Get Angry: Blogger Sued For Comments On Their Blog

When a blogger believes they are alone and the only one, we all lose. In response to my friend, John Pozadzides’ recent experience outlined in “VistaPrint.com Is Threatening to Sue Me Over a Blog Comment. Really???,” I want him and all of you to know you are not alone when it comes to the threats against our blogs for being open spaces for free speech.

John is not the first nor the last but the many who have faced legal action and lawsuits for contents and comments on their blogs. The issue of contents is more clear cut when it comes to lawsuits concerning libel and defamation, as well as the freedom of speech in your country. The issue of comments is much more complex.

In general, the “owner” of the comment is the responsible part for their actions. Unfortunately, there are legal decisions that state that if you moderate and edit your comment queue, you are responsible, thus attackable, for any comments that appear on your blog. A good description and legal references can be found on Can Bloggers Be Sued Over Comments? Maybe from Contentious.com and Legal Liability Overview from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jonathan Bailey writes a great post on The Legal Issues with Comments that should be a must read. ShoeMoney was among the earliest, publicly exposed blog comment lawsuits in 2006, though attempts were made long before, especially with comments in forums dating back to the early 1990s.

It will be a while before there is a good body of work to support freedom of speech online in blogs, forums, social media publishing platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, etc.), and other social web venues that are supported by laws that really protect citizens to have their say.

Freedom of speech does not mean you can go around saying anything you want anywhere. Freedom of speech implies responsibility. You can saw whatever you want, but you must be willing to live with the consequences of your actions.

Until there is a body of law to support blogger’s and their comments, to support John and others who have been sued for comments on their blogs, here is a reference list of some of the other attempts and commentary on them, as well as some legal decisions, advice, and reviews in their blog comments, to let you know that you are not alone.

Now that you know you are not alone, it’s time for us to stand together. Anyone up for a good fight?

• Fighting For Bloggers’ Rights! | SEO Book.com
• Intuitive with Dave Taylor – SEO Books Aaron Wall Sued Over Comments on His Weblog
• RSS Pieces – ePerks Sues Real Estate Blogger – Blogosphere Unites to Destroy the ePerks Brand
• Dr. Wes: Bloggers Beware
• Blogger Faces Lawsuit Over Comments Posted by Readers – WSJ.com
• POP! PR Jots: Blogs and Libel – or Damn, NKK!
• POP! PR Jots – Libel Revisited
• The Shotgun: Marc Lemire and freedom of expression
• Why Does Everything Suck – Who has Comment Copyright Ownership
• Why does everything suck?: Who Has Comment Copyright Ownership In A Disqus Era
• Asia Times Online: Southeast Asia news and business from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam
• AOL loses court ruling on Internet privacy issue
• Bloggers’ Protection Being Put to the Test
• Company hits Google with antitrust lawsuit – MarketWatch
• Model Liskula Cohen Sues Google Over Blog Comments
• Malaysian government checks blogger freedom
• Problogger – Slander in Comments – What are the Legalities
• If You Leave a Negative Comment, I’m Going to Sue You
• TechCult – If You Leave a Negative Comment I’m Going To Sue You
• NBC – Former Deputy Claims He Was Fired for Blog Comments
• Med-Blogger Subpoened Over Comment on Blog – New York Personal Injury Law Blog
• Blog-comment speechcrimes in Canada

This list is just the few I found during a quick search. If you have heard of more that involve legal specifics, let John and all of us know.

Blog this up. Tweet it out. FB it to your community. We need to let the world know that we, as a blogging body, want the right to freedom of speech for everyone, including those who comment. Let them know that we police our blogs’ comments and are proud of it, but that doesn’t mean we are responsible for the words of others. As I’ve always said, a blog comment is a mini resume. They tend to speak for themselves and their owners. Thus, you are responsible for what you say no matter where you say it, as long as your laws permit you the right to say it. If they don’t, that’s a different battle.

For now, let’s support John and others who fight for their rights to blog free.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network
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Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins

In Dallas, August 29, 2010, at OpenCamp I presented “Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins.” Here are the WordPress Plugins and more features during my presentation.

Let me first define what my qualifications for a “mind blowing WordPress Plugin” were, as I had to sift through thousands of Plugins and then filter down to include the following in my 50 minute presentation.

To me, a mind blowing WordPress Plugin is one that breaks the rules. It is unique and original in its implementation, and pushes WordPress. It might not be a Plugin that everyone must have on their site. It might not be a Plugin that even interests you. What these will do is to get you to look at the incredible diversity of Plugins available. If you are a Plugin author, hopefully these will light up your imagination as to the possible, building upon these and incorporating their originality into your Plugins.

I’d love to know if you’ve found a WordPress Plugin that really and truly blows your mind, pushing the capability of WordPress beyond “just a blog” or simple website. Almost all Plugins push WordPress, but I adore the ones that really shove it around.

WordPress Plugins

As of the day I gave my presentation, there were 11,040 WordPress Plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory. That’s not counting all the WordPress Plugins not in the Directory.

In fact, our blogs are built on WordPress Plugins. Even here on WordPress.com, Plugins fire up a lot of the features we use, even if we can’t add Plugins ourself.

