WordPress seminars in Davao from July 3-4
Heads up, Mindanao folks! There are two WordPress seminars coming to your area—Davao City, to be specific—this July. WordPress for Bloggers and WordPress as a CMS. Fees vary from Php150 (students) to Php450 per person. Here’s the sked:
SEMINAR 1: WORDPRESS AS CMS
Date: 3 July 2009 (Friday)
Time: 5:00 – 8:00 P.M.
Venue: Lane Systems conference room, Wheels n’ More Drive, J.P. Laurel Ave., Bajada, Davao City (in the compound where Urban Club & AutoShop are located)
Fee: ?450 per person
This seminar will tackle the fundamentals of the WordPress engine: the templating system; built-in PHP functions for delivering & manipulating content; design elements; introduction to theme & plugin design. Installation and maintenance best practices will also be included. Prerequisites: PHP, XHTML & CSS.SEMINAR 2: WORDPRESS FOR BLOGGERS
Date: 4 July 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 2:00 – 6:00 P.M.
Venue: PhilNITS Lab, 5/F Mintrade Bldg, Monteverde cor. Sales Sts. (this is the building where DTI-11 is located; at the ground floor is PNB)
Fee: ?300 per person | Student rate: ?150
The seminar for bloggers will feature advanced coverage on WordPress deployment & utilization: how to make the most out of your self-hosted WordPress installation. Important topics: theme management; plugin management; SEO basics; introduction to the world of server hosting. Bonus topic: AdSense integration and optimization, c/o Lyle Santos.
Sign up here. How I wish there were something like this in the metro! We’ll have to be a little more patient for the upcoming WordCamp Philippines, then.
Win a mobile broadband modem, domain registration & hosting, Bob Ong books from Tinig.com
Buwan ng Wika comes early this year with the launch of Tinig.com’s writing contest entitled Wikang Filipino sa Panahon ng Twitter.
Ayon kay Gat Jose Rizal, na ang kaarawan ay ipinagdiwang natin kahapon, “ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita, mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda.” Ngunit sa panahong ito ng Twitter at iba pang makabagong kagamitan sa pandaigdigang komunikasyon, lalo na sa Internet, ano ang papel na ginagampanan ng ating sariling wika?
Very good question. In fact, it feels inappropriate to even write this blog post in Filipino.
But anyway, the mechanics are simple: register at Tinig.com and submit an essay with 500-700 words discussing the importance of the Filipino language in this modern era. Entries should not have been published elsewhere (including blogs). Deadline is on August 19, 2009.
US government cracks down on blogger giveaways
Although not applicable to the Philippines, it helps to be aware of this: The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing more stringent guidelines on the way bloggers accept certain perks, which usually equate to writing blog posts about them.
The practice has grown to the degree that the Federal Trade Commission is paying attention. New guidelines, expected to be approved late this summer with possible modifications, would clarify that the agency can go after bloggers — as well as the companies that compensate them — for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.
[..]
Existing FTC rules already ban deceptive and unfair business practices. The proposed guidelines aim to clarify the law and for the first time specifically include bloggers, defined loosely as anyone writing a personal journal online.
This is not a new issue, really, except that the US government is now looking into what should be considered legal based on arbitrary ethical standards. Which, of course, is not a black and white matter especially in the blogosphere.
Bloggers complain that with FTC oversight, they’d be too worried about innocent posts getting them in trouble, and they say they might simply quit or post less frequently.
“It would always be better for bloggers to self-police,” said Robert Cox, president of Media Bloggers Association in New Rochelle, N.Y. “We have laws on the books. They apply to everybody, not just people who write blogs.”
Yuli Ziv, who writes a fashion blog from New York, is working on one such effort at self-regulation, helping craft an ethics policy for about 15 Web sites as part of the Style Coalition started in January to help bloggers become more professional.
“It’s been an issue, regardless of the FTC,” she said. “It’s about trust.”
The safest route is to practice full disclosure at all times, which a lot of the pay-per-post and similar online advertising companies require anyway.
One can only wonder how the Philippine government will deal with this once they hear about it.
WordCamp Philippines theme and plugin developer profiles
Calling all Filipino WordPress theme and plugin developers! WordCamp Philippines is compiling a list of developer profiles and plans to feature them on a special section on their website.
As part of our activities running up to WordCamp Philippines 2009, we’d like to feature you right here. Wouldn’t it be great to have a section on this site containing all Filipino contributors to the further development of WordPress? Once we have enough of you guys in the database, we’ll publish a Philippine WordPress Developers section on WordCamp.ph.
Tangkilikin ang gawang Pinoy! This is a great next step in strengthening the local WordPress community. Sign up here.
Philippine pride is alive and well on the internet (Happy Independence Day!)
It’s the 111th Philippine Independence Day today, meaning there’s no better day to take pride in our heritage as a nation. If you’ve been keeping tabs on online Pinoy culture, however, you’ll notice how we don’t need to wait for June 12th come around to celebrate all the things that define who are as a people, big and small.
