links.

Since I have started “Project: Explore with Me” I have found so many ads that suit the niche of the site and also ones that will appeal to other users – not bloggers. The site is rarely going to be visited by bloggers so hopefully users who come to the site looking for information will click the ads which will convert to sales.

The ads I am going to put up on the site will all relate to travel and they are services/websites that I have used before or will use in the future.

I am a big advocate of recommending products or services that I have used myself or someone I know has used in the past. I don’t understand how some bloggers review and promote products that they have never tried themselves and expect people to buy them.

If you are thinking of starting an MMO blog my advice is DON’T! It is too very frustrating and difficult to make revenue; Most of the biggest money making blogs actually have nothing to do with making money online.

A proper web development as well as clean web design is mandatory for successful search engine optimization, all that in the presence of dedicated web hosting.

DanielFelice.com Reaches First Milestone!

// October 13th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Project Blogger

After nearly 6 months since I started this blog I have finally reached a fairly important milestone – well actually two milestones in the same week!

Not only is this the 100th post to be published on danielfelice.com, but as of today danielfelice.com has a Google PageRank of 2!

It has been a long and hard 6 months and I have to be honest and tell you that I have thought about giving up and just forget about this whole thing. Over the weekend I was contemplating taking the blog down, however whenever I seem to have these thoughts something like this happens and it keeps me inspired.

I normally check my Google PageRank every month or so and up until now it has always been zero. I was surprised to see it at 2 today so I have to check a few different websites who offer the service just to make sure I wasn’t being fooled.

So after checking the PageRank I decided to head over to Alexa and check my traffic ranking. For the first time the site has ranked below 1,000,000 at 827,46. The site is ranked even better in Australia (26,020), Philippines (97,758) and even the Untied States (609,886).

I think for a webmaster and blogger seeing these types of figures helps boost the confidence and keeps me from giving up. Some days I wonder if this is worth maintaining and putting effort into, however as the old saying goes “you have to be in it to win it”.

Looking back at the past 100 posts I have dramatically improve my style of writing. When I look back at some of the early posts I cringe and wonder what the hell I was thinking. Although this is an online journey I think it has taught me a few things about myself – perseverance being number one.

Thanks for all the support over the past 6 months or so, and thanks for helping me get to 100 posts and a PageRank of 2!

Freebies4Webmasters Not Accepting New Members

// October 10th, 2008 // No Comments » // Making Money

As you may have noticed from a few previous posts, I am a big fan of Freebies4Webmasters. Publishers can earn £5 a month for showing just three banners on their website. It is a fairly painless and easy way to make money.

I received a mail from the admin team at Freebies4Webmasters last week stating that due to technical issues they are no longer accepting new members.

Existing members will still earn their commission every month, however any new members will not be able to sign up until the issues are resolved.

I am not sure of the issues but hopefully it won’t be too long before the site is up and running once again.

Sneak Peek!

// October 8th, 2008 // No Comments » // Projects

I don’t normally do this – but I will for those interested in websites, blogs and WordPress. I have started to work on my new project “Explore With Me” and have decided to leave the site open so you can go in and have a look at the progress made while I am building it and getting everything looking perfect.

I am normally one to hide the site away until it is exactly how I want it, however I have decided to leave the site open so you all can follow the development of the new blog and the configuration of the WordPress theme.

I have downloaded the Arthemia theme by Michael Jubel. I think it is a fantastic looking theme for what I want to do, however I am going to change a few things around just to get it how I want it. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my websites so I won’t be happy until I like what I see.

You can check out Explore With Me at http://www.explorewithme.com