In the beginning of 2006, I spent an entire month writing about almost nothing but WordPress Plugins in a A Month of WordPress Plugins, showcasing over two hundred WordPress Plugins. Introducing it, I spent months crawling the web to gather your Lists of Your Favorite WordPress Plugins and compiled the results of your lists into What Are Your Favorite WordPress Plugins? I reviewed the list to see which Plugins were still active with continued support and interest and was surprised to find most of them still rocking, and some even incorporated into the core.

The cumulative list included:

• Akismet
• WordPress Database Backup
• Ultimate Tag Warrior WordPress Plugin is now deprecated as tags are in the core.
• Popularity Contest
• WP-Cache – Today: W3 Total Cache WordPress Plugin or WP Super Cache WordPress Plugin
• Gravatars
• PodPress WordPress Plugin updated to work with WordPress 3.0 by Tim Berger
• Google Sitemap Generators: XML Sitemap WordPress Plugins from the WordPress Plugin Directory
• Ryan Duff’s Contact Form WordPress Plugin – Today Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin or Fast Secure Contact Form WordPress Plugin
• Adhesive WordPress Plugin (replaced by Sticky Posts feature in the WordPress Core)
• Subscribe to Comments
• Bad Behavior and Spam Karma 2
• Global Translator WordPress Plugin by Nothing2Hide
• Customizable Post Listings WordPress Plugin
• Customizable Comment Listings WordPress Plugin

Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins: Officers Directory and Contextual Help Menus

I will be presenting a session on “Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins” at OpenCamp in Dallas, August 27-29, 2010, and I want to introduce you to some of the WordPress Plugins I will be talking about to tease and tempt you, as well as to showcase the innovations that are out there in the WordPress Plugin world.

Douglas Bell is one of the many “youngsters” who grew up with WordPress, helping with the core development, community and Plugins and Themes. Now in college and continuing his podcasting, blogging and web development, he recently took advantage of the new Administration Panels Contextual Help Menus to bring excellent customer support to his new Officers Directory WordPress Plugin.

The Officers Directory WordPress Plugin was designed with membership organizations in mind but can be used for any multiple author blog or even a blog network as it works with WordPressMU/Blog Networks. It creates a contact page listing the officers in a table view with their contact information and job description. The contact information can be optionally linked to an automatic reCAPTCHA-powered contact form for easy (and hopefully) spam-free contacts directly to the officer who can provide them with the right response.

You can set the position and details in the Plugin’s Administration Panel, and set it for co-officers or identifying a vacant position. The email addresses are obfuscated and kept private. You can also group related officer positions together under custom position types, like by department, specialty, or even region. You have complete order how the officers are structured within each of the sections. A simple shortcode is placed in on the page you wish the officers directory to appear.

Blog Struggles: SOBCon, Idea Whelmed, and Tell It To the Telephone Pole

A few people were concerned when I started my first Blog Struggles Diary recommending that I not blog every day thus changing the whole tone of my site. This confused me as I thought this was what my site was about. I had to take some time to think about that…then life and work interfered, and now I’m back again to give this another go. The journaling of my experiences has continued, but now I present them to you in collections rather than daily.

Chicago – Hours After SOBCon 2010 – May 5, 2010

One of the most powerful influencers in my life is one of my best friends, Liz Strauss. I don’t know when she came into my life or how, but I know she has always been there. If you have friends like that in your life, consider them very precious and treasure them. They are rare.

Over the years of watching and helping Liz produce the most exciting event in the blog industry, Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon), I’ve watched her evolve into the best of mentors to thousands of SOBs (Successful and Outstanding Bloggers), and find myself proud, and a bit jealous, as she shares so much of herself and her vast wisdom, experience, and unique perspective on the world of online business with others. As proud as I am of her, with this year celebrating four years of SOBCon, I’m also pissed off at her again.

It’s not enough that I’m surrounded with 150 of the best of the best in the blogging, social media, and web publishing industry, once again because of HER I have too much to write about.

SOBCon 2010 Chicago: What Did You Learn?

In May of 2010, over 150 of the brightest minds in online business, web publishing, blogging, and social media gathered in Chicago for the 4th annual Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon). It was an amazing experience for all with three days of non-stop business strategies and techniques for online business. And they are doing it again in Denver for SOBCon 2010 on September 17-18, 2010, and again back in Chicago on April 28 – May 2, 2011, and registration for next year is open.

I interviewed many of the attendees to get their take-aways from the event.

I’ve put together summaries of my SOBCon 2010 Chicago interviewees, sharing the highlights of what they learned. As I look through the video and the list, once again I am stunned at the diversity of a SOBCon audience. So many different talents in one place for a common purpose – to learn from each other how the web works and how to work it better.

Blog Struggles: The Online Blogging Diary Begins

…I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. Hatred, rancor, and the spirit of vengeance are useless baggage to the artist. His road is difficult enough for him to cleanse his soul of everything which could make it more so.
Henri Matisse

After Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) this year, Dave Taylor invited me to go with a small group to the The Art Institute of Chicago to see the Henri Matisse exhibition. As I walked through the gallery, studying “The Back” and “The Bathers” series as it developed over time, I learned that Matisse returned to the subjects repeatedly, doing them again and again to find the “just right” perspective, never satisfied with the final project. I thought about how I return to my own art time and again, revealing my own artistic nature by revisiting the same subject over and over again.

