How to configure WordPress Mu with Google Blog Search Pinging Service

By default, WordPress Mu pings Ping-o-Matic only and it is no longer possible to add new sites with the wp-admin interface: “Sites get pinged by default. That option [to add other Pinging Services] was removed to simplify the interface.” (donncha)

Thus, adding a new Pinging Service (in this case Google Blog Search Pinging Service) requires an update to the *_options table for each blog. Richard Pendergast clearly shows how to do this over on the DevLounge.

For example,

mysql> SELECT option_value
FROM [secret]_2_options
WHERE option_name = "ping_sites";
+----------------------------+
| option_value |
+----------------------------+
| http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ |
+----------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> UPDATE [secret]_2_options
SET option_value = "http://rpc.pingomatic.com/\nhttp://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2/"
WHERE option_name = "ping_sites";
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Rows matched: 1 Changed: 1 Warnings: 0
mysql> SELCT option_value FROM [secret]_2_options WHERE option_name = "ping_sites";
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| option_value |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2/ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Open source software is only as good as its user community. This is likely no revelation. It has probably been expressed by others, more eloquent than I, elsewhere. However, my recent participation in the WordPress Mu community and in particular tracking down a really sneaky bug yesterday has prompted me to dwell on the subject.

Of course, a user community is composed of individuals and having some great ones at the core makes a huge difference. This is definitely the case with WordPress Mu. There are really helpful people tirelessly monitoring the forums, answering questions, re-categorizing posts and topics and eventually submitting tickets for the truly worthwhile problems. I wish that I could list those people by name but I’m afraid of leaving some out. I’ll just say that I’ve had help from Dr. Mike in the past and ask for readers (of which I have two, Hi Mom and Dad!) to submit their own favorites.

I think that a community is also impacted by the platform for discussion. In virtual communities, this is usually software and the bbPress forum has some great features for this. Of course, it also has its faults but I won’t dwell on those. For open source-development though, my all-time favorite is Trac. I spent two hours yesterday tracking down a problem caused by Paul’s post, How do you deliver 100 40GB imagery files? This was the only post causing the bug and I couldn’t for the life of me determine what was different about this post than others. It should have been obvious: the post ends with the word, “files”. Duh!

I eventually determined that a rewrite rule was at fault, and in perusing the versions of .htaccess on Trac, I found a Ticket and fix by orvar, describing exactly the problem that I was having. My thanks you orvar and to the awesome WordPress Mu community.

I’ve just wrapped up a project and finally have some time for blog housekeeping. I’ve renamed my blog “Dwell Time” and revised the theme as well. I’m following a trend for WeoGeo Blogs, in choosing remote sensing puns. Maybe “Dwell Time” would be better for Paul since he has such long posts! Or Fiducial Marks could be Fiducial (Re)marks.

My old theme was becoming a real problem because it was so narrow. The posts section was only 400 pixels wide and I was having to resize pictures to that dimension.

Look a the difference that 200 pixels makes!

Dispatches From the Hyperlocal Future:

It’s real, folks — in a hyperlocal world the real eats the virtual. We’re in Reality 2.0! … And don’t forget to link to me!

http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2007/04/09/twenty-usability-tips-for-your-blog-%E2%80%94-condensed-from-dozens-of-bloggers-experiences/

Tom Johnson’s 20 usability tips for blog writers:

• 1. Pick a topic for your blog. Having a specific focus actually gives you more to write about. Like a novel, your blog takes on direction and purpose.
• 2. Encourage comments. Allow comments, and respond to comments.
• 3. Make it easy to subscribe. Make it easy to subscribe to your feed by placing an orange RSS button in a highly visible location. Route your feed through Feedburner so you can keep track of your subscribers.
• 4. Include an About page.
• 5. Present your ideas visually. Long blocks of text aren’t read.
• 6. Keep posts short and to the point.
• 7. Use subheadings for long posts.
• 8. Link abundantly. Links increase readership and let others know you’re writing about them.
• 9. Make headlines descriptive.
• 10. Archive by topic. Rather than date.
• 11. Include a list of related posts beneath each post.
• 12. Allow users to contact you offline.
• 13. Present your real viewpoint. Be yourself and speak your mind.
• 14. Write for your future employer. You should know that your future employer, and possibly your current employer, will read it.
• 15. Include a Top Posts section.
• 16. Provide an index. Providing an index readers can quickly scan is an excellent way to let users skim your entire post collection.
• 17. Get your own URL and match it to your blog’s title.
• 18. Include a Recent Posts section in your sidebar.
• 19. Reward commenters for commenting. Add the Show Top Commenters plugin.
• 20. Post often.

I noticed some problems on WeoGeo blogs due to MS Word formatting tags. I’ve been looking for a work-around and just learned about Windows Live Writer. It does rich content such as pictures:

hmm… my wp install doesn’t like pix.

Maps:
hmm… not working.

Tags:

del.icio.us tags: blogs blogging RSS

And, lastly, it (a Microsoft product) integrates with Firefox with a Blog This plugin!

mozdev.org - deepest sender:

Pardon the following massive influx of linked posts but I just installed this extension and I have to try it out:

Deepest Sender is a blogging client that runs inside Firefox, SeaMonkey, and XULRunner. Deepest Sender is a blogging client for Firefox. What does this mean? Well, it means that instead of having to go to the Update page on LiveJournal/WordPress/Blogger/whatever, or loading up a separate client program, all you have to do is hit Ctrl+\, or click the button in your toolbar, and you can start posting. screenshot

Weblog Client « WordPress Codex:

A Weblog Client is software you run on your local machine (desktop) that lets you post to your blog via XML-RPC. In some cases, the Weblog Client can even manage your weblog entries. You might think of Weblog Clients as the equivalent of email clients such as Outlook Express, Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/), and Eudora Mail. Essentially, the Weblog Client allows you to write a post even if you are off-line; then, the next time you connect to the Internet, you can publish that post.