Waahoo! I Survived Upgrading to WP 2.3!

It is now official: This blog has been upgraded to WordPress v.2.3. Ain’t that special? Well, for me it is: I usually wait about two weeks after an upgraded version of this blogging platform has been released before I go where bloggers fear to tread.

Hooray for FileZilla

Thanks to FileZilla, I was able to FTP everything inside of 10 minutes and, yes, I remembered to back up my database, turn off my plug-ins, and leave my config-sys file alone.

No Problems This Time

I recall one particular upgrade from hades that took me hours to complete simply because I was multi-tasking (read: not giving the upgrade my full attention) and having to re-do everything to find out what I missed. What a geek!

I Like The Tag Feature

So far, so good: I like the tags feature and the “Pending Review” under the post status is a nice option, particularly for multiple bloggers. One plug-in has been updated and I assume the other dozen or so are working fine.

Have you upgraded yet? What has your experience with the latest offering been so far?

WordPress Tosses Technorati In Favor of the Google Blogs Directory

BTW, I like when I click on the blog comments section on the management panel that it returns to be Google Blog directory results, not Technorati. I bet that change is causing some controversy.

Excellent Work, WordPress!

All right, the plug-ins have been reactivated and I think I’ll head over to WordPress to read about all of the nifty features of v.2.3. Kudos to the WP gang who spent a lot of time making sure that this version was delivered well tested and on time.

For Every Season, There Is A Link (Or 5)

Autumn has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere while our friends south of the equator are enjoying Spring. I’m enjoying my visits to various sites and am sharing with you today some of my most recent bookmarks. Lots of good stuff for your review, some of which I have already shared elsewhere in the world of social media.

Combating Junk Mail

If your mailbox tends to get cluttered with junk mail over the waning months of the year, How to Get Off Mailing Lists offers timely advice on what action to take to rid your home of unwanted solicitations.

Improve Your SEO

Sometimes it pays to re-examine your way of doing things, including search engine optimization (SEO). Five Simple Ways too Improve Your SEO offers basic steps every blogger should take when it comes to optimizing their sites.

The Extraordinary Monetary Value of Social Media

It can seem impossible to quantify the value of most social media sites. The majority of them charge no fees and their income is derived solely from advertising. Yet, when I hear what some companies have paid for sites such as MyBlogLog and MySpace, I guess I am not too surprised to hear what Facebook could fetch if their asking price is met.

Now You Can Purchase Blog Comments

I won’t link to the site, but I’ll link to an article that explains it all — Terrible Idea: Buy Blog Comments Sells Spam. Yes, if you are that desperate to leave linkable comments on other blogs but you don’t have the time to do that, you can hire someone to provide that service for you. Yes, blog spamming has now gone mainstream — cringe!

Your Writer’s Union

All right, I admit it: I am not pro-union. That being said, freelance writers who feel that they need representation may want to check out the National Writers Union to see what they’re all about. Dues are based on your annual writing income and are paid semi-annually. Contract advice, grievance assistance, and advocacy are just a few of the benefits offered by the NWU. Nearly every writer I know meets their eligibility requirements; whether you should seek representation is something you’ll have to determine.

Finally, I leave you with this quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne to chew on as you take up your next writing project:

�Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.