For the previous versions I’ve always upgraded my WordPress blog manually. Today I attempt to do the same thing so I hit the manual button, but to my surprise that my blog was upgraded automatically instead. I am thinking, “Is this a bug?” Or “Did I do something wrong?” I am wondering that anybody has the same experience as me. I hope I did not screw up anything. Good thing is I’ve always backuped my site.

For people who have versions earlier than WordPress 2.7.1, you have to upgrade your version to this new one manually. But first you have to find out whether your theme, plugins, or anything related to this upgrade are compatible or not. Then proceed to download WordPress 2.7.1 here.  For instructions of how to upgrade to it, follow this link here.

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I recently found a very useful RSS plugin that will allow you to monetize your blog with it. It will permit you to place  RSS feeds below each of your articles. With it you can now promote eBay’s products, ClickBank products, and any other affiliate products that allow you to generate RSS feeds with. I am so excited that I want to share this great tool with you.

This simple RSS plugin is called FirstRSS. Download it from its owner’s website. Did I mention that it is Free? After that unzip that file and upload it to your blog’s directory like this: /public_html/wp-content/plugins/. (assuming that you are using self-hosted WordPress blog too).

One drawback that I found out so far is you can only be allowed to show its default feeds which is 10. I don’t know about you but I think 10 feeds for an article is too many. I want to show less than 5 feeds or at most 5 feeds. Here is the solution for that:

• Log in to your WordPress admin erea.

• Click on Plugins/FirstRSS/Edit.

• Before you attempt to make any changes, make sure you save a copy of it.

• Find the following codes in firstRSS.php:
  

  foreach($rss->items as $item) { $title = $item[title]; $link = htmlentities($item[link]); $desc = $item[description]; if ($title != '') $disp .= "\t<b><a href='$link'>$title</a></b>\n<br />"; if ($desc  != '') $disp .= "\t$desc\n<br />"; }

• And replace them with the codes below:
  

  $i=0; foreach($rss->items as $item) { if($i < 5) { $title = $item[title]; $link = htmlentities($item[link]); $desc = $item[description]; if ($title != '') $disp .= "\t<b><a href='$link'>$title</a></b>\n<br />"; if ($desc != '') $disp .= "\t$desc\n<br />"; } $i++; }

This will allow you to control how many RSS feeds you’ve preferred. I like to display [rsspara:URL] instead of [rsslist:URL] below my post because [rsspara:URL] will allow me to show not only links but images and descriptions of the products as well. Make sure you get a RSS url from any affiliate site you’ve participated and replace the URL with the feed’s url that you’ve got. If you’ve done it right, you will see an example just like the one below.

Another drawback is that it shows what category and keywords with a logo in its feeds. I don’t like that. I am still searching an answer for it. I’ll keep you posted once I find the solution.

Update: The solution for the above question is shown below. You need to find the following three $disp code lines and comment them out. Make sure you save the file:

Now go ahead to test it out. Does it work? Mine is working. See the example below.

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WordPress 2.7 has a completely new look of its dashboard. It allows its users to arrange new modules by dragging and dropping them around.  It also provides new features such as  QuickPress, comment threading, paging, and the ability to reply to comments inside the dashboard. Moreover, it built in the ability to install any plugin directly from WordPress.org with a single click only.

On the upper side corner there is a new feature named “Screen Options” which allow you to check or uncheck the choices of the modules to be shown in the dashboard. The most excited news about WordPress 2.7 is that it built in the ability to allow you to automatically upgrade your future WordPress version with a single click.

Although some people don’t like the new dashboard of WordPress 2.7, I don’t mind to have that. I can understand why some people are not easy to accept new ideas, new looks, new technologies, and etc. For me I am ready. So this is the last time you ever have to manually upgrade WordPress again. If you are readdy, here we go:

• Check to see your host is compatible with WordPress 2.7.

• Check to find out your plugins are compatible with WordPress 2.7.

• Check to be sure your theme is compatible with WordPress 2.7.

• If everything works fine for you, then you can download WordPress 2.7 here.

• Deactivate all your plugins before you proceed.

• You can use WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plugin to upgrade to WordPress 2.7 in about two minutes (after that say bye-bye to this plugin because you don’t need it any more). If you like to manually upgrade your existing WordPress version to WordPress 2.7, just follow along.

• Back up all your WordPress files to your laptop/PC.  You may use FTP to get the job done.

• Back up your database. If you don’t know how, follow these instructions here.

• You should double check to make sure that your backups are usable.

