I and Patrick Havens are live blogging as much of WordCamp San Francisco as we can. You can track it at WordCamp Report.

So far, the event has been very exciting, well produced, with some very hot speakers covering some great WordPress, social media, and content and community building. The big party tonight is an anniversary party and everyone is welcome to join.

See you there! Hugs are free!

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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.

This weekend is the granddaddy of WordCamps, WordCamp San Francisco 2009 on May 30, 2009. Registration is closed at over 700 attendees for this one day event packed with a ton of the top blogging, social media, search engine, business, and WordPress experts. I’ll be there, so be sure and find me for a hug.

That’s part of the joy and difference between a WordPress event and other social tech events. WordPressers serve up hugs, not just hand shakes. What I hear over and over again at these events is how we all know each other, so meeting face to face is just another step in the relationship process that began a few months to a few years ago. We’re already friends!

This year so far it has been my honor to be included and speaking at a variety of WordCamp events including WordCamp Las Vegas, WordCamp Whistler, WordCamp Toronto, and WordCamp Columbus, and you will probably find me rattling around WordCamp Dallas, WordCamp Portland, WordCamp Seattle, Netherlands – WordCamp NL, WordCamp Israel, and WordCamp/Podcamp Hawaii.

According to the WordPress Meetup Groups on Meetup.com, there are 32 Meetup Groups focused specifically on WordPress, representing 3,394 Members in 5 different countries among 32 Meetup groups in 28 different cities. There are almost 2,000 people interested in a WordPress event and meetup without a group near them.

Here is a list of the most popular WordPress-specific Meetup Groups on Meetup.com from around the world. The number next to some of the group names represents the current number of registered members.

• The London Bloggers Meetup Group (592)
• The New York City WordPress Meetup Group (415)
• NY Bloggers Meetup Group (354)
• Dallas/Fort Worth WordPress Meetup (296)
• The Austin WordPress Meetup Group (172)
• South Florida WordPress Meetup Group (164)
• Atlanta WordPress Users Group (147)
• The Bay Area WordPress Meetup (138)
• The Boston WordPress Meetup Group (110)
• The Chicago WordPress Meetup Group (97)
• The Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group
• The East Bay WordPress Meetup Group
• Las Vegas WordPress Meetup Group
• The New Jersey WordPress Meetup Group
• The Southern California WordPress Meetup Group
• Greater Charlotte Area WordPress Group
  

  Matt Mullenweg, Andy Skelton, Mark Jaquith at WordCamp San Francisco 2008

• The Scottsdale WordPress Meetup Group
• The Ferndale WordPress Meetup Group
• Raleigh WordPress Meetup Group
• OKC WordPress Users Group
• Singapore Blogger Meetup Group
• Seattle WordPress 2.0
• The Bonita Springs WordPress Meetup Group
• Gulf Coast Twitter/WordPress Group

While there are WordPress meetup groups around the world, there are a lot of people are shouting out for one in their area. Copenhagen (61 interested), Philadelphia (45), Houston, London, and Denver are among the many. Some of these have had or are about to have a WordCamp event, so why aren’t there regular WordPress meetups?

WordPress Meetup Groups on Meetup.com offers a map of all the places where there are WordPress events and activities and where ones are wanted. You can browse a list of cities hosting WordPress events or go directly to your region to find out where one is or who might be interested in putting one together.

What is the Difference Between a WordPress Meetup and WordCamp?

A WordPress Meetup is a frequent meeting of WordPress fans. If you would like to start a WordPress Meetup group, find a meeting place and announce it among your friends, and add a listing to the Yahoo Upcoming events for WordPress and WordPress Meetups Upcoming Events and tag them “WordPress Events” and “WordPress”, as many track WordPress event announcements there.

A WordPress Meetup allows locals to get together and learn from each other on how to use WordPress. There are formal WordPress meetups and informal ones, covering nothing but WordPress or including WordPress as part of other topics on web publishing and social media. WordPress meetups are usually held monthly or quarterly.

A WordCamp is a day or two long event with sponsors and dozens if not hundreds of WordPress fans gathering annually. WordCamp Toronto was the first, I believe, to have a three day WordCamp event, but there are no rules. It differs from a WordPress Meetup because it is offered rarely instead of regularly.

WordCamps were originally formatted on the Barcamp structure, loosely put together, grassroots gatherings of WordPress fans in a day long unconference style. While this works for some communities familiar with the unconference style, some stick with a more traditional conference format.

While a WordPress Meetup can cover any topics of interest to their members, a WordCamp event is focused on WordPress for the majority of the programs and workshops.

Many distinguish the two events based upon the length and speakers. WordPress Meetups tend to last a few hours where WordCamps are day long events. The speakers at WordCamps can come from your region or around the world.

How Do I Start a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup?

If you would like to sponsor or host a WordCamp, check out the new official site for tracking WordCamps is WordCamp Central, which includes instructions and guidelines for running a WordCamp. There are also articles with tips and techniques for WordPress Meetups and WordCamps on The WordCamp Report, as well as on blogs by those who have run these events.

In general, you need to have a team of at least 5 active volunteers, a location and date, speakers, sponsors, and food or easy access to food. The rest of it is up to you.

Get a free blog on WordPress.com or host your own for the WordCamp, until WordCamp Central finishes setting up their WordPressMU blog network. Get a Twitter account and add a listing to the Yahoo Upcoming events for WordPress and WordPress Meetups Upcoming Events and tag them “WordPress Events” and “WordCamp. These are tracked by many WordPress fans around the world, many whom are willing to fly in to the various WordPress and WordCamp events.

