• Certain themes were calling get_categories() in such a way that it would fail in 2.8. 2.8.1 works around this so these themes won’t have to change.
• Dashboard memory usage is reduced.  Some people were running out of memory when loading the dashboard, resulting in an incomplete page.
• The automatic upgrade no longer accidentally deletes files when cleaning up from a failed upgrade.
• A problem where the rich text editor wasn’t being loaded due to compression issues has been worked around.
• Extra security has been put in place to better protect you from plugins that do not do explicit permission checks.
• Translation of role names fixed.
• wp_page_menu() defaults to sorting by the user specified menu order rather than the page title.
• Upload error messages are now correctly reported.
• Autosave error experienced by some IE users is fixed.
• Styling glitch in the plugin editor fixed.
• SSH2 filesystem requirements updated.
• Switched back to curl as the default transport.
• Updated the translation library to avoid a problem with mbstring.func_overload.
• Stricter inline style sanitization.
• Stricter menu security.
• Disabled code highlighting due to browser incompatibilities.
• RTL layout fixes.

You can automatically upgrade from 2.8 to 2.8.1 via the Tools -> Upgrade menu. Just one click on the notification menu “WordPress 2.8.1 is available! Please update now” and you are done.

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This release offers many usability improvements included:

• “Voices” count on topics reports the number of individuals participating in a conversation
• Native support for cookie integration (single sign-on) with Wordpress 2.7 and 2.8
• Optional support for memcached object caching
• Time-zone and Daylight Savings time support
• A complete XML-RPC publishing API
• Pingback support – each topic can receive pingbacks, just like a blog post
• All javascript has been moved to jQuery
• Optionally allow login via email address as well as username
• New meta API allows arbitrary meta data to be stored for posts, topics, forums, options, tags or even meta (that’s right, meta-meta – first legitimate use wins a prize)!
• Display names used primarily for user identification display, which allows special characters to be used
• Themes can now have a “functions.php” file, which is automatically loaded
• Accessibility improvements on forms and in the default theme, including WAI-ARIA roles
• Major overhaul of the admin interface
• Optional Akismet statistics page
• Cute new icons
• Improved use of posts admin to manage spam
• Prettier Kakumei (default) theme
• Hello Louie! Plugin

If you are upgrading from any earlier release to 1.0 then you absolutely should backup all you files and database before doing so. You also may need to make minor adjustments to your templates. Before upgrading, disable all plugins.

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Main Features

• Integrated Woo Framework Backend;
• Page-based homepage which enables you to control all of the content on the homepage;
• Integrated Content & Sidebar Video Player;
• Widgetized sidebars;
• Integrated Breadcrumbs, PageNavi and loads of different navigation spaces & options with regards to those navigation sections;
• 2 Additional custom page templates (Archives & Sitemap);
• 8 Custom Woo widgets (Flickr, Twitter, Search, Campaign Monitor, Feedburner, Ads, Video Player and Subscribe); and
• 9 great colour schemes to suit your site identity;
• Integrated Theme Options (for WordPress) to tweak the layout, colour scheme etc. for the theme;
• Automatic Image Resizer, which is used to dynamically create the thumbnails for the blog posts on the home page;
• Threaded Comments for WP 2.7;
• Trendy drop-down menu’s for your main navigation; and
• Built-in Gravatar Support for Comments.

Demo and Purchase

You can test drive this theme and buy it just $70 for single license or $150 for developer license. In case you don’t know, Woo Themes have a permanent 2-for-1 offer which means if you purchase a theme you get any other theme free! You can also join the WooThemes Club to access all current and future themes from Woo Themes.

Woo Themes have an excellent selection of high quality WordPress themes covering a wide variety of niches including: business, CMS, magazine/news, portfolio, photo lifestream, multimedia, personal and professional blog designs [More details ...]

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Let’s assume that you have five hundred posts on your blog, but you haven’t made a point to sequentially add links to previous posts that relate to what you are mentioning in the current post. Visitors interested in what you have written won’t be able to visit these extra posts unless you have added a related posts area to your blog or they explicitly search for those terms.

Your main goal is to make it as easy as possible for them to browse through your content, and this is where internal linking comes into play.

Introduction

Internal linking is more than just linking to previous posts, but increasing your search engine rankings for the posts, keywords, and exposing more of your posts that might not have seen as much traffic.

These are a few of the key benefits of increasing the number of links to internal pages, or pages that you have already created within your site.

• Linking increases traffic to those posts that have been linked to more frequently.
• Combined with traditional keyword targeting, you can link to posts that might be able to increase in rankings. For example, you could create simple posts that explain how to do something, then link back to them in future reference posts.
• Linking makes it easier for visitors to navigate your site.

Best Practices

Even though the main method of linking to other posts is through content, there are several other methods for performing the task in slightly less obvious methods.