Let’s start with our lovely flag, the elements of which has inspired clothing lines, magazine covers, and every Pinoy-centric campaign you can think of.
Of course it does help with big companies like Google and Yahoo! join in the festivities too.
Speaking of festivities—food! Lechon, balut, isaw, taho, mangoes, bananas, rice, or the biscuits called Filipinos, our love for our delicacies is found around the world, websites included.
June 12th is also a time to remember how our heroes, from Rizal to Ninoy, fought and died for our country. Apart from reverence, there seems to be a different kind of fascination with our ancient elders. There’s a LOLcat version of Mi Ultimo Adios and a series of Noli/Fili meets the Katipuneros and Propagandistas here and here, Facebook-style.
That’s not the only kind of nostalgia we Filipinos enjoy on the Web. We can watch all the retro TV commercials and telenovelas on demand. And if that isn’t your thing, we’ve got present-day stars to watch too: Charice Pempengco, Manny Pacquiao, Arnel Pineda, Christine Gambito, the Philippine All-Stars, the Cebu inmates, Apl.de.ap, Nicole Scherzinger, Batista, and more.
Finally, perhaps the most important part of the Philippine revolution online are the different causes and movements to better our nation. From reactions to controversies like the De la Paz-Pangandaman golf incident and the Great Book Blockade of 2009, to politically-motivated initiatives like No to Con-Ass, to grassroots sites like Ako Mismo and One Tama.
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
WordCamp Philippines 2009 on September 19
The votes are in and a date has been set for WordCamp Philippines: it’s on September 19, the third Saturday of that month. Mark your calendars!
No final word on the mini WordCamp that will be held in Davao, but it will most likely take place a week before.
Finally, the organizers request everyone who will be talking about and tagging the event that they use #wordcamp-ph.
Philippine Blog Awards 2009 on October 9
That’s right folks, preparations for this year’s Philippine Blog Awards have begun and two things are now set in stone: the date, October 9, and the venue, Megatent Events Venue (30 Meralco Ave., Bgy. Ugong, Pasig City).
For those who missed last year’s event, check out the night’s highlights courtesy of Buddy Gancenia:
The Philippine Blog Awards 2: Awards Night Highlights from BUDDY GANCENIA on Vimeo.
Philippine Right of Reply bill will cover bloggers
Representatives Mong Palatino and Bienvenido Abante confirm that House Bill No. 3306, also known as the Right of Reply bill, will cover websites, emails, and other electronic devices. Meaning, blogs are included.
Palatino noted that Section 1 of HB 3306 states, “All persons, natural or judicial, who are accused directly or indirectly of committing, having committed, or are criticized by innuendo, suggestion or rumor for any lapse in behavior in public or private life shall have the right to reply to charges or criticisms published in newspapers, magazines, newsletters or publications circulated commercially or for free, or aired or broadcast over radio, television, websites or through any electronic device.”
“The bill, therefore, would not only affect media outfits and journalists but also all website owners, website masters, e-mail account holders and other netizens who are not necessarily media practitioners,” said Palatino who has been a blogger since 2004.
Palatino believes this is “Internet censorship and suppression of freedom of speech and expression” and encourages both bloggers and texters to oppose the passing of this bill in Congress. Abante says people will have to refer to the specific implementing rules and regulations, especially for cases such as blogging.
Considering commenting systems are a default feature in blogs and anybody can start his own blog anyway, one wonders if the Right of Reply bill should be applicable, even feasible, on the Web.
WordCamp Philippines 2009 is coming!
Preparations for the second ever WordCamp Philippines have begun, as announced by Blogie Robillo and the rest of the Mindanao Bloggers. It’s pretty early to tell what this event will be like, but we’ve got several pieces of information already, like the tentative venue (Asian Institute of Management), another mini WordCamp in Davao, and a new website, WordCamp.ph, courtesy of dotPH. Expect an organizational meeting within the coming week.
How can you help? Easy peasy:
We are now calling for volunteers for the various committees (logistics, tech, food & refreshments, etc). If you would like to be a speaker at WordCamp, let me know! And if you have suggestions on topics to be presented / discussed at WordCamp, do leave a comment right here.
Are you excited yet? I know I am! New to WordCamp? Check out how last year’s went down.
25 examples of WordPress as a CMS
Noupe has compiled 25 unique uses for WordPress as more than a blog, but a full-blown CMS.
Among those mentioned is the Ford Autoshow website, which is one of the examples Karla Redor used in her talk (under the same topic) at last year’s WordCamp Philippines. Check out the whole list and take down notes—the possibilities with WordPress are endless, and you’d be surprised with the features some of these sites have.
Get to know the “rockstars” of WordPress
The term “rockstar” has been pretty popular in the WordPress community but how this site has taken it to a whole new level. It’s not your typical showcase of well-designed sites rocking WordPress, but of people! Specifically, individuals who have done a great job in improving the WordPress brand, whether as designers, developers, or evangelists. Which is why you’ll probably recognize a lot of the names and faces on WeRockWP.