How Do I Get WordPress Rock Stars to My WordPress Event?

While Matt Mullenweg, myself, and other representatives of WordPress and Automattic try to get to as many WordCamp and WordPress events as we can, look to your own neighborhood and community for your own WordPress experts and rock stars.

Many think it helps to have a “big name” to help attract attendees. In some large cities it does, but promote the event as a chance to learn about how to use WordPress in your business or personal life, and you’d be stunned at the number of people who will show up, just because they love WordPress.

To ask one of the press-o-rati, contact them through their blogs, email or Twitter accounts. To request someone officially from Automattic or WordPress, use the WordCamp Central contact form and ask. You can be vague and invite whoever is willing to come, or be specific and request someone who is an expert in WordPress Themes, Plugins, BuddyPress, bbPress, PollDaddy, Intense Debate, or any of the other WordPress and Automattic specific features and services.

I highly recommend you make your WordCamp and WordPress event about your community. WordCamp/Podcamp Hawaii brought in local social media experts, musicians, and tourist industry representatives familiar with WordPress to speak to attendees, giving them the local perspective that their community needs. WordCamp Toronto brought in members of the local art community to display interactive art work and held community competitions for the event logo, blog designs, and Plugins, involving as many people and groups as possible to make the event a social one. WordCamp San Francisco 2008 had a fund-raising event “Scavenger Hunt” for a local educational charity on the day after the WordCamp sessions.

There are a lot of ways you can involve your community and help others blog and share their voice with the world and benefit your community in general. Make your WordPress event inclusive not exclusive

To publicize your WordPress event or WordCamp, contact WordCamp Central, The WordCamp Report, Yahoo Upcoming events for WordPress, WordPress Meetups Upcoming Events, and Upcoming events tagged with “WordCamp” or “WordPress,” and contact me by email for inclusion on the Blog Herald and my site and other WordPress fan sites.

Upcoming WordPress and WordCamp Events

Upcoming WordCamp and WordPress Events include:

May 2009

• Akron, Ohio – Ohio WordPress Meetup – May 28, 2009
• WordCamp San Francisco 2009 – May 30, 2009
• San Francisco Area – The East Bay WordPress May Meetup – May 31, 2009

June 2009

• WordCamp Chicago – June 6-7, 2009
• North Carolina – WordCampRDU 2009 – June 13, 2009
• Los Angeles WordPress Users Group – June 14, 2009
• WordCamp Brazil – June 21, 2009
• WordCamp Dallas 2009 – Dallas, Texas – June 27-28, 2009

July 2009

• Canada – WordCamp Montreal – July 11-12, 2009
• United Kingdom – WordCamp UK, Cardiff, Wales, July 18-19, 2009

August 2009

• Alabama – WordCamp Huntsville – August 15-16, 2009

September 2009

• Los Angeles, California – WordCamp LA – September 12, 2009
• Portland, Oregon – WordCamp Portland – September 19-20, 2009
• WordCamp Seattle – September 26, 2009 (WordCamp Seattle Twitter)

October 2009

• WordCamp New York City 2009 – October 24, 2009
• Netherlands – WordCamp NL – October 31, 2009

Upcoming WordCamps not scheduled or confirmed:

• WordCamp Indy (Indianapolis)
• WordCamp Augusta
• WordCamp Argentina
• WordCamp San Diego
• WordCamp Perú
• WordCamp New Zealand
• WordCamp Israel

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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.

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The best Plugin competition, The Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition 2009 (3.0), is underway. WordPress fans rejoice.

The annual WTC WordPress Plugin Competition has rocked the WordPress Community since 2005. Each event brings out the best and most creative WordPress Plugin authors competing for prizes, and many of the award winners and entrants are now among the most popular WordPress Plugins in the world.

Some popular past winners and submissions include WP Easy Uploader, OneClick, Who Sees Ads, WP Comment Remix, WordPress Automatic Upgrade, and Popularity Contest.

As most of you know, I’m a huge WordPress Plugin fangirl. Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today recently covered “5 WordPress Plugins I Never Blog Without” on the Blog Herald, with some great recommendations, and in 2007, I spent an entire month writing daily about WordPress Plugins, including showcasing your favorite WordPress Plugins and a huge list of your lists of WordPress Plugin recommendations, since users often say more about WordPress Plugins then those who write them.

Please lend Weblog Tools Collection your support by helping to spread the word and the love, and help test the Plugin submissions and have your say on the ones you enjoy the most. If you would like to help sponsor the event, you are also welcome as this is a fantastic way to give back to the WordPress Community, especially to the Plugin authors who make our blogs run better and faster with little or no compensation.

I expect to see some WordPressMU and BuddyPress Plugins in addition to single hosted WordPress Plugins in the list this year. It should be one of the most exciting WordPress Plugin Competitions ever!

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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.

Of all the WordCamp events to track, WordCamp Toronto this weekend, May 8-10, 2009, has been one of the most product and prolific. The Schedule is three very packed days of events, speakers, and…everything.

Starting at 8AM on Friday and closing Sunday afternoon with an awards ceremony, it’s going to be a packed weekend event – and I’ll be there to share in all the fun and adventure!

One of the exciting parts of the conference is the FlashPress event. FlashPress is a WordPress Plugin which integrates a WordPress PHP based CMS and Flash site. One Method and BackSpaceStudios teamed up for this open source project which will feature the rebuilding of the One Method site from the ground up with the FlashPress bundle. They will be documenting the process, code, and challenges along the way as participants lend a hand in the process.

