Are You Addicted to Twitter?

// January 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, The Internet

I signed up to Twitter in June last year and have only started to really us it in the last month or so. The first time I signed up I thought “this isn’t bad”, found a few followers and then didn’t log into it for a few months.

In the last month or so I have been using Twitter a lot more. I have nearly 100 followers and am following about 136 twits. I use it not only to let people know what I am doing and thinking, but now I use it to keep up to date with WPMU, BuddyPress, freelance jobs, motorsport news, travel news and even some American guy who sold everything he owned in 2007 and has been travelling the world since!

I now find myself logging into Twitter before I do anything else to check my updates – even before I open up my e-mail. I also make sure I check it before I go to bed of a night. I got me thinking….am I addicted to Twitter?

I found this article which I thought I had to share with you! You’re addicted to Twitter when…

• Load Twitter first thing in the morning before you check your email.
• Tweet something as the last waking moment before you go to bed.
• When you meet someone for the first time after asking their name, the next question you ask is if they follow you on Twitter.
• The next question you ask this new person is how many followers they have.
• You check your Twitter Grader daily.
• You check your Twitter following growth daily (or hourly).
• You feel lame if you haven’t Tweeted in an hour.
• You always Tweet what you’re doing where ever you are.
• You look at people who don’t use Twitter as aliens from another planet.
• You can’t remember life before Twitter.
• You have grown to hate email because you’d rather use Twitter.
• You review every new Twitter application as soon as it’s available.
• You post more than 100 Twitter updates per day.
• more…

I am not that bad yet! Are you?

Follow @danielfelice

Things to Do When Creating a New Site

// January 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How To, The Internet

I have created a few websites and blogs over the years and each time I tend to do exactly the same things in terms of setup, design and marketing. In the early stages of creating a new site, each site is pretty much the same no matter what kind of content you are going to upload.

Every website needs a domain name and a host server. The domain name is normally dependant on the type of site you are launching and choosing a host will depends on your needs. Unless you have a massive website with a lot of videos, music and photos, generally the basic hosting package is enough. Most good hosts now offer anywhere between 1 and 5 GB of storage as their basic package, storage shouldn’t initially be an problem.

Other things to consider when looking for a web host are mySQL databases, PHP, ASP, Windows or Linux and E-Mail addresses. It will depend on your needs as to whether you need a Windows or Linux based server, but generally Linux servers are cheaper and support both PHP and mySQL. If you are creating an ASP or .NET based site then you’ll normally need a Windows box.

In terms of design I normally create the site for 800×600 browsers as when I was taught web design this was the most common screen resolution. I should probably increase this now as monitors are getting bigger and bigger. It is also a good idea to test the site in a number of web browsers as they all interprete HTML differently.

Once the site is uploaded to your server, the next task is to bring traffic to the site. There are a number of things I do to get the site bringing in some traffic.

• Submit your site to search engines: There are plenty of free websites where you can submit your URL to search engines. Most services will submit your site to Google and Yahoo, and also a bunch of other search engines.
• Add an XML site map to Google: To assist Google in finding your web pages you should create an XML sitemap and upload it. If you search for “Google XML sitemap” you’ll find a number of websites who offer this service.
• Social networks: Submit a few pages of your site to social bookmark networks such as Digg and StumbleUpon. Twitter is also a good way to promote a new site.
• Forums: If you find a few forums that cover the topic of your website then add it to your signature and make a few posts. Don’t just create a new post to advertise your new site as it will most probably get you banned or your post removed.

Once the site is up and running, designed and listed in the search engines, then it is time to improve the site and generate more traffic. No project is ever complete…

What do you religiously do each time you create a new site?

How to Start a Blog: Part 3

// October 6th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // How To

So you have decided on a niche and you have a domain name and hosting plan. Now you need a blog! I am going to go through step by step how to download, install and configure WordPress. The format of this guide will be a little different to the others – more of a step by step rather than an explanation.

Download WordPress

1. Go to http://wordpress.org/download/
2. Click on “Download Wordpress” on the right hand corner
3. Save the zip file to a safe and memorable location on your PC
4. Extract the zip file to your PC

Create a Database and User

You will need to create a MySQL database and user in order for WordPress to function. The setup of the database will vary depending on your hosting provider. I am going to show you how to setup your database using cPanel, however you might want to check with your hosting provider before you start this step.

