Working at Home on the Internet

WordPress Plug-ins I Use

I know there are zillions of Plug-ins out there for WordPress Blogs. My problem has always been finding the useful ones to do tasks I feel I need to accomplish, in the easiest manner, and save some time. To that end, I thought I would share the Plug-ins I use to help save you having to look all over for some of the more useful Plug-ins.

These are not in any particular order of importance because each one does something unique.

Akismet… They check your comments against the Akismet web serivce to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use this service (it’s free). The only real problem I ever had with Akismet is when it ATE MY COMMENTS and it considered ME SPAM (they did fix it after some prodding). Other than that, it has saved me from almost 13,000 Spam Comments so far. What’s a little aggrevation for such a great service.

bdp-comments… It lists recent comments and posts for display in the sidebar. I am only using it for recent reader remarks at this point. With this, readers can see what conversation is going on, who’s there and what post the comments are on so they can join right in.

FD Feedburner Plugin… This is suposed to convert all RSS feeds into FeedBurner feeds for easy tracking of subscribers. I installed this last week and haven’t seen any real changes in stats. Maybe it only changes New Feeds? The jury is still out on this one.

Filosofo Uncheck Default Category… I am really glad that I found this one. It takes one of the most annoying aspects of using categories in WordPress, having to uncheck the default of Uncategorized, and Unchecks it automatically when you click a different category. Only saves 2 seconds per post, but it’s well worth installing.

In Series… Provides navigation controls for next/previous within a connected series of posts. It’s fairly easy to install and use if you do any ongoing series of posts. I never got the next/previous within the series right, but I didn’t go through all the steps of installing all of the code. It’s on the to-do list to finish, although it works fine the way I have it.

SimpleTags… This allows for the insertion of Technorati Tags within posts. Very easy install, just a little code in the post to make it work. I don’t know why it took so long to find, but you can take it with you if you want to use tags for T-rati.

Subscribe To Comments… This makes it easy to allow readers to follow conversations in comments on your blog. All they have to do is check the little box, and they will be notified of any new comments by email.

WordPress Database Backup… I don’t have to tell you how important backing up your information is. This makes backing up your WP database easy.

WP-ContactForm… When I was having tons of spam coming in through the Blog, I went on a quest to find something to alleviate the problem. This is easy to install and easy to use for your readers. And it does help keep the spam down a bit from blog email.

wp-notable… If you want to include some of the more notable Social Bookmarks like Digg, deli-o-cious, etc to your posts, this will give you choices of which ones you want to include and even show the icon for each site.

There you have it, the Plug-ins I have and use to make my day a little easier. Whether you Work at Home or just Blog for Fun, you may want to try a couple of these out for yourself.

Have you found any WP Plug-ins that make your day a little easier? Want to share?

Related Posts:

Save 10 Seconds per Post

Fighting Spam: One Step at a Time

Installing the In-Series Plug-in

Basic Tools I Use

Technorati Tags: WordPress, Plugins, Filosofo, In Series, Akismet, Simple Tags, bdp comments, WP ContactForm, wp-notable, Subscribe to Comments, FD Feedburner Plugin

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January 16th, 2007 at 06:03am | Posted by Joe | Akismet, Plug-ins, Resources, Tools, WordPress | 3 reader remarks | Print This Post

Akismet Sucks

When you are caught in their little web… 

 

Beware: Rant Ahead…

 

It’s no longer an inconvenience, it’s a problem. 

Most of you already know that Akismet is eating my comments.  Then again, how could you, Because My Comments Don’t Show Anywhere.  I left a comment on Successful Blog for Liz, and nothing.  I left a comment for Ben on Instigator Blog, again nothing.  The same thing happened to the comment I left on ProBlogger for Darren.

Since last week, I have had problems leaving comments on Any Blog that uses Akismet.  That means just about Everyone who has a WordPress Blog.  Another problem is that Trackbacks don’t work either since they are part of the comment section of a Blog.  I doubt the above links will be noticed by the respective Blogs through Trackbacks.  They’ll never know that I linked to them unless someone happens to click the link and it shows in their stats.

