In an earlier tip the idea of sending images without bogging down others’ email inbox was explained. The same method can be applied for handling the need to send documents – PDF, DOC, and others. The WordPress media manager can make this a breeze and give you the confidence that more people are happy receiving your email.

1. Convert your Document to a PDF

By doing this you increase the number of your recipients who will be able to quickly open and read your content. How to do this?

Mac:

• In the Print dialogue, choose the “PDF/Save as PDF” option. (this is a standard option with all present day macs)
• Save the file with a name that has no spaces (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)
• Done

Windows:

• Download and install the CutePDF tool for windows
• Print your document – selecting the CUTE PDF Printer instead of your default machine
• When prompted – save the document as a PDF with no spaces in the name (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)

2. Upload PDF to your WordPress media manager

Note: You can upload using the “Media/Add new” option in the main navigation of your WordPress dashboard or use the media upload dialogue above the post/page editor.

Copy and insert a link in your email

This link – as pointed out by the green arrow above is the ticket to giving recipients the option to download and view your document. Now that you have that copied to your clipboard compose a new email and insert the link. A few quick tips on this:

• avoid scaring or boring people with having to look at the “http://www. … …pdf”. Write a few meaningful words, select that text and use the insert link button in your editor. The text then becomes the active link.
• Give people a clear idea of what they get when they click. Spell it out for theme i.e. “Download this 3.3MB PDF document”
• A Few Tutorials for inserting links in email: Outlook, gMail, Apple Mail, Yahoo mail

Once mastered this is a very simple route for successful email and much happier recipients. Not only will more of your email make it past the spam filters more effectively, generally there will be less cringing and more clicking to get at your carefully prepared document.

Don’t have WordPress? Favor uploading documents elsewhere? Do tell what service you prefer to use when sending PDF or other documents!

For me, this problem surfaced on a WordPress 2.7 install when changing the site url from a “non-www “to a “www” url in the general settings. Apparently, this gave a signal to our WordPress install that the theme I was using was a newly selected theme. And because widgets are not transferred from one theme to the next theme automatically, (different themes are coded with widgetized areas and sidebars in unique ways for instance), the widgets were now acting in a strange and unpredictable way – as an apparent result of my changing the url of the site. Others have reported similar issue for various reasons. What a relief to find that there is a solution.

Save My Widgets!

So, if you feel like screaming because widgets are disappearing left and right. STOP! Don’t wait for another one to vanish into thin air. The sun will still rise tomorrow… smile at the fact that a widget got to you… well it may not be a laughing matter? Laugh anyway ;-D

After digging for answers here are the steps that worked for me:

1. Backup your WordPress database (never hurts!)
2. Download and install Justin Tadlock’s “Widget Reset” plugin. (Don’t run it yet – just install)
3. In Firefox open a new tab and navigate to each Widget Section in your WordPress dashboard, i.e. sidebar-1, sidebar-2, etc., etc.
4. In a separate tab run the reset process (see the readme in the plugin)

At this point all widget data is erased and a complete clean slate is ready for widgets to be created – without being dropped at random. Here is what saved the bacon for me with loads of data in widgets that I did no care to lose:

5. Visit each tab you opened earlier with the previously existing widget content still in place and choose to “save changes”

We lost three widgets before we went through the above process. And in the end, only three – which were rebuilt through the help of text files and screen shots. I am told this will not be as much an issue in 2.8. I am curious to see the change and how widgets are handled. What changes will be required for a theme to be 2.8 ready?

In the mean time I will sleep a little better having reaped the benefits of the WordPress community, Justin’s plugin, a backup of sorts and Firefox. Did I miss an easier solution? Let me know!

• wpazo | The best WordPress stuff.
  
  Ian Stewart (developer of the Thematic Framework for WordPress) announced the launch this site – WPAZO, May 7, ‘09 on twitter. It was immediately added to my list of ‘must have’ resources. One things I noticed immediately was a number of tutorials for extending and making use of new features in the yet to be released 2.8 version of WordPress. Plenty of room for growth and apparently Ian is looking for people to submit links to more of the best stuff out there. Good Stuff

There are plenty of good collections out there besides the usual codex and forums over at wordpress.org. Which collections do you consider the best and find that you actually use on a frequent basis? How would you rate this latest arrival: WPAZO?

