Wordpress Version 2.8.5 Review

Last week we were looking into the powerful WordPress editor

. You can view part one of this review either n my own online blog (www.computerarticles.co.uk)or at the Herald Express's website (www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk)

To recap, WordPress (www.wordpress.org) is an open source application which gives home users the ability to quickly and easily create an online blog, a term used to describe a website which provides an ongoing chronicle of information. Here we will looking into some of the more advances features that we didn't cover last week, which really makes WordPress stand out from the crowd.

'Plug-in' us a term used to describe a small piece of software which provides additional features that are not included in the orignal installation. There are optional extras that are created either by Wordpress authors or a third party. If a blogger finds that WordPress doesn't cater for a particular requirement of his then in many cases a plug-in can be used to extend the functionality of the software quickly and easily.

Here are some of the plug-ins I've found particularly useful:

Akismet - You may however find that your blog will all of a sudden start receiving a lot of spam. These are usually generated by automatic systems which are trying to advertise male medical products. Akismet checks comments in your blog against an online database in order to automatically remove any that it deems as looking like spam.

All in One SEO Pack - This allows you to make your blog more appealing to search engines like Google by allowing you to edit the Search Engine Optimisations options. Although Search Engine Optimisation is a large field in itself, this simple plug-in will enable you to climb the results tables easily.

Google XML Sitemaps - Makes a single file which details every page on your site. You can then request that Google download and analyse this file on a regular basis thereby helping them to improve the freshness and visibility of your pages in their search engine.

Sociable - This allows users to add a link to the specific post on their social networking site, such as Facebook, Twitter or Digg.

Statpress - Analyses visitors to your site and allows you to see a number of reports including daily views, pages most visited and search terms used to find your site. You can even use this to find out information on the people who are viewing your blog, such at the operating systems they use and their approximate location.

The ability to keep the software up to date it one of the things I admire most about WordPress; once you have performed the initial installation you will be informed whenever you log in to the control panel if a particular plug-in or indeed the entire installation needs updating. Should you find that any component is out of date then it only takes one click for the appropriate files to be downloaded and installed on your web server automatically.

Because this is so easy to use, it doesn't take a lot to make sure that you always have the most up to date version installed and you are always protected because installing the security patches is simple when they are released.

by: Chris Holgate

POST COMMENT

Backing Up Your WordPress Files - The Super Easy Way How To Use Twitter And Build A Contact List Using Twitter To Talk WordPress CMS: Advantages of WordPress CMS Wordpress Highlights The blackhatteam forum evaluate Twitter avoids courtroom ban Bad Behavior Plugin For Wordpress Bluehost Wordpress Upgrade Get More Twitter Followers Free Top 3 Ways To Buzz Off Your Followers On Twitter Reviewing Forums Assist Other Consumers Rocket Chinese Forum