Office Cafe

WordPress Title Tag Fix for SEO

I have been reading “Building Findable Websites” by Aarron Walter over the past few weeks. I have been mulling over the concepts and adding features to my own sites as quickly as I can. One of the things that really bugged me about WordPress is the <title> tag used by many of the themes.

For example, the title for this page used to be:

Office Cafe » Blog Archive » WordPress Title Tag Fix for SEO

But a better title is:

WordPress Title Tag Fix for SEO | Office Cafe

I agree with Aarron that it needs to be changed. Fortunately, Christopher Ross published a very easy fix to this problem on his website!

Simply change the <title> tag (found in header.php) to this:

<title><?php wp_title(”); ?> <?php if ( !(is_404()) && (is_single()) or (is_page()) or (is_archive()) ) { ?> | <?php } ?> <?php bloginfo(’name’); ?></title>

Read more here: WordPress SEO Tips - The Title Tag

I will be implementing this on my WordPress sites immediately! Thanks Christopher!

Tags: seo

Changing WordPress Themes? Think Again!

Avoid Trouble Changing WordPress Themes

Are you changing your WordPress theme? Sure, go ahead, try a few! But if you decide to activate a new theme, just remember that you might “break” something when you do, so think again. I forgot to think again and lost two days of Blog Stats as a result of my mistake.

Perhaps this idea should be posted under the title “Measure twice, cut once” but that’s already taken by the home improvement crowd. So I will coin a new phrase to help us remember:

“Check twice, Activate once.”

For example, when you add WP Stats or Google Analytics, you are instructed to add code to your pages in order for these plugins to work. In my set-up, I chose to put this code in the footer.php file.

When you change themes, the footer.php file will most likely be overwritten by a different footer in the new theme. If you forget to go back and put the necessary code back in, you’ll be disappointed to find that your stats or other such plugins suddenly stop working.

As shown here, this line needs to be put just above the tag in footer.php:

<?php wp_footer(); ?>

If you have any questions, check with the installation or faq pages of the plugin that you are using.

Fortunately, if you put the code back, you only lose stats for the time that it was missing. All of your old stats will still be there.

So if you change themes, take some time to Think Again!

Tags: Think

WordPress Blog Post from iPhone

I just downloaded WordPress for iPhone. This is the first post written from my iPhone using the App.

I am sure that since over 100,000 people have downloaded it, if you have a blog powered by WordPress and have an iPhone, you are already using this App.

I will post my impressions once I have had more time to use it.

Is anybody else using it? This is Version 1.1.

Tags: Mac

Help Haiti Now! Samaritan Air Medical Support

If you are interested in helping Haiti in a trustworthy and tangible way, please consider donating to Samaritan Air. Today (October 1, 2008), they are sending a helicopter to Haiti to move medical supplies and other necessities to the people of Haiti that cannot be reached by road.

I personally know the founders of this non-profit organization. Brian and Robin Parker have been dear friends for more than 15 years. They have many friends and partners in the organization, all of whom are dedicated to serving people in need. You can trust them to use your gifts wisely and completely in the weeks ahead to help restore the precious people of Haiti.

The short video shows and tells the story. The Pay-Pal link makes it easy for you to support them. Please visit them now. And please support this charity with a gift today.

Samaritan Air

UPDATE October 5, 2008:
Due to en-route weather problems, the flight to Haiti was delayed until today. Here is the text I received just moments ago:

This is worthy of our support. Thanks everybody!

Tags: Think

Extend Wireless Range with AirPort Extreme

Is your wireless network area just too small for comfort? Are you always walking your laptop just out of range? If you have an AirPort Extreme router, your problem can be solved by adding another AirPort Extreme to your network.

It is a simple matter of getting the settings right. For reliability and maximum range, I chose to “wire” them together, even though you should be able to extend them wirelessly.

I put my AirPort Extreme base stations at opposite ends of the house, making it easy to use our laptop computers anywhere in the house, with range to spare onto the back patio.

The trick is to make the second one (the one NOT connected to your DSL or Cable Modem) a “bridge” connection.

First, get the “main” base station set up and running correctly. Make sure you have enabled the encryption scheme of your choice (choose the most secure encryption algorithm that all of the computers on your network can connect to).

Once your “main” AirPort Extreme base station is running and all of your computers can connect to it, connect the “extension” AirPort Extreme to the first one. Mine are connected through a “Network Switch” (similar to the network “hubs” of a few years ago).

Set up the Internet Connection Sharing to “Off (Bridge Mode).” The Wireless Options should be the same as on the “main” base station.

 

Note: Name the network the SAME on both AirPort Extreme routers. Also, use the same password for both stations. This way, your computer can connect to either base station with only one “key” in the keychain. It worked for me.

Set up each base to choose its wireless channel automatically. 

When you are at one end of the house and move to the other end of the house, momentarily “turn off” your laptop’s AirPort:

and turn it right back on again:

It will find the base with the highest signal strength automatically:

Any questions?

Tags: Internet Sharing, Mac