WordPress Automatic Upgrade – WordPress Plugin Makes It Easy

OK, I just upgraded this blog from WordPress v2.6.5 to v2.7.1, and it was one of the easiest upgrades ever…thanks to Luke Gedeon. I thought that I could do an automatic upgrade from my hosting account, but it said that I could only upgrade manually. So I did a Google search to see if anyone had an “easy WordPress upgrade”, and low and behold I came across Luke Gedeon’s site with the answer I was looking for…How to upgrade to WordPress 2.7 – The easy way! I followed Luke’s instructions…and it was a piece of cake. The plugin was created by a very creative Keith Dsouza from Techie Buzz. Thanks Keith!

WordPress Automatic Upgrade Tutorial Video (this is a video tutorial of me upgrading one of my sites)

Below are Luke’s instructions…he said on his blog that anyone could copy them and spread the word, so I’m taking him up on it. Thanks Luke!

It is time to upgrade to WordPress 2.7

If you are like me you probably like to wait a few weeks months years to install the newest software. Upgrades take time, you have to learn new stuff, and new software usually breaks.

WordPress 2.7 is a little different. I have never seen software go through such a thorough vetting before release. Hundreds (possibly thousands) were testing this well in advance of release and multiple thousands were using it by the time of the official release.

All that testing does not make it any easier to install, though. Or does it? One of those testers built a plugin to make upgrading super-easy.

The Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin will take you through each step of the upgrade process. It gives you a one-click option to create backups then puts your blog in maintenance mode, installs the files, and finishes the upgrade. After installing the plugin, (plugins are much easier to install than the full WordPress application) you have 5-10 clicks and you are done!

So let’s get started:

1. Click here to download the plugin.
2. Upload the file you just downloaded into the /wp-content/plugins/ folder.
3. Unzip the file. (If I have lost you at this point, let me know. This is different for each host, but I can help you individually. Just ask.)
4. Goto your wp-admin and click the Plugins menu and the Plugins sub-menu
5. Find “Wordpress Automatic Upgrade” and activate it.
6. After activating the plugin you will see a pink bar at the top that says “Click Here to Automatically Upgrade WordPress to latest Version.
7. Anybody care to guess what the next step is?
8. Yup, Click on that link and enter the twilight zone.

After this you will have to click “Next Step” several times, and whenever it gives you a chance to download back-ups, do it. (two different parts need to be backed up) You will also need to click on the link to upgrade your database.

Please let me know who things work out for you. I want to hear all those, “Wow! That was easy!” exclamations. I also want to hear about any trouble  along the way, so maybe I can update these notes to make things even easier for others.

[Update]

Oh! Share this post with as many people as you possibly can. You can use social bookmarks like del.icio.us or rating sites like digg. Even better, you can copy this post onto your blog or write a post linking here. Let’s try to make this easy for as many people as possible.

[/Update]

Breakthrough Business Strategies

Thanks for stopping by Michele’s radio show. Below are some of the tips we discussed on the show for setting up your WordPress blog. Our wish is that you have a successful and abundant 2009 and that your business exceeds all of your expectations. Best wishes for 2009!

Breakthrough Business Strategies – BlogTalkRadio.com

Date: Monday, January 19, 2009

@ProsperityGal (Michele on Twitter)

http://blogtalkradio.com/twochickscreating

http://blogtalkradio.com/breakthroughbusinessstrategies

@Deauxmain (Bruce on Twitter)

http://www.deauxmain.com

Must Have Plugins to Start Your WordPress Blog:

• All in One SEO Pack – Out-of-the-box SEO for your Wordpress blog.
• Dagon Design Sitemap Generator – Generates a fully customizable sitemap
• Dagon Design Secure Form Mailer – WordPress version of my secure php form mailer script
• Exclude Pages from Navigation – Provides a checkbox on the editing page which you can check to exclude pages from the primary navigation.
• Google XML Sitemaps – This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO.
• Google Analytics for WordPress – A free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website.
• Sociable – Automatically add links on your posts, pages and RSS feed to your favorite social bookmarking sites.
• WordPress Automatic Upgrade – WordPress Automatic Upgrade allows a user to automatically upgrade the WordPress installation to the latest one provided by wordpress.org using the 5 steps provided in the WordPress upgrade instructions. View my WordPress Automatic Upgrade Video Tutorial.
• Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – Returns a list of the related entries based on a unique algorithm using titles, post bodies, tags, and categories. Now with RSS feed support!

Recommended WordPress Themes:

• Revolution2 – Professional WordPress Themes (These are the ones I have been using)
• WordPress Remix – Premium Theme that offers WordPress as CMS experience
• One Theme – Premium WordPress Themes
• WooThemes – Premium WordPress Themes (also have some FREE themes)
• iThemes – Premium WordPress Themes
• WordPress Themes – 542 FREE themes last time I checked

Recommended Web Hosting

Bluehost ->

Good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Information

seomoz.org – The Web’s Best SEO Resources – Tons of SEO information and tools. You will need to sign up for a free account.

Link Building Notes of an SEO Kindergartner – 19 pages filled with highly effective link building tactics shared by the coolest Mozzers

• Where to look for links
• How to get links

Using Voice Recognition or Speech Recognition Software for Blogging in WordPress

Most people speak over 120 words per minute but type less than 40 words per minute. What if you could speak your blog, instead of typing it. Think about using speech recognition or voice recognition software to make blogging easier. Once your software has been set up and trained to recognize your voice patterns, you can use it to dictate your blog posts. It learns to recognize your voice instantly and continually improves the more you use it. This can dramatically speed up the time it takes to get new posts up. Speech recognition software can type up to 160 WPM (words per minute) with 99% accuracy. Not too shabby, so give it a try.

