Big Foot Web Marketing

Editing the Meta data in Wordpress Sidebar Widget

By default the meta widget in Wordpress have links going out to Wordpress as will as some RSS links to feed and feed comments. You can edit these, add links or remove them- but they sure don’t make it easy for the average blogger.

How to Remove Links in Meta Widget

This took a bit of digging and wasn’t as simple as I thought first time around. You want to edit file called widget.php .
Depending on what theme you have you may even have more than one file by that name.

Look for the widget.php file in wp-includes. You can edit this in most cases from your FTP client. Usually just have to right click and edit, then save ( will save to a temp file or your hard drive- NOT your server- stills need to be uploaded) . It will then ask if you want to upload/change/edit. Say yes.

Tips for Editing Widgets… ( or any other file on your server)

Save an original copy of the file you are editing SOMEWHERE. In case you make a mistake. Guaranteed the one time you don’t do it will be the time you screw it up. Ask me. I know.

What To Do When You have Made a Mistake

If you make a big mistake when editing a Wordpress theme or widget ( note to self- do not do any theme or any kind of major overhauls at 3am) and site is a mess and you can’t fix- try going to the original folder on your hard drive. Make sure you are using RIGHT version. Upload the problem file and overwrite. i.e If you have totally messed up header in your them- find them and upload just the header.php file ( or whatever file is problem)

Sometimes you can recover lost code by going to the Google cached version of a page and retrieving code there.

Make a habit when you do any kind of a major tweak to download and save your theme/files in case of a problem. no one ever PLANS to make a mistake.

Tags: WordPress Blog, Wordpress Themes by Lisa Stewart
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If you have turned off “nofollow” function or your blog allows comments to be followed- I will be happy to place link to your site on the I Follow page. Please add your info by posting in comments section . Give name of your site with link.. I will add to the I Follow Page.

Tags: Internet Marketing and Blogs, WordPress Blog by Lisa Stewart
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First Thing to Do After You Install Wordpress- Uncheck Visual Editor Option

I am NOT a fan of the visual editor in Wordpress. Pretty much the first thing i do when I install a blog is turn it off.
The rich text editor is SUPPOSED to be a WYSIWYG type editor . It is a hassle and if you want to get good at writing blogs that are crawled and searched and found- turn it off.
You can still write whatever you want- but you can add tags, etc whenever you want. Do not be afraid! Its not that hard.

How To Turn Off Visual Editor in Wordpress and Write Your Own HTML

The visual text editor in Wordpress is automatically checked ON for every user. You have to to to your user profile in wordpress.
Dashboard-> Users-> Authors and Users-> Your Profile and uncheck. You need to be signed in as that user to change.

Tags: WordPress Blog by Lisa Stewart
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What Theme Should I Use in Wordpress if Using Adsense?

Now there is the million dollar question. Which theme will get you the most money? Call me a purist, but in my opinion the answer is none. No out of the box wordpress theme will help you make the most money from Google Adsense.
There are some themes that will help you make more money than others INITIALLY . Some themes like, Prosense or MW- Monetizing the Web are samples of the many themes available that make it easier to automate the Adsense process.
These types of themes will save you some of the hassle of setting up your Wordpress blog for AdSense- but is the few hours of time saved worth it in the end? Nope.

The absolute KEY to getting the most money you can from your site is by tracking channels and content. Find out what ads are working and what are not. What topics are making you money ? The only way to do that is to set up your ads using channels and track their performance. The better your CTR the closer you are to the mark. Is is better to put your AdSense code below or above the post? Can depend. Shorter posts tend to better with ads above. Longer posts and article I have found get better CTR with ads are at the end of an article.

Setting up your blog INITIALLY you really should take extra time to format your ads yourself- not just plug in your Google publisher code and go. You won’t get a clear picture of what people are looking for. After you get comfortable and have a feel for what works Wordpress Adsense plugin can be a time saver. I wouldn’t suggest it for new blog or some one new to blogging and coding if they are trying to earn revenue from their site.

As far as themes go- I use this one often- Gila Wordpress Theme . I know it backwards and forwards and it is simple and clean. I am sure there are other themes that work just as well. I also like Light CMS Wordpress Theme .

Picking The Best Theme for Your Site

I always look for a 3 column design- 2 sidebars work better and are more flexible when it comes to adding Adsense, advertiser images, and other widgets .

Don’t get hung up on the colours- look at the layout. You can change colours fairly easily in the CSS file. It is not as intimidating as it may seem . It will be good for you to learn!

A word of caution- it is better to spend your time writing valuable content than to sit and play with themes. Pick a theme and build on it. If you are new to blogging or inexperienced with code then a simple theme is the way to go- less can go wrong and you will pick up PHP script faster and more easily- you can switch up later if you feel the need.

If you aren’t sure about the theme you are choosing- feel free to ask me for my opinion. Just post in comments section or email me.

Tags: Google Adsense, WordPress Blog, Wordpress Themes by Lisa Stewart
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