There is plenty of social during this three day event, including the Opening Night Party at Lou Dogs on Friday, a popular southern barbecue and blues locale.

The Speakers list is amazing, featuring some of the best of the best in WordPress and blogging from around Canada and the world. Speakers include:

• Christopher Wulff
• Dan Zen
• David Peralty
• Duncan
• Erin Blaskie
• Glenn McKnight
• Ilya Grigorick
• James Walker
• Jeremy Clarke
• Joe Taiabjee
• Joey DeVilla
• Nick La
• Paul Laberge
• Paul Morrison
• Peter Flaschner
• Rannie Turingan
• Terry Smith

Oh, and me, Lorelle on WordPress.

Members of the local b5media team will also be speaking and in attendance, one of the popular blog networks built on WordPress.

The event will feature three tracks each day, with the third “track” being mostly social interaction and barcamp style unconference meetups. Everything from the technical aspects to the creative design elements, to writing styles and social media will be covered – with a lot of partying and coding in between.

I believe there are a few tickets left so hurry for this exciting WordPress adventure in Toronto, Canada.

Throughout the past few months, there have been t-shirt giveways and ticket contests and all kind of events and activity around the WordCamp event. I believe this is the second WordCamp in Toronto and they are truly setting a standard for WordCamps around the world. Raising the bar, they are!

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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.

I just published “Glenda Watson Hyatt: Is Your Blog Disabled?” on the Blog Herald. I summarized the outstanding presentation the famous Left Thumb Blogger, Glenda Watson Hyatt of the Do It Myself Blog, gave at Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) this past weekend.

Glenda is a major fan and proponent of WordPress, and I was delighted and honored to be a part of her powerful presentation on web accessibility, for which WordPress wins high praises (and a few whines).

Her How POUR is Your Blog presentation is available on ebook for free and I highly recommend you download it, and sign up for her newsletter while you are at it. You want your blog to be as open, accessible, and usable as possible, and she has the tips and information you need to know, simple and easy, whether you are using WordPress or not.

Oh, and get her book, I’ll Do It Myself. It’s a highly personal look at the struggles of a brilliant young woman fighting through her physical limitations to connect and interact with the world around her – and often against her.

Here is a short excerpt of her presentation at the conference, and it’s worth the wait for the laugh at the end. She had us falling out of our chairs at times on what would normally be a dry subject.

I highlighted Glenda not long ago in the video and presentation, How WordPress Changes Lives, where she shows how she blogs with only her left thumb with WordPress. The excellent level of accessibility features of the WordPress blogging platform and easy integration with Windows Live Writer helps her connect with the world around her, crossing borders seamlessly.

Work is underway to have Glenda speak at some upcoming WordCamps around the world, as well as other conferences and workshops. If you are looking for a lively, entertaining, and motivational speaker who will change you and your business’ outlook on the abled and disabled, Glenda Watson Hyatt, the Left Thumb Blogger, will accept the challenge. We have so much to learn from Glenda, a top social media and blogging expert and consultant, and a proud living example of why accessibility on our blogs is important. For everyone.

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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.

Tomorrow, April 23, 2009, I’m the keynote at Real Estate BarCamp, in Portland, Oregon, at Cubespace. The event is free but sold out. If you are interested in attending, check first.

I’ll be speaking to Real Estate agents, brokers, and related industry members about blogging, social, media, WordPress, and Woopra – though not all at the same time.

My keynote presentation will be on blogging and finding your voice on the web. I’ll talk about blogging your passion and creating your online identity that carries into your professional, and even personal, life. In the afternoon, I’ll be talking about web analytics and statistics and using tools like Woopra to learn more about your demographics and the connections you make on the web.

I’ll also be a part of a WordPress lab where we will sit down and answer any WordPress issues, offer tips, set up WordPress blogs on WordPress.com, and help attendees with their blogging needs hands-on.

How the Web is Changing the Real Estate Market

I grew up in the Real Estate industry with both parents, however, my mother was the ground breaker in the Real Estate industry, becoming a company owner, teacher and industry leader. Her work on a state and national level, the world for the buyer and seller are safer today than they were many years ago. I even studied for my real estate license, though life took me in other directions.

So I’m eager to be back in the world I grew up with, surrounded by people who sincerely care about helping people find the home of their dreams as well as make the right investments for their future.

The Real Estate world has changed dramatically since I was directly involved. Then, social media meant being an active member in your community, going to social events, meeting people how and when you could, signing deals on the hoods of cars, chasing down every lead you could with phone calls, brochures, newsletters, signs, social meetings…I guess little has changed.

What is different is that while some of the old marketing techniques work, the web changes things. Instead of working your community for leads, a client can come from Britain, Dubai, or Hong Kong. You might never meet them in person, but you can build a relationship enough to call them friends as you shake virtual hands and make those direct connections across the web.

Blogs are today’s brochures and newsletters, bringing the news and information to clients, old and new. Where it once was a fad to put your face on your business cards and signs, it’s now a requirement to put your face on your blog and videos, and your voice on podcasts.

It’s not just about being a good sales person and marketer. You have to write great content, knowing how to communicate and interact with the written word.

Social media tools like Twitter changes things even more, as do tools like iPhones and Blackberries. We’re connecting through 140 characters instantly – and people demand an instant response in kind.

It’s confusing and there are so many technological changes happening, but I believe that at the very core, all businesses are successful when they serve the needs of their customers on an individual basis – or at least put their focus on the individual not just the collective. The members of the Real Estate industry are experts at connecting with the individual.

And I hope to help them connect better with individuals online.