Link Posts – Posts that share links with visitors, such as your most popular articles over the past month help provide a resource to your readers, while still encouraging them to visit additional posts.

Footer/Header Links – Placing additional links to your content in “featured” areas can help increase visibility of the articles, as these areas are often most viewed anyway.

Images – When you go about placing images into your content, rather than linking them to other sites (where appropriate), you can link them back to other posts of a similar topic.

Related Posts Widget – Placed in either the sidebar or beneath individual posts, this addition can provide value, in that it increases the chance that people visit additional pages.

Navigation Structure – Including a breadcrumbs or drop-down navigation menu could help you place additional content in these areas, specifically for individual posts.

SEO Methods

An important decision that you have to make is how effective you want internal linking to be. For example, if you want certain posts to rise more in search engines, link to them more often. Otherwise, you should simply be linking back to internal posts whenever possible and with whatever keywords are available.

Using Surrounding Text – This can be important, especially if you are targeting a key phrase, such as “How to Blog”. Ideally, the entire phrase should be used in the link, rather than just one or two words. Many search engines take into consideration these words when generating the quality of the site.

Variation – Don’t stick with one format for linking to internal pages. You want to vary and change the surrounding text and any keywords you are using.

Targeting Keywords – In other examples, it would be better if you left out smaller, filler words that just add length to the link. With this method, you should target sole keywords that stand out to readers who may want to learn more.

Avoid: Using words like “click here” or “link” to inform your readers that they should be clicking on that link isn’t good. You should instead be using the appropriate keywords.

Use Statistics and Tools – Check the ranking of several pages within various search engines and other tools to determine where your posts rank. See if adding extra links throughout posts and the homepage of your site increase the ranking (towards the top of the results) after targeting certain keywords.

Focus on Link Equity – Don’t link out “externally” too often, but keep the number of internal to external links rather equal. Additionally, don’t focus too heavily on a single post, but rather a collection of posts that have been semi-popular.

Conclusion

Remember that internal linking is just another strategy that you have to think about every time you write a new post. Although it does add some time looking through your archives and selecting the right keywords, in the end it will help increase your traffic through higher search engine results for certain keywords and pages.

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• How to Rank Higher in Google – Creating Customized Permalinks in Blogger
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 4
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 3
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 2
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization

Main Features

• Two color schemes (Black and Blue)
• Widget ready
• Theme Option Pages
• Integrated Blog Section
• Optional Blog-style Structure
• Custom thumbnail images (automatic thumbnail resizing)
• Smooth tabless design
• Threaded Comments
• Gravatar ready
• Advertisement Ready
• IE8 + IE7 +IE6, Opera, Netscape, Safari, Firefox compatible
• Wordpress 2.8 compatible
• PSD files
• Valid XHTML + CSS

Elegant Themes is a WordPress Themes Club providing wordpress themes of quality and integrity. You get full access to their entire collection of premium wordpress theme, as well as all themes added in the future, for the small price of $19.95 [More details]

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• WP Unlimited Premium WordPress Theme

You can basically buy any Standard or Developer Package theme (from their collection), and get any 3 themes of your choice completely free. This offer is available from 17 – 24 June 2009 and they won’t either backdate it to previous purchases or extend it past the 24th.

Hurry!

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This is an amazing site where you can easily surf through the variety of services being provided by most of the popular broadband service providers of the UK. Never had I dreamt that you can integrate such vast information in such an easy to understand manner. I know you might feel why I am going gaga over a website that has nothing more than some information. Well, just visit the site and you will also become an avid fan of the site if you are a net junkie like me!

Let us look at the information goodies that the site has to offer.

Mobile broadband has become a common aspect for geeks on the move and this site has everything that one needs to know about the providers and the variety of services they provide. You can compare the mobile broadband services being offered by providers like Three, Vodafone, T-mobile, O2 and Orange. Here you will also get to compare the mobile broadband speed, download limits and also the monthly payments that you have to make. All this helps you to make an informed choice about the service you want to use suiting your needs and budget. The biggest advantage is that you can choose the cheapest mobile broadband deals in the market without having to visit their stores or making innumerable calls to their customer care numbers.

One more thing that you can easily do through this site is that you can switch your service provider after comparing their rates and services just with the click of your mouse. You can even check the speed of your mobile broadband connection and determine whether your current service provider is doing justice to the hard earned money that you are paying towards the service.

The other fringe benefits that you get free of cost are comparing the wired broadband speed, comparing laptops and also you will get to read some interesting articles on the latest developments in the field of mobile broadband.

This website caters to people who are in search of the right mobile broadband service to satiate all their mobile broadband needs. Kudos to the site for their great service!

Mobile phone price

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There are a few simple ways to ensure that your earnings increase proportionally with your traffic, links, and subscribers.