The below steps are taken directly from the WordPress website.

1. Log in to your cPanel.
2. Click MySQL Databases.
3. If a user relating to WordPress does not already exist under the Users section, create one:
   1. Chose a username for WordPress (‘wordpress‘ is good) and enter it in the UserName field.
   2. Choose a difficult-to-guess password (ideally containing a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols), and enter it in the Password field.
   3. Write down the username and password you chose.
   4. Click Add User.
4. If a database relating to WordPress does not already exist under the Databases section, create one:
   1. Choose a name for your WordPress database (‘wordpress‘ or ‘blog‘ are good), enter it in the Db field, and click Add Db.
5. Under Databases, select your WordPress username from the User dropdown, then select your WordPress database from the Db dropdown. Make sure All is checked under Privileges, then click Add User to Db.
6. When you return to the main MySQL Account Maintenance screen, cPanel will list information about the database you just created. You should see the username you just added to the database (with ALL PRIVILEGES), as well as a few sample Connection Strings for you to use in Perl or PHP scripts to connect to the database. The PHP code will have the following format:

$dbh = mysql_connect(“hostname“, “username“, “<PASSWORD HERE>”) or die (“message“); mysql_select_db(“databasename“);

Write down the values of hostname, username, databasename, and the password you chose. (Note that hostname will usually be localhost.)

Edit wp-config.php

1. Browse to the location where you extracted the WordPress zip
2. Rename the file wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php
3. Open the new wp-config.php in notepad or another text editor
4. Edit the following fields
   DB_NAME
   The name of the database you created for WordPress
   DB_USER
   The username you created for WordPress
   DB_PASSWORD
   The password you chose for the WordPress username
   DB_HOST
   The hostname you determined (usually localhost, but not always)
   DB_CHARSET
   The database character set, normally should not be changed.
   DB_COLLATE

The database collation should normally be left blank

5. Save the file

Upload Wordpress

In order to upload WordPress to your server, you will need the FTP details you received when you signed created your hosting account and an FTP client (such as CuteFTP or WS_FTP.

Configure the FTP client with your FTP address, username and password and connect. Once you log into your FTP account, browse to the root directory. If you are unsure you should confirm with your hosting provider as the location varies between hosting providers.

Once you have selected the folder you wish to upload WordPress to, browse to the WordPress folder on your local PC and send the files to the server. This should take about 10 minutes or so.

Install WordPress

1. Open your Internet browser
2. Browse to http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php
3. Follow the on-screen prompts

The on-screen prompts will ask you for the title of your blog and e-mail address. You will also be asked if you would like your blog to be visible to search engines such as Google. I suggest you leave the box un-checked so your new blog can be indexed in the search engines. You will be able to change all of these options in the administrator panel within WordPress.

Once you complete the installation of WordPress you will be ready to log in and start posting! I will explain in my next guide some tips and tricks to WordPress.

Many 70-640 and 70-236 professionals insist that IT professionals should blog so that new students of 220-602 and 350-030 can utilize from there.

How to Start a Blog: Part 2

// September 27th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // How To

So you have decided on the topic of you blog, so the next thing you need to do is find a suitable domain name. There are plenty of free blog hosting websites around on the Internet, but if you want to be taken seriously you are best off registering your own domain name.

Choosing A Domain Name

Your domain name is the most important identifying factor of your online presence. Your domain name should relate to the title and name of your blog and also represent your niche. Choosing a domain name that represents the type of blog you are going to create will also help your potential users find you a lot easier and will also fare better results within the search engines.

Things to consider when choosing a domain name are:

• Keep it short
• Avoid numbers and hyphens
• Avoid trademark words or brands
• Make it easy to remember
• Make it unique
• Register a .com or .net where possible, and even both
• Register it NOW. Don’t procrastinate too long as it might be registered from right under your nose.

There are millions of domain names registered already, so chances are the first attempt you make the name you choose is going to be taken already. It is best to try and have a few different alternatives just in case you are unable to register you first choice.

Registering A Domain Name

Now you have decided on your domain name it is time to register it. There are a number of places where you can register a domain name and every person has their own personal preferences due to factors such as cost, location and service.