And if you don’t, time to get to know them!
Use one WordPress installation on multiple sites
Here’s an interesting experiment: how would you like to run a single WordPress installtion of multiple webistes? Duane Storey tried just that and the details are all here.
There are a lot of other reasons why you might want a single WordPress install for multiple blogs. First, if you make backups of each blog’s data from time to time, you might end up with a complete WordPress package for each website you host, even though ultimately 90% of those files are identical (basically only themes, plugins and custom content vary). Second, if you run a hosting server with a PHP caching engine (which most do), it’s likely that the cache keeps track of data using the complete path to the file, which ultimately means the cache effectiveness will decrease proportional to the number of sites (aka WordPress installations). If all the installations on a server shared one common WordPress install, you’d only have to cache that one set of PHP files — effectively you could keep WordPress in a compiled state in memory for all of your sites.
The caching argument sounds very compelling. The key to the setup is having a more flexible wp-config.php file, coupled with some URL remapping. Check out Virtual Multiblog for WordPress for a similar approach.
Sounds complicated? Or exciting?
Top 5 podcasts about WordPress
PimpMyWordPress has compiled a comprehensive list of the best WordPress-related podcasts out there today, complete with iTunes subscription links and everything. What’s more, most of them are done weekly, so just imagine the amount of dedication these WordPress fans have. Doesn’t it make you love the WP community even more?
If you can’t get enough of WordPress and want to take things to the next level, or if you’re dying to get to know some of the more revered members of this community, check out these WordPress podcasts.
Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009
The Philippines’ Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009 Writing Project is back. All you have to do is write a post detailing your top 10 emerging influential blogs for the current year. Take note of the following cut-off dates:
- Featured blogs must have been created no earlier than May 1, 2008
- Blog posts can be updated until August 2 but you must notify the writing project organizers
- Deadline for submissions is on July 30.
- Featured blogs of the week on Influential Blogger will begin on May 16.
- A final review of posts will be made on August 5
Ten participants stand to win $100 each. Read the complete mechanics here.
Shorter WordPress blog post URLs for microblogging
No need to send your blog post URLs through a URL shortener like TinyURL or bit.ly because you can just use WordPress’ built-in system! Here’s proof.
Remember Marghil’s “Plurk This” code for WordPress? It takes advantage of the post_ID permalink to use the shortest post URLs as possible, since in microblogging, every character saved counts.
Plus, since you’re using your own blog URL, followers will know exactly where your link is going, increasing the chances of their clicking on it.
Something to remember next time you promote your latest blog post on Twitter or Plurk.
Philippine top blogs of 2008 from Pinoy Money Talk
Pinoy Money Talk has recently posted the Philippines’ Top Blogs of 2008, all based on Alexa rankings for the past year.
The biggest jumper in 2008 is Jehzlau-Concepts.com. The blog initially ranked #29 with an Alexa rank of 102,719 but in the latest tally for 1st Quarter 2009, the blog zoomed to #5, making a 62.2% jump in its Alexa rank in just one year.
Completing the Top 5 in terms of biggest Alexa rank changes are #2: 5ThirtyOne.com (56.1%); #3: Carlocab.com (48.6%); #4: TechAtHand.net (46.3%); and #5: Alleba.com/blog (46.1%).
The report also covers the top blogs for the first quarter of 2009, the biggest gainers and decliners, and a note on the exclusion of certain blogs (featuring nudity, warez, and lack of substantial content).
Watch out for more top lists such as this, because it looks like it’s that time of the year again for popularity contests!
4 types of bloggers and a roundtable discussion on blog marketing
New Media Philippines author Carlo Ople has written his own take on the different types of bloggers. For him, there are 4 kinds: hobby bloggers, journal bloggers, Google bloggers, and value bloggers.
He also mentions a fifth one, the “Patay Gutom Blogger”, which brushes up against ethical issues in blogger-related events held by marketing and PR firms:
These bloggers are basically not bloggers at all. Since more and more companies are tapping bloggers for product launches, some people have realized that they just need to make a free blogger account to be qualified as a “blogger”. This serves as their free pass to events which usually has goodie bags and food.
Which leads me to cite the recently held bloggers’ roundtable discussion on Blogging & Blog Marketing at AIM’s internet marketing course Winning Internet Marketing Strategies & Tactics. Here are the key points:
- Bloggers are diverse: We come in all shapes & sizes, and different backgrounds, interests & motivations
- Despite the diversity, bloggers have one big thing in common: passion
- Bloggers follow a personal code of ethics (e.g. advertising, blogger events, etc.)
- For most bloggers, online reputation matters
- When working with bloggers, authenticity of the advocacy & commitment of the company/proponent is important (i.e. “one shot advocacy events,” hard sell to bloggers)
- Money is generally looked down upon as a reward/incentive
- When working with bloggers, companies should strive to make an impression and make sure the blogger has a story to tell after the event
LG & Sony Ericsson raffles from Technograph & Uno Magazine
Tech blog Technograph and men’s magazine UNO are holding mobile phone related raffles for its avid readers. The mechanics for each contest are different, so be sure to read the details:
Design an avatar based on the LG Cookie’s thumbprint graphic that represents your personality, have your friends rate it, and share the link of your blog post containing the art. Deadline is on Friday, April 29.
