Five Top Wordpress Plugins

What is a plugin, anyway?  Plugins are user-friendly coding that can make your blog do almost anything!  Someone puts hard work into creating these wonderful tools, so that you, the blogger, can give your blog what it needs to function or be reader friendly.

Akismet

A spam filter service that puts possible spam in a separate folder.  I can review them all and choose 'delete permantently' or just trust Akismet and delete them all without reviewing them.  Akismet has only placed 9 real comments (or false positives, as they call them -- LOL) in the spam folder.  That's not bad for having had 1,096 spam comments over the past six months.

Broken Link Checker

A link checker for all links on your blog, whether it's the link to one of your blog posts or an outgoing link.  This is good for reporting sites to you that are no longer active.  I usually just 'unlink' and I'm good to go.  Sometimes, if it's a link to a site that is still up and running, but that particular page is no longer active, I remove all but the main part of the link.  For example, if "http://ABlogSiteILinkedTo.com/ThisPageNotWorking' is no longer working, then I reduce it to "http://ABlogSiteILinkedTo.com", so that my readers still have access to the blog or website being referenced.

The only concern I have is that sometimes it reports a link as broken when it's not.  In that case, there is a button to click to tell the checker that the link is not broken.

Fast Secure Contact Form

Put your email address on your website or blog, and you're bound to get lots of spam, guaranteed!  This plugin allows the reader to contact you via a form on your blog.  You receive an email, in return.  Since it's not spammer friendly, I've never received any spam email via the contact form.  It also benefits your reader, because he or she doesn't have to open their email client to contact you.

Follow Me

This feature allows your readers to subscribe to your blog via RSS or email, and connect to you via Twitter, Youtube, Digg, StumbleUpon, and others.  All you have to do is enter those links initially, and they appear as recognizable icons.  (Take a look at my sidebar for an example. It's listed under my customizable heading 'Follow This Mom!')

WordPress Database Backup

Although I've never had to use this one, and I pray that I don't have to, this is a must for any blogger!  Back up your blog!  Things get lost!  This plugin gives you the option of a regularly scheduled back up.  It can be saved to your computer or emailed to you.

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Do you have any plugins that your blog couldn't do without?  Share them with me, pretty please!

Happy Plugin!

~Tami

Why Do I Blog?

The last couple of days I've been thinking about writing this post but I just wasn't sure what to write. Whenever I would think about creating a post this topic would always come to forefront of my mind making it almost impossible to write about anything else. So I figure this is what the Lord wants me to write about.

Why do I blog? I know why I blog. The Lord knows why I blog. However when planning this post out, I just couldn't come up with the words to express my reasons. I started blogging in 2008 after my 2nd child was born and I quit my full time job to become a stay at home mom. At first blogging was just something new to learn and something that was just mine. Not my kids, not my husbands, just mine.

Quickly I discovered the world of work at home moms and began trying to build a work at home business. It took me a while, but I have finally found my niche. Looking back at all that I know now, I understand why the Lord had me go in the direction He did. Without experiences those wins and loses there is no way I would be here now doing exactly what the Lord intended all along.

So what am I doing? I'm praising the Lord. I'm helping other Christians get started in their online businesses and blogs. I am able to use my WordPress and web design skills to help other Christian bloggers and entrepreneurs. I'm able to do what I love while serving the Lord at the same time. It's an awesome thing. If you would have asked me 2 years ago where I would be today, I would have never imagined where I am at.

So when I am asked, "Why do you blog?" I answer to serve the Lord.

Create a Media Kit for Your Blog

Besides discovering a natural niche for my blog, I have another bloggy item on my to-do list following this year's Blissdom '10 conference: create a media kit.

Conversation about having a media kit began at lunch on the first day of the conference with Faithful Bloggers co-founder Kelly from Wisdom Begun. She gave me a great list of media kit must-haves. Simple Mom, Tsh Oxenreider, also spoke in one of the sessions about the importance of a good media kit.

Create a Media Kit for Your Blog

One of the best ways to create your own media kit is to study others. Simple Mom's media kit was touted at Blissdom as a great example of what to do. I would agree; the media kit is attractive, easy-to-read, interesting, and thorough.

As you work on your media kit, consider these suggestions:

1. Think of your "social media footprint." Make sure to include all numbers of followers/subscribers/contacts on your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and similar accounts.
2. Think of your contacts in real life. How connected are you in your community? Many Christian women bloggers, especially, have many opportunities for relationships in the Church and in para-church organizations.
3. Regard your media kit as a "digital resume." Just as you wrote every activity and honor on your college application, do the same for your blog's media kit.
4. Note any previous campaigns in which you've been involved and how you achieved your goals with your blog. Record all conferences attended.
5. Statistics are important, of course, and Google Analytics is the recommended tool for gathering them. Do find out who your audience is. Advertisers are more concerned about who is receiving your message (and ultimately their ads) than they are concerned with you.
6. Even if your blog is small, create a media kit! It gives you a professional profile and it's important to have on-hand.

Check out these articles* about creating a media kit for your blog:

Problogger

The Write Gal

Mom Bloggers Club

A Cowboy's Wife

Do you have a media kit? What's in it? What's your best piece of advice for a blogger creating a new media kit for her blog?

*The articles listed here are from websites that do not necessarily contain Christian content.

Image: www.crestock.com