[english feeder]

Finally..

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(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web par Matthew Tommasi Lundi 8 Février 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Don’t you wish some things came with a book or a manual?

Fortunately, the world of social media does come with such a book – The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web.

The New Community Rules is the book on Social Media and provides an excellent overview on how social web technologies work.. as well as showing you the most practical and effective ways to reach people who frequent these sites.

It explores social media marketing, blogs, Twitter, social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, social bookmarking, using photos, videos and podcasts.. as well as different strategies and tactics for marketing on the social web.

If you need help with marketing your business on the internet, this book will certainly show you how.

This book covers all the social tools for online marketing and provides a detailed run-down on how and why to use each one.

The New Community Rules is written extremely well with plenty of examples, images, screenshots, links, case studies and tips.. and is aimed at both the newbie and seasoned social media marketer.

Most importantly it’s very easy to understand.

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web is a fabulous resource and one that I highly recommend.

From the back cover:

Explore blogging and microblogging, and find out how to use applications such as Twitter to create brand awareness
Learn the art of conversation marketing, and how social media thrives on honesty and transparency
Manage and enhance your online reputation through the social web
Tap into the increasingly influential video and podcasting market
Discover which tactics work – and which don’t – by learning what other marketers have tried

About the Author

Tamar Weinberg is a writer and internet marketing consultant specialising in blogger outreach, viral marketing and social media, and is the Director of Community at Mashable.

She has written for numerous blogs in a variety of fields including,

Techipedia - Tamar’s primary blog focusing on social media and internet marketing
Macgasm - a Mac blog
Search Engine Roundtable - the world’s leading blog on search marketing forum discussion
Real Simple – Simply Stated – a gadget review blog
Lifehacker - a blog on software, tech and productivity
plus many more..

Tamar provides her own brief introduction to The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web on her blog.

You can follow Tamar on just about every social networking site via her blog.

Additional Reviews

Best practical social media book – SMART Insights Digital Marketing Blog
Book Review: The New Community Rules – DailyBlogTips
Book Review: The New Community Rules, Marketing On The Social Web – The Communications Strategist
Book Review: The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg – Blogcritics Books
Expert Interview – Tamar Weinberg on Social Media, Communities & Building Brands – Microsoft Advertising Blog
Finally, ‘The’ book on Social Media – WiserEarth.org
Great social media read – The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web – Your Online Go To Gal
“Let’s Go” of the Social Web: The New Community Rules - Online Marketing Blog
“New Community Rules” Is An Introduction to Social Media Marketing - PracticalEcommerce
The Authoritative Book On Social Media Finally Published – SocialMediaExplorer
The New Community Rules: Marketing on The Social Web (Tamar Weinberg) – Master of 500 Hats
Personal Branding Interview: Tamar Weinberg – Personal Branding Blog
Reading: The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web – Conversations in Marketing
Recommended: “The New Community Rules” – Samir Balwani
Review of The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web – Small Business Trends
Ruud Questions: Tamar Weinberg – Search Engine People
Social Media Marketing – Native Communications
Tamar Weinberg Interview – Author of “The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web” - Raven SEO Tools
Tamar Weinberg – The New Community Rules, 1st Edition – A new Digital Decade
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web – DeirdreBreakenridge
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web - JoyOfDirectMarketing
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web−A Book for the Social Media Enthusiast – Impressions Through Media
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web (Review) - EverythingPR

Video Reviews

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net,

Chris Brogan of ChrisBrogan.com,

Susan Payton of SparkPlugging.com,

Scott Meis of ScottMeis.com,

Tanner Maluchnik of LifeDestiny.net,

Review by PureDriven,

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

Finding The Most Popular Lists on Twitter par Matthew Tommasi Jeudi 4 Février 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

What are the most popular lists on Twitter?

What are the most popular lists in a specific genre, on Twitter?

Listorious is a user-powered directory containing the best and most popular Twitter lists.

Twitter’s list feature allows anyone to create a list on any given topic and put people (whether you follow them or not), into that list.

It’s a great way to organise whatever you want, into a list of your choosing.

For example, you could create a list called social media and put all those who tweet about social media into that list.

Currently each Twitter account can create up to 20 lists and each list can include up to 500 users.. so potentially there is room for up to 10,000 people on your lists.

The following is a great intro video to Twitter Lists in a Nutshell,

The Listorious 140

As well as creating your own lists, you can also follow lists other people have created.

To find the best Twitter lists to follow, head over to Listorious and click on Login,

Click on <Allow> to allow Listorious to connect to your Twitter account,

The best place to start with finding the most popular lists on Twitter is with The Listorious 140,

The Top 140 Lists on Twitter shows exactly that.. the top 140 lists (by followers) currently on Twitter.

To follow a list just click on that list’s name,

Then click on Follow,

You are now following that particular list,

You can double check this by clicking on View on Twitter,

Twitter confirmation,

Members of Lists

As you know by now, members of a particular list have some sort of authority or are generally seen to be ‘experts’ in that genre or list.

It may also be worth your while drilling down into a list and following those people who you may not already be following.

Knowledge is power.

Add a List

You can also add any list from Twitter that you think would be useful to others.. whether you created it or not.

Click on Add List,

Enter the URL of that Twitter list (or choose a list from the drop-down menu).. add a description and tag.. then click <Add list>,

Done!

This list has just been added to Listorious for others to follow.

Other Twitter Lists Resources

Another post of mine that you may find useful is Finding Influential People on Twitter
Twitter Lists 2 RSS

You can easily subscribe to Twitter Lists through RSS by using a free service called Twitter Lists 2 RSS.

If you have heard about RSS but don’t know too much about it, please check out my post called The Ultimate Google Reader Guide.

Firstly, you need to enter the URL of a twitter list.. then click on the <Get an RSS Feed> button,

And an RSS feed (of this Twitter list) get produced,

Please refer to my post The Ultimate Google Reader Guide on how to subscribe to this feed using Google Reader.

Finally..

The great thing about lists is that you are kept informed about current trends and breaking news by authoritative experts.. in that particular genre (or list).

You become immersed in a niche conversation.

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

How to Add a Retweet Button Inside Your PDF Documents par Matthew Tommasi Vendredi 29 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Did you know you can add a Twitter retweet button inside your PDF files?

Wouldn’t it be good to enable readers of your PDF files including eBooks, reports, social media guides, etc.. to be able to share this with their friends on Twitter.. with a simple retweet?

And those friends can share your PDF with their friends on Twitter.. and so on..

The great thing about this, is each retweet can have,

your Twitter ID
a link back to your site
a link back to your PDF, or
whatever you want!

Which helps to grow your Twitter following, as well as driving traffic back to your site.

Let me show you how..

Retweet Button

First of all you need a retweet button.. a graphic that will be placed inside your PDF file that people will click-on to actually retweet.

Either grab one from Google or use this one,

To save this image just right-click –> save image as..

Building the Retweet URL

The following steps will build upon each other resulting in your retweet URL.

Write Your Tweet

You need to write a tweet.

This is the tweet that will appear in Twitter when someone clicks on your retweet button.

Some things to consider include,

try and keep your tweets to about 120 characters or less.. this allows for others to add comments to the tweet
put your Twitter ID (eg @socialguide) in the tweet.. this will help to grow your Twitter following as your PDF starts to get retweeted
use a #hashtag for tracking purposes.. this will help you track the retweets

The tweet that I will be using is,

How to add Retweet buttons in your PDF documents | The Social Media Guide (via @socialguide)

Create a Shortened URL

You will also want to include in your tweet a shortened URL that points back to the document’s land page.. it is from this page that your PDF file can be downloaded.

It is advisable to direct people to a landing page to give them an idea of what your document is actually about.. rather than pointing them directly to the PDF file itself (as they won’t know what they are downloading).

There are many URL shorteners that can be used including,

bit.ly
cli.gs
su.pr – I personally like using this shortening service as it can expose your content to StumbleUpon’s 8 million users.. in addition to Twitter’s users.. checkout my post on Su.pr here

I will be using su.pr to shrink this URL,

http://thesocialmediaguide.com.au/2010/01/29/how-to-add-a-retweet-button-inside-your-pdf-documents

into,

http://su.pr/1w2YK4

Your Tweet

Now you need to merge the tweet from before with the shortened URL you have just created.. to give you something along the lines of,

How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1w2YK4 | The Social Media Guide (via @socialguide)

You can see I have incorporated the following components into this tweet,

the name of this document’s landing page (ie this post)
shortened URL
the name of my blog
my Twitter ID
total characters = 118 (which leaves room for comments, etc)

Create the Retweet URL

Now for the fun part!

We want to create the actual retweet URL that invokes Twitter, via your browser, and populates it with your tweet.

We will build this up in three simple steps.