RevYOU: Sony Ericsson W760i Walkman Phone:
Give a short review of the SE W760i in the comments section of the article, then get your answer published and you might even win a special prize (no word if it’s a cellphone too). No specified deadline.
Blogger to WordPress tutorial
Gemma Baltazar (The Lady Programmer) has written in a guest post on JaypeeOnline a step-by-step tutorial on migrating from Blogger/BlogSpot to a self-hosted WordPress website. It’s very detailed, complete with screenshots so you know exactly where to click and tweak.
This is just part 1 of, so watch out for the next installment!
Errors and blank screens on your WordPress blog? You could have been hacked
An important security issue for sites running WordPress: if you get this error “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_VARIABLE” or blank screens on your blog, there’s a very good change that you may have been hacked.
Design and Promote has a detailed list of bringing back your site into pristine condition, but if you can’t do that on your own, you can pay them $100.00 for the service. Either way, the first and most important step is finding out if your site has been compromised.
Beautiful and SEO-friendly titles for WordPress
Even without transforming a WordPress-powered site into a full-blown CMS, there are a lot of sections to a WP site, e.g., posts, monthly archives, search results, static pages, and so on. One thing that helps keep visitors from getting lost when they dig deeper into these sections is knowing exactly where they are, and that’s by the titles of pages.
Learn how to customize those section titles with the help of this tutorial. Not only does it make for a better user experience, it gives plus points in the search engine optimization department as well!
Winning Internet Marketing Strategies & Tactics course at AIM
The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) together with several well-known Philippine bloggers have launched a special 3-day course on internet marketing called Winning Internet Marketing Strategies & Tactics.
Anton Diaz, Jayvee Fernandez, and Regnard Raquedan join AIM faculty in unveiling internet marketing and social media marketing strategies for executives, consultants, and entrepreneurs. Here’s the course outline:
- Marketing & the Internet
- Generating Traffic: Internet Advertising & Search Engine Marketing
- Creating the Mindset: Manage Your Company’s Brand and Reputation Online
- Building Relationships: Turn Website Visitors into Your Customers
- Web 2.0 & Social Media: The Power & Wisdom of the Crowd
- Blogging & Blog Marketing: Conversations that can lead to Conversions
- Evaluating Your Internet Marketing Campaigns with Web Analytics
It runs from April 13-16, 2009 and costs Php30,000. Group discounts are available. Visit the website for more details.
Keep your blog credibility amidst sponsored events (redux)
Marcelle Fabie has written his own version of the previously featured blog credibility tips by Jayvee Fernandez, and his strategies are, shall we say, more aggressive:
- You are a VIP. Act like one.
- Don’t attend if the freebies are not worth your while.
- Never shell out!
- No matter how compelling, don’t blog about the event! You have better things to blog about!
- Always invite a MOB with you when attending these blogger events!
Bottom line: you’re the customer, you’re the one with the purchasing power, so it makes sense for companies, PR people, and the media to be at your beck and call, right? I’m sure the event organizers will agree as well.
(Happy April Fool’s Day!)
iBlog5 registration is open
iBlog, the Philippines’ premier blogging conference, is back on its 5th year this May 9, 2009 at the Malcolm Hall Theater in UP Diliman, Quezon City.
Here’s the tentative schedule:
Morning session: (some can be sponsored talk)
- 9:00 - 9:20 Blogging 101 (Micaela Rodriguez & sponsor slot)
- 9:30 - 9:50 Photo Blogging 101 (Faith Salazar and Fritz Tentativa)
- 10:00 - 10:15 Break
- 10:15 to 10:35 Video Blogging 101 (Azrael Coladilla)
- 10:45 - 11:05 Mobile Blogging 101 (sponsor slot)
- 11:15 - 11:35 Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging 101 (Benj Espina and Juned Sonido)
- 11:45 - 12:05 Blog Promotion & Traffic Generation Strategies 101 (Winston Almendras and Coy Caballes)
- 12:05 - 1:00 Lunch break
Afternoon session:
- 1:00 - 1:20 Legal issues in Blogging
- 1:30 - 2:30 Preparing Bloggers for the 2010 Elections
- COMELEC on Blogging & Bloggers
- Citizen Journalism for the 2010 Elections (Oliver Robillo, NAMFREL Chairman - Davao City)
- The Bloggers Election Handbook project release (Janette Toral)- 2:40 - 3:30 Blog Advertising Situation in the Philippines (Yehey and 2 sponsors)
- 3:30 - 3:45 Break
- 3:45 - 4:45 Blogging to the Next Level (Fitz Villafuerte and another speaker)
- 4:45 - 5:00 Raffle & Group picture taking
7:00 pm onwards After-Event Party (sponsored)
Registration is open here. You can also check out other information about the event like the venue, sponsors, and promotion.