• Windows Vista Speech Recognition – Free with purchase of Windows Vista operating system (built in)
• Nuance – Dragon NaturallySpeaking Speech Recognition Software -Starts around $99 and has many different purchasing options for Windows or Mac.

Screen Capture and Making Tutorials for WordPress

There are many times that you may want to take a screenshot of something to put in your WordPress blog or on your website. You may also want to find a way to make short tutorials, whereby you can record video of onscreen action, showing your users exactly what you’re doing. Well, I’ve found a great tool for doing just that. It’s called Jing. Jing is a free application that allows you to make screen captures or even video tutorials in 5 minute increments. Your captures or videos can be saved to your local hard drive or uploaded to Screencast.com. This software is made by TechSmith…the makers of Camtasia Studio. I love this application and encourage you to try it out to see for yourself.

• JingProject.com – Free software that adds visuals to your online conversations.
• Screencast.com – a TechSmith solution for business and academic professionals looking to manage and share videos, images, documents, or anything else online.

How to Keep Your Video Camera Steady – Even When You Are Moving

All to often we see videos that people make that would be pretty good videos, but the camera is so shaky it makes us drunk just to watch it. Steadicams (or camera stabilizers) are attachments used to capture smooth looking video even when the camera and camera operator are in motion. The camera operator may walk (or even jog), move through tight hallways and doorways, and even climb up and down stairs without shaking the camera.

There are professional video stabilizers on the market to remedy this situation…but they ain’t cheap. One is called Steadicam, and starts around $1500. Well, I found a way to make great videos without spending an arm and a leg on a solution to make your camera steady. It’s called Steadycam, and you can make one yourself for under $14.00. Johnny Chung Lee has a website devoted to showing you exactly what you’ll need to build it, and then shows exactly how to build it for under $14. Johnny does an excellent job and his design is brilliant. If you are not the handyman type, you can purchase the complete Steadycam for $39.95 from Johnny’s site…still a great deal. So check out the Steadycam and start making smooth moving videos today.

Rank Checker

Checking to see how my site is ranking in the search engines for my main keywords has always been a pain in the butt, but no more. I found a really cool Firefox plugin that checks my rankings in Google, Yahoo and Live with the click of a button. It does have a few setup steps, but once that’s done…it’s a snap.  You just put in your domain name, and list of keywords or keyword phrases, then press the start button. You’ll have your ranking results in minutes. You can also download your search resulting into a CSV file.

It’s a free rank checking tool for Firefox called Rank Checker, by SeoBook.com. Download the plugin for Firefox and start checking your site rankings today.

279 Days to Overnight Success

I came across a really interesting WordPress blog this morning by Chris Guillebeau at http://chrisguillebeau.com. His blog is The Art of Non-Conformity – Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work and Travel. He writes about how to change the world by achieving significant, personal goals while helping others at the same time. I found his e-book before I actually found his website. His e-book is 279 Days to Overnight Success, in which he describes how he became a full-time writer in under 10 months. I really like what Chris has to say, and encourage you to visit his blog and download his e-book.

WordPress Tutorials – for Newbies to Pros

Here are a few of my best links to WordPress Tutorials. These are great resources that will help the Newbie to the Pro.

Your ONE membership gives you access to members-only content for ALL our Plus sites:

• Psd Plus
• Vec Plus
• Net Plus
• Audio Plus

At $9 a month (or $22 for three months, or $78 per year) it’s a fantastic deal. And if you don’t love it, no problem, because your membership comes with a 100% money-back guarantee within the first month. But with over 3,000 happy members, we’re sure you’re going to love Plus!

250+ Super Cool Wordpress Tutorials – Newbie To Pro –

- This is a great resource for WordPress Tutorials. A great collection that will not disappoint you.

110+ Massive Wordpress Video Tutorial Collection

- Another good collection of WordPress Tutorials. Check it out. Awesome stuff.

Twitter for WordPress Plugin Tutorial

I like the Twitter for WordPress plugin, so I made a quick tutorial on how to install it in under four minutes. It’s really easy to install and configure, so please take about 3 minutes and watch the video.

WordPress Database Backup

 

A few weeks ago I was experimenting with a new plugin when something went wrong. I was getting an error page when trying to view my WordPress plugins. After trying many things to get it to work I had to use something that I thought I’d never need…my Backup. I have been doing automatic WordPress backups for a while now, and really wasn’t 100% sure it would work if I needed it. Luckily it did. My backups are done weekly and emailed to me. I had to find my latest backup and restore it using phpMyAdmin in my cPanel. It worked like a charm. I lost my most recent post which was done between backups, but I was grateful that was all that was lost.

So the lesson I learned was to ALWAYS have a recent backup handy. If you post daily, you need to backup daily or twice daily. If you post more often than that, you probably need to backup hourly.

Here is a video tutorial of how to install the WordPress Database Backup plugin. It’s quick and easy, and may save your butt like it did mine.

How to add a video to WordPress

There are tons of ways to add a video to WordPress, but I’m going to show you how to do it using the Smart YouTube plugin. It’s really simple, so just take a look at the video tutorial I made on How to Add a Video to WordPress.

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