The assignment for today focused on the 100-150 words that describe what it is you blog about; an elevator pitch for your blog. Once decided upon what it is then keep it in front of you. Incorporate it into your tagline, your conversations, business card, etc. Shape it, then let it shape all your communication as you move forward from there.

Why this is important to me:

• My interests are so broad – containing my interests in a singular statement helps me categorize the various interests
• My passion is focused – and yet easily buried by my various commitments. Perhaps the commitments need refining to more accurately reflect person strengths
• You will be able to more quickly find useful reading as this site becomes more focused.
• A narrower definition of content is more able to ”hit the mark“. You’ll know if you’ve landed on a site that can do what you need it to do.

Another application of less = more. Or stated another way, more focus = less waste of effort, time, and money. Who could have thought that could all be contained in the “elevator pitch” of your blog? Are you taking the 31 days to a better blog? Sign up here and give a shout out below. See you there!

(Note: what would you say the elevator pitch of this site is? How easy did you personally find Darren’s first assignment?)

In the upper right hand side find the small &laquo« directly under the dashboard link. Once clicked you’ve got nearly two more inches of screen space. This link eluded many people – for almost the whole existence of WordPress 2.7. So if you are one of those individuals- don’t sweat – you are not alone!

Notice the clickable button under the Dashboard link. That's the secret!

That’s the before. And now the after:

Once minimized - Enjoy the extra room now available!

Did this option escape you? How does it feel to have a bit more room?

Rob’s site needed additional function so he could sell his book through the website. His first question when he called to discuss this next new development was, “Have you written a book? Do you want to?” He then went on to describe what it is like to accomplish a goal like this – he jumps into the coaching, encouraging role effortlessly – even in the process of requesting specific developments on his website.

Here is what was done to go live with his book on his own site:

• Craft a Clean Layout where the book content is described
• Install and configure a shopping cart with pricing based on number of books purchased
• Update each page of his site with a “Check out My New Book” link
• Optimize all the above for search engine and real people interaction
• Include a hidden/protected page for Rob to place special priced orders for non-profit and interested groups he’s connected with

The new layout and order pages make use of the WordPress publishing platform, xhtml and css. Google cached the new pages almost immediately and more importantly his traffic went up 56% the first month. Here’s to hoping for much more action on Rob’s site!

What do you like about this approach to selling a book online? Head over to Rob’s site and congratulate him – tell him what you like about his online contribution!

Here is what the dev team over at WordPress.org says regarding fixes and a security update:

The security issue is an XSS exploit discovered by Jeremias Reith that fortunately only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x. If you are interested only in the security fix, copy wp-includes/feed.php and wp-includes/version.php from the 2.6.5 release package.

2.6.5 contains three other small fixes in addition to the XSS fix. The first prevents accidentally saving post meta information to a revision. The second prevents XML-RPC from fetching incorrect post types. The third adds some user ID sanitization during bulk delete requests. For a list of changed files, consult the full changeset between 2.6.3 and 2.6.5.

Note that we are skipping version 2.6.4 and jumping from 2.6.3 to 2.6.5 to avoid confusion with a fake 2.6.4 release that made the rounds. There is not and never will be a version 2.6.4.

The team over at Blogs About explain the security exploit: only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x.

Bottom line: need to upgrade WordPress.
Approach 1: Download the entire WordPress 2.6.5 version and follow the normal upgrade instructions
Approach 2: Find the changed files and only replace these files. (full changeset) This is the diff from 2.6.3 to 2.6.5. A very time efficient approach and having this list of files allows you to move quickly through a large number of installs.

Here are the files compressed and available for your downloading pleasure.WordPress 2.6.3 to 2.6.5 diff

Other files are available – just give a shout out in the response form if you’re looking for either of the following:
2.6.2 to 2.6.3 diff
2.6.1 to 2.6.2 diff

Gotta love WordPress!

Version 2.6 “Tyner,” has been named for jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. The developers blog has more on that topic.

A brief and somewhat techie video gives you a window into the 2.6 soul. If you have more questions after watching this just comment below and I’ll give a go at answering those questions.

