A Month of Faves,  Memes

This is How We Blog + Useful GTD Tools | A Month of Faves 2016

Day 4: This Is How We Blog #AMonthofFaves2016 – – Essential Computer Programs, Browser Plugins, Websites and / or your blogging routine

I started blogging back in 2002 on the old Blogger/Blogspot service, followed by a few jaunts to some hosted sites that my brother had, before going to Geocities and coding the site myself. In 2003 I took an online HTML course that helped me do all of that coding and by inspecting the HTML of other blogs I was able to eventually put something together. For a long time I coded my own RSS feed, too! That was a pain! Finally, in late 2009 I downloaded WordPress to my site and I’ve been using that platform ever since. I still do the basic design coding but I really haven’t changed the layout other than the header and some side buttons. I know that I really need to work on building a better site that works with phones and other devices but I’m kind of lazy on that end.

As for my blogging routine, pre-Forest I blogged 5-7 days a week. It was easy to spend time scheduling blog posts and I really enjoyed writing here. Even with Forest around when he was around 2-6 months old it was fairly easy to kind of stay on top of a regular schedule but as time has gone on I definitely have periods where I don’t post. My problem is usually because I have a backlog of photos to process and I am not interested in processing them. I’m working on getting motivated for that and trying to spend time writing a bunch of posts at once to pre-scheduling.

WordPress Plug-ins
Akismet: This is a spam catching plug-in that seems to get faulty with updates from time to time. Anytime there’s an update it is almost guaranteed for there to be a period of time where spam comments get through. I haven’t found a better plug-in for spam but if you have a recommendation, send it my way!
Google XML Site Maps: This is a useful tool for creating a site map for your blog when it comes up in a search engine.
Link Within: I like this handy plug-in because it displays three similarly minded blog posts at the end of a post that helps your readers access other content that may be of interest to them.
Updraft Plus: I highly, highly recommend this plug-in for backing up your wordpress site! You can download the backup package to your computer or do a cloud service such as Dropbox and then download the backup later. It came in very handy for me last year when I was working on consolidating our websites and my blog was down for a little bit. So easy to ‘restore’! Get this!
WP Touch Mobile: Just a basic plug-in to make your site suitable for mobile devices. I haven’t modified it at all…I probably should.
Wordpress Popular Posts: This displays your most read posts on the side bar. It’s fluid so some posts change every few days but it does give me a good guide on what is being read around here.

Day 5: Most Useful Tools For Getting Sh&! Done #AMonthofFaves2016 – Apps, websites, planners – how and what do you use to get life and / or work Shit done?!

I think I inherited my mom’s list making skills. She always kept a lined notepad on the end of the kitchen counter when we were growing up. Ok, she still does. I’ve used a variety of planners through my life, usually smaller spiral bound ones from my university or the Sierra Club when I was in college. As I got older I kept other similar planners but typically opted for small journals or notebooks instead. This year I have started doing a modified bullet journal which I have really loved. Even I don’t pull it out at home to mark things off, I keep it handy during the work day to remember things I need or want to do, or things to buy, or interesting things I’ve come across. It’s just a great way to get it out of my head!

Apps…well, I’ve tried. I have downloaded and deleted workout and meditation apps and have briefly tried making lists on my phone but I hate it. So, nope, not using those. I’m not a digital planner person.

As for other online tools, I do like to use Bit.ly to shorten links and started using IFTTT for posting things to social media.

Alright, what blogging or GTD tools do you use?

One Comment

  • Patrice

    I so wish I could rewind to 2008 and choose WordPress over Blogger for my platform!!! Blogger is great, until I try to post from my phone (mostly when we are on trail). On the AT, it was okay, but now I found that if you go back to my AT posts, the pix are gone. On the TA, whatever app I had to use what the biggest pain in the arse. Coupled with crap Internet in NZ, I was just about to give up on blogger.

    I hope next time we do a trail, they come up with a new app!!!

    I don’t really have any good apps to suggest.

    You are the second person this week to mention the bullet journal!! I need to learn more!!

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