Reader Question: WordPress Permalinks
I love it when people send in questions to me and for this edition, Brian asks:
If I change from the date-based to just /%postname%/, will my old permalinks convert over to just postname?
The short answer is no. What ends up happening is that, all of the permalinks on your blog will be changed to represent the new configuration. This will cause all links that were created before the change to be broken. Also, any links that have been indexed in Google with the old permalink structure will be invalid and will need to be re indexed. If you really feel convinced to change your permalink structure, I recommend using the Permalinks Migration plugin. This plugin will generate a “301 Redirect” when users or spiders visit your site through old permalinks, and redirect them to the new permalinks of the same post. After that, I recommend using the Broken Link checker plugin to discover links on your site that are producing 404 errors.
If you are just starting out, take a good hard look at how you will be using your blog in the future. This will help you to determine which linking structure works for you. As far as am I concerned, setting up permalinks in WordPress to %postname% is all you need and this helps to keep the link short and sweet. I’ve been told that in order for links to be added into the Google News engine, a link needs to have at least 3-5 numbers within it. I don’t know if that is true or not but I’d rather just stick to postnames.
For more information regarding the configuration of permalinks, please read this post which goes into detail regarding the different ways in which to configure pretty permalinks in WordPress.
Fantastico De Luxe 2.10.4 r24
The latest and stable release of Fantastico has been released to webhosters. The new version contains the following script updates:
- phpBB: 3.0.2 -> 3.0.3
- WordPress: 2.6.3 -> 2.6.5
Be sure to keep an eye out for upgrades to these scripts if you have installed the software via Fantastico.
9 Reasons To Link Out
Most believe that by continuously linking in, you’ll decrease bounce rates, increase the average amount of time a visitor spends on your site, and increase traffic. While at the surface this may be true, I believe that linking out is twice as good as linking in and here are my 9 reasons why.
Expanding Knowledge - Linking out provides a means for your audience to expand their wealth of knowledge by picking up websites they may not have known about before. This aids in reading content from multiple perspectives. Also, providing links related to whatever niche you are writing about will show readers that you’re an expert in the field and keep up with the latest and greatest for that particular niche. Consider this perceived expertise.
Networking - Linking out when publishing an article generally initiates what are known as Pingbacks or Trackbacks. These little notifications inform a blog owner that someone has linked to one of their articles. I can tell you based on experience that I’ve personally discovered some great sites by checking out my trackback/pingback notifications and it’s also proven to be a great opportunity to network with other blog owners.
Unselfish Feeling - It’s very easy to continuously link in to other articles you have produced on your site but if you do it too much, your readers might think your selfish and have no desire for any one else’s opinions. Linking out takes care of this before it becomes a problem.
Backlinks - This one is based off of the Networking tip I described earlier. If the blog owner approves of your pingback/trackback url to be published, that is one more backlink you have for your blog. Plus, it lets other blog owners know that your site exists which may mean future backlinks.
The Beginning Of Conversations - For those that like to take bits and pieces of other blog posts and formulate opinions or provide their own insight into, linking out to those articles provides your audience a chance to read into the content that ignited your spark. This can sometimes initiate conversations which go into a totally different direction.
Build An Audience - If you continuously link out to great content that your audience finds useful, they will keep coming back for more and will most likely tell their friends. The key is to link out to great, resourceful material on a consistent basis. People love it when their desired subject matter has been filtered out so that only the most interesting or useful content appears before them.
Way To Generate Content - There are only 24 hours in a day and not enough time in life to write about everything you find interesting that comes across your feedreader. Instead of bookmarking it, create a speedlink post which contains numerous links that are of interest to you AND your readers. The post serves as an archive for those links so you can go back to them whenever you need to.
Backup Your Claims - While it is easy to state nonfactual claims all day long, you’re only doing your readers a disservice (and most likely yourself). Instead, back up your claims by linking out to third party sites who agree with your line of thought or who have produced the research that supports your statements.
The SEO Perspective - I’m no SEO expert, but I’ve seen this one debated across the web. The results of a linking out experiment to determine SEO benefits appear different depending on who did the experiment. As a rule of thumb, who cares if you link to your competitor just as long as it benefits your audience. By the way, there are certain cases in which linking to your competitor is seen as a classy move. Be open to those opportunities.
