Comments on: What would I do different if I had to start my blog over? – Duncan Riley http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/ Make Money Online Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:59:38 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Zulit » Blog Archive » 1 Question Interview Series @ Problogger http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-1285970 Zulit » Blog Archive » 1 Question Interview Series @ Problogger Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:59:09 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-1285970 [...] Riley. His answer lines up directly with my process for creating and managing a blog. You can see his answer here. Notice his comments on the use of Wordpress for your blogging platform, and the use of SEO [...] [...] Riley. His answer lines up directly with my process for creating and managing a blog. You can see his answer here. Notice his comments on the use of Wordpress for your blogging platform, and the use of SEO [...]

]]> By: Duncan http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-394516 Duncan Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:02:16 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-394516 El Hakeem I have to disagree. One of Wordpress' best features is it's ease of use, it's famous for its 5 minute install and I've walked newbies through it plenty of times...it's not that hard...but it's even easier if your host has Fantastico (or similar) installed because all it takes is a click or two to set it up. In terms of templates etc, there's a huge range of ready made templates out there, and many now have the ability to be tweaked with little to no knowledge. The GUI is easy in my book as well. But I do take on board that if you want to do more powerful customisation, you do have to be able to find your way around some code, but I've found that php code is the easiest of the lot to learn..and lets face it, if you ever want to edit anything to that great a depth, you have to learn some code. As for spell check and other features: plugins are easy as to install (particularly compared to earlier versions of WP), you've got a whole world of functionality there, and if you can move a file from one point to another in Windows, you can easily to it via FTP to a WordPress install. El Hakeem
I have to disagree. One of Wordpress’ best features is it’s ease of use, it’s famous for its 5 minute install and I’ve walked newbies through it plenty of times…it’s not that hard…but it’s even easier if your host has Fantastico (or similar) installed because all it takes is a click or two to set it up. In terms of templates etc, there’s a huge range of ready made templates out there, and many now have the ability to be tweaked with little to no knowledge. The GUI is easy in my book as well. But I do take on board that if you want to do more powerful customisation, you do have to be able to find your way around some code, but I’ve found that php code is the easiest of the lot to learn..and lets face it, if you ever want to edit anything to that great a depth, you have to learn some code.
As for spell check and other features: plugins are easy as to install (particularly compared to earlier versions of WP), you’ve got a whole world of functionality there, and if you can move a file from one point to another in Windows, you can easily to it via FTP to a WordPress install.

]]> By: Duncan http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-394426 Duncan Tue, 18 Jul 2006 05:18:11 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-394426 No probs Andy, I've rubbed more than my fair share of ppl the wrong way over the years...no hard feelings, once I become a globe trotting blog network owner (hehe...well, I can dream anyway..maybe one day...:-) ) I'll be sure to buy you a drink. No probs Andy, I’ve rubbed more than my fair share of ppl the wrong way over the years…no hard feelings, once I become a globe trotting blog network owner (hehe…well, I can dream anyway..maybe one day…:-) ) I’ll be sure to buy you a drink.

]]> By: Andy Merrett http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-391121 Andy Merrett Fri, 14 Jul 2006 07:40:57 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-391121 <strong>What would I do different if I met Duncan Riley again?</strong> Get over the differences I think we have and get to know the guy better. This is a class interview, Duncan, and I'm sorry I've had a chip on my shoulder for a while. Good luck, keep doing what you do so well. To El Hakeem: I understand your frustration. I don't think a self-hosted solution is for the faint of heart, whatever you choose, which is why Wordpress.com, Typepad, Blogger are around. You get less overall control but you just get something that (usually) works. I'll admit there's a geek element to it - it's not quite yet one touch install (though you can get an 'out-of-the-box' solution fairly quickly if you know about unzipping gzip tar files, and what your MySQL database is called - heheh). And there are some classy plugins that do many things for you without needing to hack the code <em>too</em> much. But yes, it's still a bit under-the-hood isn't it? Personally I love that but then I AM A GEEK! But, a one-touch self-install and maybe a web 2.0 GUI for at least a basic WYSIWYG template and plugins, would be nice. Or just lots of friendly people that will install things for you for free!! :) What would I do different if I met Duncan Riley again?

Get over the differences I think we have and get to know the guy better. This is a class interview, Duncan, and I’m sorry I’ve had a chip on my shoulder for a while. Good luck, keep doing what you do so well.

To El Hakeem: I understand your frustration. I don’t think a self-hosted solution is for the faint of heart, whatever you choose, which is why Wordpress.com, Typepad, Blogger are around. You get less overall control but you just get something that (usually) works. I’ll admit there’s a geek element to it – it’s not quite yet one touch install (though you can get an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution fairly quickly if you know about unzipping gzip tar files, and what your MySQL database is called – heheh). And there are some classy plugins that do many things for you without needing to hack the code too much. But yes, it’s still a bit under-the-hood isn’t it? Personally I love that but then I AM A GEEK!

