WordPress Basics Half Day Workshop at Newspace Photography Center, Portland

Saturday, September 12, 2015, I will be teaching “Building a Website with WordPress” at the Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, Oregon, from noon to 5PM. I know most of you in the Portland area will be heading to OMSI for the Maker’s Fair, but do that in the morning and spend the afternoon with […]

WordPress and Blogging Workshop in Forest Grove, Oregon

On Friday, October 10, 2014, from 1-5PM I will be presenting a WordPress and Blogging Workshop in Forest Grove, Oregon, at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center as a fundraiser for the center and part of the Writers in the Grove group. The price for this 4 hour event is $30 ($5 discount with […]

WordPress Workshop for Writers in Salem, Oregon

Are you a writer? Author? Thinking about it? Live in the Salem, Oregon, or nearby areas? I’ll be leading a workshop in Salem, Oregon, specifically designed for writers and authors using WordPress. The event is part of the great work the Salem Chapter of the Willamette Writer’s Group, a regional group of writers and authors […]

Blog Exercises: Making Notifications and Alerts Work for You

In the blog exercise on eliminating noisy distractions from your computer, mobile phone, and other areas around your working environment, I wanted you to remove the things that interfere with your blogging time and space, with your creative energies. I wanted you to identify what is getting in your way that you might not be […]

Blog Exercises: Making Drafts Work For You Not Against

During a year of teaching WordPress in college and at workshops and training events, I may help a minimum of 300 people set up WordPress.com sites annually. As they add content to their site, filling in all the blanks, they often publish content not quite ready for prime time, capped with a note-to-self to “fix […]

Blog Exercises: Blog Work Flows

In “A Sample Blogging Workflow” by my friend, Chris Brogan, he talks about the process of blogging with consistency and determination in mind. Your company has decided to launch a blog, and you’re the lucky blogger. Maybe you’ve even asked for this pleasure, suggested it to the boss yourself. Only now, you have to deliver, […]

Classes and Workshops

The following are classes and workshops offered by Lorelle VanFossen. Workshops and Courses Lorelle offers a wide range of WordPress, web publishing, web writing, social media, and blogging courses, along with some other related topics such as family history on the web, photography, and Scrivener. Here are some of the latest offerings. Introduction to WordPress: […]

Evaluating What Makes a Shopping Cart Work Best

Before you check out your next WordPress shopping cart or ecommerce WordPress Plugin, you need to read this. In April 2011, Smashing Magazine published “Fundamental Guidelines Of E-Commerce Checkout Design” in their UX (User Experience) column exploring what they called the “harsh reality” of e-commerce websites. According to recent e-commerce studies, at least 59.8% of […]

Jazzing Up Prototypes and Frameworks with Alternative Lorem Ipsum Generators

Are you a web designer and fan of the Simpsons? Have you tried Simpson Ipsum? How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive? I […]

Security and Protection: Understand the Social in a Crime Network and How to Protect Yourself

While the following is a bit off-topic, my head is spinning with all the layers and networks I’ve uncovered within this recent experience. A friend of mine called this a combination assembly line meets Wikipedia of crime social networks. It begins with my car being broken into and my purse stolen a few months ago, […]

WordPress Themes: Start With a Solid Framework

Why I Created a WordPress Theme Framework by Justin Tadlock is a good look at the reasons why WordPress Theme designers and developers should work with a framework when designing a WordPress Theme. A strong Theme framework creates a solid canvas upon which to build your WordPress Themes. If you are or considering building WordPress […]

Hawaii Social Media Club Workshop Photos

Another exciting event during Hawaii Geek Week 2008 was the Social Media Club Workshop on Thursday, October 24, 2008, at the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hawaii Hotel featuring Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells, Beth Kanter, and Roxanne Darling. I covered a basic overview of the event on the Blog Herald in Learning Blogging and Social […]

Web Weavers Workshop with Lorelle in Hawaii

Come join me, Wednesday, October 22, 2008, for a day long workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Web Weavers Workshop with Lorelle will feature the basics of blogging and how to setup your own blog using WordPress, how to choose a design and WordPress Theme, SEO, blog writing, content development, community building, networking, social media, and […]

Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success

I’ve been working non-stop on my upcoming big article series on blog writing and personal blogging. I’ll be posting some requests for your assistance on these issues soon. I’m also working on two books, as well as the ebook version of Blogging Tips, so stay tuned for more announcements on that. My schedule is starting […]

Are Tags Working For You?

I asked this question on the Blog Herald: Are Tags Working? After Pam of Grassroots Science (Alaska) reminded me recently about the flaws in tags, the lack of consistency and control, I’m asking you again. Are tags working for you and your blog? With the advent of tags built into WordPress 2.3, a whole new […]