A web development/programming blog providing info, tips, and tricks on programming languages, scripting, Linux, MySQL and more
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Improve the performance of the WordPress plugin Statpress (and your blog)
Jul 3rd
I haven’t hid my feelings about the poor performing StatPress plugin for WordPress. However, performance issues aside, I will say that the information this plugin provides is useful, and detailed. I’ve been running this plugin for 8 months now and have a good sized data set (125,000+ rows of data). While I myself have not experienced as many issues with this plugin as I have seen on other blogs, it is mainly because I am running my blog on a virtual dedicated server as opposed to shared hosting. I have seen smaller data sets than mine cause problems on shared hosting servers.
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Improve Your WordPress Blog’s Performance With this Database Hack
Jan 9th
**UPDATE**: After further research of the query below, I have found some additional information. The query was first introduced in WP 2.3 and is used for comment flood protection. I am currently running WP 2.9.1 and do not have the issue as the query has been modified and using a proper index to assist with the query speed. If you are using the latest version of WP, you won’t have this problem. I am still trying to find exactly when the query was changed so you all can know where you stand. However, I know that some people don’t upgrade their WP version due to changes they have made which upgrading will break. If you are on an older version of WP and have a large number of comments (tens to hundreds of thousands), this query will help improve your comment post times. If you are familiar enough with MySQL, look at the wp_comments table in your database. If there is an index on the `comment_date_gmt` column, you are ok. If not, read on, and run the query below as adding an index to the `comment_date_gmt` column won’t work as your query does not have that column in it’s WHERE clause.
One of daily responsibilities as a database administrator is maintaining the health of our shared hosting environment. In doing so, I deal with plenty of WordPress blogs daily. The one thing I have noticed is that many WordPress plugins are very poorly designed and can cause problems in a shared hosting environment. WordPress at it’s core though, is very well designed, although I have noticed some areas of possible improvement. As I come across common issues, I will post the fixes for them here for all to use.
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Where do you find your reading material?
Dec 3rd
Anyone who is at the very least semi-serious about growing their blog, or learning more about their subject, knows, you never stop reading. There is always something on the internet worth reading in your niche and anyone who says otherwise is either a liar, in denial, or not looking hard enough to find it. The information is out there and it won’t come to you, you have to go and find it.
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Avoid WordPress StatPress plugin like the plague!
Dec 2nd
** Update: I have released my first set of updates to the StatPress plugin. Check out the post for code to improve your blogs performance of StatPress
The WordPress plugin StatPress is an absolutely horrid plugin to use. Yes, I said it…horrid! After seeing many people praising this plugin on their sites, this is a bold statement.
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How to Insert Google Ads into the Content of your WordPress Post
Jun 15th
Have you ever wondered how to get your Google Ads inside your post content like I have below? A couple of days ago, I was trying to figure out how to insert Google Adsense Ads directly into my post content without pasting the whole Adsense code. I came across an article that detailed exactly what I was looking for: Insert Google Adsense Code Anywhere In Your Wordpress Article.
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How to fix a broken WordPress RSS feed
Jun 9th
Looking over my analytics for my blog the last couple days, I’ve noticed I have got a couple of referral visits from my web design company website. I added a FeedBurner widget to the front of that site highlighting my 5 most recent blog posts. Out of curiosity, I was browsing on that website and notice the Widget stated “Watch this space for future items!” Well that was just weird to me since I post every day. Upon further research, FeedBurner was showing an error “There is an issue that must be addressed with your source feed for the feed”. When I went to my actual feed URL, I got the following error:
XML Parsing Error: XML or text declaration not at start of entity
Location: http://www.poundbangwhack.com/feed/
Line Number 2, Column 1:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
^
Increase your blog traffic and readership with one giant LEAP!
Jun 7th
As I sat in church today listening to a guest sermon about leadership, I found that the more and more he spoke, the more and more I could be applying these principals to blogging. Now I know I should’ve been paying more attention in church, but you never know when inspiration is going to strike and I couldn’t help myself.
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Is Twitter the RSS Killer?
Jun 5th
As I start to use Twitter more and more I have noticed something that got me thinking. As a web designer/developper/blogger, I try to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the internet. My biggest leap came a few months ago when I hitched a ride on the train to Tweet Town. I signed up for Twitter obviously knowing what it was. What I didn’t know was the potential that lies therein.
Twitter creates duplicate content
I am constantly reading articles and posts online from other bloggers and site owners sharing their expertise (and lack thereof on occasion). I have my favorite sites that I subscribe to via RSS and am always on the lookout for new source of information. As I begin becoming a regular Twit, I find myself following all these same individuals, and more, on Twitter. And there’s the rub. Most bloggers (myself included) obviously use Twitter to reach a larger audience to promote their posts. If I subscribe to a blog’s RSS feed and follower that author on Twitter, I get the feed in my Mozilla Thunderbird and I see the tweet on Twitter about the post: double whammy. As I noticed this, I wondered:
“Do I really need to subscribe to a feed and follow the author?”
How do you prefer to have your posts promoted on Twitter? RT or Reading?
Jun 4th
In my quest to become a better Twit, I have noticed something interesting about users who promote other people’s posts. I have seen people’s articles and tweets promoted in two different ways:
RT (ReTweet) and Reading
The Power of Reading – The Twitter Experiment Update
Jun 3rd
I have officially begun my Twitter Experiment where I will attempt to increase blog traffic from, and by effectively using, Twitter. (read more about what prompted it here)
Last night I made my first “non-selfish” Tweet.
Reading @problogger How Listening to a Waiter can Jack your Profits up 33% – http://is.gd/MFXh