People ask me why I blog about blogging. We all know how to blog by now. After seven years of blogging almost exclusively about blogging, most of them blogging about WordPress, haven’t I run out of things to say?

Again, to quote Matisse, “Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of, but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance.”

Blogging is an evolving media. While it has been more than 17 years since I launched my first website, journaling before blogging became the namesake for the process, I’m constantly learning. I’m also constantly challenged by this medium of expression, and I love watching myself grow as my industry grows.

Standing in the museum, the quiet whispers around me, a sick feeling sank into me. It’s too quiet. I’m surrounded by art that represents expression – loud, boisterous, almost violent expression – yet people treat it like it’s a church. I wanted to laugh out loud. I wanted to shout. I wanted to dance.

Dave Taylor wandered near me and whispered, “It’s too quiet in here. The artists would hate it if they were here. They would want us to celebrate their art not revere it.”

I laughed then quickly stifled it, complying with the implied request for noise suppression amid the loud images on the walls.

It was a bloggy moment.

The True Magic of Blogging: Finding Like Minds

One of the joys I have in blogging is finding like minds, those who share my vision, and even my opinion, some commonality with what I write about. While some might say Dave read my mind, in a way, that’s what I want people to experience when reading my blogs. I want them to say, “You read my mind!”

The greatest comments I get on this blog are ones that thank me for having the answer after they’ve looked for it so long, and those telling me that this is a valuable resource for them. I have what they need. I read their mind.

In that vein, I decided right then and there that it was time to invite you into my head so you could see what I think as I contemplate and produce my own artistry. As Liz Strauss said so beautifully in her brilliant keynote at SOBCon, “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.” Well, the wizard pulling the cords behind this blog is going to step out from behind the curtain and invite you into my world. I’m going to try to blog regularly in my Blog Struggles series to give you the behind the scenes process of how I blog. Consider it a blog diary on blogging on blogging, if you will.

Here’s hoping you like-minded individuals show up and help me make some noise, because it’s just too darn quiet around here lately!

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen.

One Minute with Lorelle: Planning Your Blog

In this first of a new series of articles, I’m starting “A Minute with Lorelle.” These one minute videos and articles will take you through the process of planning, writing, styling, customizing, and setting up your WordPress blog one minute at a time.

Whether you are new to blogging or ready to make some changes in your blog, these one minute sessions will help jump start your blogging efforts.

In the first episode of The Blog Plan series, you are asked, “What are you going to blog about?”

While this might seem a simple question, it’s actually the place where you begin to do the work. We usually have a blog topic in mind when we decide to put fingers to keyboard and head over to WordPress or WordPress.com, so let’s test out that topic before you even click those links.

Planning Your Blog Step One: Begin with a Brainstorm

The first steps in planning your blog is to brainstorm. Write down all the words and ideas of the things you want to blog about.

There are two ways I recommend for structuring your blog brainstorm process.

1. Timer: Set a timer for no less than 25 minutes. Sixty is better. There is something exciting that happens around minute 20, so you want to push yourself past that point.
2. Countdown: Set a number of items on the list as your goal. Make it at least 25. If you feel daring, make it 50. Write until you meet that goal.

Planning Your Blog Step Two: Group the Results

When you have your list, put it to one side or save it and make a new list, organizing the first list into groups. Look for commonality under specific words or titles. Look for synonyms and group them together.

When you are done, you should have no more than four to seven groupings with a title that describes the group. In my hypothetical blog about Star Trek, I went from dozens of ideas to only four groups of content: Star Trek Series, Star Trek Movies, Star Trek News, and Special Effects.

Your list will shift and change as you go. That’s part of the process. If you find yourself struggling, stop and ask yourself if this is really what you want to blog about. If the immediate answer is yes, go with it. If it isn’t, then take time now to reconsider your course.

In the next article, we’ll take that list and start to generate content ideas. See you in a minute.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen.

Annual Holiday Marathon: Best Ho, Wealth, Tech, Holiday Lights via Web, and Holiday Joy

Join me and the rest of the Bitwire Media crew for too much fun this Saturday, December 19, 2009, for the annual Holiday Marathon from 6AM to 6PM PST.

Each year, the Bitwire Media team celebrate the holidays with a live podcast and video marathon, with interviews, stories, laughter, games, contests, and a lot of holiday spirit from around the world. The cast of characters from the Bitwire includes myself, Dave Moyer and Kym Huynh of the popular WordPress podcast, WordCast, Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today, DeBorah Beatty of Living a Created Life, Christina Roberts of Aimless Agenda, Lee Sze of Best of the Net, and of course, you!

This year is even more exciting as it will be broadcast live by Bitwire, but also live and rebroadcast on Internet and terrestrial radio stations around the country!

