This plugin was practically built upon original Admin Drop Down Menus plugin by Ozh. I tested it before but I had to deactivate it since the admin panel took longer to load. It wasn’t long before I found another plugin and surprisingly, it was very lightweight and I’ve been using it ever since.

Basically, what the plugin does is by creating drop-down menus instead of the regular admin menus of the WordPress interface, so that you can browse items with one click and work at your blog in a much more usable environment. It adapts the original WordPress color schemes, makes you feel that WordPress itself built it. The integration of icons into the menus are fascinating but subjects to personal liking, I disable it. Just look at the image below and make your comparison.

Screenshot taken from “Settings” menu.

Image 1: Original WordPress 2.5 admin panel

Image 2: ‘Tweak version’ admin panel

Overall, Lighter Menus fits within the Wordpress 2.5 interface pretty well by taking the less room possible. Give it a try and let me know your opinion.

• Plugin: Clean Notifications
• Plugin: Homepage Excerpts
• WordPress 2.6 is Around the Corner

The key to this workaround is via span tag or first-letter pseudo-element. Here are the examples of how to implement initial caps to your content.

1. Span tag
This is my favorite method is I don’t need to mess with existing css file especially if I don’t use it regularly. Additional point where span tag is favorable is due to consistent results across browsers compared to pseudo-element.

<p>
<span style="float:left; color: #666; font-size:4.3em; padding-right: 5px;line-height:83%;">L</span>orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
</p>

This is how it should look:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Interesting? How if you want to use it regularly? Just use the above command but of course you can modify it to meet your requirements, and place it somewhere inside your css.

.firstletter {
float: left;
color: #666;
padding-right: 5px;
line-height: 83%;
}

This is how you call the styling into effect:

<p>
<span class="firstletter">L</span>orem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
</p>

2. first-letter pseudo-element
This is the easiest method of creating initial caps. The problem with this method is that not all browsers supported it. Be sure to test this in the browsers your Web site supports. Additionally, you have to add the rules into your css file, adding more size to it but if you use initial caps regularly, this method is highly recommended.

<style type="text/css">
.firstletter:first-letter {
float: left;
color: #666;
padding-right: 5px;
line-height: 83%;
}
</style>

This is how you call the element into effect:

<p class="firstletter">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
</p>

More information on pseudo-element from W3C.

• Optimize Images Using Height and Width Tags
• Validate Your Blog
• Guides to Fonts and Typography

Do you know that one of the powerful spam prevention is your silent .htaccess file? By adding few lines into it, you can deny all requests that do not originate from your domain using HTTP referrer technique.

Whenever readers wish to leave a comment, most of the time they post it via your comments.php template. The comment is then processed by initiating the script which is carried out by wp-comments-post.php. This is not the case for spambots as the target is not your comments.php but the later.

By blocking all requests for the comments-processing script that are not sent directly from your domain, you immediately eliminate a large portion of blog spam and here’s how.

All you have to do is to paste these lines into your existing .htaccess file and you are done.

# block comment spam by denying access
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .wp-comments-post\.php*
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !.*yourdomain.com.* [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ ^http://%{REMOTE_ADDR}/$ [R=301,L]

The last line is to send back the spambots to where they came from. In order words, you send them to spam themselves. Pretty neat eh? Thanks to PerishablePress for the tips.

• Redirect Your Domain’s Cousins
• Make Your URL Short and Efficient
• Do Not Let Akismet Work Alone

I found this video from YouTube during my search. It makes me wonder how lucky we are to live in this earth, seeing someone which is talented yet entertaining us. Enjoy!

Perhaps you have some ideas on what font he wrote? Hm… Time to search for more fonts.

• Guides to Fonts and Typography
• Points, Pixels, Ems and Percentage Conversion Table
• Are You the Victim of Content Theft?

Most of the themes were designed based on WordPress 2.3 and below. It may or it may not support widget but most important is, the slight variance of php code used to call the loop is the main culprit.

