Blogging Platforms

In 2001, I started writing online using Diaryland. As I got frustrated with the servers being flaky, I moved over to LiveJournal and soon bought a permanent account. I’m still a big fan of LiveJournal for its ease of use, options for uniquely filtered posts and threaded commenting system. I got frustrated, though, that I couldn’t easily add a Flickr badge or Twitter widget because of security restrictions. So in April of 2008, I took the plunge and moved to a self-hosted blog using WordPress. I had experimented with Movable Type in the past but found it cumbersome to implement. WordPress has been a joy to setup and customize! I can’t recommend it highly enough. All of my entries are still cross-posted to geniealisa.livejournal.com and you can comment here or there as you like.

WordPress Plugins

One of the main reasons I fell in love with WordPress was the plethora of plugins available to customize my (and your) blogging experience on this site. It’s allowed me to add custom RSS feeds, options to search my archives and widgets with my recent Flickr photos and Twitters. Because I quickly learned the type and number of plugins installed affects the usability and enjoyability of my site, I wanted to share the plugins I use and comment on them.

• Batch Categories - This allows me to search and select multiple entries to change their categories. Since I imported all my previous posts from Diaryland and LiveJournal, this was a life-saver!
• Comment Timeout - This plugin will close comments on entries after X days. This is handy for cutting down on SPAM comments.
• CompleteRSS - I use this plugin so my RSS feeds always have the complete entry and don’t get truncated or have teasers.
• KB Advanced RSS - This plugin is one of my favorites, in that it allows me to show entries from other RSS feeds in my sidebar. It’s how I make my “Oh Holy Crap!” entries show up over there.
• Subscribe to Comments - This allows commenters on the blog to check a checkbox to receive an email if there are further comments on the entry. I’m not sure if folks will care, but it was worth a try.
• Threaded Comments - Were it not for this plugin, I’m not sure I would have ever left LiveJournal. It’s essential for allowing your readers to have a dialog and reply to each other. It’s still not as nice as LiveJournal’s commenting system, but it’s very handy.
• Twitter Widget - This allows me to display my most recent Twitter entry on my sidebar.
• WordPress Stats - This gives me all of my wonderfully delicious statistics that display on my “dashboard.” I fully embrace my love of numbers and obsession with tracking my readers and comments.

I don’t profess to be an expert on any of the above plugins but have had reasonably good luck with them all. I’m sure I’ll find more as I keep playing around with all the possibilities.

Masthead

The masthead on all the pages is from a photo taken on our honeymoon in June 2007. It was the only bottle of wine we bought to drink while in Sonoma Valley and the end of the cork drew a very nice heart on the paper tablecloth.