Here are some highlights of this weekend’s 12 hour marathon:

• Holympics: We’re looking for your best “ho” as in “ho ho ho!” You can call now toll free at 888-721-4126 to record your name, email, and location, and give us your best ho. Or call during the show live. We’ll be playing the best entries during the show. We’ve got some fun prizes for the winner(s). So give us your best ho!
• John Pozadzides with Wealth Nation: John will discuss smart money tips and advice during the holiday season, taking your questions online live to help you with your money issues. John is the CEO of Woopra and host of Wealth Nation and One Man’s Blog.
• Cali Lewis with Geekbrief.tv: Get the best tips and suggestions for last minute high tech gifts from Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv, answering your questions on finding the right gift for the geek in your life.
• Charity Chats: Dave Moyer and the team will interview a variety of charity organizations about their efforts and how you can help them make the holidays special for kids, families, and those in need, such as the US Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
• Chat with Alek, The Christmas Lights Guy: Alek’s Christmas Lights and Decorations, one of the most unusual holiday lighting experiences in the world. A personal fun event and fundraiser for the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research, every year Alek decorates his home and connects it all to his website for visitors to control the lights through the site controls and webcam.
• Xmas in July: Join Dave, Kym, and Christina, hosts of Aimless Agenda, for a little tropical heat wave for your holiday festivities, especially with Kym as he tells stories about boxing kangaroos and celebrating Christmas in Australia’s summertime.
• DeBorah Beatty and Lorelle on Handmade Gift Giving: DeBorah and I are long time handmade gift givers and we’ll be talking about some of our favorite and fun handmade gifts and give you some tips to make your own. We’ll also be taking your calls to discuss your favorite handmade made gifts over the years.
• Share Your Holiday Memories: We’re talking to people all over the world, asking them to share their favorite holiday memories. Stop in and share a story with us.

Anything can, and has, happened during the annual Holiday Marathon, so please join us for the 12 hour event, or just stop in for a chat and sip of our nog. The call-in number for this year’s event is toll free 888-334-4248. Or tweet us or follow along on @holidaymarathon on Twitter and track the hashtags #holidaymarathon and #hohoho.

Bitwire Media is a multimedia publishing network, producing podcasts and video shows including WordCast, The Aimless Agenda Show, Liz and Lorelle Show, Living a Created Life, Best of the Net, and Bitwire: Behind the Scenes.

Don’t forget to stop in at a sister marathon, the 30 Hour Day, with our friends, Cami Kaos of Strange Love Live and Rick Turoczy of Silicon Florist, my fellow Portland, Oregon, bloggers. They are working hard on December 18-19 non-stop for 30 hours to raise money for great charities and entertain you through the long hours. Hopefully, we’ll be checking in with them during our own event to see how they are doing through their final hours, cheering each other on.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen.

Have You Lost the Human Element in Your Blog?

As I catch up with all the backlog of my life and work after a solid month on the road, I’m still stoked by my amazing time spent with Alan Dean Foster.

While preparing for my meeting, I found a fascinating quote by Alan Dean Foster in an interview with Science Fiction and Fantasy News. He was being asked about the challenges of writing books from movie scripts:

I always tell people that no matter how good the special effects are, you will not have a successful film without the human element. People go to see Star Wars and they say the cities and battles are great, but they really want to see what happens to Luke and Vader and Leia. All the other stuff is window dressing. And I feel that way about books as well. You can write big ships, and space travel, and big battles, but if there’s not that human interest, whether it’s a human being or an alien or whatever, but if there’s not an emotion at the center, you have no story.

I feel that way about blogs.

The key to writing a good blog post is to share your experience. I’m thrilled that the new iPhone whatever has been released, but your blog isn’t a newspaper. How about sharing how this new gizmo will impact your life and work. How do you use it? How will my life be better with it?

While there is a place for citizen journalism, most of us aren’t in that league. We are offering our tips, training, experiences, drawing from our own experiences and expertise. However, we often get caught up in the message, not the intent, and we tend to leave our voice out of the words.

People return to your blog because of YOU. Sure, they like the content you deliver, but it is how you deliver the message, it’s your words, your thoughts, your ideas that keeps them coming back for more. The rest is window dressing.

Think of your favorite television shows, podcasts, columnists, cartoonists, even your favorite authors, book series, or movies. You don’t keep coming back to them to see what they are wearing, what they are talking about, or their latest hairstyle. You keep coming back because you are vested in their personalities, their characters. What would a Harry Potter novel be without a Harry Potter to keep you interested? Would you really read a Scarpetta book by Patrica Cornwell with no Scarpetta?

What are your readers coming back for?

Step Outside of Yourself to Find the Human Element

We’ve been at this blogging gig stuff for a while now. We need to put more of ourselves back into our blogs, but we also have to step away from ourselves to find the magic in the world around us worth sharing with our readers.

In the same interview, Foster talks about his love of travel and how he gets some of his best ideas from his adventures. Discussing his book, “Sagramanda: A Novel of Near-future India,”and how he found his opening line from a taxi driver in Calcutta.

I had an Indian driver from New Delhi whose English was very poor, just as bad as my Hindi; but we managed. His family comes from a little village in the Himalayas. As I found him in New Delhi, I asked him why he was living here rather than in his village.

He gave me two reasons:
1. There was no work in the village for money.
2. A leopard ate his dog.

