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How to Edit WordPress Widgets

By Randy R on September 9, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, affiliate marketing, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

How to Edit WordPress Widgets

One of the things most people like about WordPress is the built in widget system. Widgets make it really easy to manage the sidebar elements of your blog or website. Depending on your theme, you may also be able to use widgets to control other sections of your WordPress blog or website.

However, in order to take advantage of the widget system you need to learn how to edit WordPress widgets to suit your needs. The good news is doing this is really, really easy.

To get started with widgets, just navigate to the widgets section within the WordPress administration panel. If you are unfamiliar with this, you can find the link to the widgets section along the left hand side of the screen.

Once you are in the widgets section, you will see a variety of different options available to you. WordPress comes with a handful of built in widgets, such as recent posts, recent comments, tags, categories, and search.

To activate any of these widgets, just click and drag it to the sidebar section which can be found on the right side of the screen. Then let go of your mouse button to automatically place the widget in the sidebar you choose.

Another cool thing about widgets is that you can drag and drop them to determine the order they show up on your sidebar. They will appear exactly the way you place them within the widget screen. If you place recent comments above recent posts, then they will show up just like that on your blog or website.

As far as editing widgets go, each widget has different options which can be configured. If you see an arrow next to the name of the widget, you can click on it to expand it. This will then give you a variety of options that can be customized for that specific widget. A good example of this is setting the number of recent posts to show.

lynda.com Tutorial | WordPress: Creating Custom Widgets and Plugins—Exploring WordPress plugins

By Randy Roedl on July 25, 2011 in Randy Roedl

Watch the entire course at www.lynda.com In WordPress: Creating Custom Widgets and Plugins, Drew Falkman teaches PHP developers how to create custom functionality for WordPress 2.0 through 3.0 using widgets and plugins. This course starts by installing and setting up WordPress 3.0 on both Mac and Windows, then provides an in-depth look at tasks related to these WordPress add-ons: installing and administering, building and customizing, creating editable options and database tables, working with posts and pages, and utilizing jQuery and AJAX. There are also tutorials dedicated to promoting a widget or plugin, adding security, and localizing the interface.

Considering Affiliate Networks

By Randy R on March 27, 2011 in !Randy Roedl Internet Marketing, Blog Business, wordpress, Wp Headers, Wp Themes

Considering Affiliate Networks?

The first step in choosing an affiliate network to use is by either signing-up for multiple networks or looking at reviews which can be found all over the internet. Many networks will have the same offers but you’ll notice that some networks will pay more for the same offer when compared with other networks. This tells me only one thing, which is that some affiliate networks are just too greedy and therefore I don’t give them my business. Remember with so many options for affiliate networks to choose from you can always find one willing to pay more so don’t settle for any amount. If you feel that you should be making more per sale or lead then make sure you express your thoughts with your affiliate manager. Often if you can bring in a certain amount of leads or sales then you can get an increase in the amount you get paid, but sometimes they’ll rise the payout just to increase your motivation. I always live by the rule that I’m doing the affiliate network a favour by working with them, so therefore they should bend over backwards to meet everything I need. Once you’ve chosen an affiliate network to be with then you needs to decide upon the next most important thing which is whether you’ll aim to sell products or leads. I always recommend to new affiliates that you begin with lead offers because frankly a user will sign-up for something free well before they buy anything. Let’s talk a look at some of the disadvantages and advantages of choosing either sales or leads and then from there you should have a clearer idea which one is most suitable for you.

Sales

Sales is generally more appealing to a more veteran affiliate marketer rather then a new affiliate marketer simply because it can be difficult to get sales. With sales you’re paid based on a commission, which means you simply add products to your blog and direct people to the product page of the affiliate. If they buy the product you get paid a commission, which basically breaks down affiliate sales. If you have an established niche blog you’ll do well with sales generally, but if you have a new blog then it can be really hard to get sales, and you’ll also lose some readers if you over-promote affiliate sales in the beginning.

Leads

Leads are simply where you send someone to a page to sign-up for something free or to apply for something free. Leads never cost any money to the end user which is why there more enticing for them to complete and why new bloggers should utilize these before moving to sales. You can get paid anywhere from $1-$100 per lead depending on the niche of your blog. Obviously topics like health and finance get paid higher for leads then a sports blog, but whatever your niche is there is usually a lead program you can incorporate.

If you’re considering affiliate networks then I would suggest starting with leads and moving up from there as you gain experience. If you have an established blog and just deciding to offer affiliate offers to your readers then you might be able to make some money with sales. It solely depends on your traffic and you’ll need a fairly good reputation with your readers if you expect to buy something from your blog.