Live Blogging WordCamp – Day2

on my laptop

Our awesome M.C. - Matthieu

Keeping WordPress Secure – Mark Jaquith

markjaquith.com

http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/

Upgrades will be automatic, and that will help keep up with security issues.

Top 50 plugins – good security, but less popular ones might have security problems.

WP 2.6 – notifications on plugin upgrades

Themes usually not a security issue, but can be – no system to check yet – again more popular ones, more seen, therefore likely more secure

Databases & hashtags important, but password security essential – bad if –

• you can pronounce it
• you haven’t used the shift key
• you use it somewhere else
• you write it down
• it includes personal info

Info for developers – lots of code …

WordPress becoming much more secure! Result of concentrated effort by WordPress developers being very careful about code.

Password solutions – http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password

• others available

Running Your Blog Like a Pro – David Peralty

http://brandingdavid.com/

• Blog every day
• research your topics
• prove your passion or expertise
• come up with unique angle – don’t copy or be generic
• look at what inspires you – use that to inspire yourself – interview, break news, dissect
• promote your content – network, social bookmarking & sharing, comment on other blogs, Twitter etc., aggregate updates
• track & join the conversation – search.twitter.com etc.
• Getting more comments – questions, open endings, be controversial, respond to comments
• make commenting easy, thank people for commenting
• getting links – compelling content, link bait, guest posting, create services, try out other media (audio & video)
• Link bait = long, detailed, easy-to-digest, funny, useful, hard-to-replicate
• increasing revenue = try other ad services, test ad placements, direct ad sales
• don’t be afraid of ads – look at your competition’s ads, court advertisers, don’t undersell yourself (perceived value important)
• secondary efforts – book deals, job offers, speaking opportunities
• make your blog dummy proof – every page has contact info, make it easy to advertise, offer to promote their content
• Find what’s limiting you – links? ads? content? SEO? more contacts? guest posting on other blogs?

Question Answers

• colour coding for different topics
• “link bait” definition – primary purpose, get people to share – compelling content
• ad systems – “adify” – http://www.adify.com/
• FeedBurner – useful – WP.org some copyright protections
• David avoids plugins, 3rd party comment services

Mark McKay – Video Blogging

Mark McKay - Video Blogging

http://markmckay.ca/

• Great video on Canadian content on tv
• www.deartoronto.ca
• a videoblog can be anything! – tutorials, news, community activism, personal etc.
• videoblog can be like a tv show – Mark is on MTV live

Suggestions:

• think before you speak – comments will respond! – have the facts
• duration – about 2 minutes or less – long enough to make your point – short enough for a quick watch
• Fair Copyright for Canada – Kill Bill C61 > viral, Michael Geist’s site – great video – 61 seconds
• 12Seconds – http://12seconds.tv/
• the camera doesn’t really matter – file size important though (100 mb) – compress before uploading
• software – iMovie, Avid (free version available on their website), Premier,
• be careful of the lighting, lots of light or outside, look & sound are important
• syndicate to iTunes, BlipTV, Yahoo Video, del.icio.us, mdialogue, tubemogul – highly recommended, includes stats
• viral videos – enter contests and win – especially controversial stuff – post on popular websites with a link to video
• YouTube has made video mainstream & has created tv stars, brought amateurs into prominence
• Using video sites saves you bandwidth use and gives you access to their audience – YouTube especially
• MTV clears his copyright stuff
• green screen in his basement – painted wall or used a piece of fabric, good lighting needed, there’s a FinalCut Pro plugin that helps

Brendan Sera-Shriar – Making the Most of Plug-ins

Brendan Sera-Shriar

http://backspacestudios.com/bss/

http://phug.ca/

Plug-ins extend WordPress

Beyond out-of-the-box plug-ins

Customization – look a important as functionality – enhance & simplify the blogging experience of advanced users.especially developers & designers

coding needed for customization – PHP and SQL experience required

coding is a language & is learnable

Tips on writing plug-ins

• look at source codes, especially of plug-ins you like
• research to make sure you’re not just repeating
• use a plug-in template

Demonstration of coding a plug-in

Feeling overwhelmed with content

Entertainment Blogging: A Panel Discussion

Frank Yang, Tim Shore, Chris Budd, Jonathan Dekel

Entertainment Bloggers

Melissa, one of the great organizers

And I’m out of here ;->

on my feet