In this video I show how to quickly install a WordPress blog and then replicate it multiple times resulting in multiple independent WordPress installs using a single database. If you need hundreds of WordPress installs, then the using the network feature (multiple blog feature) in WordPress is the way to go. However, if you only need a few then installing separate blogs may be a lit simpler and easier for you to manage.

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I’ll be lurking in the #blogchat discussion tonight on #twitter and the topic of discussion is “favorite blog plugins”. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized it’s hard to identify my favorite plugins–I use a lot of different plugins on different sites depending on a lot of variables. However, in the spirit of sharing, here are some of my favorites/most used blog (WordPress) plugins — in no particular order:

- Akismet: What WordPress user wouldn’t list this among their favorites? Just look in the sidebar on this site to see the number of spam comments it has protected this site from–and compared to a lot of sites, I don’t really attract that many spammers. This is one of those plugins you just install, configure, and forget…it just does its job. So although I don’t think about it a lot, it is a great, free plugin and deserves recognition for doing what it does, very well.

- WP Touch: This is a great plugin that makes creating a mobile version of your WordPress blog very easy–and the free version does have a lot of features. I’m using the free version of this plugin on this site–check it out on your smartphone. I like this plugin so much, it is the only plugin where I have actually purchased the Pro version for use on another client site.

- Tweet Old Post: Okay, I know the true Twitter evangelists out there may cringe at this one–how dare I install something that will “auto post” to my Twitter account. Well, get over it, because I do…on more than one Twitter account…and I love it Great little plugin…if you haven’t checked it out, take a look.

- Blackbird Pie: A cool little plugin that I don’t use a great deal, but provides a nice way to insert tweets directly into my blog posts. The plugin adds an icon to your WordPress visual editor and all you need do is retrieve the twitter url or id and use the icon on the editor to add it directly to you post…see and example below:

MT @MackCollier: Tonight at #Blogchat 9 ET we'll be discussing favorite blog plugins. Here are mine: http://t.co/AotvT3fj

February 19, 2012 7:32 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@LisaPetrilli

Lisa Petrilli

Those are just a few plugins I use and like….I use dozens of others I like just as much, but will save those to share at another time.

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The video in this post is a follow-up to the last video I published here about creating a members only WordPress blog. In that video I briefly demonstated a WordPress plugin that allows you to upload a csv file of and create tens of thousands users in a matter of minutes. In this video, I demonstrate how to create that csv file of users with MS Excel. The video is a bit long…I’m sure given a lot of planning and thought I could have demonstrated this in under 10 minutes, but since I can now upload videos of unlimited length to YouTube, and since I no longer have the time to spend hours on creating these, my videos will tend to be a bit longer these days. The upside is, in this video, you should not only learn a thing or two about WordPress, but you may pick up a few Excel tips that could come in handy in several different applications–I demonstrate the use of the “text to columns”, “concatenate”, and “past values only” functions in Excel that are extremely useful. Anyway, enjoy.

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In the video above I demonstrate how to close a WordPress blog to the public and make it available only to members who have a username and password created for them by the blog administrator. The site I demonstrate has 49,500 members that I created and bulk uploaded in about an hour. I show the plugin I used for the bulk upload of users. I’ll create a follow-up video in a week or so demonstrating how I used Excel to create those users from a file with nothing but first and last names. If you have need for a private blog/website to share with a few people or tens of thousands of people, this should help get you started.

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WordPress 3.3.1 is now available. This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Upgrade now, but if you are not extremely tech-savvy, then view this first!

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In the video above I demonstrate how to do some basic editing on the default WordPress themes (Twentyten and Twentyeleven) to reduce the header size and remove some of the items that, in my opinion, take up way too much space in the header. In the process, I show the basics of setting up a child theme and provide a glimpse into how I use local copies of WordPress running on my computer to make theme editing a lot quicker and simpler. I also demonstrate how to preview changes in Firebug and then copy those changes into your theme css file. This tutorial is intended for non-techies…if you are an expert, then this isn’t for you. Enjoy!

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In the video below I demonstrate how to take a full backup of your WordPress blog before upgrading so that you will have everything you need just in case the upgrade breaks your site and you need to get back to where you were. One of the biggest mistakes people make when upgrading their site is to just trust that everything will go well and fail to make a good backup. Don’t be a victim…you may make a hundred backups you never need, but one day you will need one.

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If you don’t currently have your WordPress blog configured to render on mobile devi ces, then watch this video for directions on using the WPTouch plugin. In only a few minutes you have configure your blog to render very nicely on a variety of smartphones.

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I haven’t tried the plugin below yet, but it looks pretty promising for those brave individuals looking to put together their own personal computing platform and get off the outdated, clumsy, LMS’s. About the only things people use an LMS, like Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, etc., for is a document repository, gradebook, discussion board, electronic assignments, and maybe quizzes/exams. With just a little work, you can create your own learning platform in WordPress that will beat any LMS out there.

Features

1. Easy to use and simple
2. Students access all their grades from one site including grades from previous terms
3. Faculty can manage their grades from one site
4. Faculty can notify students of new grades through a customizable email message
5. SSL enabled – all information is transmitted securely
6. No personal information is stored. Grades are indexed and accessed based on the Temple email address of the student.
7. Manage all your grades on your computer using the convenience of Excel and then when you are ready to distribute, make the grades available to students in a few easy steps.
8. An integrated course administration page provides a simple gateway for viewing, managing, uploading, and email.
9. The plugin is automatically enabled for use in multi-site / network implementations of WordPress
10. LDAP enabled, all users are authenticated using your local LDAP credentials

Download here: http://community.mis.temple.edu/plugins/community-gradebook/

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Note: The following is made available under GPL from http://codex.wordpress.org/GPL. It may be edited a little from its original form, but probably not a lot. There is no guarantee this information is accurate…use at your own risk.
—————————————————–

To get information about your server, you can use the PHP Info function:

• Type the code shown below into a text file

• Save as info.php
• Upload to server. Visit in your browser (www.example.com/info.php)

That will give you info about your php version, mod_rewrite, and lots of other server “stuff”.

The info.php file returns a page outlining the details of your PHP installation.

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