Technically Easy

Category: Websites and Blogging

This category will contain any blogging-related posts, that includes platforms such as WordPress and Blogger.

  • Creating Printable Post Pages in WordPress

    Creating Printable Post Pages in WordPress

    Some time ago I created a post titled How to Create Printable Web Pages where I talk about using two CSS style sheets for a web site: 1 for the screen display and one for printing. I used the two style sheets when Technically Easy was on Blogger, but since then I never created a print-only CSS style sheet.

    Since this blog is comprised of many tutorials and how-to guides, I decided I should provide the ability for a visitor to print a post without the sidebar, navigation bar and RSS subscription area taking up space on the printed page. As I thought about it, I figured I could provide a more flexible solution than just creating a print-only style sheet, so this post will explain how I manage to create a printable version of each post.

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  • Blog Ad Networks: Quantity or Quality Traffic?

    In a few months Technically Easy will have been around for two years. Within those two years I have switched blogging platforms, tried many themes, and tried several advertising networks. It seems like there is a new ad network created each day, offering something a little different than the current crop of networks. Some of the statistics published by the ad networks are about traffic, and how much traffic you can drive to your blog.

    In recent months I have tried three different advertising networks: Entrecard, Adgitize and CMF Ads. I am currently using CMF Ads, which you can see in my sidebar. I have recently decided to have look at the traffic stats for each network over a month period to see how they compare. Let’s have a look.

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  • How to Easily Add Adsense to Your Blogger Blog

    Google’s Adsense is one of the most popular forms of monetizing available for a Web site or blog. It is free to join and easy to display on your site. Unless your host doesn’t allow you to display ads, such as the free version of WordPress, you can easily add them to any site.

    For those that manage Blogger blogs, it is even easier than before to add Adsense ads to your blog. Blogger has added functionality for you to easily add ads as well as track your total earnings directly from your Blogger account. The only thing you need is an Adsense account, and after you have an account, you can easily add Google’s Adsense ads to your blog by using the information in this post.

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  • Technically Easy Gets a New Theme

    I talked about some thoughts I had on Web design in a previous post title My Thoughts on Web Page Designs, and also mentioned that I was working on a new theme for Technically Easy. After several weeks of development and testing, I finally switched to the new theme this past weekend.

    While it isn’t the most exciting theme, it does contain all the elements and ideas that I had thought about. I have always preferred more simple designs than complex ones, which explains the look and layout of this theme. You’ll have to bear with me while I go over some of the points about this theme.

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  • My Thoughts on Web Page Designs

    For those that have been reading Technically Easy for some time, you may have noticed that I modify my blog design every few months. Since switching over to WordPress, however, I have kept the same template, with a few modifications. In the past week, I have been creating a new blog design from scratch, and have thought about some of the design issues that I have seen online.

    In this post I will talk about my thoughts on Web page designs, and what I think are common issues with many designs in use today.

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  • Preventing Directory Browsing with .htaccess

    In the past few weeks I have written a few posts about plugins I have installed to assist with administering Technically Easy. I find it very important to perform regular maintenance on both the WordPress database and the files to ensure my blog is constantly running. One thing I haven’t touched on is the importance of securing my WordPress blog.

    There are many web sites and blogs that provide great tips on how you can secure your WordPress blog, and I may repeat some of those in the future. In this post, however, I will discuss a problem that is evident in many WordPress blogs. This problem is the ability of a visitor to browse the contents of the WordPress directories on your host. If you are unsure if a visitor is able to browse a directory, then I’ll show you how you can test it, and also show you an easy fix to correct the problem.

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  • Preventing Duplicate Content in Search Engines With WordPress

    I was recently looking at Google’s Webmaster Tools, and more specifically the robots.txt section. As I reviewed the robots.txt for my blog, I thought about whether I can make it better. For those who aren’t familiar with the file, it provides information to web robots about what files/directories they shouldn’t access. Search engines use web robots to add pages to their search results.

    As I was reviewing the robots.txt file, I was thinking about a more efficient method of preventing duplicate content from appearing in the search results without having to modify the robots.txt file. After performing a search I found a good way of handling it within WordPress.

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  • Finding Your Blogger Blog’s Sitemap

    Adding a sitemap to Google’s Webmaster tools is one of the first tips you will be told to do when you first manage a web site or blog. It is an easy process to do, and you can get many benefits from it, such as monitoring how Google is indexing your pages, the external and internal links it finds, and any problems Google may find with indexing your site.

    For Blogger users, the sitemap to your blog may not be easy to find. Blogger does have a built-in tool that can help you add your sitemap, but if other services can use a sitemap, you may want to know where the sitemap is located. The good news, is that it is easy to find.

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