Firstly, copy this text,

http://twitter.com/home/?status=

Secondly, append your tweet to the end of the previous step (for clarity sake I will highlight this text in pink),

http://twitter.com/home/?status= How to add a Retweet button inside your PDF documents http://su.pr/1w2YK4 | The Social Media Guide (via @socialguide)

Finally, you need to replace all spaces with a plus (+) sign..

If you use a hashtag symbol (#) change it to %23.. (for clarity sake I will highlight this text in red),

http://twitter.com/home/?status= How+to+add+a+Retweet+button+inside+your+PDF+documents+http://su.pr/1w2YK4+|+The+Social+Media+Guide+(via+@socialguide)

You have just created a retweet URL!

Test the Retweet URL

You will want to test this URL works before we link it to the retweet button.

It doesn’t matter if you are logged into Twitter or not when you click on the retweet URL.

If you are not logged into Twitter.. the login page will display..and once you have logged in, the tweet field will be pre-populated with your tweet.

If you are already logged into Twitter, then the tweet field will become populated with your tweet.

Test it out by clicking on the link below,

http://twitter.com/home/?status=How+to+add+a+Retweet+button+inside+your+PDF+documents+http://su.pr/1w2YK4+|+The+Social+Media+Guide+(via+@socialguide)

Create Your PDF File and Embed Retweet Button

The final step now is to put the retweet button into your document.. and then to insert the retweet URL (from the previous step), into the retweet graphic as a hyperlink.

To be able to add a hyperlink to a PDF document you will need PDF creation software such as Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Reader).

I use a product called PDF Converter 6 Professional,

PDF Converter 6 Professional is quite a bit cheaper than Adobe Acrobat and allows you to create, edit and manipulate industry standard PDF files. If you don’t have any PDF creation software try and find someone who does.

Open up your file in Microsoft Word.. then paste in the retweet graphic.. I would recommend doing it in more than one location within the document,

Next right-click on this retweet graphic and select hyperlink,

Paste in your retweet URL.. then click <OK>,

You have just hot-linked the Twitter retweet button with the retweet URL.. and embedded it all into your document.

Finalise the PDF File

Last but not least we need to convert this document into a PDF.

I am using PDF Converter 6 Professional,

.. so from within Microsoft Word click on the Nuance PDF tab.. then click on the <Create PDF> button,

(If you are using a different PDF creator, the process may be slightly different when creating your PDF file).

Done!

You have successfully added a retweet button inside your PDF document!

I have created this post into a PDF, so please feel free to download this from here.. share it with your friends and retweet it!!

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

The Ultimate Google Reader Guide par Matthew Tommasi Jeudi 21 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Google Reader is the most popular and widely used RSS feed reader on the internet today.

Google Reader comes packed with many powerful features that often go overlooked.. so I thought I would delve a little deeper and explore what it really has to offer.

For those of you who have heard about RSS but don’t know too much about it, make sure you checkout my Really Simple RSS Guide.

When it comes to explaining RSS I like to use the pizza analogy.. you can either go out and get take-away.. or you can have it home delivered.

Likewise, when searching for new content on the internet you can either go out and directly visit a site.. or you can subscribe to a site’s RSS feed and have all the new content delivered to you.

This is where Google Reader comes in.

Google Reader constantly checks your favourite sites for new content. Whether a site is updated daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won’t miss a thing.

Google Reader shows you all of your favourite sites in one convenient place and allows you to read, subscribe, manage and share all your RSS subscriptions.. plus a heap of other cool things.

Think of it as an inbox for the entire web.

You can even follow Google Reader on Twitter.

Common Craft have created a great video explaining Google Reader in Plain English,

If you haven’t already done so sign into your Google Reader account or create a new account here.

Subscribe to a Feed

I have covered how to subscribe to a feed in my Really Simple RSS Guide but I will recap again here.

There are a couple of ways you can do this.

The Long Way

Once you have found a site that you want to subscribe to, find its RSS icon.. right-click on it.. and depending on your browser select either Copy Link Location / Copy Link Address / Copy Shortcut,

Once you have copied the URL of this site’s RSS feed, login to your Google Reader account and click on <Add a Subscription>,

Paste in the URL you copied from before.. then click <Add>,

That’s it! You have just subscribed to a site’s RSS feed,

When there are new items available in a feed.. it will turn bold and the number of items will be displayed in brackets.

The Quick Way

The way I prefer to subscribe is much quicker and a lot easier.. by using the <Subscribe> button.

This needs to be setup first.

From within Google Reader click on Settings.. then Reader Settings,

Click on Goodies, then DRAG the Subscribe link into your Bookmarks toolbar,

The <Subscribe> button will now be in your toolbar,

Once you have found a site that you want to subscribe to, just click on this <Subscribe> button in your toolbar,

Google Reader will now display.. click on the <Subscribe> button to subscribe to this RSS feed,

Done! You have just subscribed to this RSS feed.

It doesn’t matter which way you use to subscribe, but I personally like using the subscribe bookmarklet.

If I StumbleUpon a new site that I want to subscribe to I just click <Subscribe> in the toolbar.. then again from within Google Reader and that’s it! Nice and easy.

Google have also created a video on how to add a subscription,

Reading Feeds

Now that you have subscribed to a number of sites I am going to show you how to read your feeds, among other things.

Google Reader offers several ways to make browsing and reading your feeds easier.

Views

The expanded view will expand your feeds, showing the full article in the main window,

The List view will show a list of all the articles in that feed.. all articles will be minimised,

When you click on an item in list view, it will expand open.

New Items and All Items

On the top of each feed you can choose to view all items.. this option shows all the items in that feed whether they have been read or not,

Alternatively, you could click on new items.. this will only display the new unread items,

Mark Items as Read

There are a few ways to mark items as read.

Firstly, you can click on the <Mark all as read> button to mark all the items in that feed as read,

Secondly, everytime you open up an item it automatically becomes read,

The third way is to click on Settings,

Then on the Preferences tab, under Scroll Tracking, click on In expanded view, mark items as read when you scroll past them,

By having this option enabled, everytime you scroll past an item in an RSS feed (in expanded view).. it will automatically become read.

Mark as Unread

To mark an item as unread, click on the Keep Unread option (in an expanded article) and it will revert to being unread.. this is shown by its title going bold,

Viewing Original Posts

To view the original post, click on the double-grey arrow that is displayed next to each item,

This will open up the original post in a new tab / window.

Managing Feeds

You can manage your feeds in Google Reader by creating folders and tags. This helps to better organise your feeds in a way that suits you.

Creating Folders

To create a folder click on <Feed Settings>.. then New Folder,

Enter the name of your new folder.. then click <OK> to create this new folder,

Now drag any feeds (that you want to go into this folder) into this folder,

Organising your feeds into folders is a good habit to get into especially when you have subscribed to lots of feeds,

Managing Folders

You can manage your folders at any time by clicking on Manage subscriptions (or via Settings –> Subscriptions tab),

From here you can,

unsubscribe from feeds
rename feeds
delete feeds
move feeds to different folders
create new folders

Creating Tags

You can apply tags as a way to categorise and organise items that interest you.

You can use any word as a tag, eg your favourite posts could be tagged favs.

Tags with the same names can be assigned to any feeds.. regardless of the folder they are in.

To assign a tag click on Edit tags at the bottom of the item,

Enter the tag you want to assign, then click <Save>,

All saved tags will appear under your Subscriptions,

Clicking on this tag, will display all items that have been assigned with this particular tag,

Folders and Tags

The Folders and Tags tab on the Settings page allows you to,

delete any folder / tag
make folders / tags public or private
view the public page of a folder / tag
email a link to this public page
share an item with readers of your blog by adding a clip to your site
share your Google Reader bundle with readers of your blog by adding it to your site

Google have also created a video on reading feeds,

Sharing Feeds

Every Google Reader account comes with a public page(s) which can be used to share items of interest with friends and family.

This shared page is visible to anyone who knows its address.

To share a feed just click on the Share icon below any individual item,

This item is now shared.

You can view all your shared items by clicking on Shared items in the left-hand sidebar,

These shared items appear on your public page and everyone can see it by visiting its URL.

People can bookmark your public page or even subscribe to it in Google Reader.

Share with Notes

You can add your own notes or comments to items you share simply by clicking on the Share with note link,

When the share dialog box appears, you can add any note or comment.

If the Add to shared items options is checked,

.. then this note will appear on that article, on your public page (ie shared items),

If you add a note to a shared item, but have the Add to shared items option un-checked,

.. then this item will remain unshared and be placed in the Notes section of your sidebar.. for your own reference,

Unshare

To unshare any shared item.. simply click on the Unshare link,

Once you have unshared an item.. it will no longer appear on your public page (ie shared page).

Email

If you don’t want to make your shares publicly visible, then you do have the option to email individual feeds to people directly.. as long as you have a Gmail account.

This is done by clicking on the Email link,

You can also email links to entire folders that contain many RSS feeds.. from the Folders and Tags tab on the Settings page,

Like and Unlike

Each item in a feed has a Like link,

By clicking Like indicating that you like it.. everyone who sees that item, will see your name above the item listed, along with everyone else who likes the item.

