Plugins | Spiderworking.com's Social Networking blog

September 22, 2010

KLCK Bloggers Network Does Portlaoise!

Last week saw the third meeting of the KLCK Bloggers network and our first outing to Laois. Once again it was well attended and although there were technical difficulties with the live stream to start with we got them fixed and 8 people joined us online.

I’m always bowled over by the atmosphere at our meetings, everyone has knowledge to share and questions to ask. Everyone, newbie or experienced blogger can learn something. I’d never heard of some of the plugins that our first speaker Eoin from Istech told us about but all were useful. ’Old Post Spinner’ in particular provoked some debate. Spinning blog posts means recycling old blog posts – changing them slightly and re-posting them ‘Old Post Spinner’ automates this process.

Our second speaker Niall Devitt talked about Bloggertone, many of us were inspired to think about submitting content, he was also a wealth of information on blogging in general, and our questions kept him busy for quite a while.

If you want to view the stream recorded on the night click here (quality not great). You can also download Eoin’s notes by clicking here.

Our next meeting is at The Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny on 11th October 2010 at 7pm. You can RSVP on Facebook or Linkedin or by leaving a comment on this post.

To keep up to date with our events join the KLCK Bloggers Network page on Facebook or Linkedin.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: bloggers, Bloggertone, Blogging, Facebook, istech, Kilkenny, KLCK, KLCK bloggers network, Laois, Linkedin, Niall Devitt, old post spinner, Pembroke Hotel, Plugins, spinning —

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September 15, 2010

Stop Spam Comments on WordPress with Akismet

Are you getting massive amounts of spam messages as comments on your blog? If so Akismet is a brilliant plugin for WordPress blogs that will virtually eliminate all of it.

You will need a WordPress API key to activate it. To find your API key follow the instructions from this blog post.

- Once you have your key log into your blog.

- On the left hand side of your dashboard click ‘Plugins’ then ‘Add New’

- Type ‘Akismet’ into the search box

- The Plugin ‘Akismet’ will appear, click ‘install now’

- Once installed click ‘Akismet Configuration’ on your sidebar under ‘Plugins’

- Add you API key and save.

It’s as simple as that! You will find that your spam is eliminated immediately. You can check your Akismet Stats to see how much spam it is catching at anytime from the sidebar of your WordPress Dashboard.

Tags: Blogging,tools — Tags: API Key, blog, Blogging, Plugins, wordpress, wordpress api —

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September 1, 2010

How do you get a WordPress API key?

This month at the KLCK bloggers network we’re going to be talking about WordPress plugins. Some of our favourite plugins including Askimet, a spam filter for your comments require you to have a WordPress API. If you have a WordPress.org blog (self hosted) this can be quite confusing so this week we are giving you a step by step guide on how to get one.

Go to www.wordpress.com and sign up for an account (even if you already have a wordpress.org blog)
Click ‘Sign up now’ on the right hand side of the page

Fill in your details and tick the box ‘just a username’ at the bottom
Click ‘Next’

You will receive an email from WordPress including a link that will confirm your email address.
Once you have done this log in.
Click the ‘My Account on the top left hand side

On your profile page click ‘API Key and other Personal Settings’

On the next page WordPress will provide you with your API key.

Next week I will be showing you how to use this API key to add a profile picture to your WordPress.org blog and to activate the Askimet spam filter.

Tags: Blogging — Tags: askimet, blog, Blogging, KLCK, Plugins, spam comments, spam filter, wordpress, wordpress api —

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August 10, 2010

August KLCK Bloggers Network Attracts Nationwide Audience

Today’s blog post is slightly different as Amanda tells us about the second meeting of the KLCK Bloggers network:

It was a busy day for Spiderworking.com and the KLCK bloggers network yesterday. I was invited along with Lorna Sixsmith from Garrendenny Lane Interiors to go to the Edwina Grace show on KLCR96fm to talk about KLCK. Edwina was great and we couldn’t have felt more relaxed chatting to her.

I only just made it back to the office in time to grab my computers and head straight back out to the Talbot Hotel, the venue of the second KLCK Bloggers Network. I couldn’t believe how many people were there when I walked in the door. 22 Bloggers in total from all areas of blogging, some business bloggers, some personal bloggers and some who hadn’t started blogging yet but were keen to get going.

Participants were truly nationwide with people traveling from as far as Limerick to join in.

For those who couldn’t make it in person I livestreamed the event via webcam and Twitter, we had 4 viewers on the night, if you missed it you can view the recording by clicking here. Paula Sheridan from Candle Designs gave us some great tips on using Flickr and Ruairi Brown from Kro.ie took us through the steps to set up a WordPress hosted blog. You can download Ruairi’s presentation from his blog.

After all the formalities we retired to the bar where we did some more relaxed networking. It was a great evening and we’ve had so much good feedback that I can’t wait for the next one. Photographs from the night can be viewed on the Flickr group. If you would like to know more about the KLCK Bloggers network join our dedicated Facebook Page.

The next meeting will take place on Monday 13th of September at 7pm in Portlaoise (venue TBC). We’ll be talking about ‘Plugins’. It’s free to attend and all are welcome whether you are blogging, thinking about blogging or just want to know what a blog is.