When you started your blog you were probably hit with the initial greetings from those that troll for new sites to salt with their comments designed to garner back-links to their sites and customers with the expectation that a newbie won’t know what’s really happening.

But this is different.  Like snow in winter, it is Spamuary and we are all seeing heavy spam falls in our spam filter (or worse, waiting in moderation if you don’t have a spam filter setup).

You might even have your site setup to automatically delete spam comments after 30 days so you can leave it to do the job and never think about it.  Most of the time that strategy works.  But Spamuary is a unique situation.

When you get hit with a few hundred spam comments going into your spam folder, it can overwhelm the auto delete feature.

Proactive Spamuary Deletions

No need to panic, here’s my suggestion.  When you log into your dashboard check to see how many comments are in your spam filter.  If you find more than 50 click on the spam folder link and empty the spam filter.

Why?  Because I’ve found that anything over 200 can choke the process and you end up looking at a blank screen (which usually brings about a moment of panic).  No need to panic if this happens.

Hit the back button, then hit the refresh on your page.  You will then see how many are left in your spam filter, run the delete again.

Ex.  This morning I logged into the lab and we had a very productive 24 hrs.  220 comments in the spam folder.  I ran the manual delete and got the blank screen, back button, refresh, 10 comments still in the spam folder.  One more round and the folder quickly was empty and I was back on my spam comments page.

This too shall pass

Like allergy season this too shall pass, eventually.  There’s not set date when it stops, but it will eventually slow to a trickle if past seasons are any indicator.

Happy Deleting Everyone !

From: Real Estate Blog Lab It’s Spamuary – Check Your Filter

Change the name of the default category from Uncategorized to “General”

Nothing shouts NEWBIE to a blog ready more than having the default category name appearing on your posts.

This is a tip for NEWBIES and anyone that still has the uncategorized Category.

From: Real Estate Blog Lab UnCategorized Screams NEWBIE

I’ll bet, close to ZERO.   You set it up and forget it.   DON’T FORGET IT!

Spam Bots use contact forms

Yeah, we all know this, but instead of cursing the intrusion to your inbox think of it this way.   “Hey, at least my contact form is working”

But I have Captcha on my contact form

Yeah, so do I on some of my sites.   I’ve been using Fast and Secure Contact Form on several of my sites.   I like how easy it is to configure and style.   Each release has more functionality and configurability than the one before.   Contact Form 7 is another powerful contact form plugin.   It is harder to configure since you have to manually add the fields to both the form and to the email notification.   There are quite a few simple contact form plugins available as well.

Captcha capable forms means the bots don’t get through.   Therefore, you really should send yourself a test at least once a month from your own contact form.

Your Contact Form is a Vital Link

Nobody likes it when someone doesn’t return their calls.   It is the same when someone fills out your contact form and never gets a response.

When you should check your contact form:

1. Every time you upgrade WordPress
2. Every time you upgrade your contact form plugin
3. At least once a month

Hosting Companies Require Email From Domain

I heard about this from Fast and Secure.   Some hosting companies to cut down on spam being sent are requiring the return email address for the form be a valid email address on the domain itself.   I don’t know that a hosting company would make this change without notifying their users, but . . .   It is worth noting this as another reason to routinely check the functionality of your contact form.

Feature for Contact Forms

I would like a feature added to contact forms where you can check to have a scheduled email sent from the form.   If there is a way for it to detect of the email didn’t go through it throws up a red warning banner much like All-In-One-SEO does every time you update.

But until we have something like that, you really should be making sure your contact form is working.

1. What is your favorite contact form plugin?
2. Why do you like it?
3. Do you use more than one contact form on your site?

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Contact Form Routine Check UP !

sexybookmarks not sexy right now

I’ll keep this short, even though I just spent two days tracking down why a new site I setup on the very morning of the the 3.0.2 update slowed to a crawl suddenly.

After an extensive search from DNS to Forwarding etc. etc.   It came down to the Plugin SexyBookmarks.

Site Suddenly Slow to Load after 3.0.2 WP Update

I decided to deactivate all the plugins on the site and test for page load times after I reactivated each.   When I turned them all off the page load time went from 7 seconds to 1/3 of a second.   When I turned Sexybookmarks back on the site came to a crawl once again.