That kind of line you just can’t invent, and that’s how I started the book. “Sanji Gosch came to Sagramanda when a leopard ate his dog.” It’s like southern California where coyotes eat poodles. Since we don’t have leopards, we think it’s exotic. Travel teaches you things that you simply don’t expect. Had I not been to India, I’d never have known these cities, met these people, and written a book.

Over the past two years, I’ve been slowly working on changing this blog so it reflects more of your voice and your needs on blogging and WordPress. Next year, you will see things move in that direction. I stepped outside of my world and saw that the WordPress Community has a lot to say about how they blog and use WordPress, and I’m eager to share it with you.

I expect you to step outside of your world to find new thoughts and ideas as well. Here’s to courage and risk!

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Blog Struggles: How Do You Know When to Stop Writing a Blog Post?

As I prepare for my meeting with Alan Dean Foster, one of the world’s most prolific and famous science fiction authors, I’m not the only one inspired by the whole concept of making dreams come true.

Robyn Seaton introduced Alan Dean Foster to me after she and I met at WordCamp Phoenix, and PodCamp Arizona last week. She didn’t have a blog yet. After a fully packed weekend, she was ready but overwhelmed. What to blog about?

She twittered and emailed me that she wanted to help me in my quest to meet Alan Dean Foster. In the process, found her blog passion and voice. A few days ago, she started her very first blog in WordPress, Robyn Transforms, and now has two posts published on the blog. She says she was inspired by me, but I feel inspired by her!

I want to share a few of her questions on blog writing, as they also apply to my upcoming meeting with Alan Dean Foster.

How do you break away from a post? In other words, how do you know when to stop fussing with it? One of the reasons I hadn’t posted before was because I kept going back and rewriting. Every time I look at something, I find something about it I want to change. I’m sure I completely rewrote my About page at least 4 or 5 times, even after I had published it. (Should this go here? Would it be better in a post? Blah, blah, blah.) I suppose the answer becomes as simple as “when you get too tired or find something else to do.” I hope it’s really that simple.

Dreams Can Come True: Meeting Alan Dean Foster

I’m in Arizona after a very exciting and busy series of conferences, including the very successful WordCamp Netherlands, WordCamp Phoenix, and PodCamp Arizona, visiting family living near one of my favorite authors in the world, Alan Dean Foster.

During WordCamp Phoenix and PodCampAZ, I shared with my audience that I was too excited to just be “this close” to the one man who completely changed my life when it came to writing, actually helping me become a professional writer. Robyn Seaton stepped up to my challenge and connected me with the master himself. This is just one more amazing reason why I love WordPress and WordCamps!

In the next few days, I hope to connect with Alan Dean Foster and tell him thank you and hug him. Hopefully, I’ll also get time to interview him.

Alan Dean Foster is on my top ten list of people I want to meet, hug, and thank for having such a profound impact on my life, changing my path and encouraging me to stay focused on my passion. Earlier this year, the first person on that list was met, LeVar Burton, giving me a chance to say thank you for changing the conversation about disabilities. The list includes Bill Cosby, Shirley Maclaine, Terry Pratchett, and Orson Scott Card. My husband met Card, saying thank you for me, but that’s not good enough. As you can tell from the abbreviated list, authors have played a very strong role in my life, but Alan Dean Foster was the mentor whose knees I sat at and whose words I drank like a sponge.

After arriving last night, we walked the streets of Prescott and stopped in the lovely galleries and shops along Whiskey Row. I bought a key chain and postcard from Prescott to take home and put in my office as a reminder that I was this close to Alan Dean Foster, knowing he’s probably walked these streets and shopped in these stores, or ate at the Hotel St Michael Bistro where we had the best and most beautiful meal, hoping that would just be enough. Waking early this morning to find an email from him, instigated by Robyn, wanting to meet me has me over the top with joy and all the fears that come with making your dreams come true.

When I stop shaking and can compute all of this, I will tell you more about how Alan Dean Foster’s writings rocked my brain from the inside out, teaching me about turning a phrase, storytelling, and understanding the mastery of dialog no school has ever taught, and how knowing his life was richer for traveling spurred my own travels and willingness to jump off the cliff and live on the road full-time for almost 16 years…it’s amazing how one person you’ve never met can influence your life so much. The more I think about the powerful effect his writings and lifestyle has had on mine, the more I’m overwhelmed with emotion and stunned that I may get to actually met him.

For now, I’d like to ask you two important questions. First, if you could ask Alan Dean Foster a question, what would you want to know?

Second, what is stopping you from living your dreams? I’m living mine, with the help of friends, so why aren’t you? What’s your dream and what is getting in your way?

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

WordCamp Netherlands Rocked; WordCamp Phoenix Will Rock!

WordCamp Phoenix is all set to really rock and roll with great WordPress, blogging, and SEO experts on November 13, 2009, in Arizona at the Arizona Grand Resort.

Some of the hottest folks in WordPress and web tech are lined up to speak and attend, taking advantage of PodcampAZ and Az Entrepreneurship Conference happening the same weekend. Speakers include Matt Mullenweg, Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, John Hawkins, Brent Spore, and Dave Moyer of Bitwire Media and WordCast. Oh, and little ole me.