How has WordPress changed your life?
Jeremy Visser, an avid user of WordPress since the early days, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the open source project at the WP-Hackers mailing list:
That’s the day I first downloaded WordPress, and discovered the joy that
it is. It was love at first sight, and WP 2.7 brings me closer to the
same “magic” I felt in 1.5.1 than any release between 2.0 and 2.6 did.I would like to take this opportunity thank everyone who made WordPress
what it is today, and what it means to me.WordPress has improved my writing skills, made me new friends, taught me
about open source software development, given me PHP/MySQL coding
skills, given me jobs, and welcomed me as part of its community. It
means a lot to me.
Read the whole message here. Most of us haven’t been users as long as Jeremy has, but quite a few can certainly relate, developing new skills and gaining new opportunities because of WordPress.
Count your feed subscribers for blog contests
Let’s not ask why subscribing to one’s blog is a common criterion for all the blog contests out there; let’s be thankful Thaya Kareeson over at Weblog Tools Collection has written a helpful tutorial for keeping track of new subscribers to your RSS feed.
The technique involves adding a special contest code that appears only in the feed, which subscribers can use to indicate they are indeed subscribed:
A known solution to this problem is to include a special contest code into your RSS feed and not have this code visible on your website. That way each contestant will be forced to grab the code from your feed and submit the code via comments to verify that they have subscribed to the RSS feed.
Even if you’re uncomfortable with editing PHP, all you have to do is copy the code given in the article and you should be good to go. All in all, this is a smart technique that should help you out for your next blog contest!
Keep your blog credibility amidst sponsored events
Jayvee Fernandez of A Bugged Life has written a very timely article on blogger credibility and sponsored events in the Philippines. I think this paragraph is one of the most important thoughts to take away from his piece:
If you want to be known, be known for only one or two things, and make sure you do these well. To the SEO and blogging industry, having many blogs is absolutely normal. But when you start to engage marketers, you don’t say “hello, I write for twenty blogs.” They won’t see you as a brand. They’ll see you as a production house. You’ll know this when they give you a sheepish grin. Trust me, I’ve seen it before.
See also Markku Seguerra’s comment below:
Let’s just say there’s more to blogging than just blog events. I guess that’s a good reminder for everyone.
While it’s true that companies have started tapping the blogosphere for marketing their products via events and contests, you don’t have to be pressured into participating or providing 100% positive feedback all the time. Again, there’s more to blogging than marketing and PR.
Why do you blog? What do you bring to the table?
Win DSLR camera, show & event guesting from TV5
TV5 is holding a bloggers contest/writing project for viewers of the shows Lipgloss, Flo, and Midnight DJ and the prizes at stake are pretty interesting. Up for grabs are a DSLR camera and either an invitation to be on one of the shows or a VIP guest at one of their events.
Here are the mechanics posted at this page:
1. This Contest is open to all bloggers who watch the following TV5 shows: Midnight DJ, Lipgloss and/or Flo.
2. Participants must blog about any or all of the 3 TV5 shows listed above. Anything goes! Entries may include comments, recommendations on how to improve the show/s and reasons to watch them or otherwise. They can also express their take on the technical elements of the show like the plot, over-all appeal and other aspects of production.
3. All participating bloggers must register at the TV5Kommunity and post their blog entry’s entry’s URL in the specific thread assigned for this contest.
4. Entries shall be judged via ‘point system’. For every hit and positive feedback generated about the program on both the contestant’s personal blog and their entries in the TV5Kommunity page. Contestant earns ‘points’.
5. The Top 3 bloggers with the highest points shall receive special prizes and their blog entries shall be posted in the TV5 Blogs. Moreover, they shall be given special credits/acknowledgment within their ‘blogged’ TV5 shows.
6. The Grand Prize winner shall receive a DSLR camera and an invitation to be in one of the program’s episodes or in any TV5 event as a VIP guest.
7. All entries must be submitted on or before May 20, 2009. Only hits and positive feedback received until May 20, 2009 shall be considered.
Don’t forget to read the disclaimer too. Isn’t it great to see mainstream media companies reaching out to online media?
Improve your WordPress search results page
Most of your visitors will probably arrive from search engines looking for something particular in mind. Make your blog as search-friendly as possible with this set of improvements from Pro Blog Design. Here’s one of the tips:
2 - Highlight the Search Terms in Results
When you search on Google or any other major search engine, the words you searched for are highlighted in the results to make it easier for you to scan. We can do the same with your search results page.
Little tweaks should go a long way!
WPLookup: unofficial function and template tag reference
WPLookup is a nifty tool and reference for WordPress designers and developers. It lets you enter a WordPress function or template tag and display the necessary documentation from the WordPress Codex. You can even add it as a search engine to your web browser of choice so it’s just much easier to access.
I can just imagine this becoming an official tool integrated into the WordPress site, and even having an API of sorts so you can plug it into text editors and such. Great potential here.