The names displayed will link to their Google Profile’s.

You can unlike an item at any time by clicking on Unlike.

Send to Social Networks

You can share your items by sending them to other social networks.

To enable this go to the Settings page and click on the Send To tab.. then select the social sites that you want to send to,

Whenever you want to share a particular story to one of your other social networks.. click on the Send to link in that item,

Sharing Settings

To determine who is able to see your shared items and whose shared items you would like to see, click on Sharing settings,

You can make all your shared items public (anyone can view) or protected (shared with selected groups), from the drop-down menu,

By making your items Public, your shared items will be visible to anyone who chooses to follow you from within Google Reader. Your public page will also be available to anyone who knows its URL.

While sharing publicly you can choose which contact groups can make comments on your shared items.

Here, I have four contacts that are in a group called Chat contacts.. any of these contacts are able to make comments on my shared items,

Contacts can be moved into different groups by,

checking the group names that you want to move your contacts to
clicking on the View link

You can move a contact into a different group by clicking on the Add link,

By making your items Protected, you will be able to select certain groups of people who will be able to view your shared items and public page.

By de-selecting all groups, no one will be able to comment on your selected items,

Google have also created a video on how to share items with Google Reader ,

People Search

You can also search for people who are sharing publicly by using Reader’s people search, powered by Google Profiles.

To do this click on Browse for stuff (in the sidebar).. then click on the Search tab,

Enter a person’s name, email address or topic of interest.. then click <Search>,

If you want to preview their Shared items first, click on Preview.. otherwise click on <Follow>, to follow this person’s shared items,

This search function can also be accessed from Sharing settings,

Sharing any Webpage with Google Reader

You can share any webpage or video with Google Reader.. this video by Google will show you how,

Discover More Feeds

Google Reader can recommend new feeds to you by comparing your interests with the feeds of users similar to you.

Click on Browse for stuff (in the sidebar).. then click on the Recommendations tab,

Here you can subscribe to any of the recommended feeds.

You can also subscribe to feeds from sites that people you follow have added to their Google profile.. by clicking on the From people you follow tab,

Clips

You can embed a clip of your feeds on another site or on your own blog.

To add a clip to your site go to the Folders and Tags tab on the Settings page.

Next click on add a clip to your site (this will only be enabled for feeds that have been made public),

From here you can customise the clip and copy the code (to be embedded on your blog),

Mobile

You can read your favourite feeds anywhere and anytime from your mobile phone. Google Reader works on any mobile phone browser.

Whether you’re waiting in line or riding the train, Google Reader keeps you connected.

Firstly you will need to setup your feed subscriptions, as mentioned above. Once you have done that you can read them by using your phone’s browser to surf to www.google.com/reader/m

Another great option is to use the official Google mobile app.. iPhone users can download this free app here (opens iTunes).

Keyboard Shortcuts

Google Reader comes with a wide range of Keyboard shortcuts, that save you time by helping you quickly explore your reading list without moving your hand back and forth between your keyboard and mouse.

The Google Reader keyboard shortcuts can be downloaded from here.

Offline Access

Google Reader allows you to read your feeds when you aren’t online. Perfect for travelling (laptop) users with limited internet access, who still want access to their feeds.

To enable this you need to install Google Gears,

Agree to the Gears TOS.. then click <Agree and Download>,

Click <Run>,

Click <Restart Browsers Now> to restart your browser and complete the installation of Google Gears,

Google Gears has now been installed,

Whenever you visit Google Reader click on the green online icon (next to Settings) to download the most recent articles,

Allow Google Reader to use Gears to store information on your computer,

Gears will begin to download your unread RSS items,

Once the synchronisation is complete, you may disconnect from the internet,

Once you are offline you will notice that the icon has changed to blue,

You can close your Reader window and re-open it later to pick up where you left off.

While offline you won’t be able to,

add new subscriptions
images in feeds won’t be downloaded
videos in feeds won’t be downloaded

However, any feeds you read will be marked as read and any tags you’ve applied will also be saved for when you go back online.

Once you are back online, click on the blue icon to enable the online features, and synchronise any changes with the live online version,

Easter Egg

Google Reader also comes with a pretty cool Easter egg.. Secret Ninja Mode!

To enable/disable this checkout my Google Easter Eggs and Hidden Gems post.

Blog

The official Google Reader Blog has news, tips and tricks from the Google Reader Team and is well worth subscribing to.

Help Resources

The Google Reader Help Forum is a great place to collaborate with other people by asking and answering questions, reporting any bugs and sharing your feeds and articles.

The official Google Reader Help Videos provide step-by-step help from the Google Reader Team. Some of which have been featured in this post,

Other Resources

How Robert Scoble reads 622 RSS feeds each morning (original post here by Tim Ferriss),

Finally..

If you have any tips you would like to share regarding your own experience with Google Reader then please leave a comment below.

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

Google Help › Google Reader Help › Reading

^New! Official Google Reader Updates

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for (var i = 0; i <= wc-1; i++) { snippet_short = snippet_short + " " + words[i]; } if (!snippet_short.match(/[.!?](\s*)?$/)) { //snippet_short = snippet_short + "... "; more_needed = true; } snippet = snippet_short; } // Reduce to one sentence if set var one_sentence = ""; if (one_sentence == "true") { match = snippet.match(/([^.!?]*)?([.!?])/) if (match) { snippet = match[1]+match[2]+" "; } more_needed = true; } snippet_arr = [snippet,more_needed]; return snippet_arr; } function build_posts(json) { if (json.feed.entry) { if (json.feed.entry.length>0) {

var hours = 48;

var date_format = "mdy";

var text_truncate = ;

var container = document.getElementById('posts');

var list = document.createElement('div');

list.setAttribute("id","post-list");

var post = document.createElement('div');

post.setAttribute("class","post");

var first = true;

var today = new Date();

var show_date = new Date(today-1000*60*60*hours);

for (var i = 0 ; i < json.feed.entry.length; i++) {

var item = json.feed.entry[i];

var raw_date = new Date(formatDate(item.published.$t,"full"));

var item_date = formatDate(item.published.$t,date_format)

var item_title = item.title.$t;

var item_link = '';

for (var j = 0; j < item.link.length; j++) { if (item.link[j].rel == 'alternate') { var item_link = item.link[j].href; } } var item_snippet = formatSnippet(item.content.$t,text_truncate); if (raw_date > show_date) {

if (first) {

document.getElementById("feed-module-wrapper").style.display = 'block';

first = false;

}

var post = document.createElement('div');

var timestamp = document.createElement('strong');

timestamp.appendChild(document.createTextNode(item_date));

post.appendChild(timestamp);

post.appendChild(document.createElement('br'));

var post_content = document.createElement('div');

post_content.innerHTML = item_snippet[0];

post.appendChild(post_content);

list.appendChild(post);

if (true &#038;&#038; item_snippet[1] &#038;&#038; item_link) {

var link = document.createElement('a');

link.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Read more"));

link.href = item_link;

link.setAttribute("class", "feed-module-more-link");

if ('true' == 'true') {

path = '';

if (path == '') {

path = '/support/outgoing/status/mod/';

}

link.onclick = function() { urchinTracker(path+'en'); };

}

post.appendChild(link);

}

list.appendChild(post);

}

}

container.appendChild(list);

}

}

}

// ]]&gt;</script>

<script src="http://groups.google.com/group/google-reader-announcements/feed/atom_v1_0_msgs.xmlfeeds/posts/default?alt=json-in-script&amp;callback=build_posts&amp;max-results=2&amp;orderby=published" type="text/javascript"></script>

Getting started with Google Reader

Google Reader is a tool for gathering, reading, and sharing all the interesting blogs and websites you read on the web. This guide can help you familiarize yourself with the main features of Google Reader so that you can get started subscribing to and sharing feeds.

What’s an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds are a way for websites to distribute new content as it becomes available. Think of an RSS feed as a file that contains a blog or website’s most recent entries. By subscribing to a site’s feed in Reader, you will automatically be notified when that website contains new posts or entries. Instead of checking sites repeatedly for updates, RSS feeds bring your favorite websites to you! An RSS feed can be identified by this universal symbol. When you see it on a website, clicking will usually direct you to that site’s feed. From there, you can either copy and paste the link to subscribe to the feed in Reader, or in the case of many browsers, click a button to subscribe directly. Back to top

Subscribe to a feed

To subscribe to a feed in Reader:

Click the Add Subscription link in your left-hand sidebar.
Enter the URL of the blog or site you’d like to subscribe to.

Most blogs have feed autodiscovery enabled, meaning the site will automatically tell Reader where to find a blog’s feed. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to add the URL of a site’s feed directly. Find the RSS logo on the site in question, click it, and copy and paste the link into the ‘add subscription’ box. If you can’t find an RSS logo on the site, the site may not offer RSS feeds.

