Now that anotherblogger.com has been up for a few days, I thought I would recap the technical setup and decisions made, and why. As a veteran blogger (having done a couple personal blogs, one popular niche hobbyist blog, and participating in a metroblog) I knew what I wanted and how to do it. Perhaps this will be of use to someone.
- Decided on a blog name and found a domain name. I wanted something that identified this as a blog, while allowing me to post on the breadth of topics that invade my personal life. I spent about ten minutes on GoDaddy before happily discovering that anotherblogger.com was available.
- Signed up with a web host. I’ve had good results with Verve Hosting for another one of my websites, so that’s who I chose for this one as well.
- Installed and setup WordPress as a blogging platform. I love WordPress. It’s simple to get started with an easy installation process, very customizable via themes, and there are literally hundreds if not thousands of plugins to extend its functionality.
- Customized the theme. I chose to use the plaintxtblog theme since I wanted something professional, clean, and functional without a bunch of artsy-fartsy distracting crap. I made a few changes to remove some things I didn’t want on the sidebar, and add others that I did (more in the next couple steps).
- Integrated my del.icio.us links using their linkrolls feature.
- Integrated a list of my recent Metroblogging Portland posts using a tool provided by the metroblog folks.
- Integrated a few advertisements from Google AdSense. It’s not making me rich, but helps to offset my hosting fees and support my expensive hobby.
- Installed and configured Mint to track stats. Why? Because I’m a stats junkie. I want to know where visitors are coming from, going to, and which posts/topics drive various traffic levels.
- Burned my RSS feed with FeedBurner. Why? Because I’m a stats junkie. I want to know just how many of you I’m reaching out and touching.
- Submitted the URL to a few search engines.
- Started writing content.
And that’s a quick summary. When I get a chance I’ll post on “How I blog” including what tools I use and my typical blogging habits.
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