TechnoCloud
blogging
Vanity spam
WordPress plugin Askimet does a great job of catching spam catching over fifteen thousand comments since I installed it. It allows me to keep comments open to all, saves me the time of administering the spam and spares my blushes from x-rated comments that many spammers use. However, it’s not perfect. I’ve noticed a wave … Continue reading
Improving your bounce rate
Back in November, I started an experiment to improve the bounce rate on the blog through the related-posts plugin in WordPress. As below, this typically displays three related posts based on tag, category, body and title. I’ve been monitoring the changes in the bounce rate each month since the plugin was activated with encouraging results. … Continue reading
Displaying related posts in WordPress
In an attempt to improve the bounce rate on the blog, I’ve finally added a related posts plugin which exactly what it says on the tin. After some experimentation with the WordPress plugins, I settled on the amusingly named ‘Yet another Related Posts Plugin‘ which is anything but yet another plugin. With a simple install … Continue reading
Random comments award
Something strange is happening on one of my archived posts, Pimp my blog. The majority of non-spam comments that I get on the site are relevant and informative, but for reasons unexplained that post has now attracted a request for help with SQL, a test message, a joke, a business article and even a comment … Continue reading
Moving back from hosted to free WordPress.com
As explained in the previous post, I was considering moving back from a hosted version of WordPress to the free version. This blog is not-for-profit (ad trial is a technology test) and I’ve had more hassle resolving hosting issues, than benefits with the flexibility hosting your own blog brings. There is surprisingly little information on … Continue reading
Adding Google Adsense on WordPress.com
After several hosting hiccups in the last few months, I have been considering moving back to the free version of WordPress available at WordPress.com. (The hosting service will remain nameless for now as they have been responsive in fixing the problems, if only they’d prevent them happening…). As you’ll see on the sidebar, I have … Continue reading
Adding Flickr photos to a hosted WordPress blog
As you may notice, I recently added a Flickr feed to the sidebar of TechnoCloud. In part this was to experiment further with WordPress plugins on a hosted blog, but it was also to give a wider audience to some of my Flickr photos after the original burst of activity died down. To get a … Continue reading
Pimp My Blog
MTV parent Viacom is allowing web users to embed videos from a number of MTV sites, including Pimp My Ride, into their web spaces. This comes at a time when Viacom requested the removal of 100k+ clips from YouTube. While this move shows Viacom’s desire to control the source of their content on the web, … Continue reading
TechCrunch UK comes to a crunching halt
The lively TechCrunch UK and Ireland has been put ‘on hold’ with its equally lively editor Sam Sethi removed from his post, as TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington explains. The gory details have been widely reported and centre around mixed feedback on social media conference Le Web 3, with organiser Loïc Le Meur objecting to Sam’s conference … Continue reading
Spam will find a way
Domain registrants usually enjoy a spam-free honeymoon period, until they need to start paying increasing attention to email and comment filters. Having been bitten in the past on other projects, I have been careful not to post TechnoCloud’s email address in machine-readable format. However, as sure as death and taxes spam found a way, most likely … Continue reading