Is your world being totally changed by the web? If you are in the Real Estate or personal service industry, what would you want to know about connecting online and finding customers and building communities? What would you like to hear me talk about at such a workshop?

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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.

I’m working on a series of articles about personal blogging, but I wanted to share with you a perfect example of a personal blog. It’s by my cousin, Duke DesRochers.

You may remember Duke from the story I did on him called, “Future Social Media Renaissance Man,” on Lorelle on WordPress or the one on the Blog Herald called “Exploring Social Media: Social Means Personal” as part of my Exploring Social Media article series.

When Duke first emailed me to vote for his audition tape to be the next The Next Food Network Star, I was dumbfounded by his well done audition video showing how to carve vegetables with a lathe and drill in his garage, then cooking them up to make the most incredible side dish presentation. While he didn’t make it into the finals, an oversight on their part I’m sure, he did follow through on my encouragement to create a blog.

Truthfully, I signed him up and set up his WordPress.com blog in about 20 minutes and told him, “Go blog.”

He had no idea what I was talking about.

Where Do You Begin With a Blog?

Isn’t that where everyone starts? Totally clueless. Everyone is talking blog this, blog that, social media, Twitter, Flickr, tweet, but really, until you dig in, you have little understand about what this bloggy thing is all about. Other than occasionally surfing the web, his only interaction with the web world was through email. Now, he’s a proud blog owner and getting a taste of the power of the blog.

At first, Duke did his best with his blog. He put the audition video in and wrote some posts about the process, spreading the word to his friends and family, who showed up faithfully to leave a comment or two and cheer him on.

As everyone does, he poked and prodded his way along the bloggy path, learning as he went. For a few weeks, I coached him on how to uncategorize posts from the uncategorized category and give them a category of their own. I showed him how to make a link, add a picture, and some very simple basics. He even had to learn where and how to leave a comment, copying his whole blog posts into my blog comments to show them off, not realizing he could have just left a link. We all make mistakes along the way.

As I hit the road to speak at conferences and workshops, luckily he had my book, Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, a Christmas present, by his side to help him fend for himself through the murky, bloggy waters.

He jumped in, writing whatever story he wanted to share as he tried to explain himself to the world. He dug into his past and found some stories worth telling. After the first few terrific posts, the excitement faded. His interest turned elsewhere. Then he had what he called “My Recent Art Attack” which brought him running back to his blog to share his excitement with the world.

Besides being an incredible chef and cook, Duke is an amazing artist. Last year was his first gallery showing in Vancouver, Washington, and he has more lined up for this year. He collects odds and ends he finds everywhere and puts them together into small and large and fascinating art…sculptures, wall hangings, pictures, headboards, mirrors, furniture…things.

In “LORD of the THINGS” he describes himself, his history, personality, and his artwork this way:

“9 Blakely Way.” That was the address of our home back in 1957; the year I was born. No NW, SW or Southeast just, “9 Blakely Way.” We lived in a small housing project built from the 30’s to the 40’s which was on the outskirts of The Dalles, Oregon. It was a time of paper boys and the milkman, yes and Service Stations with .25 cent a gallon gas. Common was Mom charging groceries on a tab at the market and Dad working a couple of nights a week cleaning up the butcher shop to pay the bill.

Our home phone number was 6-9414; that’s right, just 5 digits, no area codes or mandatory prefixes. Looking back I can honestly say it was a simpler time. I was born the last of six children and I admit I was a bit of a momma’s boy. All of the others had a time when they were the baby, but it only lasted until the next uninvited child came along, but me, I didn’t have that problem. No one came after me…

This meant I spent a lot of time hanging with my Mother and her other stay at home mom friends. I was a curious sort in my pre-school years and would ask questions like,” Do trees have blood?”

I learned at a young age that there were treasures to be had if a boy would keep his eyes peeled and on the ground. It happened when I was walking the neighborhood. Something shiny caught my eye. It was a glorious silver dollar. It filled my hand out to the very edges of its span. It was embossed with stunning detail. Man, it was beautiful. I wanted to keep it for ever!

…Remembering this; from then on, when traveling by foot I always kept one eye on the ground. You never know what you might find. In my travels however the treasures seamed to be few and far between. Oh sure there were plenty of sticks, rocks and lizards to be had and I did revel in shinier, more magic ones. Sometimes my attention would be drawn to a particular stick or rock. I would pick them up and after surmising that they were of no particular worth and not possessing any magical powers. I would drop them back to the ground.

As I walked away I imagined the object pleading with me not to just leave them there. The stick would reason with me that by picking it up I had gotten it’s hopes up. Perhaps it had dreamed of coming home with me, maybe even finding a nice cozy place in my room on the headboard of my bed or in a dresser drawer.

…Instead of being enslaved by the objects of my life, I like to think of myself as their Master. Maybe even the Lord of what I possess, heh… maybe even, like… the lord of my things. That’s it! I am “The Lord of My Things. No wait, try this. “Lord of the Things”. I like it! I am “Lord of the Things”. More like a “Junk Whisperer,” really.

We are swept away back to a time when a found coin, stick or rock could be a wondrous experience. To a time before huge grocery stores and department stores filled with plastic distractions. To a time when we were still close to the ground in age, size, and interest, pondering over the found wonders around us, evaluating the “magic” and usefulness in each one.

We are led through his story back to the present, as this now grandfather looks back over his life and realizes that he is the master of all he collects. Don’t we all wish we were the master of the junk we collect in our lives. Yet, we learn and find value through his self-discovery process.

