Tag: WordPress

How to Use Pingbacks

PINGA Pingback is not merely the sound of elastic being twanged on Cathy Speight’s catapult as she aims her ammunition at Chris James. It is, in fact, a type of comment that’s created whenever you link to another WordPress.com post (provided the blog the post appears on has pingbacks enabled). The best way to think about pingbacks is as remote comments:

  • Person 1 posts something on his blog.
  • Person 2 posts on her own blog, linking to Person A’s post. This automatically sends a pingback to Person A when both have pingback enabled blogs.
  • Person 1’s blog receives the pingback, then automatically goes to Person 2’s post to confirm that the pingback did, in fact, originate there.

How can I activate Pingbacks?
You can find the settings for pingbacks on your WordPress site.  From your Dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion. At the top you’ll see the Default articles settings section, as shown below: Continue reading “How to Use Pingbacks”

Goodreads Widget for Your Website

I just got a new website. It’s pretty, but it’s kind of plain. So I’ve been looking for some things to add to it. A Goodreads widget seemed like just the thing – and it was so easy to do that I thought I’d show you how.

1. Go to Goodreads and click the Home tab. You should now see a box at the top of the right-hand column labeled Author Dashboard. If you don’t, then chances are that you’ve never claimed your Goodreads author profile. Go here to find out how do that.

All signed up for the author program and back at your home page? Excellent. Now click the words, “Visit your dashboard.” Continue reading “Goodreads Widget for Your Website”

But I Don’t Want a Blog: Turning WordPress into a Website

I was speaking with a pal recently who bemoaned the fact that websites are so hard to edit. “I wish I could have the sort of editing I can do in WordPress for a normal website,” he wailed. “I know how to use WP but I don’t know any html.” Yours truly waved her geeky little magic wand and opined, “Oh but you can use WordPress for a normal website if you want.”

“But I don’t want a blog on this site, it’s just for my books and stuff.”

“You shall go to the ball, young fella-me-lad, you can have your heart’s desire. We’ll make you a static website in WordPress.”

I mentioned this to a few people who agreed, “I’d love the usability of WordPress but I don’t want a blog,” and I realised that there’s a thing to know here. You can use WordPress for any sort of website. It’s not difficult and you instantly have access to the usefulness of widgets and plugins, plus the ability to edit whenever you please. The SEO is a breeze, you can add all manner of social media buttons and woofers and tweeters without ever having to pay a geek to do stuff you don’t understand.

Here’s how… Continue reading “But I Don’t Want a Blog: Turning WordPress into a Website”

How to Build a Press Room on Your Website

Imagine this. In a tireless effort to promote your latest novel, you’ve carpet-bombed the local media with press releases — as yet to no avail. Now you’re at your day job, inserting tab A into slot B or herding Nerfs or whatever you do to make the mortgage payments. Hey, no judgments here. Your cell phone chirps. Sweet merciful Oprah, it’s the book editor of the biggest newspaper in your area…well, her assistant, anyway. The Big Name Author she’d planned to feature was just tagged for plagiarism and other unspeakable affronts to literary sensibilities. You’re the next name on her list, but if you want those precious column inches, she needs your full media kit immediately. What? All you have is a cell phone with one bar and a dying battery, and a whole bunch of random stuff scattered all over your hard drive at home. Continue reading “How to Build a Press Room on Your Website”