It’s been a busy week- with David Esrati from The Next Wave and chief Websitetologist speaking in Chicago at WebContent2007, and then at the International Association of Conference Centers meeting in Dayton. Both heard the short “Blogzilla” presentation- which runs 1 hour to an hour and a half (depending on the speed of the audience).
If you are interested in a dynamic, interesting presentation on Web 2.0 and building community, while making it to the top of Google without paying for keywords- and to enliven and entertain any conference- we’re available.
UPDATE: Dec 2017- Press it is now called Press This and is a plugin you have to add.
To create this post, to teach you how to use the Press It function of WordPress, I thought it was best if I actually used it to write the post. So, just like you would, I did a Google Search for “How to use WordPress Press It”. To get to the top of Google, it never hurts to link to content that’s already at the top (lesson 1).
Looking at the Google results- I saw the WordPress Codex link. And while it’s number one, I’ve often found the codex a little rough for reading. Looking over it, I was right. So, I looked to my online “friend” Lorelle. Her posts are usually pretty on the money. So, I clicked on the link and it took me to her post. Note- this is IMPORTANT- it took me to HER POST, not her site. For Press it to work, you need to select an article or post that has a unique url. Her site url is www.lorelle.wordpress.com
this post has the url:
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2005/09/15/wordpress-power-user-features-just-press-it/
See the difference? A post can be one of 10 or 20 or so in reverse chronological order, or it can stand alone. You need the post alone. In most blog applications, and most CMS (content management system) systems- the way you do this is to click on the headline, or look for a link that says “permalink”. This will isolate the article you are interested in.
Now, I should mention, you need to do what Lorelle explains here at the beginning as a “click and drag to your link toolbar”- or what WordPress says to “Right click on the following link and choose “Add to favorites” to create a posting shortcut.”
However, there were changes from WordPress 2.5 to 2.7. In 2.5 you made the Press It link from the “Write post” page of your WordPress admin area- it’s at the bottom of the page. In 2.7 it’s been moved and renamed, now appearing in the Tools are of your left Dashboard column. However, you still do the same thing- drag the link to your toolbar, or bookmark/favorite it.
So, I’ve clicked to Lorelle’s post- then I highlight the part of her post I want to put on my blog to comment on. Then I look to my toolbar where I have the “Press it” bookmark stored- and click it. Voila- her highlighted content is in my write post pane- with her headline (more about this in a minute).
It’s below- and to show that I didn’t write it, I’m going to select it all and use the “Indent list/Blockquote” button from my Visual Text Editor tool bar (it’s the 7th icon over- with a blue arrow pointing at lines to move them right).
WordPress Power User Features – Just Press It « Lorelle on WordPress
With every installation of WordPress comes a little gem called Press It. It is a javascript “bookmarklet” found on the Write Post screen in your Admin. It’s at the very bottom. If you click and drag the link to your Link Toolbar in your Internet browser, it will put the javascript on the bar for you to quickly click and use.When visiting a site you want to create a link and post about on your blog or website, just click the link and a window will pop up with either your site’s login or, if you are already logged in, a condensed version of the Write Post screen. Inside will be the title filled out with the title of the website you are visiting if there is one and a link in the Editing textarea. You just fill in the text, mark the categories, then save it as a draft or private or publish it.
Now, this is even more powerful than you first may think. If you select text on the page and then click Press It, the text you highlighted will be copied and pasted into the post. Wow That is cool and I love it. What a great feature.
You can learn more about how to use the Press It in the WordPress Codex.
When I want to return to my writing, I use the “Outdent” button (to the left of the blockquote button) and we’re back to normal. Depending on how your theme is configured, your “blockquoted” text could have a pair of apostrophes {“} or a line on the left side, or appear in a bubble, or shaded area. All this says is: “this content is quoted.”
I never use the Title of my quoted text for my title- instead, I write my own. Their title will appear as the link at the top of the blockquote. Remember, this is my take on it- not a wholesale steal. One thing about Pressit- it doesn’t know what to alt title the link- so you have to do it. Select the link, click the link tool- and write a descriptive explanation of what the link is to. While Lorelles post title is pretty clear- it’s not great: so I wrote: Link to Lorelle on WordPress explaining the PressIt function (roll over the link to see this text). The “Title” function is critical for blind people- and a good habit to adopt. Think of one of those Amazon.com links with a million digits and letters, a blind person wouldn’t know what the link is taking him to- and remember, Google is just like a blind person.
So, we’re almost done. Only a few things to pay attention to.
If we’re Pressit’ing from a WordPress site- this works like clockwork. But, if you are quoting a TypePad site or other CMS- you may need to find a “Trackback” address that may be different than the article’s “permalink” or direct URL. This is because WordPress is elegant- and the others, well, they aren’t.
So- get that “Trackback” url and paste it below your post window in the area called “Trackback” (it’s below the upload tool- and usually under the “optional excerpt” pane). Put it in and then make sure to add your post to some categories- and hit “Publish” and you are done.
