If you want to place google ads in your posts, there are two ways to do it. One is to edit your theme and place your adsense codes right in the theme file. This requires a bit of php programming so I won’t really delve into this topic for this entry. The other option which I want to focus on for now is to install the exec-php plugin which can be downloaded here.

1. Download the extracted exec-php.zip file in your online installation using ftp in the wp-content/plugins/ folder

2. Activate the plug-in in your admin panel

3. Create a new entry to test the plugin

4. In the text editor, click the “code” tab right beside the “visual” tab

5. Copy your adsense code and paste it there (when you switch the editor to the visual editor, the adsense cannot be seen)

6. Publish the entry

7. Check if the adsense code displayed well in the front page

The plug-in actually disables the Wordpress feature that filters out the entries from programming language. This allows both php and javascript to be executed even in posts.

Note: Google adsense a maximum of four ads only within a page. This could cause the remaining adsense exceeding the number not to appear.

By doing so, a page break is automatically inserted. In HTML code, it would look like

< ! – - more – - >

which Wordpress interprets as simply, a page break.

Then, continue with the entry.

Upon publishing, the word “more..” (depending on the theme used) should be displayed right where you placed the page break.

Please note that this only works for non-single/non-permalink web page such as front page, archives, categories, and searches where the post is shown as an excerpt to the more point.

I received an email from an online buddy Dave Aguila, asking me about how to send his newsletter to people who want to subscribe to it. If his newsletter is online, the thing that pops from my mind is the use of RSS feeds as medium of subscription and updates. Here it goes.

RSS which stands for Really Simple Syndication (previously called Rich Site Summary) is actually a page (an xml file) in your site that can display regularly changing web content. That “regularly changing web content” in your case is your blog’s content. Using RSS, you can keep your readers informed by letting them retrieve the latest content from your site. It saves time for you since you don’t need to email your subscribers anymore. It also saves time for your subscribers since they don’t need to visit your site anymore. Moreover, RSS ensures privacy in the part of the subscriber by not needing them to join your email newsletter.

Why the need for RSS Feed if you got the main page?

The reason I see for this is that, as your index page (main page) may vary in terms of actual html code (since blogs very in terms of design and layout), this rss file in your site follows a coding rule which is standard across the web. To illustrate this, click on this link: davao wordpresser rss feed and this link: hugsmiles free blog hosting rss feed . If you clicked both links, you will find two pages that look similar in terms of format. But, if you click their main sites’ pages : davao wordpresser and hugsmiles free blog hosting respectively, you can see that the two sites would look differently. In order for this dynamic content updates to be universal, it has to follow a certain standard format. That format is the file in XML format (*.xml) which is the RSS file included with many website platforms including Wordpress.

How do you allow people to subscribe to your feed

This is where you need an RSS Aggregator. An RSS Aggregator also known as a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader or simply as an aggregator, is client software or a web application which aggregates (collects) syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs (your blog in this case), podcasts, and video blogs in a single location for easy viewing. Examples of these online RSS Aggregators are Feedburner.com and Google Reader . As a publisher of your feed, you have to register to an RSS Aggregator of your choice. Depending on the aggregator, you usually register your RSS feed url (right click on your site’s Entries RSS or alternatively Comments RSS if you want them to subscribe to the latest comments on your blog; then copy link location or url) into your new account in the aggregator that you chose. Then, they can provide you details on placing a link in your blog. This link, when clicked by the reader who wants to subscribe, directs them to a page where they can subscribe to your feed.

Aside from subscriptions, RSS feed can also be used to

• Notify people of the arrival of new products in a store
• Weather and other alerts of changing conditions
• Notification of additions of new items to a database, new messages received or new members to a group

These are just some of the many ways an RSS can be used. Try to experiment a little. Who knows, you just might think of a very good use of RSS feeds for your website.

This is one of the things that I think Wordpress webmasters are really satisfied about in WP – their online, fully documented, highly accessible, sincerely created and not to mention FREE support and updates. Many are thankful for the development of this open-source platform. I don’t mean to over do it, raising WP up my clouds. It’s just that I myself is a beneficiary of the efforts of the developers.

I have encountered quite a lot in terms of errors or customized features throughout my wordpress projects and the community seem to be there 24/7 available for consultation. Wordpressers do not also get behind the times as updates like these are very much announced to the world and to their community.

Summing it up, I am very grateful to have been learning Wordpress all along. To all the developers, kudos and more power!

The main difference between the two is that the regular, stand-alone Wordpress (WP) installation

1. Caters for single blogs (which can have multiple users but single administration panel)
2. Its theme can be customized online (using the theme editor)
3. The plug-ins can be edited

while Wordpress Multi-User (WP MU)

1. Is designed to cater from hundreds to thousands of blogs, each with own administration panel.
2. Its theme editor is disabled since one instance of a theme is shared among the users (which means what one gets from a theme is the same to all who uses the same theme)
3. Plugins cannot be edited.

These differences are some of the most obvious in the user side.

Here are points that explain WP MU features further

1. It is created based on WP. It is created as a “shell outside” a regular Wordpress installation. According to their website, 95%- 99% of the core of WP MU is WP.
2. WP MU can have multiple blogs in one installation which means smaller file size for the hosting. Imagine installing fifty (50) blogs using WP on one hosting and WP MU on the other. The savings in terms of size is huge, especially for a website owner.
3. The installation process is different.
4. The panel for the “super administrator” or the site owner can be hidden to regular users, depending on the restrictions.
5. There is a folder named “mu-plugins”. All plug-ins placed inside it are automatically enabled site wide.
6. It still has the folder “plugins” (which is also present in WP). All plugins placed inside it which can be enabled per blog by the specific blog owner (a.k.a. sub-administrator).
7. WP MU requires the site owner (or the web master) to know a bit of programming and coding. If you plan to use WPMU, it is recommended that you tinker with WP first.

Themes that are available online for download are generally working for both installations. The theme management system stayed mainly the same for both installations I guess.

There are issues on installing plug-ins however. Many plug-ins designed for WP do not run on WP MU mainly because there is a difference in accessing and creating tables in the database. Some common plug-ins (like Akismet) can work if this is placed on the “plug-ins” folder and not the “mu plug-ins” folder. A set of plug-ins compatible for Wordpress MU can be found here.

Some of my sites that uses WP MU include this Davao City web community, Tagadabaw.com as well as this online shop, Toinky.com.

To sum it up, if you plan to maintain like 20 to 30 blogs or so or offer a blog hosting (may it be free or for a minimum fee), Wordpress Multi User is for you. You just have to get ready to get your hands dirty with ample amounts of code and a bit of programming or you can hire one who can set it up for you and teach you how to manage it.

If you plan to maintain fewer than 20 blogs (this is a personal preference based on experience by the way), then I recommend the regular stand alone Wordpress installation.

That’s it for now. May the blogging force be with you.