Author Archive: Michael Pollock
Hi I'm Michael, a business coach and a creative entrepreneur. I inspire and empower people to make a difference in the world while they create an amazing life for themselves and those they love.
Starting a Website or Blog: 10 Tips for Freelancers
Here’s a quick shout out and link to Laurie – a freelance writer – who shared 10 Tips for Starting a Website or Blog for Freelancers.
How to Add a Header Image to the Simplicity WordPress Theme
I get a lot of folks who want to add a header graphic to my Simplicity WordPress theme, so I figured it was time to just write a tutorial on it. It’s really pretty simple to do.
Step 1: Understand the Dimensions
The header of Simplicity is the wide, blue area at the top where you see the blog name and description. The width of the header is 940px wide. That means any header image you place there needs to be no wider than that. As for the height, well that doesn’t really matter. The header height will expand to fit.
How to Install WordPress
This is a thorough step-by-step tutorial that will show you how to install WordPress on your own server.
Assuming you already have a domain name and web hosting account, you’re ready to go ahead. If you don’t have a domain name and web hosting yet, visit Getting Started tutorial here.
You can also watch the How to Installvideo.
If you host offers the Auto-Install service, watch the How to Install WordPress With Auto-Install video instead.
Introduction to WordPress: Video
In this brief video, we show you why we believe WordPress is the ultimate web publishing platform for any web publisher, large or small. After you watch it, you can view our Getting Started With WordPress guide or visit our WordPress Themes Store to pick out a new theme.
Set up a Video Blog Part Deux (or How to Easily Add Quicktime Video to Your WordPress Site)
My tutorial on adding Flash video to your Worpdress site was pretty popular. The only problem is Flash video tends to be lower quality than Quicktime video. So this tutorial is designed to make it easy for you to add Quicktime video to your WordPress site.
Besides the quality issue, there are other benefits to using Quicktime over Flash. First of all, Quicktime video is the file-format-of-choice for video blogs. In other words, people with video iPods and Quicktime-compatible, portable video players can download the video automatically, just like you would a regular podcast. And from what I understand, that’s not the case with Flash video (correct me if I’m wrong).
Use Your Landline Phone for Skype Calls (Review of D-Link USB Adapter)
Ever since I began using Skype a couple years ago, I’ve been looking for the best way to use it without being tethered to my PC by a pair of headphones. I tried the Bluetooth route, but the sound quality was less than adequate, and I could never get used to those little Bluetooth ear pieces hanging over my ear. What I really wanted was just to use my regular landline headset for Skype and regular landline calls (it’s all about integration with me).
This weekend, during a trip to BestBuy, I found a solution. It’s called the D-Link DPH-50U Skype USB Phone Adapter.
Top 10 Ways to Get a Technorati Top 100 Blogger to Link to Your Blog or Website
If you really want to pump up the traffic to your blog or website, at least temporarily, just get a link from any of the Technorati Top 100 bloggers. No, it’s not easy, but here are ten ways that might gitterdun for ya.
How to Add eBay Listings to Your WordPress Site
One of my clients, Hi-Way Campers, has started listing some of their RVs for sale on eBay. Naturally, I had to figure out a way to integrate it into their website, which is build on a WordPress platform. First I looked around for a WP plugin, but there none to be found. And there’s probably a really good reason there’s no plugin. It’s too easy for a plugin.
How to Password Protect Your WordPress Site
Rachel Cunliffe has a nice little write-up about how to password protect your WordPress site. I would add this to her list:
Check with your web host. Sometimes you can simply make a change on your control panel to password protect your site. My host 1and1, for example, provides this simple method in their FAQ section.
Set up a Video Blog (or How to Add Flash Video to Your WordPress Site)
So you want to create the next Rocketboom (video blog). Or perhaps you have some video you want to add to your WordPress blog or website. Maybe it’s a video of last year’s Christmas party, a business conference you attended or the kids’ soccer game.
Maybe you have a business site and want to provide some video for customers and/or potential customers. For example, when I designed a site for Hi-Way Campers, an RV dealer, I included video walk-through tours of some of the RVs for folks who started their RV shopping online. Website video would also be great for restaurants, conference facilities, hotels, resorts, real estate brokers or anyone with a product people need to see.