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Reading feeds

Once you’ve subscribed to a feed, you’ll see the number of new or unread items in parentheses next to the feed’s title. Clicking on the feed’s title will display the contents of the feed in your primary window. At the top of the page, you can choose to view all items or just new items.

As you scroll past items in a feed, those items will be marked as read and more items will automatically appear. You can toggle this by clicking on the Settings link at the top right hand corner of your Reader window. Next, uncheck the Scroll Tracking checkbox.

If you’d just like to browse headlines, click List View in the top right hand corner of the main Reader window. You can then clicking on an individual item in List View to expand it. Click Expanded View to return to the default view where each item is already expanded.

By clicking the links underneath items you can email, share, tag and keep items as unread. Tagging items will create a new link in your sidebar where you can view all items that you have given the same tag.

Discover more feeds

Click the Discover link in your left-hand sidebar to find feeds recommended for you based on your existing subscriptions. Click the Browse tab to peruse pre-compiled bundles of feeds by topic, or use the search field to search for feeds.

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

How to Reply to Facebook Comments via Email par Matthew Tommasi Vendredi 15 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

You can now reply to Facebook email notifications directly from your inbox.. whether you are at work or on your phone.

Whenever you receive an email notification for comments on content such as status updates, photos, videos and wall posts.. you can just click Reply, type your comment and hit Send.

Your reply will automatically be added as a comment on Facebook without you having to login.

Email Notifications

To be able to do this you first need to enable email notifications.

Then click on the Notifications tab,

Now specify which notifications you want to receive via email,

Click on <Save Changes> when you are done,

If you want to change your email address click on the Settings tab.. then next to Email click on Change,

Replying to Comments through Email

Next time you receive an email notification that you want to reply to.. just click on Reply,

Type your message.. then hit Send,

Your reply comment will now appear on your wall,

Done!

You can now stay informed and contribute to what’s happening with your friends without having to be logged into Facebook.

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

A Day in the Internet par Matthew Tommasi Jeudi 14 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Some of us never realise how huge the internet really is.

Let’s take a look at a few statistics for an average day on the internet and see how big these numbers really are..

via Online Education

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

Twitter for Business: A High Level Overview par Matthew Tommasi Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Today it is no longer enough for businesses to have just a website as their primary means of an online presence.

As a minimum, you also need Twitter.. but ideally a Facebook Page as well, is becoming the norm.

So many businesses are integrating Twitter as an additional marketing channel for their product, as a way to better communicate with customers, as well as for reputation and competition monitoring.

I’m hearing you say,

“This sounds all well and good.. I’ve got my Twitter account, but how do I integrate this into my business? What is the next step?“

I have decided to create a high-level overview of the key components and main steps involved in getting Twitter integrated into your business.. basically an end-to-end solution.

This is by no means a definitive list and components don’t necessarily have to be implemented in this exact order.

If you understand most of these components then you will easily be able to integrate Twitter into your business.

Twitter for Business: A High Level Overview

Create Twitter account

upload company avatar
add company Bio
add company URL

Follow

know how to follow people
know how to see who people are following
know how to see people’s followers
finding people to follow – in your niche / with similar interests
know how to unfollow people

Tweeting

know how to tweet
know that tweets must be 140 characters or less
know how to retweet
understand @replies
understand mentions
know how to direct message (DM)
know how to favourite tweets
know how to use URL shortening services – bit.ly, su.pr, etc when tweeting out links
know how to engage in the conversation
know how to add value to the conversation
geotagging
understanding trends
understand the benefits of keeping tweets ~120 characters (to allow for retweets to include your Twitter handle)

Filtering

know how to filter searches and categorize using hashtags
know how to create groups
know how to search for information on Twitter
understanding advanced search
know how to save searches
know how to recognize and report spam to Twitter
know how to block people and bots

Twitter Lists

know how to create lists
know how to subscribe to other people’s lists
know where to find lists to follow – listorious.com

Followers

know how to build followers
establishing your presence
building your reputation and niche expertise

Marketing

promoting your business
begin driving traffic to your website
“as seen on Twitter” promotions and deals
Twitter discounts
refer-a-friend

Competition

know how to monitor your competition
follow who your competition is following
know who is following your competition
know what your competition are saying and promoting
engage/collaborate with your competition

Twitter Clients

manage Twitter better by using a Twitter client – Cotweet, Hootsuite
go mobile and install a Twitter app on your mobile phone

Website

add Follow Us on Twitter button
add your Twitter account to your business card, email signature, presentation slides/notes
add your Twitter account to other social networking sites, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube
embed your Twitter stream into your website

Advanced

know how to use other Twitter tools
know how to setup Twitter alerts via email
Automated Twitter tools
know how to share photos on Twitter
know how to share files on Twitter
know how to stream live video on Twitter
understand API limits
start using Twitter metrics and statistics
Twitter tips
Twitter cheat sheet
know how to setup multiple Twitter accounts
know how to setup autofollow and auto-unfollow
understand how to go beyond the 2000 follower ‘limit‘

Finally..

All the steps listed above may seem quite daunting at first, but after getting your hands dirty by playing around with Twitter for a little while.. they will all become second nature.

This high-level overview will point you in the right direction in getting Twitter integrated into your business. If I have missed out any key components please let me know.

I have had personal experience with implementing all of these components into my own blog, and am confident they can easily be transferred to your own business and own circumstances.

Before long you too will become a Twitter power user!

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

Social Network Updates Delivered via Email par Matthew Tommasi Jeudi 7 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

NutshellMail is a service that that emails you interactive summaries of all your social networking activity on sites including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn.. at a schedule of your choosing.

You can even setup email forwarding and forward messages from hundreds of email providers to any inbox for free.

This can be especially useful if you just don’t have time to check all your social networks, or even if your employer has blocked access to social networking sites.

NutshellMail allows you to stay connected and save time.

Connecting Your Accounts

When you first click on <Signup> on the NutshellMail homepage you will be required to provide your email address and create a password.. and to connect your accounts.

Here I’m going to connect my Facebook account,

You will now need to authorise Facebook to allow NutshellMail to interact with it by entering your Facebook details.. then click <Connect>,

Your Facebook account has now been added,

Just repeat this process with the other accounts that you wish to add.. allowing authorisation when prompted.

Once you are setup, you can add/delete these accounts at any time.

When you have added your accounts click on <Continue>,

Complete the sign-up process by confirming the email sent to your email address,

Customizing Facebook

You can customize your accounts at anytime.

After confirming my email address, I’m going to start customizing my Facebook account,

In the Sections tab you can specify which sections you want to appear in your NutshellMail email.. plus the number of items,

On the <Friends> tab you can specify which friends you want to keep track of and how many of these will appear in your NutshellMail email,

Continue on doing the same for the Filters and Pages tabs.. when you are done click on <Save> to save your preferences.

You have just customized your Facebook settings.

Now return to the Account Settings page by clicking here,

Customizing Twitter

Now to customize the Twitter items you want displayed in your NutshellMail email.

On the Messaging Accounts page, click on Customize (your Twitter account),

Just follow the same process as described above for Facebook by specifying which Twitter items (and number) that you want displayed in your NutshellMail email,

When you are done click on <Save>.

You have just customized your Twitter settings.

Delivery Times

You can specify the times and frequency that you want your NutshellMail emails to be delivered.

To do this, click on Delivery Times,

Now choose the days you want these emails to be delivered to you.. and the AM/PM Schedule.. click <Save> when you are done,

Send yourself a test email by clicking on <Update>,

Email Digests

You will now start to receive email digests of your social network activity,

Each email is interactive will have a summary of all the items you have specified earlier,

To minimize the impact on your inbox, I would suggest setting up a filter and funnelling all of these NutshellMail emails into a NutshellMail folder.

This is particularly useful if you are at work and quickly want to glance at what has been happening in your sphere!

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides, downloads and more!

If you haven’t already done so become a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook and help spread the word,

Enjoy!

(Lire la suite) Matthew Tommasi

Top 20 WordPress Plug-ins for the Next-Gen Blogger par Matthew Tommasi Samedi 2 Janvier 2010 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

“There is no such thing as a killer feature in software anymore. There are a thousand killer features, and everyone has a different 20. The biggest challenge facing software architects today is how to balance the increasing diversity of user needs with a clean user experience.

The answer is to become a platform. Raise your hand if you use Firefox without any extensions, an iPhone without any apps, or WordPress without any plug-ins. The most successful products of the past five years have evolved, led by open source, to open up their innermost functioning to the world of external developers.

The collective intelligence of people outside your organisation will always be greater than that inside of it, and no matter how clairvoyant you feel you will never anticipate all of the possible uses of you product.

The average WordPress blog has about five plug-ins and what’s remarkable is that there’s a ‘long tail’ power law distribution curve. If you’re in a room with 200 other WordPress.org users, for example at a WordCamp, it’s unlikely that any two of you are running the same WordPress (even if you all used the same theme).