The Best WordPress Design Award
Heads up, WordPress designers! WPWebHost has announced the Best WordPress Design Award, which honors the quality looking WordPress sites.
There are 5 categories: Best Clean & Minimalist, Best Retro & Vintage, Best Grunge, Best Hand-Drawing Style, Best Modern & Elegant. The rules are quoted below:
Your website must be WordPress powered with an original design or a completely original modification of a free or premium theme design. And here’s how to join:
- Write a blog post (or announcement) about joining the Best WordPress Design Award (and mention which category you are joining) in your website.
Submit your URL in the comment form here. (trackback works too)
- Done! (are you expecting more?)
Deadline is on 22nd March 2009.
Winners will be chosen by the public and will get badges and $200 in cash. Join now!
Unique WordPress uses
DesignM.ag lists 11 non-traditional uses of WordPress, plus several other suggestions from commenters. The list includes clones for top websites like TechMeme and Ffffound, as well as non-blog site types like forums, job boards, wikis, review sites, and of course, e-commerce.
The list of unique WordPress uses keeps on growing! But are you happy with where WordPress is going?
Pinoy WordPress designer names dog after Kubrick theme!
Filipino WordPress theme designer Gail Dela Cruz-Villanueva just got a new pet shih tzu and named the pup Kubrick, after the default WordPress theme. How cool is that!
They actually thought of naming him after Matt Mullenweg too! Even Michael Heilemann, developer of the Kubrick theme, picked up on this and reported it on his blog.
While it’s not as drastic as, say, a tattoo, this shows just how supportive and dedicated the WordPress community is.
The death of WordPress?
How about bringing up the unspeakable for a change: Jeff Chandler at WordPress Tavern looks into the possibilities of WP’s demise. Here’s the shortlist:
- Third Party Support Disappears
- Change In License
- Just A Pile Of Bloat
- Someone Else Does It Better
- Security Blunders
- Leadership Heads South
A lot of the points in the article have been raised in different avenues before, but it will take a combination of several factors for WordPress to really decline. It’s the way the world works; change is constant, and we always move towards something that performs better.
However, I wouldn’t mind the day it becomes much less popular than it is, as long as the dedication of the developers and the community remains. And this is really one of the best features of WordPress today.
Win a pass to the first spa movie theater in the world
BlueWater Day Spa is giving 28 local bloggers a chance to experience the first spa movie theater in the world, which is located right here in the Philippines.
All you have to do is come up with a great idea for a spa theater party in the form of a blog post:
- Blog a post on what would be a great (unique, ‘FAMILY’ type) party event on our spa theatre. (Try to think as unique as possible)
- A Link back to this ‘blog post’
- A Link to ‘BlueWaterDaySpa.com’
- Comment here once you’ve finished your write up.
Deadline is on February 15.
Blogging 101, Blog Marketing & Advertising, Blogging Monetization & Business Hands-on Workshop
Janette Toral is holding a comprehensive blogging workshop on February 18-20 at Netopia Internet Cafe, Ground Floor Greenbelt 1, Legaspi Street, Makati City.
Here’s the general schedule:
February 18: Blogging 101 Workshop
February 19: Blog Marketing & Advertising
February 20: Blog Monetization & Business
Anybody can sign up, including DigitalFilipino.com Club members. The fee for non-members is Php3000 per day. Register here.
Design laptop and iPhone skins for bloggers, win $400 and WordPress gear
Show your love for blogging by designing Infectious’ I <3 Blogging design competition. WordPress has teamed up with this online gadget customization store and you can win hundreds of dollars plus Wordpress goodies. And by team up they also mean people like Matt Mullenweg are among the judges.
1st place wins:
$400
A WordPress Hoodie, mug, and t-shirtAll winners recieve:
$100
5% of Net Sales
$400 of Infectious product
A WordPress t-shirtDeadline
March 31, 2009
Read the specific guidelines here. Join now!
Looking for a blogging philosophy? Try these on for size
One of the biggest issues traditional journalists and people who do not understand the internet have against blogging is how easy it is to publish articles with filled unverified facts, lopsided views, and that narrowmindedness one develops in middle of an uproar.
While I don’t agree that all bloggers should be held up to certain standards similar to that of journalists and other members of the media, you might have started wondering how to best approach blogging about a burning topic next time.
Let’s have a look at three philosophies on blogging and writing on the web:
- SpeedBlogging: The idea is to always be prepared with ideas, so you can always pick from one of them later. Now expound out by listing key points and mind-mapping. In the words of that famous sports brand (or that former Health Secretary), just do it.
- Slow Blogging: In the simplest sense, it’s the “rejection of immediacy”. If you can help it, don’t get swayed by the hype and choose to write when it makes most sense for you to.
- Blogging without Obligation: Somewhat leaning toward the Slow Blogging manifesto, BWO also rejects immediacy and every other expectation put in place by the so-called experts. On your blog, you’re the expert.
You might want to ponder on why you started blogging in the first place. If you’re an aspring new media journalist, you probably have to brush up on reporting ethics and whatnot. Try updating your “about me” blurbs to clarify objectives to your audience. Or not, if you don’t care what anybody thinks.
