Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
by James Johnson on December 29th, 2011
As a frequent user of Twitter I often find myself changing between custom, twitter created and photo backgrounds in an attempt to spice up my account, however all of that update can be time consuming and given the requirements for creating a nice background a little bit frustrating. That’s where InstaBG comes into play.
The premise begin InstaBG is simple, users sign into their Twitter account, provide the program with access to that account and then choose which InstaBG photos to include via their backgrounds based on various criteria.
After logging in users will see the following screen:
Starting the process is then simple, users just choose the target photos they want to display, for example “All” photos will choose all Instagram photos as they show while “User ID” allows users to show only photos from any user they choose. The programs also offers a variety of categories such as “Pets” and “Baby” among others (still fairly selective). In my case I used “Tags” and chose my area of specialty “Technology.” Read More
Categories: Reviews
Tags: InstaBG, Instagram, twitter
by James Dunaway on October 13th, 2011
Choosing a web hosting service can be a mind boggling task, first you need to make sure the type of software you are using is supported (Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, etc.) and then you have to determine data uptime levels, check pricing levels to meet your budget and perhaps even find user and editor reviews of the service to make sure it’s reliable. Thankfully the web hosting relevancy tool by HostUCan makes that process simple through streamlined testing and review options.
I knew the moment I visited HostUCan.com that the product would be simple to use. The right hand side of the website features a large box titled “Application Hosting Search” where I started by choosing the “WordPress” framework and then choosing “0~300″ daily page views to find a host for a smaller WordPress site that’s just starting out.
Read More
Categories: Reviews
Tags: HostUCan
by Jonathan Bailey on January 19th, 2011
Reviews are one of the best types of post for a blog. If done well, they are very search-friendly, extremely useful to your readers and can be great conversation starters for building comments.
However, a review done poorly can be a pretty big mess. Not only can it create a great deal of needless controversy and headache, but it can actually discredit your site and, in extreme cases, create legal troubles.
Though angry and misanthropic reviews are all the rage in many circles, especially with older video games and movies, they are primarily comedy shows that aren’t intended to give a true review of the content. Most people, in those cases, know the subject material to be bad, it’s just a matter of how much so.
Writing a review for the purpose of informing and drawing conclusions can, at times, be a delicate act but pulling it off is one that your readers will appreciate. Balanced, thorough and honest reviews are still surprisingly rare on the Web and when people are making purchasing decisions, they seek those out.
So how do you make sure your review actually helps your readers? The answer is to plan it out carefully and take the time to do ensure you have everything you need inside. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips, Reviews
Tags: aw, Blogging Pitfalls, ftc, how-to, pitfalls, Reviews, tutorial
by Andrew G. Rosen on September 14th, 2010
Blogging has a million moving parts. As if coming up with interesting story angles and writing compelling content weren’t enough, bloggers are also forced to be designers, marketers, public relations pros, metric analysts and more. That’s a lot of hats.
The one item that often gets lost in the shuffle is SEO. Many bloggers add in a few strong keywords and move on to the next post. Guilty as charged. That’s why when I came across ScribeSEO, an automated writing assistant service designed to help you flag down search engine love, I was intrigued. When I read that Brian Clark of CopyBlogger fame was behind it, I was sold. Read More
Categories: Blogging Resources, Reviews
Tags: copyblogger, review, ScribeSEO, seo
by Remkus de Vries on June 30th, 2010
When you start looking for books about WordPress there a quite a few of them. Most of them however cover the subject from a fairly beginners point of view only, not Professional WordPress though. I received this book by Hal Stern, David Damstra en Brad Williams a few weeks back and have been reading it on and off… and I’m impressed.
Professional WordPress isn’t particularly geared towards the general WordPress novice like but more-so to the WordPress developer novice, just like Digging Into WordPress. The book is setup to describe basic operation of function and then offering guidance and example demonstrating how to take it apart and reassemble that function to fit your need.