The Phoenix WordPress event will be live streamed thanks to sponsor, GoDaddy, so you can watch the event from around the world from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm MST.

Registration is almost sold out, so get signed up right now to ensure you have a seat. You can follow all the Twitter fun on the phxwc tag and hashtag.

WordCamp Netherlands

WordCamp Netherlands a week ago was amazing. The speakers were fantastic, great fun at the WordPress Genius Bar was had, and lessons learned more from the audience at times than the speakers! What an amazing group.

The attendees at this WordCamp in Holland were not beginners by any means. They were, for the most part, experienced WordPress users and bloggers. They had intelligent questions to challenge myself and the other speakers and attendees, including a couple representatives from Automattic. While we converted a few non-bloggers and non-WordPress users, for the most part, they challenged us on how to use WordPress better and more.

The enthusiasm was amazing, and a WordPress Meetup was quickly arranged and held Wednesday afternoon in Rotterdam, attended by about 20 people from all around Holland. Wow!

I’ll be heading back to the states in the next few days for a day or so of rest and then on another plane to WordCamp Phoenix, my last WordCamp of the year.

2009: A Packed Year of WordCamps and WordPress Events

I’ve learned a lot this year from all the WordCamps I’ve attended, including WordCamp Toronto, WordCamp San Francisco, WordCamp Las Vegas, WordCamp Whistler, WordCamp Columbus, WordCamp Dallas, WordCamp Portland, WordCamp Seattle, and WordCamp Netherlands! Whew! That sounds like a lot, and still doesn’t include all the many non-WordPress events, conferences, and workshops I spoke at and attended.

To find a WordPress Meetup or WordCamp in your area, check out WordCamp Central, which includes instructions and guidelines for running a WordCamp. There are also news, events, and articles with tips and techniques for WordPress Meetups and WordCamps on The WordCamp Report and WordCast, as well as on blogs by those who have run these events.

Check out WordPress Meetup Groups where you can browse a map and list of cities where there are WordPress events and activities and where ones are wanted. You can also search Yahoo Upcoming events for WordPress, WordPress Meetups Upcoming Events, and Upcoming events tagged with “WordCamp” or “WordPress.”

If you are interested in creating a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup, check out WordCamp Central and the articles I’ve written below, as well as more on the WordCamp Report.

• WordCamp and WordPress Meetups: The Events Heard Round the World
• How WordPress Changes Lives
• WordCamps 2009
• Do You Have All the Information on Your WordCamp Blog?
• Exploring WordCamp Logo Creativity
• What You Need to Consider When Planning a WordCamp Event
• It’s What Happens After the Event That Counts
• WordPress Event and WordCamp Speakers Rights Release Form
• When WordCamp Sponsorship Raises Questions
• Why You Should Get to a WordCamp Near You
• It Takes a Team to Do a WordCamp
• WordCamp Dallas: What Does a WordCamp Cost?
• Tips for Planning and Organizing a WordPress Event and WordCamp

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

WordCamp Portland Donates to WordCamp Seattle

You know I’m a huge WordCamp fan. I attend as many as I can, speak at many, and work hard with the The WordCamp Report, Blog Herald, and this blog to help promote WordCamps all over the world.

For those unfamiliar with WordCamp, it is a grassroots gathering, formal or informal, of WordPress fans. It can happen anywhere and in many formats, all focused on WordPress fans getting together to talk about WordPress and their online world.

For those familiar with the WordCamp experience, you will not be surprised at my announcement. For those who haven’t had the joy of a WordCamp, you are about to learn how magical that experience is.

WordCamp Portland is donating USD $750 to WordCamp Seattle to help them with their event.

That’s right. One WordCamp is helping another overcoming problems with finding sponsors and funding for their event. That’s love, folks. Pure WordPress love, and an example of the overwhelming support of WordPress fans for their community.

On Monday, just a few hours after WordCamp Portland completed a very successful two day, sold out event in Portland, Oregon, WordCamp Seattle found out that negotiations with food services had gone astray. Five days before their event, 250 people attending the event were going to be without the promised lunch and snacks.

Seeing a chance to help, several volunteers on the WordCamp Portland team swung into action. Tweets went out around the world, with retweets following one after another as it spread out to the WordPress Community and the Seattle food blogging community. Led by DeBorah Beatty, the requests for food, drinks, and snacks spread like wildfire, with people eager to contact their “lists” via Twitter, email, and their blogs.

Worried about their sister city in the Pacific Northwest, WordCamp Portland organizers decided they now had a purpose for the extra money left over for their very successful event. They had talked about saving it as seed money for next year’s event, but when the call came out that Seattle was in need, they knew it would be the right thing to do: Give to the WordPress Community in Seattle.

That’s the magic of the WordPress Community at work.

Your Help Needed for WordCamps Everywhere

WordCamp Seattle continues to need help with food, drinks, and snacks. This generous donation is a fantastic step to help feed 250 WordPress enthusiasts this weekend, along with the many volunteers it takes to run such a huge event, but more is needed. Your help is needed for money, food, non-alcoholic drinks, and other event support. Contact @DeBorah Beatty and @JoshH to help them out.