A brief translation/personal take on a few items worth noting:

Post Revisions

Yes – this feature allows you to go beyond having a single draft and select earlier edits, compare differences and return to an earlier version of your content. This enhancement comes along with a built in ‘autosave’ so your content is not dropped or lost along the way. Tip: remember to title your post first thing. Only makes it easier to find that draft later!

This system is probably most useful for a multi-author blog. Do you need/want to be able to see revisions? It could be handy depending on how often and how particular you are when crafting content.

Press This – A True Bloggers Shortcut

Do you publish frequently? When reading other websites do you get hit with the urge to blog immediately? Definitely give the “Press This” shortcut link a go. Click and drag the “Press This” link in the edit post screen (located on the right side) to your FireFox Bookmarks Toolbar folder. (or other convenient favorite links folder).

Features of this tool include the ability to include text, photos and embed videos from the site you are visiting directly onto a new blog post at your WordPress site. Referred to as a “bookmarklet” – a link which begins a conversation with your website as soon as you click.

Photo Captions

Nothing more to be said here except – try it out! Fill in the new “caption” box when uploading/inserting an image. (Not seeing any images when clicking the media button? Be sure to click on the additional tabs – i.e. Gallery or Media Library to view all images currently uploaded in your site.

Plugin and Comment Bubbles

New bubbles show up when there are comments waiting for your viewing or when a plugin is ready for an update. When they appear there is an instinctive “Pop Me!!” effect. Combined with this powerful urge is the ability to immediately respond. Comments can be marked, accepted, blocked or edited. Plugins – developed correctly – can be immediately updated when they are available. Unused plugins can be deleted from the system so you never need look at them again – way cool!

One more enhancement to comment on:

Google Gears = The Need for Speed

In the upper right of your 2.6 dashboard you will see a link for “Turbo”. Once selected you are walked through the process of installing Google gears for your browser and asked if you would like to allow your site permission to use these gears. What is it? Google Gears? It is basically an advanced caching system allowing you to run the dashboard and all its processes with minimal need for the remote server. Programmed into the gears is ability to detect when to update the server with new information and when to update your local files with new. Theoretically the whole WordPress application can be boosted in speed and performance.

When installing the gears on your pc you will also be asked if you want to have your pc send feedback automatically to google for the developers behind the turbo gears. It is entirely up to you Need more to read on the subject? Here you go.

There is more to be discovered and enjoyed with the Tyner version. WordPress as a Content Management System continues to impress and gain momentum as one of the most useful, flexible and fun publishing systems to work with. Keep it up team!

Technorati Tags: blogging, blog, socialnetwork, tyner, web services, web2.0, webdev, wordpress

As you’ve done so you notice that some people have a signature image – a smart looking graphic that personalizes their comments. If you have not yet discovered gravatar this is the time. Chris here takes a few minutes to explain a fun way to up your image with your WordPress (and other systems too).

Highlights:

• online image editor/cropping/zooming
• multiple email addresses
• super simple administration

Bottom line – update your image in one place and every comment you’ve ever left on gravatar enabled websites gets the facelift – immediately!

Technorati Tags: blogging, community, socialnetwork, web services, web2.0, wordpress

• this is hilarious! i love it!
• Love it.
• i would love this to happen!

Regardless of the fact that “time capsules” of our frivolous action on the internet are being permanently archived on machines we do not know by people we will never meet there are some good reasons to continue on… if I could just think of them.

Ahh. Ok, so here is the first

1. Your writing will be worth reading well after you forget you wrote

Your blog archive becomes a valuable resource for you and people who are trying to understand what your business/group/project/product/mission is all about. If what you write is good – then I think such an archive itself is good.

A good friend was bemoning the fact that he had not written since last november and was finding the process of including a picture with a post to be to difficult. When I checked the stats for his non-profit website it was no surprise to me that the most visited section of his site was the blog – AND more visitors were spending time reading content from last April than even the more recent items.

A simple illustration came with a quick look at the stats here and one of the shortest posts on the site is the most visited – perhaps most useful? The title: WordPress Customization Guide a quick post linking to a guide which is still of value today – to myself and aparently others!

What is the thing you find most difficult about process of blogging? Among all the easy to use tools available todate the photo manipulation and inclusion continues to be the most cumbersome for most. For others it is the challenge of defining the purpose of their blog. The answer for photos is simpler than the second challenge. Both can be handled with style and a mind bent on being a resource for the person you are writing for.