If you haven’t explored the 7,000-plus plug-ins available for WordPress you’re missing the best part of our community.”

Matt Mullenweg – WordPress Founding Developer

Tweet Blender

Twitter is the micro blogging social networking tool that millions of us cannot resist. It offers information quickly and succinctly making it a must-have everyday online commodity.

Tweet Blender is an absolute cornucopia of features that ultimately ensures that WordPress social butterflies can get their tweets displayed smartly in a blog. The plug-in can also show tweets for multiple authors and multiple keywords and multiple hashtags, which are all then blended together into a single stream.

Other features include the option to switch on/off a user’s photo saving screen space, but allowing photos to be switched on in the Archive page, this full list of tweets. There is the option to show a maximum of ten tweets and a minimum of one tweet in the initial display.

All a user really needs to do is supply the plug-in with a host of currently active Twitter sources. Users can simply add keywords, @screen_names or #hashtags separated with commas and the job is done.

The plug-in is a darling to control. The widget can be controlled via Settings –>Widget or alternatively its Appearance –> Widgets to take quick control.

The finished on-screen widget in action is simply but beautifully crafted and great to look at, what more could you want?

Facebook Dashboard Widget

The Facebook Dashboard Widget plug-in provides the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, being something of a time saver and easily accessible from anywhere. This nifty little plug-in integrates itself into the WordPress admin area allowing WordPress users a quick fix of Facebook.

The plug-in processes the Friends status updates RSS feed, posted items feeds and /or Facebook notifications feed, and adds a widget for each to the WordPress admin dashboard.

Managing the widget is pretty simple, each section Friend’s Status Updates, Notifications and Posted Items – simply asks if users want to display the related widget, the number of updates to show and the widget height.

To make each of the widgets active the Feed URL needs to be posted and if you have no clue there is a handy set of instructions on how to find each of the required URLs. Make sure you read these as it will definitely help. Once set up each feed can be posted into the sidebar individually via Appearance –> Widgets.

If you love Facebook and need a regular fix this plug-in is just the answer.

uQuery iPhone App Widget

The omnipresent iPhone is a mobile gadget that is hard to ignore, but what has it got to do with WordPress? Well, in this case this simple lightweight plug-in is all about telling users where they can get a specific iPhone app.

With developers constantly expanding the already burgeoning iPhone apps library, desirable apps can be hard to find. The purpose of this extension is to paste in the app ID or the iTunes URL and it will automatically link to and format the relevant details. This in part is to promote its own website www.uquery.com, an App Store search engine.

The uQuery iPhone App Widget is a little bit different in that it doesn’t go down the typical route as used by most other plug-ins. It installs a button that appears in the Add New Post window alongside all the other formatting tools.

The plug-in can be configured and it really couldn’t be any simpler as there is only one option. There is a checkbox that offers the option to include uQuery search box in the widget. This means introducing a search field which will allow users to search the entire uQuery website.

WordPress Mobile Pack

The mobile web revolution is set to hit the big time soon and WordPress users need to be ready. The dotMobi WordPress Mobile Pack is a comprehensive toolkit that looks to assist with getting a WordPress site ready for the mobile screen.

The pack includes four mobile themes allowing users to switch from the default buff and black to a more engaging green, red or blue. These are activated directly from the themes windows, the standard desktop themes. All mark-up is valid XHTML-MP and the site score five on mobiReady, the dotMobi compliance and mobileOK test tool.

The Mobile Switcher feature automatically suggests desktop or mobile, but lets users switch to the alternative option and remember the decision made. This option is disabled by default, enabling users to choose the switcher mode, ie Browser detection, a mobile-theme desired desktop domain.

Mobile Widgets offers the option to select currently active widgets to appear in the theme. There is a mobile admin panel where bloggers can access the admin interface and edit posts.

Finally, the plug-in also has basic recognition of mobile devices and is capable of rescaling images, splitting articles and posts into multiple pages, simplifying style and removing media.

Google Analytics for WordPress

The Google Analytics for WordPress plug-in automatically tracks and segments links and downloads. It also allows users to track AdSense clicks, add extra search engines and track image search queries.

To use the plug-in users need an active Google Analytics account and their Analytics Account ID. In its basic form the Google Analytics Settings module is nothing more than three options and one is the account ID.

To get to the more meaty workings of the plug-in it’s over to the advanced settings. This activates the features domain tracking, tracking AdSense and track extra search engines with a single click.

Smart YouTube

Smart YouTube is a WordPress YouTube plug-in that allows users to easily embed video and playlists into a post, comments and an RSS feed. The author states that the “main purpose of the plug-in is to correctly embed YouTube videos into your blog post”.

The plug-in effectively mimics the customise options found accompanying YouTube videos with a few neat extras. To add a post or page a user simply needs to copy the video URL and change the http:// prefix to httpv://

There is support for high quality, HD video (720p) and YouTube playlists, again all a user needs to do is change the http:// prefix accordingly. There is support for the standard YouTube customisation features including adding coloured borders and displaying related videos.

In addition, users can display a search box, remove annotations and titles and ratings. For those where code counts there is an XHTML validation option, though this can negate the plug-in working via iPhone or iPod.

Better Tag Cloud

The tag cloud was popularised in the web 2.0 revolution and found its way into WordPress a few versions back.

The standard WordPress tag cloud is at best limited. It performs its intended task but offers little for the more discerning designers. To get creative with tag clouds the intervention of a plug-in is required and Better Tag Cloud provides some simple but undoubtedly effective solutions.

As you might expect, Better Tag Cloud comes accompanied with a widget which simply needs to be dropped into the sidebar.

The Settings module does all the hard work, the widget just displays the results. The settings page is simple and intuitive, users get to choose a title, decide on the smallest and largest font size, determine the number of displayed tags and how they should be ordered. Categories can be added to the tag cloud along with the option to display the post counts.

By default the plug-in is assigned CSS, if you don’t like the style simply remove it with a single click. Plus, users can include/exclude tags to create customised tag clouds. The widget isn’t the only option for getting the customised tag cloud seen. Users can put the [nktagcloud] short code into any post or pageant voila, the tag cloud appears.

WP-PostRatings

Ratings are a simple way for bloggers to find out which posts are proving popular. Conversely, they are perfect for readers to express an opinion quickly. The WP-PostRatings plug-in allows users to add an Ajax-based rating system to a WordPress post or page.

The plug-in is more comprehensive than a user might imagine. It is assigned its own menu module which gives access to Manage Ratings, Rating Options and Rating Templates. The initial option Manage Ratings allows users to take control of ratings while Rating Options is a more aesthetic offering. Finally, Ratings Templates defines exactly how the rating will look in a post or a page.

Flickr + Highslide

There is a very good chance that everyone reading this will know exactly what Flickr has to offer. If not, it is effectively an online photo sharing site.

For those who don’t know, Highslide is an open source image and gallery viewer. Combining the two makes sense, your Flickr images are already uploaded and Highslide displays them in a pleasing and pretty fashion.

The set up is about as simple as it gets, the Flickr + Highslide plug-in puts itself into the Settings module and offers a very simple set up. Users need to locate their Flickr user ID and add to get the ball rolling. Then it is simply a matter of deciding the number of images (100 max), with the option to select a specific Photoset.

The only reference to Highslide is the style of pop-up image viewer. The drop-down list describes each option, but a visit to www.highslide.com will provide some better examples of styles. Then it’s time to choose image and thumbnail size, order and whether or not to display titles. To display the gallery it’s simply a matter of adding the [flickr_highslide] tag into a post.

Yet Another Related Posts Plug-in

As a site grows it will contain more and more content which will undoubtedly become harder to find.

A post that was written three months back may have been a masterpiece, but it will never get a second glance once it’s consigned to older entries. A simple solution is to make sure that each time a new post makes the grade it has a host of related posts or pages. This gives the user the option to read more, which in turn keeps visitors at the site.

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin or YARPP, does exactly this. Key features of the plug-in include a customisable algorithm which takes into consideration post titles, content, tags, and categories.

YARPP then calculates a match score to help find relevant posts. Existing categories can be disallowed as can tags and there is the option to select a time frame, ie day, week, month to include only posts from this period.

MP3 Player Plug-in

The title of this plug-in pretty much says it all, it’s an MP3 Player plug-in. This is not an audio player, it is exclusively an MP3 player, and it does not support other audio formats.

The plug-in is incredibly easy to operate and set up, effectively all a user needs to do is upload a bunch of MP3 files to the default folder and it’s ready to go. All the action takes place in the settings module where users can create a new folder to store the MP3s, define the height and width of the player, pick a colour, choose a style and select several miscellaneous options.

‘Which MP3 play do you want?’ offers users three styles of player: Baby Player Single Song, Medium Player and Large Player. All include the embed code needed to add the player to a post or page.