Which is a prime example of why I call Duke an example of a perfect personal blogger.

The Art of the Story

There are all kinds of blogs, and many definitions for the different types of blogs. The definition for me of a personal blog is one that tells a story, a personal story. It doesn’t matter how the story is told, by words, pictures, video, cartoons, artwork, audio, or combination of all of them. Storytelling defines a personal blog as personal.

A personal blog helps the blogger tell their story, be it the story of their life or of a moment in time. It can be a rant about how X company pissed them off, or how they figured out how to successfully plant a rose bush this year. It can be a collection of random gossip about fellow students or co-workers, or an insightful collection of essays on food and cooking. It can be about a hobby, about school, work, raising children, being a parent, parenting parents, raising grandchildren, or sharing expertise on any subject – as long as it is about the personal experience.

A personal blog is about sharing personal stories with readers – readers that might be family, friends, or strangers.

It’s also about focusing on the story, not the commercialism and monetization. The site may or may not have ads, but the blogger isn’t obsessed about his or her stats, clickthroughs, and such.

It’s about being personal, not distant, with the reader. It’s about sharing. It’s about the story.

Duke continues to post stories about his life and artwork, which are hard to separate from each other. Explaining how he thinks differently from most people, Duke explains with a great sense of humor in “Astronauts And Moon Pies:”

I am a humble Renaissance Man. Inventive and creative ideas are thrust at me like stones from outer space. Fortunately I am able to shield my brain quite effectively with a large screen plasma TV.

It’s poetic. He also writes poetry on his site. In “DESERT TROUT,” he describes his poetry like his artwork:

I write my poems like I sculpt… with bits and pieces…

In “My Recent Art Attack,” Duke shows off his colorful and animated storytelling abilities, changing a typical “Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while” into something entertaining and unique.

OK, I’m sorry! To the great multitude of my blog followers, I am truly sorry. It has been a very long time since I’ve posted anything and I know many of you were worried about me.

The rumors are true; I did have an Art Attack. It all started very suddenly and I wasn’t able to call for help for months. My body is showing the signs of the wear and tear that such a major event can have on someone. For example. My belly is sticking out as far as it ever has and all my t-shirts are stained with paint and globs of glue.

One day I even found a screw behind my ear. I spent many long hours, hunkered down in my garage under hot lights with the fumes of thinners and spray paint.

I lived only on Diet Coke and sunflower seeds.

A well-told story is one that is visual, emotional, and features a great climax, a powerful point in the story. It’s a rare talent to combine the visual arts and written arts with passion and style.

In the few short months since Duke started his blog, his stories, and artwork, has evolved. He shares the stories behind his artwork through his blog. RETRO-ACTIVE is about a new mirror wall hanging that features a tire hub cap he spent a couple hours pulling out of a river swim hole a couple years ago, combined with a microphone he bought at a rummage sale in 1970. Each of these two treasures in his “stash” of odds and ends have their own unique and fascinating stories, adding to the wealth of imagery and history behind the final piece.

The description of finally succeeding with family and sheer determination to wrangle the hub cap out of the river mud is a great description of self.

…So I went back at and after another hour was able to free it from it’s watery grave. “Aah haaaa!” I yelled as I thrust it into the air along with an arch of river water trailing the motion as I waved it like a flag.

The people at the swim site did glance over at me for a second, then realizing it was just a crazy old pasty white guy with an enlarged, overly exposed belly, they quickly turned away.

I proudly sloshed my way up the bank and presented my trophy to my wife like a proud Golden Retriever with a freshly bagged duck in its mouth. She, in all her beauty and wisdom, said, “Nice, the trash can is over there.”

“Are you kidding” I quipped. “This thing is awesome, I’m keeping it”.

To which she replied, “What are you going to do with that thing?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m keeping it, thank you very much.” And I did as you can see.

I can see the two of them having that conversation, she with a straight face and dry humor, a slight smile itching to be free, Duke determined and grinning proudly from ear to ear with amazing self-confidence.

A personal blog works when the walls are dropped. You can blog anonymously, but your words and stories are personal. They come from the heart – your heart – as you share yourself with others. The more transparent you are about who you are as a person, about your personality, your spirit, energy, thought process, beliefs, and the lessons learned, the more the reader can connect and relate.

It’s not important they know who you really are. It’s important that they know who you really are beyond a name and address and job. Duke is a great example as he is so willing to totally expose himself through his blog’s words and images.

Duke’s blog has also helped our family recall moments that would have been lost to time and age, part of the magic of a personal blog for other family members. Remembering my father, his “Uncle Bud,” Duke wrote “The One Time I Kicked My Uncle Bud’s Ass” telling a story I don’t remember from my childhood.

It seems that he’d learned about using food coloring a short time before, turning a simple baked good into a something special with a few drops of food dye. He colored some peanut butter blue and fed it to my five year old brother. Duke was unaware my brother had a reputation for swallowing things and tucking things in body crevices, as some children do, that often required trips to the emergency room. My father took one look at the blue greasy smear on Duke’s cousin’s face and roared after the two boys.

Duke combines the memory with a great flash forward of understanding and compassion about how he would react if it were his child.

We all screeched to a stop and slowly turned to face him.

With his eyes bugged out about as far as any adult could possibly bug out their own eyes the scream turned into, “Oh My #@!%$&! What have you fed my kids?”

Our faces were frozen with fear and our hearts were trembling. I slowly looked over at my cousin Loren and saw his face smeared with this greasy blue paste.