Conclusion:
To sum things up, don’t be afraid to link out, even if you feel the site is a competitor. Linking in general is a natural behaviour on the web and there is no reason why you should keep your audience within a walled garden. Link out, build relationships, get to know people and then realize that linking out is one of the best things about blogging. That next link out could be a blessing in disguise.
strong>If you know of any other reason as to why you should link out, share it in the comments.
How Much Time Do You Spend Writing a Blog Post?
Back when writing was my sole blogging-related job, I often spent countless hours in front of my laptop writing feature-length posts. Sometimes I spent this time at cafes waiting for my daughter to finish her preschool class (about three hours). Sometimes even more–when I’m just not satisfied with an article, I save it as draft for later editing and publishing. This lets me have more time to
On a recent Blog Herald article, Thord Hedengren wonders why some folks from traditional media often relate blogging to rapid-fire writing akin to being a shoot now, aim later approach. And so when a blogger takes time to write, edit and publish a post, it’s called slow blogging.
Sure, blogging does have the benefit of skipping a few editorial steps, and so bloggers often get to post news earlier than most mainstream media outfits. You can catch wind of some news or nasty rumor and post about it in the next two minutes. That can be good blogging, if it’s your intent to spread the news as fast as possible. But then good blogging also entails research, painstaking editing, and even thinking twice or thrice whether to publish an article or not.
I’ve been there. I’ve written lengthy posts only to take a long look at my laptop screen, and decide that it’s simply not good enough, or not relevant anymore, and hit the delete button.
And so, folks, I would like to ask you this. On average, how long do you spend on a blog post? Perhaps we can differentiate it a bit between news-type posts and feature- or review-type posts. Next time you write an article for your blog, try to keep track of the time, and tell me how much you spent on that particular post. You can submit your answer here, or you can leave a comment.
This particular post took me about 25 minutes to write, in which I also had to switching across browser windows and tabs, scan related blog articles, create a poll and search the Performancing archive for similar posts. Oh, I also had a five minute nap midway. But in most cases, writing blog posts would take me up to one hour, particularly when I need to research for related material, and when I want to make sure I have a tight argument.
How about you? Do you take the time to think, study and reflect before [you] post? Or do you think that this should be the case whether it’s a quick post or a time-consuming article?
Perfcast Episode 14 – David Goes Solo
While those in the U.S. were celebrating a day of giving thanks, David Peralty was stuck with going solo on the show. However, after listening to the episode, I think David did a great job despite the one or two technical snafus. In this episode, David discussed WordPress Direct and it’s shady way of operating, GawkerMedia cutting back jobs but showing record traffic levels, a small discussion on podcasting and much more. Don’t kid yourself David, you held down the fort quite well!
LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour
NEXT EPISODE – December 4th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST
ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes
DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode14.mp3
LISTEN TO EPISODE 14 OF PERFCAST:
Crossing the Privacy Line
Blogging has seen the rise from the obscure to the mainstream and popular probably because of one thing–the ability of just about anyone to get published online without the need for expensive and restrictive mediums. And we’ve also seen some evolution here. What used to be a popular platform for online diaries has now become a tool for marketing, a means of idea exchange, a social medium.
While a number of blogs today deal with matters that may be considered not too personal (business, marketing, money and the like), much of the blogging world still involves writings on personal matters. After all, this is what makes blogging click. Content is not some web copy that the PR agency wrote for your company. Even if a blog were about business or other such matters, there’s always that personal voice. Seasoned blog readers would know what’s real and what’s not.
But in this sense, there are also lines that can be crossed–more particularly privacy lines, whether one’s own or others’. My question here is this: how far do you go, in terms of crossing that privacy line?
I know of several folks whose blogs became popular because of the juicy stories that they write on their sites. There are stories about relationships. There are stories about money. There are stories about other people. Perhaps some people could relate, as these stories are all about real people, after all. But then when real identities are divulged online, then there lies the risk. Have you been disclosing too much information? While blogging can be a two-way medium, wherein you get to hear back from your readers, how sure are you that there are no lurkers out there who stalk you with every bit of information you disclose online, which can even extend to the offline world?
And it’s not just your privacy that you should be concerned with? How about those people you write about? How about your loved ones? Your kids? Your friends? Maybe writing about them is not such a good idea after all, if you risk their identities being exposed and their privacy being intruded into.