For more variety and choice users need to visit www.thomasnorberg.com/plugins-used/test-mp3-player/ where there is an extended collection of players all with the appropriate embed code. In action load times are almost non-existent, simply select the song you wish, hit the Play button and let the fun begin. There is also code and easy to follow tips on how you can embed the player into a template to make it a permanent addition.

WP-DBManager

Backing up data is vital, and this applies to all WordPress users because at the very core of every blog is its database. Admittedly, this is not the most exciting of plug-ins but it is one that is essential for any WordPress site owner.

The WP-DBManager plug-in allows users to optimise, repair, backup and restore a database, delete a backup database, drop/empty tables and run selected queries. Plus, it supports the automatic scheduling of backing up and optimising of a database. This means users can set it and go knowing that their information is safe and sound.

The plug-in gets its very own menu module (Database) with the default view giving a quick rundown of database and tables information. The plug-in checks the current status of various functions and folders, click and the job is done. Managing the database allows the user to email the backup file, delete when a newer version is in place and download the SQL file.

SEO Friendly Images

Search engine friendly is an attribute that is easily forgotten when working with WordPress.

However, it is just as important to make a WordPress site as visible as possible. The SEO Friendly Images plug-in concentrates on dealing with the image side of SEO. It automatically adds Alt and Title attributes to all your images.

Browsers render the Alt tag differently, for example, Internet Explorer displays the title of an image using the Alt description. Firefox does not and uses the Title tag to display an image title, this is considered the correct use of the tag.

Using this plug-in will help negate browser issues, improve traffic and make images W3C/XHTML valid.

SEO Friendly Images use three tags (%name %title %category) to produce the desired image titles and Alt descriptions. For example, if a post title is ‘iPhone apps we love’ and an image called ‘myPantone’, adding %name %title will produce myPantone iPhone apps we love. To work properly the Edit Image Title field (under Edit Image) in WordPress needs to be empty.

Google XML Sitemap

Site maps are effective communicators for search engines and help raise a site’s profile in the rankings.

And if there is one site where you want a good ranking it has to be Google. In its most basic form the Google XML Sitemap plug-in is extremely easy to use, using the default options the user can build a sitemap with just a single click.

You can limit the number of posts in the sitemap, include an XLST style sheet (this is used to style XML), add additional pages, customise the location of the sitemap file, decide which sitemap content to include and prioritise posts, categories and pages.

Sidenotes

A blog is a goldmine of information, but the very premise of a blog can restrict the content that is on show. Not every snippet of information is worthy of a place in a post but it might need to make an appearance elsewhere.

Sidenotes provides the perfect solution. This is a plug-in that allows users to add short sidenotes to a WordPress site in just about any position the user decides.

There are effectively footnotes that can appear beyond the foot of a page, for example the sidebar would be a good choice. The sidenotes consist of a title description, the date of publication and links to the URL defined when creating a sidenote.

The plug-in itself is a two-tier operation with the tools menu providing the basic platform to add the sidenotes posts. This simply consists of three fields: the title, URL and description. Users simply populate the fields and then click Add Sidenote to populate All Sidenotes. Then it is simply a matter of repeating the process for all sidenotes needed. Sidenotes can be edited directly from within this screen.

Under Settings –> Sidenotes is where the creative action is. Here users can decide on how many notes to show, the date format and more importantly how many notes to show, the date format and more importantly how the sidenotes will be displayed.

The template can be modified to suit any WordPress theme, all a user needs to remember is to insert the right tags. Finally, it’s simply a matter of adding <?php get_sidenotes();?> into the WordPress template to see in action.

Theme Switcher

Themes are effectively the currency of a great-looking WordPress site and there are thousands out there ready to use.

However, even the best looking and perfectly formed ones rarely fulfil all a user’s needs. Modifying a current theme to suit can be a stressful and painful experience.

The Theme Switcher plug-in allows users to preview a theme without the hassle of having to activate a theme and then preview in a different tab or window. It can be set up so that only an administrator can have access to the widget and be able to switch between themes.

The widget will list all the themes currently available in the theme directory in a drop-down list. A single click allows the administrator to switch to an alternative theme to preview while all users of the site continue to view the original theme.

Resize-on-Upload

Images in a blog post can be confined to the dimensions of the post container.

There is little point adding an image that is 1,000 pixels wide when the post div tag has a defined width of 600 pixels. The image will simply spread across the page spoiling the blog.

A solution is to crop or resize the image before uploading or resize inside the post. Both options involve the user taking control. However, there is a third solution in the shape of the Resize-on-Upload plug-in.

This simple plug-in allows users to set the maximum width and height that an uploaded image can be.

If an image goes beyond this it is scaled to the maximum value. Great if you need to upload a lot of images in one instance that need to be a uniform dimension.

Cute Profiles

Social networking sites have become the way to communicate for a generation and any good bloggers is almost certain to have a range of accounts. It’s not unusual for prolific bloggers to have profiles or accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, etc.

Cute Profiles allows users to bring together all of their social profiles and display them in a neat, attractive, functional and floating sidebar.

The plug-in offers two sets with Set 1 offering all the popular choices, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, YouTube, LinkedIn, Skype, FriendFeed, MySpace and Flickr. Users simply need to add the profile URL to which the related icon will link.

Set 2 is as comprehensive but does not offer the big names of Set 1. Here users will find Last.fm, Vimeo, Viddlr, Dopplr, MobileMe, Virb and XING among others. The remaining options offer the option to customise the look of the links and icons.

Users can left or right align, decide on distance from the top of the browser window, choose on an icon size, debate an icon theme and decide upon automatic or manual insertion.

Contact Form 7

The beauty of this plug-in lies its flexibility and ability to create multiple contact forms.

The default form is a simple name, email, subject, message and submit. However, the number of permutations are almost endless. There is the option to generate tags for text files, email fields, drop-down menus, checkboxes, radio buttons, file upload, acceptance, CAPTCHA and a submit button. Select tag, fill out the various options and copy and paste the code into the form window.

The second stage is to modify the mail receiver details, there is an option to send a second email address details, there is an option to send to a second email address. The form layout can be customised using standard HTML tags. With the forms complete, custom messages can be added. For example, the default message for a successful delivery is Your message was sent successfully. Thanks.

Finally, to complete the contact creation users simply copy and paste the code into a post, or elsewhere, to view the form within a site.

StatPress Reloaded

Site statistics are a simple way to find out what’s happening.

Discover who is visiting, when they are visiting and discover what they are visiting. StatPress Reloaded shows real-time statistics about a blog, collecting information about visitors, spiders, search keywords, feeds, browsers, OS and more.

The plug-in starts collecting information the moment it is activated and has a host of options for displaying the collected information.

The StatPress plug-in gets its own dedicated menu module which is split into a number of sections. There is an overview of the site action, plus further modules for last hits, last search terms, last referrers, last agents, last pages and last spiders.

Finally..

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Social Media Addicts Association Meeting par Matthew Tommasi Vendredi 27 Novembre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Behined the scenes filming at a Social Media Addicts Association meeting, with members discussing the problems caused by their addiction in graphic detail.

This humorous advertisement is brought to you by Sony Vaio laptops.

How many of these people can you relate to?

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Clay Shirky: How Social Media Can Make History par Matthew Tommasi Vendredi 20 Novembre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Clay Shirky delivers a great thought provoking presentation at TED, on How social media can make history.

About this talk:

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

“Shirky is one of the handful of people with justifiable claim to the digerati moniker. He’s become a consistently prescient voice on networks, social software, and technology’s effects on society.” - WIRED

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Twitter Cheat Sheet par Matthew Tommasi Mardi 3 Novembre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

I have created a compact one page Twitter Cheat Sheet, that answers a lot of common Twitter questions.

It outlines,

Twitter commands
Twitter search parameters
Twitter terms
Twitter resources
Twitter directories

This is a handy resource that can be used to quickly refer to when needed and contains links to many of Twitter’s official pages.

All in one page!

As long as this PDF remains in its original format and isn’t modified, you may print it out.. email it to your friends.. tweet about it.. or show it to any Baby Boomer who needs help with Twitter!

Download your Twitter Cheat Sheet here

(watermark free)

Finally..

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Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

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Setup a Custom Landing Page for Your Facebook Page par Matthew Tommasi Dimanche 1 Novembre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

So you have finally gotten around to creating a page for your business or club on Facebook.

You have secured a vanity URL and your blog’s posts are automatically being pulled into and displayed on your Facebook page.

Now what?

Why not set up your own custom landing page?

If you haven’t heard of a landing page before, it is the page on a website that you arrive on.. or land on.

When someone browses to your Facebook fan page for the first time, the landing page is page that is displayed to them.

Facebook allows you to configure landing pages for new visitors (ie non-fans), so that they land on that custom page instead of your wall.

The goal of the landing page is to convert new visitors into fans by providing them with information that makes them want to become a fan.