I can only now as a parent myself begin to understand the horror that was going through his mind. When I think about how our faces must have looked. Any sane person could only surmise that we all had just eaten some sort of gasket sealer or toxic epoxy.

As you can imagine I tried to explain to him that it was only harmless blue peanut butter but it took several minutes before I was able to speak. Our leftover portions were quickly snatched from our mitts and I was soundly informed that I was never to feed another thing to my cousins… I sometimes like to think… this was the one time I had kicked my Uncle Bud’s ass.

I love you Uncle Bud and I miss you…

My father died a couple years ago and the loss is with me every day, but his wonderful story made my father come alive again for a few moments. Stirring memories with good storytelling is the sign of a great storyteller.

While most of his current posts are about his artwork, filled with stories of how he creates them and the stories of the individual parts and pieces, the “things” in his artwork, he still loves telling just a good story.

In “Welcome To Christmas, Welcome To America,” he shared a story about embracing immigrants in his community through his relationship with an immigrant co-worker. Knowing they didn’t have much money, Duke brought them a Christmas tree that they could decorate and enjoy for the holidays only to find that they literally had nothing in their home. No furniture, television, nothing save a small kitchen table and single chair. Working with his church and community, he decided a tree wasn’t enough.

…That night at home I told my wife about what I had seen and she and I agreed we had to do more than just a tree with no lights…After a couple days I made another appointment to visit with Dohn at his home again.

This time I was not alone. We had three cars and two trucks behind us. I knocked at the door and when it opened a precession of strangers began to enter with armfuls of items he and his family desperately needed.

…Few words were spoken while hands were grasped and arms draped around one another.

Many years have passed since the night we shared in that wonderful Christmas. I often wonder about Dohn and his family. I am sure he has been in a position to reach out and help someone in kind.

I do know this for sure. Anytime we reach out to help, and by so doing, lift a fellow human being, we ourselves are elevated.

Finding Your Own Voice in Your Own Blog

Duke didn’t realize that he was on a journey when he started his blog. Neither did I, all those many years ago.

A blog, especially a personal blog, is a journey to find your voice, as well as to find yourself.

I may tease people when I ask them if they’ve taken a look at their blog categories lately. They’ll look at me and ask, “I don’t know what to blog about.” I tell them to look at their categories and see what they’ve been blogging about the most, and blog that.

Blog your passion. You probably already are. It’s that simple.

It’s also that hard.

Blogging is a commitment. When you aren’t blogging for bucks, it’s also a discipline. You have to feed your blog. If you keep feeding it, it’s amazing what you learn about yourself, isn’t it?

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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.

WordCast celebrates 50 episodes this week with a fun podcast featuring WordPress and WordCast fans Liz Strauss, Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today, and myself, along with hosts Dave Moyer and Kym Huynh in WordCast 50: Our Semi-centennial!

It was amazing to have Liz in Chicago, Dave in Denver, Kym in Australia, Jonathan in Louisiana, and me in Portland, Oregon, all chatting away and debating about once again calling Brian Gardner and talking to his answering machine. We had some questions about his new WordPress Theme lines. We got so carried away talking about Liz’s butt, among other WordPressy things.

While there was much discussion about our favorite WordPress features over the last few years of releases, WordPress history, and WordPress 2.8, we also talked about Liz’s butt at SxSW in a lovely photograph by Brian Solis, SOBCon 2009, a great WordCast intro by Matt Mullenweg, a lesson in how Liz Strauss taught Matt Mullenweg to order me around, a fabulous rap by Kym called the “WordCamp Rap,” a quick look back at some of the WordCast jingles, and a lot of other nonsense.

Congrats to Dave and Kym for a great 50 episodes full of WordPress information, tips, and giggles. And here’s to 50+ more!

WordCast, the WordPress Podcast, is released weekly, usually on Tuesday, and is part of the Bitwire Media Networks.

Isn’t 50 old in podcasting years…or is that dog years?

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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.

In my Blog Herald WordPress News, I used to feature a round-up of WordPress-related podcasts and fan blogs offering great tips and useful information on using WordPress from the beginner level to advanced techniques. I’ve decided to continue this tradition here on Lorelle on WordPress.

Every week or so, I’ll publish a Round WordPress post featuring highlights and most recent articles by some of the top WordPress blogging experts. I encourage you to visit these blogs and add them to your feed reader as they continue to provide invaluable WordPress tips, techniques, news, resources, and information.

This week, the talk around the WordPress Community is fired up over the discussion started by Weblog Tools Collection on retiring the Kubrick/Default WordPress Theme, Google/WordPress Summer of Code, WordPress 2.8, voting for new WordPress IRC ops and moderators, and the new WordPress Widget API.

WordPress Podcasts

WordCast: The WordCast features news, interviews, and great laughter on WordPress-related topics. This week’s episode is WordCast 49: Barbaric Blog Herald Barrage with Lorelle VanFossen as guest co-host, covering the delay of WordPress 2.8, WordPress/Google Summer of Code 2009, WordCamp Toronto’s efforts to involve their community in their WordPress Event, Celebrity Pressers help needed for Blog Herald WordPress News, WordPress for iPhone, contributing to WordPress, the Making of WordPress.tv, and more tips and news on WordPress.

WP Tavern WordPress Weekly Podcast: Jeffro interviews Andrew Ozz, the person responsible for the JavaScript load optimization articles and features, TinyMCE integration and updates, and other key and core WordPress features.

The most recent episode of the The WordPress Plugins Podcast featuring the MailPress Plugin and Search And Replace Plugin.