But, a one-touch self-install and maybe a web 2.0 GUI for at least a basic WYSIWYG template and plugins, would be nice. Or just lots of friendly people that will install things for you for free!! :)

]]> By: El Hakeem http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-388955 El Hakeem Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:38:33 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-388955 If Wordpress is the best blogging software of the lot, then the product category still has far to evolve. Wordpress iss till scandalously complicated to use. Roger Low above is hardly the only person struggling with configuring Wordpress. As with most software, it was written by geeks for geeks who somehow forgot that the majority of users do not speak HTML, PHP, javascript or any of those Martian tongues. Wordpress has no user-friendly GUI to speak of, so customisation requires coding knowlege. It doesn't work with the Windows installer, so my garndmother couldn't instal it. Unbelievably for a program in its genre, it has no spellchecker, meaning valuable time is lost reediting posts for typos. It is often buggy and unstable, sometimes consigning whole blocks of text into oblivion. Perhaps this is only to be expected from an open source product. However, we eagerly awaitt he product that will leapfrog Wordpress. If Wordpress is the best blogging software of the lot, then the product category still has far to evolve.

Wordpress iss till scandalously complicated to use. Roger Low above is hardly the only person struggling with configuring Wordpress. As with most software, it was written by geeks for geeks who somehow forgot that the majority of users do not speak HTML, PHP, javascript or any of those Martian tongues.

Wordpress has no user-friendly GUI to speak of, so customisation requires coding knowlege. It doesn’t work with the Windows installer, so my garndmother couldn’t instal it. Unbelievably for a program in its genre, it has no spellchecker, meaning valuable time is lost reediting posts for typos. It is often buggy and unstable, sometimes consigning whole blocks of text into oblivion.

Perhaps this is only to be expected from an open source product. However, we eagerly awaitt he product that will leapfrog Wordpress.

]]> By: Terry http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-388638 Terry Wed, 12 Jul 2006 05:20:40 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-388638 REALLY good advice in this post. The SEO portion is invaluable. Of course going with Wordpress is critical too. -Terry REALLY good advice in this post. The SEO portion is invaluable.

Of course going with Wordpress is critical too.

-Terry

]]> By: Roger Loh http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-388589 Roger Loh Wed, 12 Jul 2006 03:39:36 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-388589 Great post there...good advice for newbies like me :-) Good to hear that WordPress is definitely a good way to go. And there's alot I learnt from that interview. However, I must say it's not easy for a complete newbie and the uninitiated to start out. Installing WordPress and configuring it is already a challenge. But having said that, it's worth the investment of time and effort as I finally got my WordPress blogs going. Great post there…good advice for newbies like me :-)

Good to hear that WordPress is definitely a good way to go. And there’s alot I learnt from that interview.

However, I must say it’s not easy for a complete newbie and the uninitiated to start out. Installing WordPress and configuring it is already a challenge. But having said that, it’s worth the investment of time and effort as I finally got my WordPress blogs going.

]]> By: Geoff http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-388499 Geoff Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:01:08 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-388499 Thanks Duncan. I'm new to blogging for income and there are some great ideas. I am also releived to already done a lot of what you are suggesting. That's probably thanks to Darren's posts. I particularly like the idea of more original content. It takes more time, but is also easier in some ways. Thanks Duncan. I’m new to blogging for income and there are some great ideas. I am also releived to already done a lot of what you are suggesting. That’s probably thanks to Darren’s posts. I particularly like the idea of more original content. It takes more time, but is also easier in some ways.

]]> By: William http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-387748 William Tue, 11 Jul 2006 16:21:09 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-387748 Great Thoughts! I am fairly new to the blogging for a profit world and just thought a blog is a blog and never took the time to understand keyword placement and SEO stuff. I am still learning. More from trial and more often than not, error. I am learning that blogs grow with the knowledge you bring into them. Great Thoughts! I am fairly new to the blogging for a profit world and just thought a blog is a blog and never took the time to understand keyword placement and SEO stuff. I am still learning. More from trial and more often than not, error. I am learning that blogs grow with the knowledge you bring into them.

]]> By: Heather http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/comment-page-1/#comment-387736 Heather Tue, 11 Jul 2006 16:07:59 +0000 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/07/12/what-would-i-do-different-if-i-had-to-start-my-blog-over-duncan-riley/#comment-387736 Great interview. It's good to hear this advice from a pro. Before I started my first blog last fall, I was fortunate to receive some good advice about WordPress, and I also hired a professional designer to develop my site. I've never regretted making that investment because having a professional online presence has opened the door to other paid writing opportunities. Great interview. It’s good to hear this advice from a pro. Before I started my first blog last fall, I was fortunate to receive some good advice about WordPress, and I also hired a professional designer to develop my site. I’ve never regretted making that investment because having a professional online presence has opened the door to other paid writing opportunities.

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