Even though this may sound like Professional WordPress is only for developers, I do believe anyone wanting to take their WordPress installation(s) to a higher level will get a lot out of this book.
The Topics Covered
Where to begin. The Professional WordPress book offers a wide range of topics navigating you through 15 different chapters. Not all will be interesting to all, but anyone looking to broaden their WordPress knowledge will find something interesting in pretty much any chapter. Read More
Categories: Reviews, WordPress Tips
Tags: blogging books, Brad Williams, David Damstra, Hal Stern, Professional WordPress, WordPress Book Reviews
by Robyn-Dale Samuda on May 17th, 2010
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the 
privilege of reading an excellent WordPress book titled, WordPress & Ajax by Ronald Huereca which has led me to write this in-depth review; and I must say that it has been added to my developer’s book arsenal. Being a developer myself, although new to Ajax, I welcomed the opportunity to learn more and advance my skills towards developing my own dynamic themes and plugins enhanced by Ajax.
Although it took me a few weeks to read because of my busy schedule, WordPress & Ajax is a mere 251 pages with 15 very relevant chapters. There is not a single page wasted as Ronald seeks to help his readers master the beautiful art of Ajax and WordPress. Read More
Categories: Reviews
Tags: Ajax, Ronald Huereca, WordPress Book Reviews
by Remkus de Vries on May 13th, 2010
At some point in time you will, most likely, find yourself in the position where you’d like to take your WordPress site to the next level. That next level can be a transformation to a community site like BuddyPress, but another popular option is a membership site. This is where Magic Members comes in. Magic Members is a WordPress plugin that enables you to have the ability to offer different membership access levels to different areas, such as a download area.
Of course, you can also use this plugin when you start a new site from scratch or as a spin-off of your current site. Really, the sky is the limit. This plugin takes care of everything you can think of regarding a site depending on paid members.
Features
Magic Members comes with a lot of features and when I say a lot, I do mean a lot. The 5 most important features in my opinion are listed below. Read More
Categories: Reviews, WordPress Plugins
Tags: members, membership
by Remkus de Vries on April 15th, 2010
This week I had the pleasure to review the WordPress forms plugin Gravity Forms and today I’d like to tell you more about another WordPress plugin review: Ajax Edit Comments. The obscure title may not give away too much when you’re not intimately familiar with the programming languages out there, but the plugin does exactly what it says. Through the wonderful scripting of Ajax this plugin allows user to fix their typos themselves. Ajax Edit Comments gives everyone commenting on your blogposts the ability to edit their comments after having submitted them.
The Basics
After downloading the latest version of the plugin from the Ajax Edit Comments Forums and having installled and activated you will find your Ajax Edit Comments under Settings. Even though it may seem like a little functionality added to your theme, the creators certainly didn’t go easy on the settings part. Read More
Categories: Reviews, WordPress Plugins
Tags: Ajax, Comments, WordPress Plugins
by Remkus de Vries on April 13th, 2010
Before I started using Gravity Forms I used a whole array of plugins to provide me with different kinds of functionality surrounding forms. So when Gravity Forms was introduced I naturally was curious Read More
Categories: Directory, General, Reviews, WordPress Plugins
Tags: contact form, forms management, Gravity Forms, review
by Franky Branckaute on March 29th, 2010
The WordPress book receiving most coverage in 2009 was probably Digging Into WordPress, by Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr.
In December 2009, shortly after publication I had the opportunity to interview Chris and Jeff. The book was initially launched as an ebook for $27 and later a print version with spiral bind was released as well. Printed and bound in house by family, thus sadly checking in at the rather expensive price of $67. More on the price later though.
Who Is The Book For?
If you’ve ever visited the Digging Into WordPress website you immediately know what to expect from the book. Chris and Jeff have targeted the book at exactly the same audience as the website is written for. This is no book for the WordPress beginner. Read More
Categories: Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Chris Coyier, Jeff Starr, WordPress Book Reviews
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