So how do you blog? Do you scramble to hit the publish button ASAP? Do you sleep on your post and come back to it the next day? Or do you raise your middle finger and yell, “screw the rules, I’m doing this my way!”
Win $200 cash from The Blog Herald
The Blog Herald is giving away $200 USD for the blog that is helping make the world a better place.
Over two years ago, the Blog Herald held a small contest with a $200 USD cash prize for the winning blog. Given the gloom and doom around blogosphere today owing to the economic crisis, we feel that there could be no more appropriate time to repeat this contest and once more offer $200 USD for the most deserving blog.
To join the contest, simply leave a comment on their blog post or send an email to editor@blogherald.com on or before the midnight (PST) of January 31.
WordPress fastest growing in-demand skill for 2008
WordPress lovers, rejoice! oDesk is reporting that WordPress is the fastest growing skill that was in demand for 2008.
Skill/Experience Openings Last 60 Days 2007 Openings Last 60 Days 2008 Change WordPress 37 195 427.0% Writing* 32 138 331.3% Excel* 30 118 293.3% SEO 73 250 242.5% XHTML 24 61 154.2% Linux 23 58 152.2% Drupal 70 169 141.4% Joomla 157 352 124.2% CSS 119 250 110.1% Graphic Design* 20 42 110.0% *Because writing, graphic design, and excel have small starting points, we believe their change reflects oDesk growth, not a general trend.
Check out the growth of WordPress jobs for the past year:
For more information on the study, check out this presentation at SlideShare and this blog post.
(Via WordPress Publisher Blog)
SEO: WordPress 2.7 comment pagination causes duplicate content
Here’s an important heads-up for all the SEO-conscious bloggers out there: the new comment pagination feature in WordPress 2.7 apparently produces duplicate content, which is frowned upon by search engines like Google. Quick Online Tips reports:
When I checked my Google Webmaster tools today, it notified me of hundreds of duplicate title tags and duplicate meta descriptions pages on our site which were not there before. A quick look at this duplicate content issue revealed it was caused by multiple comment pages.
By default, a WordPress 2.7 installation will break the comment list into multiple pages if they exceed 50 comments. You can change this setting and other comment-related options by visiting the Discussion page in the admin panel.
Freelance Writing for Dummies by Nina Terol
Get a chance to hone your writing skills under the guidance of communications consultant, freelance lifestyle and business journalist, and political communicator Nina Terol in a 2-day workshop entitled Freelance Writing for Dummies.
FREELANCE WRITING FOR DUMMIES is a two-day workshop that takes the freelance writer-wannabe through the whats, whys, whens, and hows of freelance writing in the Philippines. It will tackle the myths, the realities, and the possibilities that make freelance writing intriguing, challenging, and–ultimately–fun. Whether one seeks to freelance part-time or full-time, this workshop will show that a freelance writing career can be rewarding.
Here’s the schedule:
DAY 1: 10 JANUARY (SAT), 9AM-4PM
AM (9AM-12NN)
• Introduction
• DISCUSSION: Why freelance?
• EXERCISE: Your “Life SWOT”
• EXERCISE: Your “Circle of Friends”PM (1-4PM)
• LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Myths, Realities, and Opportunities of Freelance Writing
>> Including a talk by Carissa Villacorta, author of Surreality
• LECTURE/DISCUSSION: Opportunities in Freelance Writing
• LECTURE: Ready to Write? Here’s What You Need
• Day 1 Wrap-UpDAY 2: 17 JANUARY (SAT), 1-4PM
• Summary of Day 1 and intro to Day 2
• EXERCISE: Practicing “The Pitch”
>> Guest panelist: Candice Lopez-Quimpo, Editor of Baby Center Philippines
• DISCUSSION: Oops! Traps and Caveats
• Open Forum*WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING:
• Yourself ?
• An inkling of why you want to get into freelance writing
• A pen and extra paper, if you’re anal about taking notes
• Extra food (light snacks will be served, but you can opt to bring your own lunch or order from the nearby cafes and restos)
• Whatever homework will be assigned for the day
Only 25 slots are available. Register here.
Top 10 Filipino Expats and OFW Bloggers of 2008 announced
The Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards honored the top Filipino expatriates and overseas workers who are also bloggers. Here’s the list:
10. Rhapsody, Dubai, UAE
9. Mumsified, Malaysia
8. Sari Saring Kulay, Japan
7. Sleepless in KL, Malaysia
6. Manilenya, Canada
5. Pamatay Homesick, Kuwait
4. Pedestrian Observer, USA
3. The Sandbox, Saudi Arabia
2. Pansitan ni Ate Sienna, USA
1. Writing on Air, Australia
Writing on Air is written by Jim Paredes and this is what the judges had to say about his blog:
“Meaningful and inspiring posts” “Brings out pride in being Filipino” “Writing on Air has depth and substance. Jim’s blog is brilliant and inspiring. His take on issues around the world and as well as personal experiences are culturally enriching as a Filipino. The lay-out and design is clean” Some of the judges notes about Jim Paredes blog.
