Recently in WordPress Tips Category

Wank changed her theme and now I see frames. edit: She's changed the theme back now. Wanted to get another screen cap to show that it wasn't the image within the post causing the issue. Oh well...

Per a request for it, I've written up a WordPress plugin for adding in a nofollow tag to links to any blog with a 'wordpress.com' within the URL of the link. This was actually done for a WordPress Multiuser setup that I host so that they wouldn't get any link love. (Also because my client doesn't think much of wp.com) Install it via the regular methods. If you're running Wordpress Multiuser, I'd just drop it into the mu-plugins subdirectory. Based on the Wikipedia nofollow plugin for Wordpress

edit: I've gone ahead and removed this.  It appears some folks out there, instead of seeing how and why this plugin was offered, would rather insult me over it.  It's not worth my time.

(If you haven't guessed, I'm cleaning out all those links I saved of during the last few months)

Elliot Back give us a list of ways to improve your WordPress blog. It's a good read if you're interesting in trying to make your blog go faster and have access to the files. Do note that this isn't for WordPress.com users as you don't.

Link

I gotta admit that I agree with most of these. One of my biggest pet peeves of working in the wordpress.com support forums along with other forums is when folks write these big long novels as support requests and don't get to the point or clearly state what the problem is. Or even the folks who don't want to give you details as to what the actual problem is. Bloodly hell....

You want help? Here's the method I wish folks would use in requesting help:

1) Read the tools already provided to you. We have a search bar at the very top of the forums. Try dropping in some keywords into it. Chances are someone else has already had the problem before you. Something broken? Take a look at the front page of the forums. It may already be reported. There may already be a solution.

2) Say hi to start off your post. Chances are someone is going to go out of their way to help you. Be polite. Works wonders.

3) State specifically what the problem is in under 20-25 words. Stating specifically helps. "I'm having an issue with adding a new link to my blog roll" works a lot better than "Something doesn't work." "My CSS file is missing from x-y-z.tld" works a whole lot better than "My blog looks funny." (Although I'll grant that one since many new users might not know what CSS is)

4) Got an example? Link specifically to it. If it's a general issue, provide a general link so we can see the issue. Specific issues need to have specific links. Never assume that we're going to see the exact same thing that you're going to see. If I could read minds, I wouldn't be sitting here answering support questions on an online forum.

5) Thank the folks who will help you.

6) Wait. Chances are there are other folks also needing help. Give them a chance to help you.

And if you're a webbased business who relies on volenteers to run your support forums, thank them once in a while. Give them the tools that then need to do their job help your clients. Listen to suggestions made by them to you. Pop in once in a while and show some interest in what's occuring in the forums. Publicly thank those who go out of their way to cover your asses. (I'd give you a link to that but that hasn't occured.) Drop a tshirt into the mail when you have a big get together and the volenteer can't attend. Sure, comping them for stuff is nice but doing something nice for them is even better.

And if one of those volenteers tells you that you're wrong about something, take a second and think about what is occuring. They may be right.

Else you may discover those volenteers slowly drifting away...

...I ask a question and no responds in the WordPress forums. All that time I spend helping folks out and no one can take a few moments for me. It's frustrating.

Mohammed Suleiman gives us the WordPress MultiUser Avatar Plugin. I'm working on getting this to work on daria.be asap.

One of my spies pointed out to me that Timethief, one of the wonderful folks who help out on the wordpress.com support forums is celebrating her first year anniversary as a blogger today. She's also writen a series of guides on blogging basics for beginners, the use of widgets, and moving around a blog within the wordpress.com domain. I just wanted to take a second and thank her for all of her hard work over there. She's been a big help. Feel free to take a second and visit one of her blogs today. (I think I got them all.)

Always want a tag cloud for your wordpress.com blog? Engtech gives us a Tag Cloud Generator for your wp.com blog. Runs on Windows, Mac or Linux. It'll give you output that you can copy and paste into a text widget or a Page within your blog. Be sure to read all of the documentation as Engtech goes out of his way to answer any questions that you may have. There's also a list of advanced options for you to try.

And if you're using regular WordPress, just grab one of the many tag cloud generators that are available.

An interesting WordPress Plugin - WordPress Suicide It's returns your WordPress install back to it's original state except for the user tables. That means if you have a bad import, you can remove the posts and comments and try again.

Not sure if or how it works on WordPress 2.1 or Wordpress Multiuser.

A nod to ady for the link.

A few weeks ago, Matt listed the top 50 searches over on wordpress.org in their support forums. It made for an interesting read.