Open your sidebar.php and locate the following code. You should find the code instantly since the file is pretty small. Depends on what theme you used, this is how it should look.

<?php
if ( function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') && dynamic_sidebar(1) ) :
else : ?>

The code is somehow outdated and doesn’t sufficient to call the loop. Replace the above codes with this:

<?php
if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar(1) ) :
else : ?>

This is how the final result should look.

Sample code used on the above image.

<h2>Blogs of Interest</h2>
<ul>
<?php get_links(-1, '<li>', '</li>', ' - '); ?>
</ul>
</li>
<?php
if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar(1) ) :
else : ?>
<li id="links">

Do you have other solution? Let me know how you resort yours.

• Separating the Trackbacks from Comments
• Optimize 404 Page for Traffic
• Choosing the Right Theme

However, most people (including me during those days) just use pixels or points and become accustomed to it. However, by doing that they may be causing problems for some readers. Ever come to a super small font blog anyone?

So, which measurement should you use? What are available font measurements and most importantly when to use them? The information are scattered everywhere but I’ve taken extra steps to compile them here. Read on.

Points (pt)
Points are a print unit of measure and they are an absolute type size. This means that when you specify a font to 12pt in size, it might display much larger or smaller than you expect. Some readers always enlarge the font size when viewing page but when it comes to points, they are in trouble. In other word, you cannot expect on how it will look in readers’ screen. Yes, we almost forgot that the Web is viewed on the screen and using different browsers too! Suffice to say, points are bad unit for screen-based design.

Best practice in using this format is for your printed pages. Since I never produce something to be printed, I rarely use points in my blogs.

Pixels (px)
Past few years, this measurement was what I used. Pixels are the standard unit of measure for screens and monitors, and fonts will be more precisely the size you want on the screen. The problem is pixels response directly to the resolution of readers’ screen depending on what operating system they use. It may look perfect on Windows platform but does it produces the same effect on Macintosh or Linux? You bet.

However, if you concern over the look of your blog, perhaps you should use pixels since the fonts will be more precisely the size you want on the screen.

Ems (em)
Ems is a sizing mechanism in CSS that is lucid yet based on the default font size and generally predictable. Until recently, I decided to use ems throughout my design. Why? That because ems is considered the “best” units for sizing fonts and layouts in CSS. It doesn’t have the disadvantages of pixels and points. Ems is resizable in all Web browsers that support resizing, they are specified relative to the designer’s font size preferences, and can therefore adapt to the viewer’s screen. In other words, it offers more flexibility to the font.

If you cater about your audience very much, then ems is your good solution as your whitespace grows and shrinks proportional to your text if it is resized.

Percentage (%)
I rarely implement percentages typography to my design, except for tables. Equivalent to ems, percentages are another relative size measurement which can be used both to font sizes and layout except that percentages provide more consistent results than the latter when bumping font size up and down.

If you are more comfortable with percentages measurement than the typography-inspired ems, use its value instead since the results are almost the same.

Whatever it is, fonts and typography represents major role in creating a successful blog. Use them wisely and most importantly, do not annoy your readers as best as possible. Click here for conversion table.

• Points, Pixels, Ems and Percentage Conversion Table
• ABCDEFG… anyone?
• Validate Your Blog

