Tag Archives: wordpress

WP-Property WordPress Plugin

Tech, ,

I have been playing around with the WP-Property plugin on my maine beach rentals website. The website was created to list my mother-in-laws beach house to help book summer rentals.

The plugin is very robust and customizable. My favorite features I’ve uncovered so far are:

– Variety of sidebar widgets
– Google maps integration and address validation
– Property search. I only have one listing, but can see the power of the search feature.

The plugin is replacing a Real Estate theme that had built in property management. But the wp-property plugin is much more intuitive and flexible.

Generate 301 Redirects in Excel

Tech, , , , ,

If you are not using Google Webmaster Tools then stop reading now, sign up and come back, we’ll wait. OK now, say we are analyzing the Diagnostics > Web Crawl section in Google Webmaster Tools and notice that there are some Not Found errors. One way to fix these errors is to redirect them in .htaccess using a 301 Redirect.

Here is a handy spreadsheet (301-generator.xls) that I use to create my redirects using the data I download from Webmaster Tools. If you don’t like opening spreadsheets from an unknown blogger, then scroll down to the bottom of this post for the formula! 

How to use it

  1. Download the Not Found errors by clicking Download this table in Webmaster Tools
  2. Copy the non-domain part of the bad URL in first column (URL) of the spreadsheet downloaded from Google Webmaster Tools. Paste it into the next open field in column A on the 301-Generator spreadsheet. The non-domain part is everything after the http://www.yourdomain.com part of the URL field.
  3. Paste or Type in the new destination (in FQDN or Fully Qualified Domain Name format) into column B on the same row as the bad URL in step 2 above.
  4. The 301 redirect syntax will populate column C in the same row. You can paste that into your .htaccess file.
  5. All requests for the bad URL will now be redirected to the new destination.

Important

  • Always make a backup of your .htaccess file before making modifications. 
  • Always test the results of your changes, you may inadvertently redirect traffic from your homepage or otherwise make your site inaccessible.
  • If you are using WordPress you should use the Redirection plugin instead of .htaccess 

Excel Formula

If you just want the formula, and not the spreadsheet, read on:

  • In column A1 type Bad URL
  • In column B1 type NEW URL
  • In column C1 type 301 Syntax for htaccess
  • In column C2 enter the formula
    • =”redirect 301 ” & A2 & ” ” & B2
  • Copy that formula to all cells in column C as needed.

WordPress Plugins for a Better Life

Tech, , , , , , , ,

Well, at least they make *my* life better, and hopefully those of my readers! I use a lot of WordPress plug ins for SEO, Event Management, Web Analytics, Communications, etc so I wanted to just list them out for all to see.

Here are all the plug ins in use over at Complete Poker Rules:

  • AdSense Manager
    • For managing Adsense Ads throughout the site
  • Akismet
    • Nearly eliminates the spam comments I receive. Some false positives but that may just be the nature of running a Poker Blog.
  • Amazon Reloaded for WordPress
    • Allows you to search Amazon from the post edit screen and insert the product image or text link complete with Amazon Associate ID.
       
  • cforms
    • Contact forms with an excellent admin interface and highly flexible styling. 
  • FeedBurner FeedSmith
    • Used in conjunction with FeedBurner to manage your RSS subscriptions.
  • Google XML Sitemaps
    • Creates and keeps up to date you sitemap.xml file for assisting search engines with the structure and pages of your site.
  • Headspace2
    • Make your WordPress site SEO friendly with this very powerful tool.
  • Highlight Author Comments
    • Call attention to the comments that you leave as admin so they stick out from the rest.
       
  • More Link Modifier
    • Changes the behavior of the ‘More’ link in WordPress posts. You can customize the copy that is displayed as well as disabling the “Jump To” behavior of the More anchor link when clicked.
       
  • Redirection
    • Manage the redirection of deleted posts, etc without needing to edit your .htaccess file. Also great for 301 redirecting domain.com to www.domain.com or vice-versa.
  • Robots Meta
    • Manage the index nature of your site. Some SEO expert say that duplicating content within your own site dilutes the link juice you would otherwise get from a single instance of a post. Also good for noindexing your WordPress Login page among others.
  • RSS Footer
    • Append a footer to the end of each post in your RSS feed. This is especially key if you have sites that scrape your content, it will include a link back to your site and you can at least benefit from the juice!
  • Search Excerpt
    • Enhance the on site search experience for your readers with keyword highlighting and relevancy sorting. 
  • Sociable
    • Allow your readers to share your content on social networks.
       
  • Theme Tester
    • Allows you to test out a new theme without disrupting service to your visitors. 
  • Ultimate Google Analytics
    • Plugin to allow you to include your Google Analytics tracking code on all your pages. Also allows you to set which user level should the tracking code be displayed for. For instance, you can disable to tracking code for admin users to avoid inflating your tracking numbers.
  • WordPress Database Backup
    • Schedule the backup of your WordPress database tables to file or email.
  • WordPress Related Posts
    • Include links to related posts based on tagging. great for deep linking content.
       
  • WP-Polls
    • Include a poll in your post. Highly customizable: user contributed answers, multiple selection answers, etc. 
  • WP-PostRatings
    • Adds a ratings system to each post. 
  • WP-Table
    • Insert a table in your posts or pages for a better handle on structuring your content without CSS.
       
  • WPListcal
    • Create events and display them in any post, page or template. Flexible scheduling system to show x days out, only current and future events, etc. 

Too Quiet Around Here

Misc, , ,

It has been way too quiet at GeoffManning.com lately. My wife and I are getting ready for our first child (any day now) and there are some big changes coming up career wise. So both of those have consumed most of my time lately.

What Else I am Working On:

  1. I am working with a friend at Partner Alliances on a site redesign for a Boston based Nonprofit Legal Assistance organization. The site is in WordPress using a custom theme designed by my friend Jeff Baker (of Partner Alliances) and themed by David Bissett at Dimension Media.
  2. I am helping out a friend launch her photography website. The site is WordPress using the Sharpfolio theme created by WebRevolutionary.
  3. Preparing for baby!!