Blogging with Wordpress

Posted by Michelle Petit-Sumrall as Blogging, Development, Plugins, Web Development, Widgets, Wordpress

In case you hadn’t noticed, when it comes to the infamous “Web 2.0” concept, it’s a whole new world out there.

Actually, that’s the old version but I’ll get to that later. Personally, I feel as though I’ve been on a technological vacation the last few years. I have a Facebook account, a Bebo account, even a LinkedIn account. I think. I never use it, as I prefer Plaxo. I have a blog on Blogger (that I haven’t updated in months). So why am I feeling so “out of the loop”? Because all these wonderful new toys are recent additions to my online, technological activities.

Must be too busy raising the children.

Way back when I first decided “maybe I should get a blog, just to see what all the fuss is about”, I chose Blogger because it seemed easier to deal with than everything else out there. Besides, I like Google products on the whole, and am completely in love with the fact that they are constantly innovating, trying to make things better.

Since then, blogging has become an industry unto itself. Reporters do it. Moms do it. Teenagers do it. Even businesses often have one (or several!). It seems to be the quintessential symbol of internet savviness. Some might even argue that, like having an email address 10 years ago, you are no one without a blog. I wouldn’t go that far myself, of course, but then again I have more than one of the darn things. Who am I to talk?

Which brings me to the subject of this particular blog.

Several months ago, Loretta Kemsley (President of “Moondance: Celebrating Creative Women“) and I started talking more seriously about moving Moondance back into the forefront of things. Among other things, we decided it was time Moondance had a blog, too. The idea was a place where staff could post about whatever they wanted to, and perhaps others could contribute too. So we searched and researched, and finally chose Wordpress for it’s flexibility and popularity. I’m glad we did: I LOVE this new toy!

I have spent the last 24 hours or so getting it configured and tweaked with a gazzillion plugins and customizing a few templates. I’ll be posting more specifics about them at another time, but for now, here is a listing of activated plugins on this blog:

• Share/Save Buttons
• All in one SEO
• Link Checker
• Easy Gravatars
• Event Calendar
• Insights
• Register Plus
• Snazzy Archives
• User Photo
• Page Navi
• WP Wall
• Simple Tags
• Subscribe Buttons
• WP Hive

Then, there are the Themes and Widgets:

• Broken Links
• pageMash
• Automatic Upgrade
• Manage Tags
• Mass Edit Tags
• Auto Tags , and
• NAVT Lists

There are others as well that I haven’t activated, but they are available for all those sharing Moondance’s Wordpress installation. BTW, if you’re interested in bloggin with us, subscribe to the main blog, “Musings and Dance“.

One more thing, getting back to Web 2.0; remember how I said that’s the “old” version? Now, it’s time to work on Web 3.0(UPDATE: WHOOPS! It appears Wikipedia has removed this link because the term isn’t firmly defined yet. Please consider running a Google search for an idea of what the term means at this time).

I’ve got some catching up to do. As they used to say, “The future is coming, and it is now”.

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