I’ve mentioned Microformats before on this site, but not in direct relation to WordPress. Microformats are ways to code data for universal interchange- something they should have figured out when computers were first invented- but are just getting worked out now. Just as we have formats for pictures: jpg, tiff, bmp, eps etc. Microformats are formats for data that should be shared.

If everyone used these tags properly, search engines would be an order of magnitude more powerful, being able to coordinate the who, what, when, why and where data into a more powerful results page.

The format that comes first to my mind is the Vcard- a way of sharing contact information. There are many other tags- and this article will help guide you to the others and how to incorporate them into WordPress.

Using Microformats in WordPress | blogHelper

The second approach involves the use of specialised WP plugins to create microformat-ted content right from your admin panel.

GeoPress is another plugin for location data.

Hopefully, when we have more time, we’ll investigate these more and fill you in on how to use these effectively in building a site for business.

If you’ve ever wondered where the little tidbits in the gray boxes at the bottom of your dashboard come from- you should read this post by Owen “RedAlt” Winkler- which explains it.
» Planet WordPress and the Dashboard Feeds

Planet WordPress is a site that aggregates feeds from a number of users who have contributed to the WordPress Open Source project, or who provide good sources of information on WordPress, its themes, or its plugins. Planet WordPress produces a feed that is displayed in the Dashboard of most WordPress installations.

While I can’t say I read all the feeds on it- very often I get some good leads on new cool WordPress functions, plugins, themes etc. there.

I’ve guessed that it could become a paid advertising channel in future releases of WordPress, to help fund WordPress.com and pay the people who put in the many hours to keep WordPress great. It’s an interesting concept- and could give Google Ad Sense a run for their money.

Journalists used to be held in high regard for reporting “just the facts”- with a strict wall between the news and business operations- then that started to crumble- and next, even the facts started getting mixed with opinions.

If anyone has ever been quoted by a reporter- you instantly realize that context is the key to sounding smart- or stupid.

So- the ability to publish by anyone, thanks to easy Open Source Content management systems (blogs) like WordPress – now allow the interviewee to publish their side- even before the reporter does. Many interviewee’s even demand all interviews be done by e-mail, to provide a written record- so there can be no misquotes.

This article about the shift- and the excerpt are an interesting look into the future of journalism- all forms. The last line of the excerpt- is what is most key to any website: “It is being the smartest, or most useful, or most reliable” which will help your business put the win in your www effort.
mediabistro.com: Articles: Scooped by a Source

The ability to procure interviews, conduct them professionally, and extract insights from the resulting conversations is commonly perceived as a big part of the value we add as journalists to any news story that involves more than rewriting a press release or regurgitating the minutes from a city council meeting. One school of thought argues that exclusivity never added very much value anyway, or at least it pales in comparison to the value to be gained from reader participation and transparency.

“I think you’re assuming that there is any value left in the scoop,” wrote Jeff Jarvis, blogger and citizen journalism advocate, in an email. “There isn’t. You can’t control the biorhythms of news anymore. The world doesn’t much care who reported what first. Bylines matter to writers, not readers.”

They matter to editors, too. And so do exclusive quotes. While I agreed with Jeff that the scoop-for-scoop’s sake means increasingly little (except in matters of national security and other instances of life-or-death), his stance won’t convince editors that the journalists who borrow the words of a Mark Cuban, or Jason Calacanis (or Jarvis, for that matter) from the logorrhea of their blogs is anything other than lazy. “Ah, but that is what has to change: the editors’ heads,” the journalism school professor replied. “They have to discover what their real value is, and it is not being first with quoted blather. It is being the smartest, or most useful, or most reliable.”