#1. Make sure that you are focusing on a single topic.

When you focus on more than one topic, or subjects outside of your main niche, you begin to get into the grounds of where your visitors don’t know what to expect each day. One day, you could be talking about blogging, where the next you are reviewing your favorite TV show. They really aren’t related, no matter how hard you try to explain to your readers that they are.

#2. Your ads aren’t related to your content.

Even though many ads are placed through third party networks (AdSense, for one), you don’t have too much control over which ads are displayed when they are generated from your content (contextual).

Despite the fact that you want to “accept” all advertisers who want to place an advertisement on your blog, you have to realize that some might not be completely relevant to your readers and some may even compete against your blog. In this case, you may need to reject an ad or two, but you have to be aware that these advertisers will likely never return.

#3. Where are your ads placed?

Before you can even begin looking at where to place your ads, you should look at a heat map or click path that visitors follow when browsing your site. Based on the findings from this, adjust where your ads are placed and where your content is.

It might be contrary to popular belief, but placing content “out of reach” can help you increase earnings, as visitors are now diverted to clicking solely on your ads, then clicking on additional content.

#4. What are you providing to your readers?

This is a popular question that you should ask yourself at times when you begin to notice decreases in traffic or revenue. When you say “content,” you should think about changing your focus. Advertisers look for something unique that you can offer, whether that is a high conversion rate, a high number of subscribers compared to traffic, or services that you offer in addition to content.

#5. Increase your site’s traffic.

Not easy for some, increasing a site’s traffic could take some time. The more traffic you get, or the more high-quality traffic you receive, the more likely a visitor is to click on an ad. Additionally, if your ads are targeted towards your visitors, they will be more inclined to click on them, if you offer CPC advertising.

#6. Diversify your revenue sources.

Focusing solely on AdSense earnings won’t help you in the long-term, unless you are able to quadruple your traffic each month, which is nearly impossible. Add affiliate links to your content through reviews, banner images in your sidebar linking to the program, or include them in your feed’s footer. Although many frown upon this form of advertising, it is one of the easiest to make money from, and you are getting free traffic form your blog flowing to the pages.

Conclusion

Everyone’s blog is different, so there could be underlying problems that eliminate some of the potential from your earnings. You have to think about why your visitors aren’t clicking on ads, why advertisers aren’t finding your site, and other reasons that might affect your earnings. At the end of the day, you have to realize that blogs take more work to maintain and keep active than a traditional static website, but can see more benefits over the course of your blog’s lifespan.

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Wordpress 2.8 represents a nice fit and finish release for WordPress with improvements to themes, widgets, taxonomies, and overall speed. Some new features that make Wordpress 2.8 more powerful are:

• Browse the entire theme directory and install a theme with one click from your WordPress dashboard
• The new CodePress editor which syntax highlighting
• Edit widgets on the fly, have multiple copies of the same widget, drag and drop widgets between sidebars
• The new Screen Options on every page
• and More …

I’ve just updated ThemeLib and got no problem with installed themes and plugins. How about you?

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• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 1
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 2
• Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization – Part 3

Keep In Mind

Titles, keywords, descriptions, and other elements of the site should be relevant for what you are writing about. Skipping these areas will only hurt you in the long-term, as the spiders will have to search through your entire content, rather than being able to emphasize the keywords/descriptions that are more valuable and specific.

Use a Robots.txt File

Note: This tip only applies to those who are able to upload or update files located on their blog’s server.

The robots.txt file can help you tell the search engine what to index and what not to. For example, you don’t always want all your tags or archive pages being indexed, as it could result in duplicate content – which is bad when you want a single page displayed in results.

Some sites don’t block or restrict access to any content, while others restrict nearly everything except the location of the content, so it all depends on what content you want indexed. Having less indexed may be better if you focus on creating high-quality content, but having more content indexed will mean more images and tags/categories will be indexed.

404 Pages and Sitemaps

404 pages result from a visitor stumbling upon a page or URL that no longer exists. You want this page to be informative and offer some information that will guide he or she onto another page on your website or inform them of what went wrong. Leaving a 404 page blank will only hurt you, as search engines may index a blank page rather than de-index the page as a result of having a 404/redirected page.

Sitemaps essentially help with navigation and can help the search engines determine where all your content falls within your entire site. In basic form, readers can use them to better find specific pieces of content on your site.

Conclusion

Time consuming? Yes. Useful and beneficial? Yes. That’s search engine optimization. You have to realize that blogs are already somewhat optimized compared to the traditional website, but you still have to perform basic steps to ensure that search engines are indexing the correct content and not avoiding your best, most popular content.

This series post scraped just the surface of what is a vast subject. A large part of it is learning what is good and bad practice, what works and what doesn’t. Results don’t come overnight, so you have to be patient, and the results will eventually come.

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