Rob's Great Slideshow
- 1. Style Guide 100 Getting the Most of Out of WordPressSeptember, 2009
- 2. Pay Special Attention to HeadlinesHeadlines are super important to Google. Always try to use keywords and clear descriptions. Don’t forget RSS.Okay:
- 3. Much Better:Pay Special Attention to HeadlinesDon’t use all caps. The center rail blog loop was optimized to look best with standard “first letter capitalization” of headlines. Try not to write “WHY IS RYAN ADAMS SO AWESOME?” when “When Is Ryan Adams So Awesome” gets the same idea across in a kinder, gentler way. Not Great:
- 4. Much Better:Always Backdate When Migrating ContentBe sure to include an accurate Publish date on old content that you’re porting into the WordPressThis helps to keep the system clean and hierarchicalThis Date Should be: May 19, 2007The 2007 Weenie Roast
- 5. Don’t Forget to Use the More TagWhen writing a post, make sure to insert the “More” tag at the point you want the post to breakThe “More Tag”:This is the“More” buttonIt inserts a “More” page break on your home page blog loop.
- 6. If You Don’t Use the “More Tag”, This Happens…A single post fills up the entire home page blog loop.
- 7. It’s Boring, but Spellchecking HelpsBe sure to spell check every post. Wordpress just integrated “After the Deadline,” a spellcheck technology which makes things easier than ever. Spellcheck baby!It catches mistakes!Watch this video: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/atd-wpcom/Categories and TagsA post titled “Last Night at Burger King” might be filed under the “Dinner” category, but could have tags such as, “burger, chicken fries, chocolate shake, dr. pepper”. Always categorize and add tags when creating or migrating a post. They help organize content and help search engines find it.The stronger and more consistent the tagging and categorization of things across sites, the better the relating of content will work for the entire platform.
- 8. What Time is It? Pay Attention to Pub DatesThe Post Timestamp lets you define the date you want the post to appear as published. The timestamp defaults to the current date of when the post was first written. If you’re front-loading content for the weekend, be sure to date it accordingly. Similarly, if you’re migrating old content, back date it.
- 9. Fake the Authors If NecessaryEven if somebody else is posting for them, make sure the author name is from the “writer” of the post. Change author as necessary
- 10. Try to Always Host Content on WordPressCBS has unlimited file storage through it’s contract with Wordpress/Automattic. They also serve up content very quickly and inexpensively. Always try to host your content there, rather than on a legacy server.