There was also a special award for the Most Popular Expat/OFW Blog, Ronel Livelihood from the UK.
Pangandaman-De la Paz golf mauling incident: from local blogs to international news
Philippine blogs are buzzing over the golf mauling involving Masui, Lanao del Sur Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr., his father Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Delfin de la Paz, and his family. It started with this blog post by his daughter, Bambee de la Paz.
At around 1:30 PM today, at Valley Golf and Country Club, Antipolo City, Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr., Mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur, his father, Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform, and company, beat my defenseless 56-year-old dad and my 14-year-old brother to a pulp because of some stupid misunderstanding on the golf course.
The news of this altercation spread around the blogosphere, microblogging services like Twitter and Plurk, and traditional media (read Noemi Dado’s entry for the list of links).
It’s even reached international news sites like Fox News, News.com.au, and The Straits Times. Now that’s the powerful effect of blogging for you.
Pinoy Bloggers get featured in Manual Magazine
Manual Magazine is featuring several famous Pinoy bloggers in this month’s issue. Read interviews on and articles by Mike Abundo, Coy Caballes, Jayvee Fernandez, RJ Ledesma, Rico Mossesgeld, Regnard Raquedan, Markku Seguerra.
Blog Issue! Do you have a blog? If you’re Pinoy and you’re young, chances are, you do. The time has come to train the spotlight on the blogging phenomenon as MANUAL devotes our annual tech issue on blogs and bloggers. Get to know eight bloggers from one of the country’s top blogging communities.
Win flash drives and Starbucks planners from Manila Freelancer
Melo Villareal of Manila Freelancer is giving away several items this Christmas, namely: SUPER TALENT 200X 4GB USB Flash Drive, 1 Ridata 1 GB USB Flash Drive, 1 Memorex 1 GB USB Flash Drive, 1 PQI 1GB USB Flash Drive and FOUR 2009 RED Starbucks Planners. More to come soon!
You need to do both all the three steps to qualify, qualified participants will be posted here. Once we reached a good number of entries we will draw the winner.
What you have to do is leave a comment, blog about your own Christmas wishlist, and link back to the contest. No specified deadline date/time, so try and get qualified now!
Win music-related goodies from 12 Days of Christmas, 12 Days of Giveaways at Music Picks
Music Picks is holding a contest slash giveaway for 12 Days starting December 20, and the prequalifying round has already started. Here’s how you can join:
A) Subscribe through e-mail (FREE) by filling out the e-mail subscription form somewhere below this post.
B) Or, make a blog post (be it in multiply, friendster, wordpress, etc.) about the contest and put http://blog.edarevalo.net as a link and label it as Music News Philippines or Music Blog Philippines
C) Do both (subscribe and make a blog post). This will double your entry as well, so more chance to win.
You can win music-related goodies and other prizes. They’re not yet revealed to add to the excitement, but I’m sure you won’t pass up on this contest.
Red Ribbon Christmas Cake Toast
Red Ribbon is launching a limited edition Coffee Walnut Bavarian cake in time for Christmas and you can be one of the first to taste it. Be at Red Ribbon Libis on December 10, at 7:00 PM.
You can bring a maximum of 2 friends along. Sign up here.
2009 blogger calendars, anyone?
2009 is fast approaching and it looks like Pinoy bloggers have come up with a great idea to greet the new year: with blogger calendars. Jonas Diego designed desktop wallpapers featuring himself, Kel Fabie and Hannah Villasis.
Paul Villacorta took the idea a step further and plans to print out 50 copies of a 2009 blogger calendar:
2009 Blogger Calendar was inpired from Jonas Diego, the one who created his own 2009 blogger calendar and was followed by a Hannah Villasis 2009 blogger calendar.
This time I will be making the calendar featuring three (3) bloggers on each month. I am planning to print this out and I’ll find sponsors so that I could send a free copy if you wish to join this 2009 Blogger Calendar. I hope you could help me save time by referring me to some sponsors so that by January I could start distributing it. A target of 50 copies will be distributed for the bloggers who participated and the rest will be for the sponsors.
JaypeeOnline gives away $900 worth of premium WP themes
JaypeeHabaradas of JaypeeOnline is giving away over $900 worth of prizes in his Christmas Giveaway. Here are the prizes at stake:
3 Revolution Two Pro Plus Memberships (each worth $149.95) - courtesy of Brian Gardner.
2 Mimbo Pro Single-License Copies (each worth $89.99) - courtesy of Darren Hoyt
2 FlexxTheme Single-Use Copies (each worth $79.95) - courtesy of Cory Miller
2 WP-Member Plugin Singe-Site Licenses (each worth $27.13) - courtesy of WP-Member.com
2 Elegant Themes Membership Licenses (each worth $19.95) - courtesy of Nick Roach
Deadline is on the midnight of December 30, 2008, US Pacific time. Read the blog post for the full mechanics of this contest.