WordPress Fan and Expert Blogs

Weblog Tools Collection:

• Is It Time For Kubrick To Retire?
• Plugin Review: cSprites for WordPress

WP Engineer:

• Pages & Subpages – Is Parent?
• WordPress Plugin Readme File Generator

WPRecipes:

• WordPress shortcode to display related posts
• How to: Show related posts without a plugin
• How to: Resize images on the fly
• How to: Force using SSL on wp-admin directory
• How to: Display your most popular content in your blog sidebar
• How to: Display the number of results in WordPress search
• How to: Allow your visitors to send your articles by email to their friends

WPTavern:

• WPWeekly Episode 48 – Interview With Joost De Valk
• WordPress Plugin Readme Generator
• Where To Draw The Line With Support Models
• Vote For WordPress In Webware 100
• Vote For New WordPress IRC Channel Ops
• Vladimir’s Plugin Developer Tips
• Since When Has Matt Been Right Anyway
• Leland Returns! ThemeLab To Continue
• If CMS’s Were Operating Systems
• Automattic ALMOST Acquired At One Point
• Addicott Web Suggests 6 More Plugins

WP Hacks:

• Optimize Your WordPress Database with Optimize DB WordPress Plugin
• Tools & Resources for Multi-Author WordPress Blogs
• How To: Prevent Images from Being to Large

Yoast:

• On WPWeekly Episode 48
• Optimizing WordPress database performance

Featured WordPress Fan Blog

If you aren’t familiar with our WordPress experts and fans up north, check out Planet WordPress Canada, an aggregator similar to WordPress Planet, the official WordPress aggregator, dedicated to Canadian WordPress experts.

Here are some highlights published recently on the aggregator.

• [BlueFur.com Web Hosting] WordPress Wednesday: Revision Control
• [BlueFur.com Web Hosting] WordPress Development: Creating Top-Level Menu Items
• [BlueFur.com Web Hosting] WordPress Wednesday: Page Management
• [See How Two] Unschedule a post so it will publish immediately
• [See How Two] Change the colour of an individual text link
• [See How Two] Create a link within the text of posts or pages
• [See How Two] Flowing text around images in posts or pages
• [RiteTurnOnly.com] Hide Themes When Using Theme Switcher Plugin
• [RiteTurnOnly.com] WordPress Magazine Themes Revisted
• [RiteTurnOnly.com] Keep Your Images In Check
• [RiteTurnOnly.com] Twitter Meets WordPress
• [RiteTurnOnly.com] Plugin Review: Front-end Editor

Other WordPress Tips and Techniques

Every week I collect WordPress tips and techniques from around the web to publish here and on my @lorelleonwp Twitter daily. Here are some goodies I’ve found recently. They may apply to older versions of WordPress, but they still are helpful articles, probably featuring things you didn’t know you could do with WordPress.

• Get the latest sticky posts in WordPress
• Offline Blog Editing Tools
• Tutorial: A category based archive on WordPress
• WordPress Theme Hacks
• WordPress Tutorial: Hide Posts From Home Page, Only Display In RSS

The WordPress Community generates some of the best WordPress tips, techniques, and resources. If you would like your WordPress tip and technique included in my lists, see Tips For Writing Good WordPress Tips and Writing and Publishing Code In Your WordPress Blog Posts. When its ready, contact me at lorelleonwordpress@gmail.com.

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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.

As most of you know, I’m extremely passionate about supporting and encouraging WordPress Plugin authors. I’ve written a love letter to WordPress Plugin authors, spent a month writing over 36 posts on nothing but WordPress Plugins, published extensive tips on how to install, configure, and use WordPress Plugins and another guide for finding Plugins, “Where to Find WordPress Plugins.” I’ve researched lists of your favorite WordPress Plugins pointing out the most popular WordPress Plugins WordPress fans recommend, and even feature a WordPress Plugin a day on my @lorelleonwp Twitter.

Okay, I’m a WordPress Plugin obsessed fan.

Some are saying this will be the year of the WordPress Theme with the addition of the auto-load and update feature for Themes in WordPress 2.8, but I think it will be the year of the WordPress Plugin as so many are now exploring more Plugin options with the WordPress 2.7 search, auto-install, and update for WordPress Plugins. With the release of the new WordPress Widgets API and Validimir Prelovac’s new book, “WordPress Plugin Development Beginner’s Guide,” it’s time for WordPress Plugins and their authors to get the support and respect they deserve. Without them, how would our WordPress blogs survive?

As I prepare my weekly Blog Herald WordPress News, I collect a lot of tips and articles for and about WordPress Plugins. I will be moving those here to Lorelle on WordPress, publishing summaries of news and articles WordPress Plugin authors need to know on a fairly regular basis.

If you are a WordPress Plugin fan, there will be a ton of great information here, too.

New WordPresa Widgets API Feedback Wanted

The WordPress developers are seeking testers and feedback on the new Widgets API which will be released with WordPress 2.8.

WordPress Plugin Checkoff List

All WordPress Plugin authors need to check the article Weblog Tools Collection recently published called the “Top 10 Characteristics of a Great WordPress Plugin.”

It is a checklist to follow when reviewing or coding a new WordPress Plugin. Print this checklist out when preparing their Plugin for public release, as well as the recommendations I made in my own list for WordPress Plugin authors and you will make WordPress fans around the world love and adore you.

WordPress Plugin Developer Center

Have you seen the new Developer Center within the WordPress Plugin Directory?

It is a general guide on how WordPress hosts WordPress Plugins and how to get your Plugin into the directory.