http://1470.net/api/ping
http://a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b
http://api.feedster.com/ping.php
http://bitacoles.net/ping.php
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/xmlrpc
http://blogmatcher.com/u.php
http://blogoole.com/ping/
http://blogoon.net/ping/
http://blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogupdates
http://blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1
http://blogsdominicanos.com/ping/
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/rpc2
http://blogshares.com/rpc.php
http://blogsnow.com/ping
http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc
http://coreblog.org/ping/
http://holycowdude.com/rpc/ping/
http://imblogs.net/ping/
http://ping.amagle.com/
http://ping.bitacoras.com
http://ping.blogg.de/
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc
http://ping.myblog.jp
http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
http://ping.weblogs.se/
http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc/
http://pingqueue.com/rpc/
http://popdex.com/addsite.php
http://rcs.datashed.net/rpc2/
http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/rpc2
http://rpc.blogcatalog.com/
http://rpc.britblog.com/
http://rpc.pingomatic.com
http://rpc.tailrank.com/feedburner/rpc2
http://rpc.wpkeys.com/
http://snipsnap.org/rpc2
http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php
http://weblogues.com/rpc/
http://www.bloglot.com/rpc/
http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://www.imblogs.net/ping/
http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/
http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
http://www.wasalive.com/ping/
http://xmlrpc.blogg.de/
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

Disclaimer: This list is provided “As Is” with no warranties nor guarantees and you should do your own proper research before using it.

These services were removed prior to Ping-O-Matic ping list.

http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/rpc2
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rpc2
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt
http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://topicexchange.com/rpc2
http://www.blogdigger.com/rpc2
http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php

By default, these ping services are already listed in FeedBurner PingShot. Thus, double pinging already occurred. However, since we are not multiple ping these services; hopefully they won’t ban us for that.

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rpc2
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

Whatever you do, make sure to check the list thoroughly. Try to avoid multiple pinging as best as possible in order to avoid of being banned.

• Silent Promotion Using Ping Services
• Make Your URL Short and Efficient
• Add Interactive Elements to Your RSS Feeds

It was a bit odd when the theme has such name. Perhaps influenced by Michael Jackson’s legendary song? Whatever it is, let me review this theme for your perusal. Prior to its name, this free theme released by HeadsetOptions doesn’t sound right to me as I was expecting, well you know–black and white.

This advance 3-columns monetization ready theme is very lightweight and using semi-magazine structure that makes the content looks professionally organized. I don’t have the opportunity to test the theme though so I expect the owner stands up on his claim.

This theme excels in term of monetization. Adsense, three 125 x 125 banner slots (perhaps you can make it six?) and ample space on the sidebars really helps for those who love to monetize their blog. Thanks to tabbed interface, more space is made available for add-ons.

While most themes failed to validate, this one pass the test in shinning colors. Kudos to HeadsetOptions and MandarinMusing for getting this theme optimized. Yes, you read it right. This theme is SEO optimize, making it one of my favorite list so far.

If you are trying to install this theme, I would suggest trimming the footer as it consumed quite amount of space. It will be a lot nicer if it’s thinner.

Features:

• SEO optimized.
• Very lightweight.
• Semi-magazine layout structure.
• Monetization ready.
• Tabbed interface for archives, categories and tags.
• Widget ready sidebars.

Read more | More themes

Copyright © 2008 NeatTen.com. All Rights Reserved.

• Free Theme: Freicurv
• Free Theme: PassionDuo
• Free Theme: Evolution

Sorry, I will not go that far.

• Do Not Rely On Weekends Traffic
• Optimize 404 Page for Traffic
• List of Ping Services

Basically, the new version most probably comes will these built-in features as they are still under development.

• WordPress Auto Upgrade - Version 2.6 will incorporate auto-upgrade option. Great feature since currently we need a plugin or manual upgrade.
• Theme Preview - Users are able to see what a new theme would look like on your blog before you activate it. Handy, isn’t it?
• Ability to move wp-config.php - Ability to move wp-config.php one directory level below the public root. Looks like another security measure to me but I like it!

Credit to John for keeping us updated. Don’t forget to check his post.

**Update:
WordPress 2.6 Beta 1 released on June 23, 2008. Read more from Ryan Boren and/or Dougal Campbell.

Copyright © 2008 NeatTen.com. All Rights Reserved.

• Redirect Your Domain’s Cousins
• Plugins - Better Be Safe Than Sorry
• Plugin: Homepage Excerpts