Help is not just needed for WordCamp Seattle. The organizers of the Seattle event have been so stunned and grateful for the donation from WordCamp Portland, they have offered to give any money left from their event to another WordCamp, starting an amazing interaction between WordCamps beyond their community. It’s the WordCamp Wave!

WordCamps are non-profit and non-commercial events. They are social gatherings and educational opportunities to learn from each other on how we use WordPress. Some communities can support huge events with big sponsors, while others are content meeting in a park or community center with no sponsorship. Our hope is that WordPress will help us create a fund that will help sponsor WordCamp events and attendees around the world. It’s early days, but your help is needed to help others in the WordPress Community.

Thanks to all who give so much to the WordPress Community! And especially to WordCamp Portland for their generosity. You continue to set an example for everyone to follow!

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Old WordPress Versions Under Attack

Otto42 of OttoDestruct, a key WordPress developer and supporter, reports that there is an “attack” on older versions of WordPress right now. The number of sites hit by this is growing every hour. Protect your WordPress blog now: UPDATE NOW!!!

Update your WordPress blog before you continue reading this post. That’s how critical this issue is.

Things You Need to Know Now

Here is what you need to know right now, constantly updated with news as we get it.

1. UPDATE NOW! Reports are that this attack impacts ALL versions of WordPress up to 2.8.3 and 2.8.4, the most recent release.
2. Report from WordPress on Attack: How to Keep WordPress Secure. Information on the most recent update of WordPress that prevented this attack on updated WordPress sites: WordPress 2.8.4: Security Release.
3. Which Version of WordPress is Secure? I’ve just talked to Matt Mullenweg and have a better understanding of the version confusion. When this worm first hit the web, WordPress released 2.8.3 to deal with it. Since then, WordPress 2.8.4 was released, unrelated to the worm. Once the worm has infected your site, surface fixes do not remove the “back door” the worm injects into your database and system, as happened with Robert Scoble. Once infected, upgrading does not fix the issue, so those reporting they were now infected after upgrading, were infected before upgrading. Versions after WordPress 2.8.3 are safe, but upgrade to 2.8.4 anyway as it included other fixes.
4. What Version Am I Using? If you are using a WordPress version after 2.7, the nag screen on the WordPress Administration Panels will alert you to upgrade. If you are using an older version, upgrade now. Don’t know what version you are using? Without a nag screen to tell you to update, you’re using an old version. Checking the Administration Panels footer will help, but don’t waste time looking. Just update now!
5. Use a WordPress Plugin for Protection: Do not rely upon a WordPress Plugin to protect you. There are many reports of Plugins that will “help” in the comments. While they might help in other ways, please upgrade now. That is the only solution if your site has not been impacted.
6. How Does This Worm Work? We’re awaiting details from security experts on how this worm works. Personally, I’m waiting for the name of this thing since that does make searching for details on this worm easier. Anyone got a name for it yet? Since it isn’t exclusive to WordPress, calling it the WordPress Worm would not be appropriate.
7. WordPress is Not Secure: WordPress is incredibly secure and monitored constantly by experts in web security. This attack was well anticipated and so far, WordPress 2.8.4 is holding. If necessary, WordPress will immediately release a update with further security improvements. WordPress is used by governments, huge corporations, and me, around the world. Millions of bloggers are using WordPress.com. Have faith they are working overtime to monitor this situation and protect your blog.
8. Fear of Upgrading: This attack is serious enough to overcome all your fears of updating. If older WordPress Plugins are holding you back, update them to the latest version or replace them with new. If your Theme might break, contact the Theme author and update or replace it. There are thousands of free Themes to choose from, probably some better than what you are using. If you are using a recent version of WordPress, updating is as easy as clicking a couple buttons. If you are using an older version, download the most recent version and upgrade now.
9. Other Issues? Whatever your issue is that keeps you from updating WordPress, get over it and update now to protect your site.

When we have updated news, we’ll add them to this post and/or post a new article.

How Do I Know If My Site Has Already Been Attacked?

There are two clues that your WordPress site has been attacked.

There are strange additions to the pretty permalinks, such as example.com/category/post-title/%&(%7B$%7Beval(base64_decode($_SERVER%5BHTTP_REFERER%5D))%7D%7D|.+)&%/. The keywords are “eval” and “base64_decode.”

The second clue is that a “back door” was created by a “hidden” Administrator. Check your site users for “Administrator (2)” or a name you do not recognize. You will probably be unable to access that account, but Journey Etc. has a possible solution.

WordPress.com blogs are not impacted as they are up-to-date. Only versions prior to WordPress 2.8.4 are impacted.

To Prevent Your WordPress Blog from Attack

To prevent this form of attack, update your WordPress site IMMEDIATELY to the latest version. Change ALL passwords to a strong password immediately, including WordPress blog access for all users, database, FTP, control panels, everything.

See the articles below for more helpful information on how to harden and protect your WordPress blog.

If Your WordPress Blog Has Been Attacked

If your site has already been attacked, it appears that the hack attacks the database, going deep. You can find help in the WordPress Codex article on how to deal with a hacked WordPress site.

