Weblog Labs » Blogging News

Ready to Get Naked?

LMBN — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:58:13 +0000

I’m talking about your CSS. April 9th (Wednesday) is CSS Naked Day, when hundreds, maybe thousands, of bloggers will “go naked” by stripping off all CSS styles for one day:

Dustin Diaz wanted to give the web world an opportunity to remind everyone of the benefits of CSS web page design. By removing the stylesheet for the day, the world would see naked web pages, giving a little more appreciation for the skills of web page designers. – from Lorelle’s announcement

Apparently, this is the third year of CSS Naked Day. I’ll be joining in, stripping this and my other blog on Wednesday.

Want to join? Visit Dustin Diaz’s blog to learn more about CSS Naked Day »

PageRank Drop Frenzy

LMBN — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:40:39 +0000

We are much too lowly in the PageRanking world to have been hit by this, but in case you missed it, Google has updated their PageRank and dropped many major blogs and sites in the process- some went from a 7 to a 4 (ouch), others from a 6 to a 3, and so on.

You can read more on this from Scrivs (whose post contains enough links to keep you busy reading for a couple of hours), or see a list of all the PageRank drops over at Daily Blog Tips.

The question is, of course, whether you should care. Sure, it’s nice to see your PageRank bar all filled up, but does it matter to your readers? Does it mean that your content is less valuable?

If you were one of the bloggers hurt by the recent PageRank downgrade- or if you’re worried about it happening to you in the future- I suggest reading this article: Selling Text Link Ads and Google Penalization by Robin Good. Pay attention, especially, to her final recommendations:

1) If Google traffic is important to you avoid using text links.

2) If you have used text links before or are using them now consider seriously dropping them before Google catches you. Getting back in is not easy, fast or assured.

3) If you have used text links before or are using them now and have decided to drop them altogether as I have done do submit a “reinclusion request” by utilizing the dedicated form inside the Google Webmaster Tools main page.

4) If you don’t want to play by Google rules, have a site that doesn’t depend on Google for traffic and you have the time and skills to hack your contebnt pages the way you want, make sure your text links are completely invisible as such to anyone, don’t talk about them and do not make your site URL visibile on text link auction sites and databases. That is, if you do it, you better not tell anyone and make a very fine job of this.

5) If you like Google and want its search engine to work better, do not cheat the system. Those like you who do honest content writing work have all to gain from this.

Source

Download Dexter (WordPress 2.3!)

LMBN — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:20:11 +0000

WordPress 2.3 has just been released, and I’m downloading it as we speak (well… as I type!) to upgrade Weblog Labs. This new version features, among other things, updates straight from the WordPress wishlist, which is just lovely of them.

Download WordPress 2.3 now.

Women Bloggers of the World

LMBN — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:22:52 +0000

I’m a woman blogger, but being halfway across the world, didn’t get to attend the BlogHer Conference, which was held this year from July 27th – 29th in Chicago. Nevertheless, I’ve been enjoying reading all about the goings-on at the conference by those who were there:

Over at The Blog Herald, Liz Strauss describes the various sessions of the conference, which included topics such as branding, problogging, design, webstandards (that I would have loved!), and- of course- writing.

Paula Neal Mooney, who spoke at the conference, introduces us to some very successful female bloggers (yay!) and offers up tips for SEO optimization.

And finally, there’s a whole BlogHer ’07 Flickr group where you can see how much fun everyone had. I’ll be there next year, oh yes, I will.

Six Apart and Automattic

LMBN — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:08:41 +0000

Read/Write Web has posted a very interesting look at two Blog Platform companies: Six Apart (Movable Type, LiveJournal, Vox) and Automattic (WordPress, WordPress.com).

If you’re a beginning blogger trying to decide which platform choose- even if you’ve been blogging for some time- this is worth a look. Well-written and concise, the article is useful for those asking “which is right for me?” rather than “which is better?”:

The purpose is to contrast, rather than to predict a winner. But the firms are certainly competitors. For example, individuals looking for free hosted blogging may well consider both Vox and WordPress.com, as well as Blogger.

Read the entire post at Read/Write Web.

Text Link Ads Coupon Code

LMBN — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:33:30 +0000

Text Link Ads is one of our favorite ways to advertise and make money online. Right now they’re running a special only up to the end of July. You can Save 15% on all NEW orders for the rest of this month by entering “july” (without the quotes) into the coupon code at checkout.

The 15% discount is good for the life of your order.

Get $100 in FREE Links at Text Link Ads.

Of Blogging and Beaches

LMBN — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:07:15 +0000

I’ve been busy, of course- which explains why, despite my promises, I haven’t been posting here. But there’s a bright side: in the time I was away, I worked on several very exciting projects, one of which I’m pleased to introduce here:

Boracay Tourist is chock-full of information for visitors to one of the most beautiful islands in the world, Boracay, right here in the Philippines. If you’re planning a trip to Boracay this year, you’ll definitely find the site useful. If you’re in a cold climate, and want to dream of powdery white sands and crystal clear blue waters, the site is like a mini-vacation in your head. Seriously, check it out- you won’t be sorry.

We Blog Again!

LMBN — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 02:22:48 +0000

Our DSL connection is finally, finally back to normal, and we’re back to blogging! Expect good things in the next few days.

A blogger’s wishlist

LMBN — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 06:03:39 +0000

All I want for Christmas…

A full-featured RSS reader- or two. NetNewsWire for my Mac, FeedDemon for my PC. Sure, I love Google Reader and Bloglines too, but standalone RSS readers are where it’s at for me. Okay, I just realized that they’re both owned by the same company now! Wow.
A Flickr Pro Account. So I can stop worrying about whether I’ve met my monthly upload limit.
CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions. Because my “mastery” could definitely use some help.
A donation to Modest Needs for Leslie Harpold who was one of those that inspired me to get online, and start blogging I suppose, the way I did.
A link from Darren Rowse. Because I’m a fan- and it’ll do wonders for my traffic, I’m sure.
An iTunes Gift Certificate. Because I need different types of music to put me “in the blogging mood”.
Roller Coaster Tycoon. It’s how I relax when I need to stop obsessing about blogging.
My photo on Time. I mean, is it really me?
An iPod. Because no wishlist is complete without one.
To get dugg.

Blogging Rituals

LMBN — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:29:49 +0000

As a writer, I’ve always had my own quirky “writer’s rituals”- from dimming the lights and writing poetry by candlelight, to needing a cigarette in my mouth while working on a newspaper column. I’ve made mix tapes (now iTunes playlists) especially for writing, aptly titled “Songs to Write By”, and have been known to haul out my antique typewriter (circle 1922) at particularly desperate times.

Why, then, should blogging be any different? The simple answer is, of course, that it isn’t. Because I usually blog in the morning, I’ve grown used to sipping a cup of coffee while blogging, iTunes set to my “writing playlist” of choice- right now, mostly Yo-Yo Ma’s cello suites with a smattering of christmas carols- while morning sunshine streams through the blinds from the window beside my desk.

Because today was especially long, I’m blogging in the evening. It’s after dinner, I’ve just had a delicious bowl of my husband’s Fabada, and I so needed the flavor of coffee while writing this post that before I even started, I sent for a tall Gingerbread Latte from the nearest Starbucks. Mmmmm. Not a bad ritual at all.

What are your blogging rituals? Do you have any?