If you need to load the WordPress database outside of WordPress (for cron jobs, specialty pages, etc) simply put this at the beginning of your script:
define( 'SHORTINIT', true );
require_once( $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/wp-load.php' );
This will tell WordPress to load up with as little as necessary. If you don’t have the SHORTINIT call then it will load all of WordPress as normal (which you probably don’t want).
After writing my blog post on 5 reasons to use lists in blogs, I had people email me asking how I made my lists look so good. I’ll admit, before that post my lists looked ugly. But I spent quite a bit of time playing around to get it to look that way.
What I ended up coming across was some css tricks that let you do numbering in different styles. I had to modify it to work with the lists I was making. First, I’ll give you the code to put into your theme’s custom.css file:
.fancy {
counter-reset: fancy-counter;
list-style: none;
}
.fancy li:before {
content: counter(fancy-counter);
counter-increment: fancy-counter;
left: -40px;
position: relative;
top: 25px;
font: bold 50px/1 Sans-Serif;
}
.fancy strong {
margin-left: -30px;
}
Once this is in your theme’s custom.css file, you can create a new numbered list with WordPress just like you always have, with two exceptions:
That’s all there is to it. Seems complicated at first but once you get it figured out it really doesn’t add much to your flow when creating new posts. But it has an amazingly beautiful effect that’ll help your blog look that much better.
When it comes time to write blog posts it can be really difficult getting your thoughts organized into one post. Today I’m going to tell you 5 reasons why you should use lists in blog posts!
So there you have it, from the master blogger himself, 5 reasons to use lists when blogging!
When I talk to people about blogging, they always say they don’t know how to do it. To me setting it up is a piece of cake, but in case that’s not you, I’m going to show you how to make a blog in only a few minutes!
First, this applies to anyone with a hosting account with cPanel. While there are some ways you can get a free blog, I would recommend having your own hosting account for many reasons. You get complete control over which themes and plugins you use, and more importantly you can’t be told the content you are writing about isn’t allowed.
Once you are inside your cPanel control panel, it’s actually really easy. Simply goto Site Software, then click on WordPress. The next page has a bunch of options but the only one you have to change is the admin username, password, and email. The rest will automatically be filled for you.
Click install, and cPanel will actually make a blog for you. It will download all the necessary files, copy them appropriately, and install the database. The hard part is left up to you: writing blog posts! If you are still confused, I can make a blog for you ;-)
I could have stopped there but then you’d have the same boring looking blog as everyone else. No worries, making a blog look good is just as easy, if not easier. Themes are located in the admin menu under Appearance. On the Themes page click Add New
WordPress will then show you a wide variety of themes you can install just by clicking Install. You’ll even get to preview them first. Find a theme that matches your style and you’ll enjoy writing all the more!
That’s all there is to it. If I helped you make a blog please let me know below!
I previously posted how to fix missed scheduled posts, this time on a related but different note I’m going to show you how to delete thousands of cron jobs all at once.
Now you must be asking, how did I get thousands of cron jobs? Well, I had a defunct plugin that was adding in new cron jobs over and over. I used Improved Cron to check out why my cron jobs weren’t firing, and found that it was flooded with cron jobs.
What’s interesting to note is a lot of plugins will add a cron job, but when you remove the plugin it doesn’t remove the cron job. So over years you can start to have a ton of junky cron jobs in there slowing everything down.
Delete WordPress cron jobs with phpMyAdmin: if you are familiar with phpMyAdmin, simply goto your WordPress database and open up the wp_options table. Do a search for crons.
Once you find the cron, simply delete it. Scary, but actually WordPress will automatically re-generate the field when necessary.
If you don’t know how to use phpMyAdmin, or are simply too scared, a neat trick you can do is to add this one line of code to your WordPress Theme functions.php file. If it doesn’t have it, then you can add it to any of the plugins:
delete_option( 'cron' );Once you or anyone accesses your blog, this will delete that field. Then remove the code and you’re good to go! Now after doing this my cron jobs run much smoother.
Most people I talk to are scared to blog, and they don’t think they really should be blogging. But before you decide not to, check if you fit into one of these three types of people.
People Who Like To Write
These are the people who just like to write. If you like to write, you should be blogging. It doesn’t matter what, you’re doing a disservice to the millions of people struggling to write by hiding your talents.
I am not a reader, so I don’t follow many bloggers who love to write for the simple reason, I don’t love to read. But there is a large number of readers and writers out there, so don’t hold back!
People Who Have Specific Knowledge
These are the people I honestly LOVE. These people generally aren’t “anyone special”, but they know something. They are the people that you’ll be searching the internet for a solution and bammo, their blog comes up! I love it when this happens.
Seriously, I don’t care if you post once a month. If you know how to fix things, do DIY projects, etc, these types of blogs can be life savers. There are certain posts I’ve written that have helped tons of people solve a simple problem. They might not be back ever again, but I enjoy seeing the traffic/comments knowing I’ve helped them.
People Who Want to Be a Leader
The most obvious blogger is the “authoritative” blogger. These are the people, like myself, that blog to “be a leader”. You can use a blog to make it look like you are a leader, even if you aren’t. Which is great if you’re trying to have a good online presence for a job resume or potential clients.
Most people think you have to be in that category to start a blog. But in all actuality the second group is the largest group of bloggers. And it’s the least stressful. When you are a leader in an industry there is more pressure to constantly put out new amazing content. When you do it for fun and when you have something to share, it feels more rewarding!