This is especially true for kids and teenagers, who are among the targets of online predators. Yes, it’s great to write about your baby’s first steps, or your grade-schooler’s medal in math or science. You could perhaps to post photos, too, for sharing with friends. But what if that photo and pieces of information fall into the wrong hands? It has happened, with serious consequences. Online stalkers could piece the info tidbits together and figure out who you are, where you live, where your kid goes to school.
I’m not being paranoid here, but just practical. So whenever I post about personal matters–which is rare, and is mostly relevant to the topic I write about–I try to be mindful of how much I disclose. While my mobile number is published on my blog, I definitely won’t post my address, my ID numbers, where my kids go to school, and the like. That’s common sense. But what can be tricky to watch out for are those instances where I might slip and say something inappropriate.
This goes for microblogging or lifestreaming, too, more especially so, because the impulse of posting about any matter, however trivial, is there. Don’t tweet your dirty laundry, especially if you have a public profile.
At the very least, if you really want to write about your private life, then you should implement measures like (1) password-protection, (2) for friends only posts, or (3) use of pseudonyms. Remember that when you publish something online, chances are you might never be able totally delete or retract it.
Thesis Gets Black Friday Treatment
Brian Clark who is one of the developers behind the popular Thesis theme for WordPress has announced that the theme will be available for 20% off for the first 150 people to take advantage of the offer. While checking out, you’ll have to use a special coupon code that will be valid until Friday evening. That code is 20D03977D0.
Thanks to the 20% discount, this is what you can expect to pay for the various licensed versions:
- $69.60 for Thesis Personal (regularly $87)
- $131.20 for Thesis Developer (regularly $164)
- $61.60 for Developer Upgrade (regularly $77)
When Thesis 1.4 arrives, the initial vision for Thesis will be in place. A WordPress-powered site that can look like a “blog” or it can have a “magazine-style” front page that fronts any website. And Chris is working hard to give you custom landing page options that will make you a marketing machine, while making the old-style “blog” look silly.
Thesis is a great looking theme. Copyblogger and Twitip are both examples of this theme in action. Remember that the deal is only good for the first 150 people.
Reader Question: My Technique For Generating Comments
The following question was sent in by a reader of Performancing:
Could you write a blog post about how to get more people to comment on blog posts?
No problem! Numerous people have asked this question as my personal blog as well as Performancing and everywhere else I write seems to generate comments. I’ll share my technique and explain why I use it and then point you to some articles previous authors of Performancing have written in the past that cover this topic exclusively.
The Beginning
Getting people to comment on your blog post starts at the beginning. This means your post title. Generally, forming your post title into a question is enough for some people to go straight to your comment form, completely bypassing the content simply to answer the question.
The Content
While being an authoritative figure is good in some respects, providing the answers to everyones questions within your content is a great way to deter comments. Unless of course, your readership loves to disagree with you. What I like to do is write my content in an open ended way. I leave room for readers to chime in and to share their thoughts.
The Ending
At the end of every post I write, I do my best to ask a few questions near the end. You may be wondering whats up with asking all of these questions? Each question you ask is a reason to comment. This particular tactic has worked very well for me, especially when the question asks for opinions or thoughts on a particular item within the content.
These three tactics have all worked very well for me. It is very hard for anyone to interact with someone else when there are no questions involved. Questions are usually starting points for conversations.
Other Resources
Over the course of three years, Performancing has covered this topic a few times. Here are some classics from the Archive.
Chris Garret – 10 Tips for Attracting More Comments
Chris McLeod – Getting People to Comment on Your New Blog
Do you have any advice you could give this reader to help him get more comments on his blog?
WordPress 2.6.5 Released 2.6.4 Skipped
News has come around that WordPress 2.6.5 has been released which is a security focused version. The new version fixes one security problem and three bugs.
The security issue is an XSS exploit discovered by Jeremias Reith that fortunately only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x. If you are interested only in the security fix, copy wp-includes/feed.php and wp-includes/version.php from the 2.6.5 release package.
2.6.5 contains three other small fixes in addition to the XSS fix.
Now you may be wondering why they have decided to call this version 2.6.5 instead of 2.6.4. The reason for 2.6.5 is to avoid confusion with a version of WordPress that had been been going around which pointed users to a fake version of WordPress that was labeled as 2.6.4. Going this route, the WordPress team can officially say that 2.6.4 never existed and thus, you should continue to avoid links or notifications that tell you to upgrade to 2.6.4.
The version is already available for download.