 

Even though I can comment on my Blogs by logging in, I can’t comment anywhere else.  That is a problem.

Trackbacks don’t show on other Blogs.  That is a problem.

I am considered Spam by Akismet.  That is a problem. 

 

I did a test on my Blog to see what is causing me to be banned.

I tried commenting (without logging in) with my WAH Email address and the Blog address.  No comment, is a problem.

Tried with the WAH Email and the old Blogger Blog address.  No comment, is a problem.

How about mcbs Email and this Blog address.  No comment, is a problem.

Last try mcbs Email and the Blogger address.  Hey I can comment.  Still a problem.

The same holds true on All of my WP Blogs.  Big problem.

 

I don’t want to use the old Blogger Blog address.  It’s not really active even though I didn’t delete the Blog, I never use it anymore.  I also don’t want to have to use the mcbs Email because that is not associated with this Blog.  I want to use the Email that goes with the Domain I bought.

 

I am not sure, but I think that this has something to do with the Email Spammers that have Hijacked my Email from the Domain.  But, my Email still works, so I don’t know.  It could be the Domain itself that is showing as Spam, so the Email doesn’t work in comments because it is associated with it.

 

I did as the FAQ on Akismet’s site suggests and De-Spammed my Comments.  I have done that for a solid week.  I also sent them 2 Emails asking for some help with this problem.  As of 5 seconds ago, no answer from them.  I am out of options, hence, this Post and Title, maybe I can attract their attention and get an answer on how to fix this that works.

 

Update:  Last night Carolyn asked if I commented on their Blog.  I did, and it took.  It was still there last night when I signed off for the night.

Today, the Comment Is Missing.  If it showed last night, it passed the Spam test.  They must have deleted it because it was not a favorable remark.  It seems that they don’t like criticism, they will edit it out if they don’t like your opinion.

 

Related posts:

Akismet Is Eating MY Comments 

Banning Comment Spam

7 Steps I’ve Tried to Stop E-Mail Address Hacking

Is Someone HiJacking My E-Mail?

November 27th, 2006 at 01:15pm | Posted by Joe | Akismet, Attitude, Rants, Spam, WordPress | 28 reader remarks | Print This Post

Akismet Is Eating MY Comments

 

Last night, I was at Open Comment Night on Successful Blog.  Not unusual, you say.  True, but when I made my first comment, it didn’t show.  I made a couple more comments and they didn’t show either.

Liz checked her Akismet, allowed the comments, and finally Turned Akismet off for the night.  This wasn’t the first time my comments had gotten eaten over there, but Liz resolved the problem.

 

Well, today, I was reading my E-mail and went to answer comments through the link to the post as usual.  I brought up the link and started writing a comment as I always do, without logging in.  But the Comment Wouldn’t Take.  I tried Commenting Again, and It Wouldn’t Take Either.

So, I brought up the Blog and Logged In, and the Third Comment Took.  I checked Aksimet, and lo and behold, there were my Two Previous Comments.  IN SPAM…

 

I did Test Comments on two of my other WordPress Blogs that use Akismet.  First Without Logging In.  SPAMMED ME…  I Logged In to each Blog and could comment without a problem.

 

I sent an E-mail to Akismet a few hours ago.  No answer yet, and I don’t expect one until Monday because of the Holiday.  I did look at their FAQ, and according to that, if I De-Spam the comments they will be Unlisted as Spam in their DataBase.

 

First Question… How did Akismet pick me up as Spam on My Own Blog?

Second Question… Why is there No Way to Allow certain URL’s or E-mails, or Whatever Criteria they use?

Third Question… I wonder if this has anything to do with Spammers Hijacking my E-mail?

 

This is an inconvience at the moment, I have to log in to make a comment.  I just don’t want it to become a larger problem and be rejected as a commenter on any Blog that uses Akismet.

So far, this is the only problem I have had with Akismet, BUT It’s a Big One…

 

Has anyone else run into this kind of thing with Akismet?  How did you resolve it?

November 22nd, 2006 at 03:20pm | Posted by Joe | Akismet, Attitude, Rants, Spam, WordPress | 10 reader remarks | Print This Post