I then went to one of my sites that I’ve not done anything to since the 3.0.2 update and it’s page load time had gone up to almost 6 seconds. I deactivated Sexybookmarks and the site load speed was back to under 1/3 of a second.

I’ve sent in a bug report to sexybookmarks reporting the issue.   I LIKE THIS PLUGIN A LOT so I hope they can get the conflict resolved quickly.

If your site has suddenly slowed down after the 3.0.2 update and you are running sexybookmarks test it yourself.   Deactivate the plugin and see if your site doesn’t speed back up to normal.

For now I’ve switched over to the AddToAny plugin.   It works, but isn’t as “pretty” as sexybookmarks.

From: Real Estate Blog Lab SexyBookmarks not Sexy with Worpress 3.0.2

There are a lot of things that can, and often do go wrong. Why? Because a site migration requires doing a lot of things in a specific order. Get one of these steps out of order and it can become a nightmare on any street, not just Elm.

Migration done – Setup Complete

But the home page is the only one that comes up. All the other pages give a error usually something involving Apache servers and contacting the webmaster to get it resolved (Well, that would be YOU) and you have no idea how to resolve this issue.

Here are two quick things for you to try.

.htaccess

try this: rename the .htaccess file to .htaccess.txt

this will render it inoperable yet available to restore if this isn’t the issue.

Custom Permalink Structure

If renaming the .htaccess file doens’t fix the problem and you have a custom permalink instead of the default try this:

Set the permalink structure to default and save.
Wait a minute and set it back to the custom permlink structure and save.

I’ve only had to start doing this since WP 3.0. Before the latest version I never ran into this issue. But since, I’ve found this little step usually fixes the issue.

Site Migrations Reset

Right after you make a migration it can be hard to determine if what you are seeing is the new site or the old one still coming up.   This is especially true in those first minutes after throwing the final switch to the new site location.   How do you know?   I’ll often put an extra word in the site title to let me know I’m on the new location.   Once I know the migration is complete I simply change the title back.

If they are identical, don’t assume all went well when it comes up.   Wait an hour and browse your site again, and don’t just look at the home page.   Navigate the site.   If it all comes up . . . “Go ahead, breath again”

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Site Migration Watch for These

It requires a code insert into the header.php but it is fairly simple to do.   It might take a little trial and error to get the code in the right “slot” but when you do, it really adds some nice functionality to your site.

Dynamic Header Images

What we are really talking about with Dynamic Headers is images, not text or code.     Dynamic headers requires you to add a headers-image directory in your wp-content directory.   Therefore, you will need FTP access to your site to create and configure this directory.   Most of us on self-hosted WP installs use that type of access all the time.

Once installed you will find a new Headers section in your admin selection area.

The first thing you need to do is upload some header images.   There is a place to to that from the admin level for Headers.   Name them so you know what they are.   Much easier than DCS_1045.jpg when it comes time to assign them to a page or post.   You can add images anytime.

You will want to keep them the same size.   You will also need to know what size that is depending on your theme layout.

Once you have some files uploaded you can setup the default header image for pages and posts, blog, etc. from the options page under Headers.

When you create a new page or post scroll down well below the edit window and you will find a new section for Dynamic Headers.   There will be a dropdown where you can select one of your custom header images; otherwise the default image is used.

I’ve used the header image rotator plugin for for several years on a couple of my sites.   It works similar by randomly rotating the header images. You have no control over what header image will appear or when.

Dynamic Headers Perfect for Real Estate Blog Posts

Dynamic Headers gives you complete control.   Write a post about a subdivision; insert an image in the header of the entrance.   Write about a park or event, put a header image to match on those posts.   It is a great way to get the opportunity to display an image and not take away from the post area.

Dynamic headers is a wonderful way to add variety to your blog.

Find it by Searching Dynamic Headers under Plugins “Add New”

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Dynamic Headers Plugin

Hi,

I visited your site:  www.tucsonazrealestateblog.com and I must say that your site has got really good and worthy information. While reading your articles I found them to be really good and informative. I am a regular visitor of your site and I have been reading them since quite a long time. I work as a content writer in many financial communities and so I was just wondering if I can do something for your wonderful site. I would like to give you an unique article of around 500 words on any of the topics like FOREX, Stocks, debt, mortgage, credit, insurance etc. I assure you that the article will be published only on your site.

