Category Archives: WordPress

How to Add a Favicon to Your WordPress Blog?

Posted on May 17, 2008 | 54 Comments

Update: This is for a full version WordPress blog only. If you have a WordPress.com blog, this will not apply to you since you don’t have access to all the files.

Adding a favicon to your blog/website is one way to express yourself. It tells people a little bit about your blog/website too. Professional blogs/websites will never leave it out. If you don’t know what a favicon is, it is a 16×16 pixels or 32×32 pixels image (icon) that is displaced in your browser’s address bar. Check the screenshot below:
Favicon for Exploring The Internet
I just added a favicon to my WordPress blog. Now it is your turn to add yours. If you don’t know how, the following steps could be useful:

  • First you need to have your image ready in your PC (personal computer).
  • Third download favicon.ico image file to your PC and unzip the file.
  • Next upload the unzipped favicon.ico image to public_html/wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/. Make sure you change your-theme-name to be your actual theme’s name.
  • Next login to your WordPress Admin dashboard; click on Appearance/Editor/Header (header.php).
  • Then insert the following code in your header.php file; more specifically between <head> and </head>.
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="<?php bloginfo('template_directory'); ?>/favicon.ico" />
  • Finally save your header.php file.

If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, then holding Ctrl and hit R at the same time to reload your blog/website. If you use Mozilla Firefox as your browser, then holding Ctrl and hit F5 at the same time to refresh your blog/website. You should be able to see a favicon which is next to your URL now. However, some people’s favicon may not be shown immediately.

Would you like to add a favicon to your WordPress blog? Why or why not? Please leave a comment below.

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How to Add a Favicon to Your New Blogger?

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Posted in Blogging Tools, How To, WordPress, WordPress Tips

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What WordPress Plugins do Most Bloggers Like to Use?

Posted on May 13, 2008 | 6 Comments

I searched around the Internet and found some very useful plugins most WordPress bloggers like to use. These plugins are for full version WordPress (WordPress.org) blogs. That means if you have WordPress.com blog, then you can’t use them. As you know plugins extend WordPress to do almost everything for your blog/website. Check out the following articles to see what plugins other bloggers have suggested:

  • The Top Ten WordPress Plugins – The author has picked the top ten WordPress plugins out of hundreds. Those WordPress plugins will make your blogging life easier.
  • 10 Must-Have WordPress Plugins – One of the biggest advantages to use WordPress software is that it provides bloggers countless of plugins that you can use to extend your blog software.
  • Top 10 WordPress Plugins – The wonderful thing about WordPress plugins is that it allows you to add so much functionalities to your blog/website. Leap to the site to see what WordPress plugins the author has rounded up for you.

After I’ve read the above articles, I am amazed WordPress plugins can do so much for our blog/website. Maybe you have already had installed some of them. So what are your favorite plugins you are using now? or what plugins do you want to recommend to your readers? Please leave a comment below.

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Posted in WordPress, WordPress Plugins

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Using or Not Using Smilies on Your Blog

Posted on April 29, 2008 | Leave a comment

Yesterday I wrote a post, What Can You Do With Your API Key? After I published it, I saw this smiley 8) showing up on my blog. I was wondering how I got that. I knew I am pretty new to WordPress.com. Moreover, I did not learn how to use smilies yet. Besides I am not a big fan for using smilies. So I was really puzzled. I checked my editor but didn’t see anything on its toolbar showing us how to use any smilies. I searched the Internet for an answer. From What smilies can I use?, I found out that ’8)’ was the main reason for displaying this smiley 8) (meaning cool) on my blog.

In my post, What Can You Do With Your API Key? I had a date written as (4/28/2008), but it was truncated to be (4/28/200 and turned ’8)’ to be 8) . It was all messed up. If you don’t want to use any smilies, then you can turn it off from your admin panel. Login to your WordPress Dashboard, click on Settings/Writings, find Formatting, uncheck Convert emoticons like :-) and :-P to graphics on display. After you’ve done that, make sure you click on Save Changes button to save it. See the screenshot below:

Smilies Setup

Would you like to use smilies on your blog? Why or why not? Please leave a comment below.

Update: I know many people love to use smilies. I become to like it a little bit. Occasionally I will use some of them. I guess if you know how to control them, then they will not mess up your blog. You can bookmark this post for future reference. I even come back to check how each similey is represented here whenever I need to use them.

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What Are Smileys?
The Art of Smilies in WordPress Blogs

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Posted in Blogging Tools, WordPress, WordPress.com

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The Differences Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

Posted on April 21, 2008 | 13 Comments

I own both WordPress.com and WordPress.org blogs. The differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org are that

WordPress.com is different. It’s a web site that provides blogs hosted free of charge. The software on WordPress.com is very similar but not exactly the same software you can download from WordPress.org. It is a multi-user version of WordPress that allows many thousands of blogs to be hosted on a single web server. The free blog hosting does not come with the ability to upload plugins or themes. Because any change in the software affects every blog on the system, some of the things you can do on your own hosted WordPress blog are disabled here. Some of these features may become available in the future as paid upgrades, comparable with traditional hosting fees.

Click on the picture to enlarge – WordPress.com Dashboard

WordPress.org is an open source blogging software that is freely available to anyone to download. The software must be downloaded and installed onto a computer. WordPress, being an Internet software, must be installed on a web server – that’s a computer that is setup to serve web pages over the Internet – and your personal computer probably isn’t a web server. So, to make the free WordPress software work, you have to own a web server or rent some space on one. That’s called hosting and it’s not usually free. There are plenty of good hosts out there who will let you install WordPress on their web servers for a reasonable fee. You can then do anything you like with your own copy of WordPress: install plugins and themes, etc.

Click on the picture to enlarge – WordPress.org Dashboard

So it is your decision to decide using a self-hosted blog or a Free blog. For me I’ll eventually move my WordPress.com blog to WordPress.org blog platform because it will give you the freedom of doing whatever you want with your own blog. I have already had one that is a self-hosted WordPress blog and let me tell you it is great to have one.

What is the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? Please leave a comment below.

Related article
Which web hosting is good for your website or blog?

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Can You Edit The Footer in WordPress.com Blog?

Posted on April 18, 2008 | 8 Comments

Is it possible that WordPress.com allows us to edit the default footer in our blog? For example, if you want to add something like copyright, disclaimer, privacy policy, and etc. to the footer. According to customizing footer in WordPress.com Forum, there is no way we can edit our footer.

Even If you purchase the Extra CSS customization feature, you can only customize the look and feel. This is the limitation that all WordPress.com bloggers face since it is Free. The only way you can do whatever you want with a WordPress theme is to go with a self-hosted WordPress.org blog. Learn the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org here.

Nevertheless I found WordPress.com Resources – Tips, Tricks and Tools and Lorelle on WordPress are pretty useful sites for new WordPress.com bloggers. I often search in Google and end it up in their sites. If you are a new blogger like me, you are going to love their sites. A lot of informative tips and tricks there. They’ve never disappointed me so far.

Can you edit the footer in a WordPress.com blog? Do you find this post helpful? Please leave a comment below.

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