Not all WordPress Plugins are found in the directory, but all WordPress Plugins found through the new built-in WordPress Plugin search and install feature in WordPress 2.7+ are found only within the Directory.

To get into the WordPress Plugin Directory, there are a few requirements.

1. The plugin must be GPL Compatible.
2. It can’t do anything illegal, or be morally offensive.
3. Use of the subversion repository is required to host the Plugin.

Automatically Generate WordPress Plugin Readme Files

Check out the news WPEngineer wrote about with the new WordPress Plugin Readme File Generator by Sudar Muthu. This Plugin automatically creates and validates readme files for WordPress Plugins. Many WordPress Plugins need to have instructions to help users install and use them, so this is a very useful tool for the WordPress Plugin author.

Scott Reilly On WordPress Plugin Development Overload

A year ago, the incredibly prolific WordPress Plugin author, Scott Reilly of Coffee2Code, and creator of the powerful Customizable Post Listings WordPress Plugin, spent 14 days releasing a Plugin a day. By the end of the two weeks, he’d created 14 new WordPress Plugins and updated 20 more. Now he’s at it again.

So far, he’s created or updated Admin Per Page Limits WordPress Plugin to control the number of posts per page, pages per page, and comments per page that appear in the Administration Panel listings of posts, pages, and comments; Restrict Usernames WordPress Plugin to restrict the usernames that new users may use when registering with your WordPress blog; Linkify Categories to turn a string, list, or array of category IDs and/or slugs into a list of links to those categories; Linkify Tags to convert a list of tag IDs and/or slugs into a list of links to those tags; Disable Search to turn off the search capabilities of the native WordPress search; and Configure SMTP updated for configuring SMTP mailing in WordPress with support to send email via SSL/TLS (like Gmail), with more on the way.

I’ll be covering more of his new odyssey in WordPress Plugin production as he moves his way to the top of the list as one of the most prolific WordPress Plugin authors in the WordPress Plugin Directory, giving the likes of Michael Torbert, Matt Mullenweg, Lester ‘GaMerZ’ Chan, Arne Brachhold, and Andy Skelton a run for Plugin fame.

Top Niche WordPress Plugins

The Top WordPress Plugin Niches by W-Shadow is a list based upon the top 100 most downloaded WordPress Plugins to determine their “niche” categories. It’s an interesting look at the types of Plugins most WordPress users desire and use.

There are now various ways to check out which WordPress Plugins are the most popular on the WordPress Plugin Directory.

• Most Popular WordPress Plugins
• Highest Rated WordPress Plugins
• Newest WordPress Plugins
• Recently Updated WordPress Plugins
• By Tags

WordPress Plugin Podcast

I’m not the only fan of WordPress Plugins. Check out the most recent episodes of the The WordPress Plugins Podcast featuring the MailPress Plugin and Search And Replace Plugin.

Past episodes included:

• Plugins 001 – Blubrry Powerpress Podcasting Plugin
• Plugins 002 – 7 Minutes on Blubrry Powerpress Podcasting Plugin
• Plugins 003 – Peters Custom Anti Spam
• Plugins 004 – CFormsII Custom Forms
• Plugins 005 – Google XML Sitemaps
• Plugins 006 – All In One SEO Pack Plugin
• Plugins 007 – Special Guest Peter Keung author of Peter’s Custom Anti-SPAM Plugin
• Plugins 008 – WP-DB-Backup Plugin
• Plugins 009 – Share This Plugin
• Plugins 010 – Contact Form 7 Plugin
• Plugins 011 – Search And Replace Plugin

Highlights of WordPress Plugin Tips and Techniques

Here are some past goodies to warm you up. Some of these related to older versions of WordPress, but don’t discount them. There are invaluable lessons to be learned from such articles. The topics cover a wide range of WordPress-specific tips and techniques for Plugin and Theme developers, as well as PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, AJAX, and jQuery.

• WordPress Functions Implementation History Tool
• ThemeLab – WordPress Template Tag Lookup Tool
• Validimir Prelovac – WordPress Fundamentals for Newbies
• Pearsonified – How You Can Use WordPress Functions to Run a Smarter Blog
• DBSWebsite – WordPress Template Tags Reference Guide
• 5 Helpful Tips for Creating Secure PHP Applications
• 25 Resources to Get You Started with PHP from Scratch
• WordPress Development – Converting Default Widgets to the New WordPress API
• WordPress Development – Optimizing script loading, implementation
• WordPress Development – Optimizing script loading part 2
• WordPress Development – Optimizing Script Loading
• WordPress.tv – PHP Cross Reference of the WordPress Source (Video)
• Installing WordPress locally with WampServer
• Will Norris – Authentication in WordPress 2.8
• Secrets of the Conditional Tag Revealed: How to Gain More Control Over Your WordPress Templates
• Nettus – What You Must Know About jQuery UI 1.7
• Nettus – 10 Reasons Why Your Code Won’t Validate (and How to Fix it)
• Webdesigner Depot – 7 Interface Design Techniques to Simplify and De-clutter Your Interfaces
• Lester Chan – New WP_Widget Class In WordPress 2.8
• Preparing for WordPress 2.8: Using JavaScript in WordPress Plugins
• Justin Tadlock – What’s in store for WordPress Themes in 2009?
• Nerdaphernalia – On Attribution and Plugin Priorities in WordPress
• Justin Tadlock – My Plugins are Now Hosted on the WordPress Plugins Repository
• Custom Theme Design – Building a Control Panel for Your WordPress Theme
• WordPress Codex – Formatting Date and Time in WordPress
• WordPress Codex – WordPress Conditional Tags

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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.