The best part is I won’t be charging you a penny, but in return all I need is just one link within the article. I am also associated with few finance sites also which I keep on updating on the regular basis.

I would be really honored if I can do something for your site

Please feel free to get in touch with me regarding this anytime you want.

Looking forward for your positive reply.

If any of you want a guest post for free let me know I’ll give you the email address

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Guest Post for your site

Wow, we are all Dudes !

Is anyone using Google Wave anymore?

Has Buzz taken the limelight?

Are Those Feet waiting for Surf, or is Wave Dead on the Beach?

As I just hit publish the notice on my browser went away.   But I haven’t seen anything new in all the waves I follow in weeks.   So maybe the surf is still out.   Forever?

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Google Wave Surfs Out

How to Spot The Inner Geek

This isn’t as hard as it might seem.   There are a couple of easy tests.

While in a conversation say:

“I was able to make the entire site change by tweaking the style.css file.   By adding a couple of div tags, formatting the #sidebar h2 tags with a couple adjustments to the list-style-type tags and it changed dramatically”

Once said, look in their eyes, if they are glazed over like a deer in the headlights, “No Inner Geek”.   If they perk up and have a gleam in their eye, but look a bit puzzled, there is a spark of inner geek waiting to be feed.   If they ask an intelligent question, Okay, if they ask any question, they are on their way to discovering their inner geek.

Once The Inner Geek is Discovered Now What

Here is where the rubber meets the road, or the addiction takes hold.   If you let the inner geek out, and especially if it takes control, well . . .

I’ve know a few bloggers who have lost control of their inner geek. (‘ll confess, it happens to me from time to time) they too are easy to spot.   How?

Their blog theme’s are always changing, but they haven’t written a post in weeks.   They spend all their blogging time feeding the inner geek.   “I can move those sidebar headlines to the right a few pixels and they will line up better”.   “The sidebar needs to be a little closer to the content area” . “I want the blog name to be higher and bolder in the header”.   “What if all the links were red once visited, but blue if they haven’t been clicked on?”

See what I mean?   So much time is spent geeking on the blog that no content gets written.   So one day the guilt ferry comes (yeah, it is a ferry, not a fairy)   because that boat rolls into your business harbor and you suddenly realize it has been weeks since you wrote a new blog post.

You want to, but the words don’t come, You really need to get your brokerage logo in the sidebar and update your contact information.   The call to action buttons are only an idea, and you really know you should have those on the blog.   Should I write a post? about what?   or open photoshop elements and make some cool call to action buttons?

Tweaking your blog won’t increase your google traffic.   All the SEO in the world won’t matter if you only have 30 posts on your blog.

“Really?”   Yes, really, I know, inner geek bubble burst.   SEO is important, but it is like teaching your two year old how to shave.   No need.   You have to have something to SEO.

No matter how pretty you make your blog look, no matter how quickly the page load time, it won’t feed your family.   It won’t bring business in the door.

Oh, Geez, you mean I have to write, YIKES!   I was afraid this would happen some day.   But you don’t have to write the great American novel.

Embrace your Inner Geek, but don’t let it ruin your life and business.

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Feeding Your Inner Geek while Feeding the Family

I haven't published this yet !

Did you start any draft posts between 2.9 and 2.9.1?   Have you noticed when you go back to those drafts, finish the post and publish they seemed to disappear, kinda?

I’ve had that happen on a couple of my blogs.   I tend to take ideas and quickly start a post.   Sometimes from the quickpress editor on the dashboard I’ll jot down a few key points to the post and give it a title.   Later I’ll come back and flesh out the post, add the images and publish.

But a couple of weeks back a post I started on January 1, 2010 but published last week simply disappeared.   It wasn’t on the home page.   I checked and found that when I hit publish it had the January 1 date set as the publish date instead of the typical Publish immediately.   It only took a couple of seconds to edit the post and make it current.

I’ve found 4 draft posts with the publish date already set to the day I started the post.   Since the 2.9.1 upgrade I haven’t noticed this annoying gnat.

Therefore, check your draft posts.   If you see something like the image at the right you should edit the date before you publish the post.

Just a Lab heads-up.   You don’t have to write it again, you have to find it.

From: Real Estate Blog Lab Publish On and WP 2.9