This guide will show you how to set up a custom landing page.

Add the Static FBML Application

At the bottom left of your screen (in the status bar), click on Applications,

applications

Then click on Browse More Applications,

browse more apps

In the search box type in FBML,

FBML

Click on Static FBML,

static FBML

Click on Add to my Page,

add to my page

Select your page and click <Add to Page>,

add to page

Settings

Now return to your Facebook page and click on Edit Page,

edit page

Scroll down to the FBML application, click on the Pencil icon.. then select Edit,

edit FBML

In the Box Title enter a name for your custom tab.. then paste in your HTML code that points to your images, files etc.

My custom landing page consists of

a jpg (760 x 477 px)
Facebook Invite Friends code

When you are done click on <Save Changes>,

add code

Click on Edit Page again,

edit page

.. and go back to the FBML Application Settings,

FBML applicaiton settings

Ensure this application has been added to your Tabs,

add to tab

Default Landing Page

Now to make this page the default landing page for non-fans.

In Wall Settings, click on the Pencil icon.. then select Edit,

edit wall settings

For the Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else option.. select the tab that you have just created,

default landing tab

Now log out of Facebook,

logout Now head back to your Facebook fan page,

You will now land on your new custom landing page,

new landing page_

Finally..

If you liked this post please register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter that’s packed with tips, guides and more!

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

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The Google Story par Matthew Tommasi Mercredi 28 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

This video gives a very quick look back at the Google story over the last 11 years.

From Stanford to Mountain View and around the world, featuring many different products, starting with BackRub (Search) up to Google Wave, StreetView and Chrome.

Google Timeline and Google Milestones also provide a great timeline of Google’s History.

Will Google Wave redefine the communication and collaboration paradigm?

Google has become such an integral part of our lives.. where to next?

How would the landscape change if Google and Facebook became one?

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How to Bring Back the Old Facebook par Matthew Tommasi Mardi 27 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

facebook

Don’t like Facebook’s new News and Live Feeds look?

Do you wish you could go back to the old look?

Well you can.. sort of.. it is the closest way to what it was.

Firstly login to your Facebook account,

logged in

On the left-hand-side click on More so your list is expanded,

Now that your list is expanded you should be able to see three horizontal bars next to each item in your list,

3 horizontal bars

Place your mouse cursor over those 3 horizontal bars.. and drag Status Updates to the top of your list,

status updates at the top

Now click on it so that it is now selected (ie turns dark blue),

selected

Done!

You have just gone back to the old look,

old look

.. if you want to go back to how it was.. just drag News Feed to the top of the list (as outlined in the steps above),

news feed

Next time you login to Facebook, whatever view is at the top of the list, will be your default view.

Easy.

If you liked this post then sign up to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter.. it’s packed with social media tips, guides, downloads and more.

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Guide to Facebook’s News and Live Feeds par Matthew Tommasi Dimanche 25 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Have you noticed that Facebook has re-designed the Home Page?

It now displays a News Feed and a Live Feed..

Since this re-design, did you know that Facebook has already chosen which of your friends will be displayed in these feeds and which will be hidden?

You probably haven’t noticed, but Facebook has decided that a lot of your friends won’t be appearing in your News and Live feeds.

This guide will show you how to fix this.. so that all your friends re-appear in your feeds.

What’s the Difference Between News Feed and Live Feed?

Facebook has introduced two views of your News Feed,

A summary of activity that has happened in the last day
A real-time view that shows you what is happening right now

News Feed

The News Feed displays the most interesting things that have happened in the last day.. a summary of what has been going on.

Stories are displayed according what Facebook thinks you’ll enjoy.. based on a variety of factors including, how many friends have liked and commented on that story and how likely you are to interact with that story.

Live Feed

After you have caught up on what you have missed.. the Live Feed displays what is happening right now.

You will see posts and updates come through and display in real-time.

Like with the News Feed, Facebook has already determined which of your friends will be displayed, and which will be hidden, in your Live Feed.

Adding Friends Back into the News Feed

To add friends so that they re-appear in your News Feed.. scroll to the bottom of the News Feed page and click on Edit Options,

(NB – if the <Edit> button does not display.. try hiding someone first.. then when you scroll down it should now be displayed. To hide someone, please refer to the section below)

The following friends are hidden from your News Feed.. to add them back in, so their activity is displayed in your News Feed.. click on <Add To News Feed>,

Do the same for Pages and Applications.. by clicking on <Add to News Feed>.

Once you have added those items to display in your News Feed again.. click on <Close> to save your changes.

Hiding Friends in the News Feed

To hide any friends in your News Feed, just hover your mouse to the right of their story and click on <Hide>,

Adding Friends Back into the Live Feed

The friends and updates that are displayed in your Live Feed can be displayed independently of your News Feed.

Since Facebook’s re-design many of your friends now won’t display in your Live feed.. they have been hidden.

To unhide them and to choose for yourself who is displayed.. scroll to the bottom of the Live Feed screen and click on Edit Options,

(NB – if the <Edit> button does not display.. try hiding someone first.. then when you scroll down it should now be displayed. To hide someone, please refer to the section below)

Facebook has already determined which of your friends will appear in your Live Feed.. but you can change that so you can choose which friends to display.

You will notice that the Number of Friends section has been pre-populated with 250,

250

I don’t want to be capped at 250.. so I am going to change this to 5000 which is the maximum amount of friends that Facebook currently allows you to have,

5000

That way, as my friends list grows over time I still get to see all of their real-time updates come through and not be capped at seeing only 250.

Next click on the View Recommended Friends link,

view recommended friends

You will notice that some friends are displayed in light-blue and others in white,

blue and white

The ones displayed in light-blue are those friends that Facebook thinks you want displayed in your Live Feed.

The ones displayed in white are those friends that Facebook thinks you don’t want displayed in your Live Feed.

So to choose who you want displayed in your Live Feed.. just click on those friends.. and they will turn dark-blue,

dark blue

When you have selected those friends (I re-selected all of them) you want displayed in your Live Feed click on Back to Settings,

back to settings

On the News Feed Settings, I am also going to remove everyone from the Hide section.. so that everyone’s updates will be displayed.. when this is done click on <Save>,

unhide

Hiding Friends in the Live Feed

Just like the News Feed above, to hide any friends in your Live Feed, just hover your mouse to the right of their story and click on <Hide>,

Finally..

So there you have it.. all your friends activities and status updates will appear in your News Feed and Live Feed.

And not just the ones that Facebook thinks you should have!

If you liked this post then sign up to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter.. it’s packed with social media tips, guides and more.

Most of these posts are available to download for free as PDFs for registered members.

Please help spread the word by becoming a fan of The Social Media Guide on Facebook,

And following me on Twitter,

Enjoy!

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Guide to Advanced Twitter Search par Matthew Tommasi Samedi 24 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

For the uninitiated, Twitter is a platform where information sharing and conversations happen in real-time.

It is where breaking news appears first.. often significantly before appearing on live TV.. and sometimes up to tens of minutes before being reported by the major online news sites.

Even as I’m typing this, companies and businesses are integrating Twitter as a primary channel of news delivery.. the internet as a whole is evolving towards real-time.

The lines between traditional journalism are blurring and becoming non-existent, as people around the world are able to send tweets, share files, take pictures and upload videos all from their mobile phones.

More people are using social media than ever before and the amount of new content being generated every moment is increasing exponentially.

So are we experiencing information overload?

To quote Clay Shirky.. “It’s not information overload.. it’s filter failure“.

To be successful in searching for the right content you need to apply filters. There are many different types of filters you can apply to your search criteria and this guide will show you some advanced techniques.

Like with all search engines, Twitter has two types.. real-time standard search,

.. where you can enter basic keywords.. this is the method everyone uses and knows.

Advanced Twitter Search

Twitter also has an advanced search that allows you to really filter out the noise and hone-in on specifics about what people are talking about right now,

The Twitter advanced search interface allows you to search via two ways,

Search Box
Search Form

Search Box

You can use all sorts of search operators in the search box to refine your search.. and I will go through each of these search operators here using examples.

