Posts Tagged ‘wordpress.com’

WordPress announced its new Learn WordPress.com site.

This online tutorial is ideal for beginning and intermediate WordPress.com bloggers and for folks who are migrating over from other blog platforms like Blogger and TypePad.

NOTE: For those of you who are not familiar with the WordPress platform, there are two flavors of WordPress – WordPress.com the free site and WordPress.org blogs which are custom install versions. You can get more information on the differences here.

The Learn WordPress.com tutorial breaks down the blog learning experience into 10 sections and also has an easy-to-print version (66 pages of learning fun). The site is well organized and does an admirable job addressing the gazillion ways in which people can blog.

Screenshot of Learn WordPress.com site

As you may know, I have my own Getting Started With WordPress.com online class as well (launching soon). As far as I’m concerned, the more options to learn blogging, the better. My blog class includes my direct feedback and guidance on blogging topics, for those who need a little bit more than 100% self-serve learning.

I’m honored to have one of my WordPress.com video tutorials as part of the official WordPress.com curriculum. WordPress links to my “Using slideshows on WordPress.com” tutorial on its “Get Flashy” page.

Check out the Learn WordPress.com site and let me know what you think.

Here’s the Using Slideshows on WordPress.com video to get you into the WordPress.com learning mood. Enjoy!

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Photo Credit: @tiabel on Flickr, by special permission.

Have an awesome presentation that you want to share with the world?

If you’ve already posted the presentation (could be a Power Point presentation) to Slideshare.net then you can embed that presentation into your WordPress.com blog. I’ll show you exactly how to do that in this video. This process also works for WordPress.org blogs.

I appreciate and value your Comments and feedback.

The latest version of Tweetdeck, a popular Twitter client, now allows users to post to their Tumblr and WordPress.com blogs.

In this video, I review how to set up a new Tweetdeck account and post to a Tumblr blog. This is the same process that you would use to post to a WordPress.com blog. See my notes below the video.

Will you use Tweetdeck to post to your blogs?

Notes

• To post to Tumblr.com, the Twitter Base URL setting is “http://tumblr.com”
• For WordPress.com, the Twitter Base URL is “twitter-api.wordpress.com.”

New to WordPress.com or just learning how to customize the blog? Well, this brief video tutorial will walk you through the process of activating a new WordPress.com theme.

Now that you’ve seen the video, are you ready for some practice?

WordPress just released a new theme called “Twenty Ten.” It’s pretty nifty and is now one of the “default” WordPress.com themes. I especially like the drop down menu lists. Test out your new skills and try it out.

Just finding out about WordPress? Then you my be wondering , “What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org blogs?”

WordPress.com is a free blogging site where you register and set up one or more new blogs. You blog’s Web address will be {mynewblog}.wordpress.com, where “{mynewblog}” is the domain you select for your blog.

WordPress.org blogs are blog sites that have WordPress’s free blogging system installed on them. This means you would download the code then install it on a server and run the blog from there. Many choose to use a Web hosting company that has a quick WordPress install. WordPress.org blog are often referred to as “custom blog installs.”

The following items are some of the key characteristics of WordPress.com and WordPress.org blogs:

WordPress.com

• Free, most of the time. You can pay for premium services like domain mapping and video-related upgrades
• Allows users to create multiple blogs under one user account.
• Does not allow users to run JavaScript code. This limits a user’s ability to add many types of custom widgets.
• Does not allow users to run advanced analytics programs like Google Analytics. This falls under the “no JavaScript” bullet point but is an important example of the limitation. WordPress.com does have a very basic blog stats feature though.
• Has a set number of available themes. However, WordPress recently expanded it’s Theme team and has been releasing a greater number of new themes.
• Has a new Slideshow tool that is wicked cool and even works with the new iPad.
• Has strict rules about the type of advertising that can be done on the blog.
• Has built-in widgets but does not allow for third party-plugins
• Has support at http://en.support.wordpress.com/. Note: there are different Support sites for WordPress.com and WordPress.org sites.

I recommend WordPress.com to:

• New bloggers or people who have only dabbled in blogging. The system is easy to use, it’s free, and if you change your mind about your blog’s focus, you can easily create a new blog under that same account. It also makes for a good introduction to WordPress.org blogs because the two function the same way.
• Anyone who is “testing out” blogging.
• Small companies and organizations that need a blog but don’t have the resources (time, people, or money) to manage a custom install blog.
• Small companies and organizations that need a Web site with a full content management systems, but don’t have the resources to build a custom site. There are several tweaks that can be made to a WordPress.com blog that can make it run as a “regular” Web site.
• Teachers/professors that want to teach blogging to their students. It’s an easy to use fully functioning blogging system.

WordPress.org

• Free WordPress.org code download. The download includes everything you need to get a new blog running if the server is properly configured. WordPress.org boasts of having a 5-minute install but it will take longer the first time.
• Allows for one blog per install. However the highly anticipated WordPress 3.0 release will allow for the creation of multi-site blog networks.
• Allows site owners to add plugins and code that contain JavaScript. WordPress.org runs on your site domain, so you can put any kind of code you want on it. There are thousands of free plugins to help customize your blog.
• Requires frequent updates to patch up new security holes and new builds.
• Can use thousands of different free and premium themes as well as custom-designed themes.
• Allows you to run any kind of Analytics program you like, including Google Analytics.
• WordPress.org blogs are open-source.
• Has its own Support site: http://wordpress.org/support/.

I recommend WordPress.org to:

• People, companies, and organizations that want to leverage the full force behind blogging and have the resources and willingness to learn a full-bodied blogging system.
• Individuals that want to build a personal brand.
• Techie tinkerers. There are a million and one things you can do with a WordPress blog.
• Anyone who wants to couple ecommerce and blogging.

So which is right for you, a WordPress.com or WordPress.org blog setup? Still not sure? Drop a comment or tweet me up on Twitter at @jesseluna.

WordPress just announced its new WordPress.com Slideshow feature. This is an AWESOME update.

You can now select photos to upload then quickly add them to a blog post as a Slideshow. [Update: And, I forgot to mention that the Slideshow is iPhone and iPad friendly!]

I did a video on the process, so check it out then see my notes below the video.

Notes:

As soon as I saw the email from WordPress.com, I jumped in and started testing things out.

I found the following:

1. There are several paths you can to get the Slideshow up and running. The video above is by far the easiest.
2. You can use images that you have previously uploaded to your WordPress.com blog and that are already in your Media list. But, they cannot be “attached” to a different blog post or page.

   My lovely wife suggested a workaround here. If you really want an image to stay in a blog post or page and want to use it elsewhere in a Slideshow, just upload the image again and use it.

3. If you only add one image at a time via the “Add an Image” button on your blog post page, you will not have the option to insert the slideshow as I demonstrated in the video. You’ll have to go back and use the Gallery tab then insert the slideshow from there.

   The Gallery tab appears next to the “From Computer” tab (that I pointed out in the video), but only does so after there is an upload or an unattached image has been added to the post.

Here are some more resources to help you troubleshoot any problems:

• Information on Images and Galleries
• All about Unattached Files in WordPress.com

So now you have everything you need to go out and create an awesome new slideshow on your blog. If you want to show off your new creation, come back here and post a link in the Comments field. M’Kay?