If you are registering a .com or .net you shouldn’t pay anymore than about US$10 a year. I use a number of different registrars depending on what kind of name that I am registering.

Whoever you choose, most companies operate the same way when it comes to registering the domain name. You will normally have to type in your desired domain name and search to make sure it is available to register.

Once you find an available domain name you will be prompted to add it to your shopping cart.

Hosting Packages

Once you settle on a domain name you most likely will be prompted to purchase a hosting package. This again varies on the company you are registering with, however they all are basically the same.

There are a few things to consider when choosing a hosting package – such as Windows or Linux based, bandwidth, disk space, e-mail, online tools.

This of course depends on your needs, however as you are starting a blog from scratch is it best to start with the lowest package available and then as your blog grows you can increase your package as you need to. There is no point in spending the money at this stage.

You will also need to make sure the package you choose meets the below requirements if you are going to run WordPress:

• PHP 4.3 or greater
• MySQL 4.0 or greater
• The mod_rewrite Apache module

Once you choose the package you are happy with, and meets the WordPress requirements, add the package to your shopping cart.

It is now time to check out and complete the purchase. You will be prompted to enter some personal details such as name, address, e-mail address and payment method.

Depending on the type of domain extension you registered you will receive confirmation and approval within 24 hours, but if it is a .com or .net address then you should receive the confirmation almost straight away.

Your hosting details will normally be sent in a seperate e-mail and contain your user name and password for the admin control panel and FTP server addresses. This may take 24 hours or so to come through and be setup, depending on your hosting company.

Keep these details in a safe place because next time we will be downloading and installing WordPress!

5000 Premium Expired Domains Per Month

How to Start a Blog: Part 1

// September 23rd, 2008 // No Comments » // How To

In part 1 of my “How to Start a Blog” guide, we will start with the non technical aspect of choosing your topic. There is no point in registering a domain name or choosing your WordPress theme if you have no idea what you are going topic you are going to choose to blog about.

What to Blog About

So you have taken the plunge and decided to create your very own blog. Before we even begin to touch on the technical side of things you are going to have to choose a topic to blog about. If you have already decided to create a blog, then you must have a few ideas in mind.

Although this seems like a fairly easy question to answer, it can often be the hardest decision you will make and will have a big effect on whether your blog will succeed or not.

Types of Blogs

There are a number different ways to blog, and depending on your own vision you will need to figure out what type of blog you want to create. Blog types vary from personal insights to informative posts, educational to reviews, news to rants and the list goes on. Essentially the types of blogging can be categorised into two main categories.

Personal

A personal blog is written in a diary style type of writing, written in first person. Normally it revolves around the bloggers life experiences such personal issues, work, friends, family, relationships, money and travel.

A personal blog can be a way for the blogger to keep in touch with friends and family – sharing their thoughts on what is going on around them, or can be an outlet for the blogger to write what they are feeling in order to give them some perspective.

Informational

An informational type blog is a blog that is dedicated to a particular subject matter. Informational type of blogs are normally chosen based on the bloggers knowledge and interest of the subject matter. For example, a friend of mine is interested in fashion so she created a fashion blog based around the latest fashion trends and what is currently popular in the world of fashion.

An informational blog is aimed at educating your readers on the particular topic. Whether it be news, reviews, opinions, informative – you are blogging in order to share your knowledge with the end user.

Finding a Niche

A niche is the subject matter or theme or your blog. This is possibly the most difficult choice you will have to make regarding your blog. Chances are that whatever topic you choose to blog about, there is going to be 100 other bloggers doing the same thing.

The best thing to do in order to find your niche is to write a list of your interests based on how much knowledge you have on each.

Consider these points:

• Do you have enough knowledge on the subject to post about it consistently?
• Does your subject interest other people?
• What can you tell your audience others can’t?
• Are you passionate about your subject?

If you choose to create a blog about a hobby or interest, then make sure that you have enough knowledge and experience on the subject matter to ensure you can create an unlimited amount of posts. There is no point if you create a blog based on a subject if you only know enough information to last you ten posts.

The most important thing you have to remember is to choose a niche you are going to enjoy blogging about. You don’t want to start strong and realise a few months down the track that you are struggling to motivate yourself. You have to make sure you enjoy blogging otherwise you are going to loose interest very fast.