Fighting Comment Spam: WordPress Comments Mass Edit Mode

Every once in a while, the comment spammers win. Just a little. They use new techniques, new IP addresses, some method that slips by Akismet and other comment spam fighting tools. Your Comments Panel overflows with comment spam. After marking 10 or 20 as comment spam, your natural inclination is to fire off an angry […]

Editing Your Blog Comments

I’ve written a lot about comments, how to handle them, respond to them, and some guidelines for posting comments. One aspect of comments rarely covered indepth is the issue of editing your comments. Not “your” comments left on other blogs, but the comments you receive on your blog. As a general rule, you can judge […]

Blog Exercises: September Random Editing Day

It is September and the number is now up to 9 posts to edit on our monthly Random Editing Day exercises. Each month in the Blog Exercises series, I challenge you to edit random published posts on your blog, adding one for every month of the year. This month is nine posts. You can do […]

Blog Exercises: Editorial Calendar Check-in for September

It’s time to check in on your editorial calendar for September. This means not just checking in on the holidays and events for September but also for October, November, and December. For those living in the “Western Civilization” and tied to the Christian Calendar, as well as those tied to Jewish and Muslim calendars, we’re […]

Blog Exercises: I Don’t Have Any Comments

I hear this complaint frequently from new and long time bloggers. “I don’t have any comments. How can I get more comments?” First of all, let me explain something and I want you to read closely. You don’t want comments. Yes, that’s right. You do not want comments. At least not comments from anyone. If […]

Blog Exercises: August Random Editing Day

Today it is 8 posts to edit on our monthly Random Editing Day. Each month in the Blog Exercises series, I challenge you to edit random published posts on your blog, adding one for every month of the year. This month is eight posts. Are you ready? It was easier in January and February if […]

Blog Exercises: July Random Editing Day

Are you up for the challenge today? Today it is 7 posts to edit on our monthly Random Editing Day. As explained in previous month during the series of Blog Exercises, this month you will need to edit seven random posts, one for every month of this series so far. This monthly blog exercise can […]

Blog Exercises: June Monthly Random Edit Day

Today it is 6 posts to edit on our monthly Random Editing Day. It’s June. It’s summer in most of the world, some switching from winter to summer while others are switching from summer to winter. It’s a time of change. This month’s random editing day let’s focus on the word “change.” Run a search […]

Blog Exercises: May Random Editing Day

May. It’s starting to warm up outside in the north, and growing a bit chilly down under, but it’s that time again. It’s the May Random Editing Day. In this Blog Exercise you will need to edit five random posts from among your thousands – okay, maybe dozens of published articles. What should you look […]

Blog Exercises: Comments Policy

We started with the Bloggers Code of Ethics in our blog exercises on site policies, starting you off on the right foot by knowing where you will draw your lines in the sand when it comes to your rights and responsibilities as a blogger. In this Blog Exercise, we are going to tackle the next […]

Blog Exercises: How to Link to Comments

Do you have brilliantly intelligent and thoughtful commenters? I do. I often find something someone’s left in a post comment worth writing a blog post about and quoting. In this Blog Exercise we’ll look at how to link to comments on your site and how to properly reference them and cite the original author in […]

Blog Exercises: Editorial Calendar Check-in

If you have been with me since January on these blog exercises, it is time to check in with your editorial calendar again. If you are new, welcome, and take time to read the previous posts on the editorial calendar to help you catch up. Blog Exercises: The Editorial Calendar Blog Exercises: Blogging with the […]

Blog Exercises: Add Industry Events to Your Editorial Calendar

In the blog exercise to create an editorial calendar, I gave you many ideas for setting self-assignments and deadlines for content throughout the year on your blog. Don’t forget to investigate your industry to discover events, conferences, and news to add to the calendar. Whether you go or not, take time to research calendars and […]

Blog Exercises: April Random Editing Day

It’s the April Random Editing Day in our ongoing series of Blog Exercises. With Spring in the air, flowers and trees blooming, it’s time to flex your editing muscles on four blog posts this month. If you are having trouble finding random posts, think of a keyword that best describes your site or a topic […]

Blog Exercises: March Random Editing Day

It’s time for another Random Editing Day in the ongoing series of Blog Exercises to flex your blogging muscles. Consider this exercise in March as a little spring cleaning exercise. Get out your broom and start sweeping your old posts. As outlined in the original exercise, your task today is to find three random previously […]