Okay, time for an important lesson for new bloggers and one that can sometimes be painful to learn on your own. Today’s post is about a process known as hotlinking.
In particular we need to discuss the process of hotlinking to images on someone else’s server without their express consent. For starters, it is stealing and although it happens every day it is illegal to do so. Beyond that, such links can cause your page to load more slowly for the end users.
It was brought to my attention today that a new blogger used a hotlink for an image on their blog only to have their readers greeted by a pornographic image later. That’s a common practice for people who have their images used without permission, so you can see it is a big problem. On top of that, it costs the image owner money because you are using their server resources and they aren’t getting anything for it.
Another question about widgets, this time it comes from from Derek at Rolling Traveler:
I have a widget-related question too. How do you add widgets and buttons like those from Blog Catalog to your sidebar? I’ve noticed that you and several other Today bloggers have them, but I can’t for the life of me work out how you get them on there. I’ve tried every tab in the Control Panel, and even tried adding them as links to the blog roll. What am I missing?
Add-ons like Blog Catalog and anything else that involves the addition of HTML to your page are all added by using the same widget, but you might not recognize it when you first see it because the label is a slight misnomer.
To start, let’s get to the widget page by clicking on “Look & Feel”. Then you will see the current theme you are using and to the right is a text link marked “Widgets”. Click that link to get to the starting point.
With the more widgets you have, does it make your pages load slower on this system database? It could just be my service, as I have been having trouble with Charter.
In general, the more of anything that you have on your web page can cause it to load more slowly. When it comes to widgets though it largely depends on the content of the widget itself, because it is increasing the number of locations called upon to get the information to the end user.
Let me try to explain it this way. For the most basic of sites there are only two primary factors involved - point A (the web site host server) and point B (the end user’s Internet Service Provider). A heavy load of traffic on point A can cause a slow down, just as a sluggish response on your ISP can. To add to the potential bottleneck, consider this: when a widget is requesting information from a point C (such as is the case on your website with Blogrush - the info loads from their servers when the page loads), any problems with point C’s server can cause the site to load slowly for any end user.
I hope this clears up any confusion; if not please don’t hesitate to ask me to clarify!
Answerman,I have a question about the Categories. I set them up so that they are nested, with Parent categories and then categories that go underneath the Parents.When I write a post, the checklist for the Categories shows up as nested, but on the published blog itself, the list is flat — all of the Categories, whether they are Parent categories or lower-level ones, show up on the same level, in alphabetical order.
Is there any way I can change this so that the Categories list displayed on the pubished blog shows up in nested form?
I’m using the default template, in case that makes a difference.
Unfortunately, the problem you are describing is related specifically to the design of the theme itself, and is a common one among many (if not most) of the themes that are currently available. I have tested several of them myself after receiving your question.
I am going to continue to look into this issue further and see what can about it in the future, but for now I’m afraid to say that it is just something we are going to have to deal with for the time being.
The good news is that at least the categories show up alphabetically so they appear to have some semblance of organization even if it is not sub-categorized the way you intended.
Hey folks - after a few precarious days of being without my precious laptop I am back in the swing of things and I have another video to share.
This video discusses the Today.com Content Call program and gives you a simple primer on what a content call is, how they work and how to use the program to make some extra cash every month.
Content calls are a relatively simple way to boost your monthly payment from Today.com and in most cases they don’t take a great deal of time to do. The only thing that I have to emphasize about writing for content calls is the same thing that I tell people when they are blogging: If you are ever unsure of yourself, use a spell check.
People who read our blogs want to look up to us as a relevant source of information or entertainment & it is easy to become disheartened or distracted by typos and other easy-to-correct mistakes.
A Personal Note from Michael: I hope you will excuse the departure from my normal content but I am taking 9/11 off from work as I do every year, and I wanted my readers to understand why.September 11, 2008 is not just another day to me.
It is an annual reminder of the worst day in my life, a day that no one who was alive then will ever forget.
I lived in New York City on 9/11/01 and watched in numb horror as the tragedy took place before my eyes. When I grabbed my scrubs (I have emergency medical training) and what equipment I did have, I began the trek into hell - the site that the world now knows as Ground Zero.
Before that day I knew it as the World Trade Center where I would stop daily for doughnuts on my way to work.
I lost one of my dearest friends that day, along with more people than I care to think about who were also close acquaintances. The photo in this post shows what I have to remind me of that day. It includes newspapers, my stethoscope, a face mask and the glove of a fireman who gave his life to save others that day.
On that day, the world proclaimed that “We are ALL Americans Now”. I can find no better example of this than when Celine Dion - a Canadian - performed “God Bless America” in the aftermath of that day.
According to Dell, the laptop from hell should be back in my hands at some point today, at which time I will resume making those fun and helpful little videos for all of you to enjoy and learn from. This does not remove the period of time during which I have been forced to use a secondary machine for all of my work (and all of your answers), nor does it make up for the time that will no doubt need to be spent reinstalling software that are required to do what it is that I do.
In other words, if you have questions please bear with me while I get things in order on this end. The answers are coming and the Answerman will soon fly again! Fear not!
Today’s question comes to us from Virginia, host of Conservative Politics Today. She asks for an explanation of the buttons that are available in the basic editor mode and how to use them.
The biggest difference you are going to notice - especially if you aren’t familiar with HTML coding - is that you have lost your WYSISYG (”What You See Is What You Get”) screen, so you are looking at raw code that may take some getting used to. That being said, it isn’t impossible to learn to use the basic mode, it just takes a little understanding, so let’s get down to it!
Okay, posting an image is a little odd here at Today.com, but nothing you can’t handle…even if you are blonde!
STEP 1 From the page where you write a post, go just below the field where you enter the post content. You should see a text link that says “Upload/Insert an Image?“. Click that link.
STEP 2
The page will change to reveal the upload box for a new image. Browse to find the image you want to use, enter a title for the image (name it accurately so you can find it easier later) and enter a description if you like. Then click the button labeled Upload >.
NOTE: When the upload is successful you will be presented with several options:
Next to Show you will see “Thumbnail“, “Full size” and “Title“. Thumbnail: This option is useful if your original image is too large to fit within the confines of the allowable space on the blog. Full size: This is the option you will use most often, as it makes the image appear just as it will on your computer.
Title: Selecting this option will create a text link based on the title of the image that you uploaded.
Next to Link to you will see “File”, “Page” and “None”. File: If you are using a thumbnail option (see above), you can select “File” to allow readers to click to see the full size version. Page: This option will link to a page that shows the image separately from the post. I rarely if ever use this. None: This is the most commonly used option, at least for me. It shows the image but does not link to anything.
STEP 3 To insert the image into your content, first scroll up and click your mouse where you want the image inserted, then click the button labeled Send to editor >.
A Final Helpful Hint: To align your image so that the text flows around it, click on the image in the content field and select the alignment icon (left, right, center or justify) from the visual menu above the content field.
One of the most commonly overlooked features available in any WordPress blog admin is the creation and use of categories. Categories are a little like the signs in the supermarket aisles that group similar items into logical sections, thus making it easier (presumably) to find what you are looking for. Without using categories on your blog you are leaving your blog posts to be forever lost in the past and making it difficult for them to be found by people who really want to read what you wrote on ________ topic.
Setting up and using categories on your blog is a simple process, but before you do anything in the admin itself, grab a piece of paper and make a list of categories that your posts will generally fall under. Categories can be as general as you like or as specific as you need to be depending on the topic of your blog, but having a list of categories you want will make this process a lot faster for you. Don’t worry either, you can always use the steps in this article to create new blog categories at any time.
September 11, 2008 is not just another day to me.