• Delete the old WordPress files except the following files:
  • wp-config.php file
  • wp-content folder
  • wp-images folder (only older installations from 1.5.x days will have this folder)
  • wp-includes/languages/folder; if you are using a language file, and it is here rather than in wp-content/languages/, do not delete this folder (you might want to move your language files to wp-content/languages/ for easier upgrading in the future)
  • .htaccessfile (if you have added custom rules to your .htaccess, do not delete it)
  • Custom Content and/or Plugins (if you have any images or other custom content or Plugins inside the wp-content folder, do not delete them).

• You may use FTP to upload your unzipped WordPress 2.7 files to your WordPress directory.

• In your web browser, type http://www.yoursitename.com/wp-admin/ and hit enter. It will guide you whether you need to upgrade your database or not. It turns out that I needed to upgrade my database this time. (Make sure you replace yoursitename wiith your own domain name.)

• The final step is to reactivate all your plugins in the dashboard of your WordPress 2.7.

Now go ahead. Get familiar with the new features in WordPress 2.7 and enjoy!

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• First you have to find out whether you meet the minimum requirement. You can find the answer from you host account.

• Next you can get WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plugin to upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5 in about two minutes. For me I prefer to manually upgrade my WordPress blog.

• Next back up your database. If you don’t know how, these instructions will show you how.

• Then back up all your WordPress files to your laptop/PC.  I prefer using FTP.

• It is very important that you double check your backups to see whether they are usable.

• Next deactivate all your plugins since they may cause problems.

• Now go to download WordPress 2.6.5 to your laptop/PC.

• Delete the old WordPress files except the following files:
  • wp-config.php file
  • wp-content folder
  • wp-images folder (only older installations from 1.5.x days will have this folder)
  • wp-includes/languages/folder; if you are using a language file, and it is here rather than in wp-content/languages/, do not delete this folder (you might want to move your language files to wp-content/languages/ for easier upgrading in the future)
  • .htaccess file (if you have added custom rules to your .htaccess, do not delete it)
  • Custom Content and/or Plugins (if you have any images or other custom content or Plugins inside the wp-content folder, do not delete them).

• Upload your unzipped WordPress 2.6.5 files to your WordPress directory.

• Type http://www.yoursitename.com/wp-admin/ in your web browser and hit enter. It will direct you whether you need to upgrade your database or not. Make sure you replace yoursitename with your own domain name.

• Now head to reactivate your plugins and enjoy your WordPress 2.6.5 dashboard.

See it is not hard. Let me know if you run into any issues.

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• First I used FTP to back up my old WordPress blog files to my laptop.

• Second I upgraded my old WordPress 2.6.1 to be the newest version WordPress 2.6.5.

• Third I logged in to my host’s cPanel/phpMyAdmin to export my old WordPress blog’s database to my laptop. See WordPress Backup with phpMyAdmin here.

• Next I created a new folder named wp for the new domain. I then created a robots.txt in wp folder with the following contents:
  

  User-agent: * Disallow: /

  This is to prevent any search engines to crawl my site before it is ready.

• Next I created a new database in my host cPanel for this new domain. See WordPress Tutorial: Setting Up A MySQL Database With cPanel here.

• Next I typed the url of my website in my browse to run the install and input the information I’v got from the last step to finish the installation.

• Then I edited wp-config.php file which should be in your root directory and changed the high-lighted parts with the information I’ve got earlier.

define('DB_NAME', 'databasename'); // Change the high-lighted part to be your database name define('DB_USER', 'mysqlusername'); // Change the high-lighted part to be your MySQL username define('DB_PASSWORD', 'mysqlpassword'); // Change the high-lighted part to be your password define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value.

• Next I used FTP to upload all my old WordPress blog’s files to public_html/wp folder.

• Then I imported my old database to replace the new one I’ve created eariler. (if your database name, mysql username, and mysql password are the same as the old one, then you don’t need to do anything otherwise you have to change them before you can import it.)

• Then I logged in to my WordPress admin area and used Search and Replace plugin to search all my old WordPress urls in database to be replaced with my new urls.

• Then I double checked my website to see whether everything was working properly. After that I deleted the robots.txt file.

• Finally I added the following line in my old blog’s .htaccess file right after RewriteEngine On, see below
  

  RewriteEngine On RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.yourdomainname.com/$1 [R=301,L]

You must change yourdomainname to be your actual domain name. Adding this line in my old blog’s .htaccess will ensure that all my old blog’s traffic will be redirected to my new blog with every single post I’ve created.

Any questions? or suggestions? Please share them with us.

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However transferring your WordPress blog/website to a new host is not an easy job; especially if you are new to this realm. If one day for any reason you decide to transfer your current WordPress blog/website to a new host, these are the steps I make them as smooth as they could be for you:

• First find a host that meets all your needs.

• Second use FTP to backup your WordPress files to your computer or laptop.

• Third backup (export) your WordPRess database to your computer or laptop using phpMyAdmin in your current host’s cPanel. Check WordPress Backup with phpMyAdmin out for more details.

• Next use FTP to upload your WordPress files that you’ve backed up earlier to your new host’s root directory or any directory you prefer.

• Next create a new database using either MySQL ® Databases or MySQL ® Database Wizard in your new host’s cPanel. See WordPress Tutorial: Setting Up A MySQL Database With cPanel for more details.

• Next change the information about your database or the absolute path before uploading (importing) it to your new host. Make sure you choose binary from Character set of the file otherwise some punctuation like apostrophe will not show properly. See the screenshot below:

• Then download your wp_config.php file, which should be in your root directory, to your computer or laptop;  edit the following lines and then upload it back to the same directory:
  

  define('DB_NAME', 'databasename'); // Change database name to be your actual database name define('DB_USER', 'mysqlusername'); // Change mysql username to be your MySQL username define('DB_PASSWORD', 'mysqlpassword'); // Change mysql password to be your actual password define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // 99% chance you won't need to change this value.

• Finally point your domain to your new host’s name servers. In my case, they look like these: ns1.hostmonster.com and ns2.hostmonster.com. If you are not sure then you can ask your current host to have that done for you. Please be aware that DNS (Domain Name System) takes 24 to 48 hours to be completed due to DNS’ propagation.

Once you find out that everything is working properly, inform your current host to cancel your account. That is it. Any questions please ask in the comment section.

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For IIS users, 2.6.1 fixes several permalink problems. Image insertion problems in the Press This feature experienced by IE users are also fixed. Of note to everyone is a fix for a performance bug in the admin where those with a lot of plugins would experience slowness on some pages.” You may also want to find out the full list of over 60 fixes to see what WordPress 2.6.1 has to offer.

I just upgraded my existing WordPress version to WordPress 2.6.1 a moment ago. Everything went smoothly. If you are ready to upgrade to WordPress 2.6.1, then you may find the following steps useful:

• First of all you need to check whether you meet the minimum requirement. You can use the following code to check your minimum requirement.
  

  <?phpinfo();?>

  Here is what you need to do: Save the above code in a file as checkphpNmysql.php or any name you want. Then upload that file to your public_html directory, and run it as http://www.yoursitename.com/checkphpNmysql.php in your browser to find out your PHP version and MySQL version right away. Make sure you replace yoursitename with your own domain name.

• If you fulfill the minimum requirement, then you have two choices: (1) You can get WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plugin to upgrade for you in about two minutes. I’ve never tried it before so you are taking that choice on your own risk. (2) Alternatively you may upgrade to WordPress 2.6.1 manually.

• Next back up your database. Follow These instructions if you don’t know how.

• Use any FTP to back up ALL of your files in your WordPress directory to your PC (personal computer).

• Check your backups to see they are usable.

• Make sure you deactivate All your plugins.

• Download and unzip WordPress 2.6.1 here to your PC.

• Delete the old WordPress files except the following files:
  • wp-config.php file
  • wp-content folder
  • wp-images folder (only older installations from 1.5.x days will have this folder)
  • wp-includes/languages/folder; if you are using a language file, and it is here rather than in wp-content/languages/, do not delete this folder (you might want to move your language files to wp-content/languages/ for easier upgrading in the future)
  • .htaccess file (if you have added custom rules to your .htaccess, do not delete it)
  • Custom Content and/or Plugins (if you have any images or other custom content or Plugins inside the wp-content folder, do not delete them).

• Upload your unzipped wordpress-2.6.1 files to your WordPress directory.

• Run http://www.yoursitename.com/wp-admin/ as your normal login. From there it will direct you whether you need to upgrade your database or not. Make sure you replace yoursitename with your own domain name.

• If your WordPress is resided in a subdirectory called blog, then you need to run it as http://www.yoursitename.com/blog/wp-admin/ or http://www.blog/yoursitename.com/wp-admin/ depending on how you set up your blog.

• The last step is to make sure you reactivate those plugins that you deactivated earlier.

Did you see your new WordPress 2.6.1 interface? How do you like about it?

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• Automatically optimize your blog/website’s title for search engines.

• Generate your meta description automatically.

• Edit you own keywords.

• Avoid duplicate contents found on your WordPress blog.

• And more…

It is currently compatible with WordPress 2.5.1. The sad thing is it will no longer to be updated or supported by its original author in the near future; but the good thing is it found its new home – read All In One SEO Pack Finds New Developer to find out more.

I just installed it and loved it. If you are interested, download All In One SEO Pack here.

• Unzip the all-in-one-seo-pack.zip file you’ve download.

• Use FTP to upload the file to this folder /public_html/wp-content/plugins/.

• Login to your WordPress Dashboard; click on Plugins to activate it.

• Now configurate it by clicking on Options/All in One SEO (for WordPress 2.3.x) or Settings/All in One SEO (for WordPress 2.5.x); see how it is done from here.

Some themes may not show the meta tag. That is because those themes may miss the appropriate call to wp_call() usually found in head.php. You can fix this by logging in to your WordPress Dashboard, clicking on Design/Theme Editor/head.php file. Insert <?php wp_head(); ?> right above </head> and save your head.php file.

One more thing, once you use this All in One SEO Pack, there is no need to use other plugins such as Head Meta Description and SEO Title Tag. Otherwise you’ll produce duplicate title and description for your blog/website.

That is it. Once you set it up, It will automatically optimize your WordPress blog/website for search engines.

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Bloggers who use a full version of WordPress blog (WordPress.org blog) now can use the same feature to track their blog/website. Since this feature is hosted within WordPress.com‘s server, your blog will not be affected much in terms of speed. So this is the biggest advantage if you use this Stats Plugin. Here are some screenshots I took from My Internet Stuff – a WordPress.com blog:

• Shows your blog’s days, weeks, or months statistics.

Click the above picture to enlarge

• Shows you where the referrers come from and what are your top posts and pages people have visited.

Click the above picture to enlarge

• Shows you what keywords or phrases people have used to find your blog & what links people have clicked in your blog.

Click the above picture to enlarge

• Shows the overall stats about your blog, incoming links to your blog, amounts of spams being caught, and etc.

Click the above picture to enlarge

For a full version of WordPress blog, you can download

• a Stats Plugin here to your PC (personal computer).

• Unzipped the file that you’ve just downloaded,

• then uploaded it to this folder /public_html/wp-content/plugins or /public_html/blog/wp-content/plugins depends on how you set up your blog/website.

• Login to your WordPress Dashboard, click on Plugins, and find WordPress.com Stats to activate it.

• You’ll need your API Key to use it.

The only drawback I found so far is that once you login to your WordPress Dashboard, you’ll need to login to your WordPress.com account to use this feature.

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Post via e-mail

To post to WordPress by e-mail you must set up a secret e-mail account with POP3 access. Any mail received at this address will be posted, so it’s a good idea to keep this address very secret. Here are three random strings you could use: dU)Xlo7PFeA%, W3QDkr1M*eL2, (d$b^h1QxZsq.

The question is: how can you set it up to use it? Post to Your Blog Using Email provides details of how to make it work. I was able to follow the instructions below to make mine work:

• Login to your WordPress’ Dashboard.

• Click on Setting/Writing.

• Create a new email account on your web host’s mail server.

• In Mail Server, type in your new email account you’ve just created. Something like mail.example.com; make sure you change example to be your real domain name; leave the port as 110.

• In Login Name, type in something like login@example.com; here change login to be your new email’s login name and change example to be your real domain name.

• In Password, type in your new password you’ve just created.

• Choose the default category.

• Make sure you click Save Changes to save it.

In order to publish those email messages on your blog, you still need to set up WordPress to do the job. Either you activate your browser manually or activate your browser automatically. I prefer to use automatic browser activation because it will save your headache that you don’t need to send an email to your new email account every time you send a new post.

This is how I’ve done it and I find this is the easiest way: add the following code in your footer.php file right above <?php wp_footer(); ?> line. You can open footer.php file by clicking on Design/Theme Editor/ from your WordPress Dashboard.

where you must change yourblogdomain to be your own blog domain name. If your blog is resided in your website’s sub-directory, then make sure you follow your blog’s absolute path. Alternatively you may use Postie Plugin, and WP-Cron plugin to publish those email messages on your blog. Learn how from Post to Your Blog Using Email.

Now it comes to the verification, you need to send an email to the new account you’ve just created. To see the result, you have to refresh your browser to see the new post. For some reason, my testing post showed up on my post list but with the status stated as pending review.

Update: I’ve just found out that in your WordPress acoount, you need to have the same email address as the one you’ve used to send an email to your web server. So if you send an email using login@example.com, then login to your WordPress’ Dashboard, click on Users/Your Profile/; in E-mai, type in login@example.com as well. This way you’ll be able to publish your email message(s) directly on your blog. I’ve just tested mine out and it works. If you have any doubts, feel free to leave your comments here.

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