Word Search

social media = will find tweets containing both “social” and “media“
“social media” = will find tweets containing the exact phrase “social media“
social OR media = will find tweets containing “social” OR “media” (or both)
social -media = will find tweets containing “social” but NOT “media“
#socialmedia = will find tweets containing the hashtag “#socialmedia“ –> please see my article Twitter Hashtags for an explanation of hashtags

People Search

from:matthewtommasi = will find tweets from the person “matthewtommasi“
to:scobleizer = will find tweets to the person “scobleizer“
to:guykawasaki OR to:mashable = will find tweets to the person “guykawasaki“, OR to the person “mashable“
@socialguide = will find tweets referencing the person “@socialguide“

Places Search

“windows 7″ near:sydney = will find tweets containing the exact phrase “windows 7“, that are sent near “sydney“
facebook near:london within:10mi = will find tweets containing “facebook“, that are sent within “10 miles” of “london“

Date Search

“google wave” since:2009-10-23 = will find tweets containing the exact phrase “google wave“, that have been sent since the date “2009-10-23” (year-month-day)
“windows vista” until:2009-10-19 = will find tweets containing the exact phrase “windows vista“, that have been sent up until the date “2009-10-19” (year-month-day)

Attitude Search

movie = will find tweets containing the word “movie”, with a positive attitude
food = will find tweets containing the word “food“, with a negative attitude

Other Search

linkedin filter:links = will find tweets containing the word “linkedin“, and linking to URLs
tennis source:tweetdeck = will find tweets containing the word “tennis“, and entered via Tweetdeck
beer ? = will find questions with the word “beer“

All of these search operators can be combined with one another(s) to refine your search even further.

Search Form

The advanced search form underneath the search box, allows you to enter and search using all the operators listed above.. but entering them in the form.

Think of it as an easier, advanced search!

Saved Search

All Twitter clients have saved search functionality where you can save searches.

From Twitter’s interface type in your search query (using any of the search operators above).. then click on the search icon,

To save that search click on the Save this search link,

ScreenShot006

This search is now saved and can be accessed in the future quickly, by clicking on that link,

saved

You can also use search widgets with persistent searches and embed them in in your blog.

I have embedded a Twitter search widget in my News page to search for tweets containing the exact phrase “social media“.

50 More Twitter and Real-time Search Tools

Here are 50 more Twitter and real-time search resources:

BackTweets - Search for Links on Twitter
BingTweets - Fusing Twitter trends with Bing real-time search
Collecta - Real-time search
CrowdEye - Real-time social search
Faroo - Real-time search
GeoFollow - Location based Twitter directory
Heapr - Search Google and Twitter
IceRocket - Real-time search
itpints - Real-time search engine
MicroPlaza - Search the hot links and trending topics on Twitter
Monniter - Real-time Twitter monitor
Navgle - Navigate your search
OneRiot - Search the real-time web
PicFrog - Real-time image search on Twitter
Scoopler - Real-time search
serendipiTwitterous - Search for Tweets of a certain person using keywords
Topsy - A search engine powered by tweets
Trendistic - Search Twitter through time
Twazzup - Search Twitter. Get real insights
TweedleDM - Search Twitter DMs
Tweefind - Twitter search by user rank
TweepFind - Tweeps search by Rank and Skills
Tweeple of India – Search tweeple of India
TweepSearch - Twitter profile and Bio search
TweetFeel - Real-time Twitter search
TweetGrid - Create a Twitter search dashboard
Tweeple411 - Twitter search directory
TweetFind - Live Twitter directory
TweetRSVP - A search engine that pulls tweets with questions and requests for information
TweetScan - Microblog search
Tweetzi - Real-time Twitter search and trends
Twicsy - Search Twitter Images
Twifish - The extended Twitter search
Twindexx - Crowd-sourcing the best of Twitter
Twingly - Microblog search
Twiogle - Search Google and Twitter at the same time
TwiPho - Search Twitter photos
TwiST - Twitter search tool
Twithority - Twitter search by authority
Twitmatic - Search for videos on Twitter
Twitority - Authority based Twitter search
Twitter FreeSearch – Twitter search
Twitter Job Search – Search jobs on Twitter
Twitterment - Search engine for Twitter
Twitter Power Search – Real-time Twitter search
TwitterTroll – Twitter search engine
Twoogel - Google and Twitter search
Twoquick - Simple Google and Twitter search
Twuet - Twitter search engine
Visible Tweets – Twitter Visualisations

Seek and ye shall find!

You can download this guide as a PDF (with along with a cheat sheet of the search operators) when you register to receive The Social Media Guide’s free newsletter.

It is packed with social media tips, guides, downloads and more!

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Monitoring Your Industry with Social Media par Matthew Tommasi Samedi 24 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

This video nicely and succinctly shows how businesses can monitor their industry using social media.

It’s presented by Adam Ostrow and is sponsored by UPS.

Here are links to some posts of mine that cover and explain the services mentioned:

Platforms

Directories

Wefollow

Software

It’s your industry.. always on and always connected through social media.
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Share Files on Facebook with Box.net par Matthew Tommasi Dimanche 18 Octobre 2009 :: The Social Media Guide :: RSS

Want to be able to share files with your friends on Facebook?

Box.net allows you to easily share files, documents, music, etc with your friends on Facebook.

It is simple and it is free.

I have previously shown how you can share files on LinkedIn with Box.net.. that post outlines the steps involved in uploading files to your Box.net account.

Like LinkedIn, sharing files on Facebook is just as easy.. and handy as well!

If you haven’t heard of Box.net before, this video gives a good introduction to the file collaboration service they offer,

Uploading Files to Box.net

If you don’t already have a Box.net account, signup for a free one here.

Once you have logged in, the first thing you will need to do is upload some files that you wish to share.

To upload files, just follow the steps to outlined in my guide on sharing files on LinkedIn with Box.net.

Add the Facebook Service

To be able to share your files on Facebook you need to add the Facebook service to your Box.net account.

Click on the OpenBox tab.. then the All Services tab,

all services

Scroll down to Facebook and click on <Add Service>,

Then click on <Okay>,

add FB service

Done!

You have just added (and enabled) the facebook service on your Box.net account.

Share on Facebook

There are two ways you can share files using Box.net with your Facebook friends.

You can either share your files with everyone (who has access to view your wall).. or you can share files with select Facebook friends.

To share, right-click on the file.. then select Send or share on fb,

Click on <Okay>,

Share with Select Friends

To share your file with select friend(s) on Facebook click on Send as Message instead,

send as message

In the To field, enter your Facebook friends who wish to share this file with.. enter a message.. then click on <Send Message>,

send message

This message will be sent to your friend’s Facebook mailbox,

fb inbox

From there they can download your shared file simply by clicking on it,

download shared file

Share with Everyone

To share a file everyone (who has access to see your Facebook wall).. just repeat the steps above..

Click on the padlock symbol to adjust the privacy settings (as necessary).. then click on <Share>,

This file has now been shared with everyone and has been published on your wall,

shared with everyone

Facebook Files Application

The Facebook Files application, which is powered by Box.net, basically enables you to login to your Box.net account.. but from within Facebook.

This application allows you to do everything I have outlined in this guide including:

uploading files from your PC to your Box.net account
share files from your Box.net account to selected Facebook friends
share files from your Box.net account to everyone (who has access to view your Facebook wall)
all from within Facebook

To set this application up in Facebook.. go to the Facebook Files application.

Next click on <Go To Application>,

go to application

Click on <Allow>,

allow

Enter your Box.net details to allow this application to communicate with your Box.net account,

Done!

You have just setup the Facebook File application in Facebook and linked it with your Box.net account.

This application can now be accessed at anytime by clicking on the Files icon,

files

The Facebook Files application basically mirrors your Box.net account.. but from within Facebook.

You can upload files.. which will then reside in your Box.net account.

And if you want to share any of these.. just right-click on the file and select Send or share on fb,

And just follow the same steps outlined above depending on whether you want to share to selected friends or to everyone.

Sharing makes the world go round!

If you liked this article please sign-up to receive my free newsletter packed with social media tips, guides and much more.

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[1-20] [21-37]

Finally..

About the Author

Additional Reviews

Video Reviews

Finally..

The Listorious 140

Tags

Members of Lists

Add a List

Other Twitter Lists Resources

Finally..

Retweet Button

Building the Retweet URL

Write Your Tweet

Create a Shortened URL

Your Tweet

Create the Retweet URL

Test the Retweet URL

Create Your PDF File and Embed Retweet Button

Finalise the PDF File

Finally..

Subscribe to a Feed

The Long Way

The Quick Way

Reading Feeds

Views

New Items and All Items

Mark Items as Read

Mark as Unread

Viewing Original Posts

Managing Feeds

Creating Folders

Managing Folders

Creating Tags

Folders and Tags

Sharing Feeds

Share with Notes

Unshare

Email

Like and Unlike

Send to Social Networks

Sharing Settings

People Search

Sharing any Webpage with Google Reader

Discover More Feeds

Clips

Mobile

Keyboard Shortcuts

Offline Access

Easter Egg

Blog

Help Resources

Other Resources

Finally..

New! Official Google Reader Updates

Getting started with Google Reader

Contents

What’s an RSS Feed?

Subscribe to a feed

Reading feeds

Discover more feeds

Email Notifications

Replying to Comments through Email

Finally..

Twitter for Business: A High Level Overview

Create Twitter account

Follow

Tweeting

Filtering

Twitter Lists

Followers

Marketing

Competition

Twitter Clients

Website

Advanced

Finally..

Customizing Facebook

Customizing Twitter

Delivery Times

^New! Official Google Reader Updates