We’re looking for specific solutions, but the easiest appears to be to export all your content with the built-in XML WordPress export (pre 2.1 versions, try the WordPress-to-WordPress Import WordPress Plugin) and literally remove your WordPress installation totally (save images and general files). DO NOT EXPORT YOUR DATABASE! Install the latest version of WordPress and add the “clean” backup of your WordPress Theme, then import the XML export. The export will contain your posts, Pages, and comments, and hopefully no other hacked code.

“How To Completely Clean Your Hacked WordPress Installation” by Smackdown is a good article on how to reinstall WordPress after being hacked, but take care to keep your export limited to the post content and comments (and Pages), not the entire database as the hack goes into the database.

How to Respond to a WordPress Attack

WordPress has been requesting users update as soon as an update is released for several years. They also now have a excellent team to track down this issue and quickly protect WordPress with any necessary updates.

Please blog and Twitter about the attacks. It’s important that we spread the information throughout the WordPress Community as fast as possible, encouraging everyone to update WordPress. Take care not to promote rumors, just the facts, until we know more.

If you have pertinent information that will help the WordPress team track down and stop this attack, please report it to security@wordpress.org.

Check the WordPress Support Forums for more information and support. Also check for news and announcements on security issues and updates on the WordPress Development Blog and in your WordPress blog Dashboard Panel.

Please, keep your WordPress site constantly updated. You are now informed of updates directly through the Administration Panels. Act upon it.

Here are some other articles and information that may prove useful.

• WordPress Codex – FAQ – My Site Was Hacked
• Journey Etc – WordPress Permalink RSS Problems
• SmackDown – How to Completely Clean Your Hacked WordPress Installation
• Protect Your Blog With a Solid Password
• WordPress Codex – Hardening WordPress (security protection)
• Fear, Uncertainty and Disinformation About The WordPress Exploits and Spam
• BlogSecurity – WordPress Security Predictions in 2009
• WordPress Security Prevention, Reactions, and Scares
• Mark Jaquith – WordPress Security
• Matt Mullenweg – On WordPress Security
• Technorati: Vulnerable WordPress Blogs Not Being Indexed
• Weblog Tools Collection – Maximum WordPress Security
• The Correct Way To Report A Security Issue With WordPress
• WordCamp Toronto 2008 – WordPress Security with Mark Jaquith (video)
• Matt Cutts: Alerting Webmasters to Webserver Vulnerabilities
• WordPress Security Whitepaper
• Blog Security – Interview of a WordPress Hacker
• Guvnr – 10 Tips to Make WordPress Hack Proof
• Web Hacks, Worms, Infections, and Viruses: Is Your Blog Prepared
• Firewalling and Hack Proofing Your WordPress Blog
• Daily Blog Tips – Make Sure Your WordPress is Not Hacked
• Noupe – WordPress Security Tips and Hacks
• Vladimir Prelovac – Improving security in WordPress Plugins using Nonces
• Smashing Magazine – 10 Steps To Protect The Admin Area In WordPress

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.

Summer Blog-b-que for Bloggers

It’s time to celebrate blogging and summer in the Portland, Oregon, area. If you are a blogger, come join the summer Blog-b-que!

We’re hosting the first ever Blog-b-que at the home of Lorelle and Brent VanFossen in North Plains, Oregon, on Sunday, August 30, 2009, and you are welcome to join us.

We’re inviting WordPress, WordPress.com, and all bloggers (and web and social media fans) to a picnic party on Sunday, August 30, starting about noon! The theme of the party is “Summer Food” and you are invited to bring food that reminds you of summer.

In addition to summer food and drinks, bring something to sit on, sunscreen, sunglasses, and binoculars as this will be the final day of the famous Oregon International Airshow in Hillsboro. We have a view of the skies and areas west in the valley the planes will be flying through. We have a hot tub, so bring suits (and we have some to borrow).

We are limited to 75 attendees. Sign up on the Upcoming Announcement where you will find directions and more information. You can also contact us with questions via the comments below, @lorelleonwp or via our Contact page. We live about 35 minutes from downtown Portland off Highway 26. Coming back from the beach that weekend? Stop in and rest before heading back to the city!

We will help you arrange carpools from downtown Portland, and will do one or two pickups at the Hillsboro Trimet Blue Line (Hillsboro · City Center · Gresham), the last stop on the Blue Line. If you are interested in taking the train out, let us know so we can arrange pickup times.

The Oregon International Air Show will feature some great airplanes and air performances on Sunday including the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Jump Team, high performance aerobatic airplanes, The Robosauraus car-crushing, fire-breathing, metal giant of a dinosaur plane, comedy air performances, vertigo air shows, hammerhead aerobatics, antique airplanes, experimental aircraft, and plenty more.

We will feature music, laughter, stories, and a ton of food! Whose bringing the keg?

Come meet fellow WordPress and other blogging fans and join the summer fun.

We have trails through the woods and down to the creek at the bottom of the property, plenty for kids (adult kids, too) to run around and explore. Elk, deer, rabbits, frogs, coyotes, and birds are around much of the year. We have a few indoor and outdoor games, but bring your own.

This is a no smoking event!

Note: Thank you to everyone who has been so helpful and supportive during my long health recovery. I will be back in action very soon and look forward to seeing everyone at this fun Blog-b-que!

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.