Now, while you are so proud of yourself for adding someone else’s content to your site, legally- there is one other fringe benefit, if all of this works right: there will now be a comment (or trackback) on Lorelle’s site, with an excerpt and a link to this post. Voila, we’ve built a link and a relationship! Yee-Haw!
Some people with a lot of readers don’t allow comments anymore- just trackbacks to their posts. Need an example- look at Seth Godin’s blog. Note- I have to use one URL for the post, and a second to create a trackback since Seth use TypePad.
Now- while that may seem like a lot, it’s really easy once you get the hang of it. Hopefully, this step-by-step instruction post will help.
Remember, good content brings more readers, more links, and more google love, so make sure what you add to someone else’s content actually adds value to their post.
Lorelle, how’d I do?
Here is a video tutorial :
We now have 2 Seminars!
The original Blogosopher- or “Blogosphere” (for those with Dyslexia), is a 3.5 hour seminar on how to make the Internet work for your business. At the bottom of this page is an outline of some of the subjects we cover.
It’s new name is Websitetology 101
You will leave the seminar able to build an effective site- that you can maintain yourself, and knowing the tricks to search engine optimization so that your site will be found.
If you wonder if the seminar is for you- see this post:http://blogosopher.com/?p=9
The new seminar- is all WordPress- Websitetology WP advanced
We spend 3.5 hours learning all the tips and tricks of WordPress- a very cool and easy to use Open Source (free!) Content Management System that is designed for Blogging- but offers so much more, it’s really a fantastic way to build and maintain a website for business.
Each seminar is $79 if you register 12 hours in advance (you can do that on this site- at the sign-up page) If you walk in, it’s an additional $15 for onsite registration- cash or check only.
We highly recommend taking both classes- the first one is the big picture course- where you learn about the web, types of sites, how search works, how to compete with the big boys- and outsmart them, and be highly visible online- as well as an intro to a really great piece of software- WordPress.
While we concentrate on using a Blog (short for weB LOG) to build traffic to your website- you will learn how to analyze site stats (and all sites should have stats- you just may not know about them) to refine your content. We will teach you how your site design can be optimized for search engines- which will drive more than 70% of your traffic to your site (without having to pay for it) if you do things right.
Internet novices to people who already have successful web businesses have come to learn about how this Blog technology is changing the web. The Blog software we demonstrate, Word Press, is very smart, server side software, that makes it easy for anyone- to build and maintain a professional looking website- that can be updated at will. The code it generates meets all W3C standards, it notifies search engines and your customers that you have new content with out you doing anything other than adding content. We introduce you to RSS which will change your online relationship with your customers- and how you use the web.
If some of this didn’t make sense to you- don’t worry- it will after the seminar.
The WP Advanced site- was developed because some people just want to learn about the WordPress application in depth. We cover each part of the software in depth- including multiple authors, trackbacks, pings, password protection, dissecting themes, key plug-ins, and how to get help when things go wrong. While some attendees feel very comfortable with the interface and the program, many asked for a more relaxed look at WordPress so we created the WP advanced class for them.
If you have a group and want to arrange for short introduction to Blogs and how they win the search game- we can work a group rate- or if you want to host the seminar for your professional organization (ad club, Chamber of Commerce etc.) we can split revenues with you.
Instead of giving away trash and trinkets- or “promotional items” to your clients- help them grow their business by hosting the seminar for them- as a sponsored event- or by buying them admission at a discount. Please contact the chief Websitetologist at [email protected]
Websitetology Topics
What is the internet:
- Types of servers
- Domain name
- Hosting
Types of sites:
- Static/dynamic/live
- W3C, 508 (screen reader)
- HTML/Flash/CSS
- Communities: AOL, Yahoo groups, Wikis, BB’s, NewsGroups (Etiquette)
Software:
- Browser wars
- Why Firefox.
- What is open source?
Hosting basics:
- Serving platforms
- Control panels
- Stats
- Connectivity/redundancy
- URL registration
- How to look things up
All about E-mail:
- E-mail broadcast
- What is SPAM/ CAN SPAM
- HTML e-mail
- Opt-in
- Good e-mail etiquette
Search:
- Search=Use=commerce
- Google, Yahoo, others
- “Search Engine optimizationâ€
- How search ranks
- How web stats can unveil business for you
Blogs:
- What they are- and aren’t
- Web Log=BLOG- journal
- Active web site- Back end database
- Content management system
- Interaction- live.
- RSS
Why Blogs are important:
- Updated frequently
- Good clean code
- Low cost
- High interactivity
- Interaction
- Integration into a static site
Blog Options:
- Blogger, Moveable Type, TypePad, WordPress
- Themes- CSS
- Extensions/Plug-ins
Content:
- The holy grail of the Internet.
- Writing for an audience
- Style
- How to attribute content
- Links
- Format
- Promoting your site
- Inviting your reader in.
- How to analyze your content
- How to analyze your keywords
What is a blogosopher?
- How do you contribute to the community?
- How do you get started?
some student feedback: