Here are a couple of starting points:<\/p>\n
Blog hosting<\/strong><\/p>\n Three possibilities:<\/p>\n WordPress.org documentation:<\/strong><\/p>\n Installing WordPress on your own server<\/a><\/p>\n The install documentation covers most setups<\/a>. Installing a local copy using XAMPP or MAMP<\/a> is useful especially during the design phase. <\/p>\n Other useful WordPress.org docs:<\/strong><\/p>\n Importing content from other blogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Posting entries by email<\/a>. As mentioned during the talk I set up a cronjob on my server, which checked at regular intervals if there was any email to post. <\/p>\n Templates galore:<\/strong><\/p>\n As mentioned, setting up WordPress is fast, finding the right design theme will take a little bit longer… cos there are so many out there<\/a>. <\/p>\n I like Scott’s collection of minimal designs<\/a>. <\/p>\n My advice: get a theme which offers the structure you’re loooking for and then customize the CSS file. <\/p>\n Flickery goodness:<\/strong><\/p>\n I cross-link to Flickr to add pictures to my blog, but you can also upload files and photos directamente into WordPress<\/a>. Please note: you’ll need to resize for the web and your layout. I’m lazy: I use Flickr and Quickr Pickr. <\/p>\n You can also set up Flickr to post pics directly to your blog. Within Flickr, go to Your Account > Extending Flickr <\/strong>. Click edit<\/strong> in the section labelled Your Blogs<\/strong> and follow the instructions displayed.<\/p>\n Here’s an advanced user guide for Flickr<\/a>, describing how you can post pics per email, etc.<\/p>\n On commenting:<\/strong> <\/p>\n All comments at this site land in the moderation queue and I check the queue once a day. I don’t always reply or write back immediately. As you’ll probably notice in the next few weeks, sometimes I don’t have the time. But if I do, I’ll usually reply online at the source – in my blog, if it’s a comment on my site, or if it’s a trackback, i’ll go see their post and add a comment in their blog.<\/p>\n I think the main point you need to get across is that you reserve the right to edit or delete comments. This is especially important if you’re moving into business blogging. <\/p>\n There’s the Lifehacker’s guide to commenting<\/a> to refer to.<\/p>\n Commenting is a way to increase traffic and expand your network.<\/p>\n And remember to activate Akismet<\/a> or other comment spam plugins. <\/p>\n RSS feeds:<\/strong><\/p>\n Every WordPress blog offers a feed for entries and a feed for comments. At Chip this is:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.chiperoni.ch\/wordpress\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.chiperoni.ch\/wordpress\/comments\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n Again, there are numerous RSS feed readers. And your choice of reader will depend on your personal reading preferences. I use the newsfeeds reader included within Opera<\/a>. Thunderbird<\/a> also includes a feed reader per default. And there are numerous feed readers for FireFox. Please note: some media news feeds (e.g. BBC) send out entires every minute and will easily swamp you. <\/p>\n More high-level infos on the concept of RSS are available in this Wikipedia article<\/a>.<\/p>\n Further background links:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Corporate Weblog Manifesto by Scobleizer <\/p>\n Ten Tips For A Better Weblog<\/a><\/p>\n How To Blog And Not Lose Your Job<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n