simonbunker dot co dot uk Wordpress, technology and general stuff

A Wordpress Introduction Video

If you have just got a wordpress blog and are struggling to get to grips with using it then you need look no further! My mate Chris Harding from Mouseproud has just put together a basic introduction to Wordpress video.  This video covers the basics of adding posts, pages, tags and categories.  So sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

PS – If you are looking to start a blog then I have a pretty cool and bonkers blog offer running at the moment!

PPS – If you want to see any videos on a specific topic on Wordpress please leave a comment below stating what you are looking to learn

Bunkers Bonkers Blog Offer

OK,  it’s September, summer is passing us by and winter is looming.  Depressing huh?  So I thought I would add a little cheer (well at least I am hoping) by offering a pretty bonkers deal.  Those of you that follow this blog will probably have seen me harping on about some “Get Blogging” packages that I offer.  You get a Wordpress blog installed with your own domain name and a bunch of my time to show you how to get the most out of it.  It’s been pretty popular which is cool.  Anyway here is a special deal which I may not run again, are you ready?

It’s Deal Time

How does this grab you?  A fully hosted and installed Wordpress blog complete with a domain name of your choice* for £50, Yes I did say £50.  No I am not mad, I just want to introduce people to the world of blogging without them having to spend a fortune.  Lets face it if you buy it and find blogging is not for you, it has only cost you £50.

Simon, This is Insane What’s The Catch?

No catch at all, you will get a domain name of your choice*, 1yrs hosting for your blog, Wordpress installed and configured and a free theme of your choice from a list of thousands.  Nice and simple, you can’t really go wrong.

Simon, I’m In What Do I Do Next?

I have made it really easy.  If you want to take up this sensational offer, all you need to do is simply click the “add to cart” button below and checkout using paypal.  I will then be in contact to find out your domain name choice so that I can get that registered.  I will then get your blog set up and configured.

Wait One Of Those Bonus Thingies!

Before you check out, I have a small bonus.  Now, I am not the type of guy that just installs a blog, takes your money and leaves you with a blog wondering what the hell you do with it.  Nope, not me! The bonus is 30 mins of skype/telephone consulting to give you the basics on how to use your blog.  Add posts, pages and images etc etc.  A blog installed and some of my time to help you get going.  I told you it was bonkers.

Buy It!

Add to Cart

Not So Small Print

What I won’t Do

  • Migrate you old blog to a new blog.  Nope, this is for a brand new blog install only
  • Design and build a custom theme, this is not a design service.  The blog package includes a choice of free themes.
  • Register a premium domain name.  If you want sex.com or some other name that costs millions, forget it.  This offer includes a normal domain that costs about £8-£10. Do check the name you want is available before ordering, I would hate for you to be disappointed.
  • Provide on going support.  If you need ongoing support you can use my Pay As You Blog Service
  • Give refunds, If you have a change of heart after buying then please don’t expect a refund

What I Will Do

  • Register a domain name
  • Setup your domain on my web hosting. 1Yr hosting included. £20 per annum after the first year
  • Install Wordpress
  • Add useful plugins
  • Add a Free theme of your choosing
  • Give 30 mins consulting to get you started

A To Z Of Blogging K Is For Keeping Up Appearances

Letter K a to z of blogging by simon bunkerContinuing the A to Z of blogging with part K. K is for keeping up appearances.  I touched on this subject in Part J but it seems to be cropping up more and more, so I thought that it would be worth giving it some page time.

Blog appearance, something that seems to fixate people.  Seriously the hours that I have spent with people with blogs who stress over a font or colour is nobody’s business.  Now I am not suggesting that you get a blog and run with some shitty theme.  Yes, of course the look has some importance, but it really is not a priority and moreover it should not be so important that it detracts from the quality of the content or worse stop you creating any content.

The great thing with Wordpress, assuming you are using Wordpress and if you are not then you really should!, is that its really, really easy to change a theme if you decide that you don’t like what you already have or get bored with it.   There are an absolute ton of great looking free themes which are perfectly adequate to allow you to get up and running with a nice looking blog and if several months down the line you fancy a change or want some added functionality you can just change it over. Alternatively you may want to switch over to a custom designed or premium theme, either way you have a multitude of choices.

This is all fine if you are running a stand alone blog but if you want to run your blog as part of your current website and make it look like your website then the choices can be limited.  In this respect I would personally get your web designer to pull a design together for you and make it look the same as your site.  It will save you hours of hacking a free theme apart to try and make it work.

So my advice is to get your blog up and running with a tidy and functional theme, concentrate on the content creation and as you progress with your blogging adventure take some time down the road to review and make changes as you see fit.  Remember, your blog will evolve as you progress so don’t spend to long at the beginning fussing over the look and feel.

To finish, here are some great free and premium themes. NB – Some links are affiliate links, you pay the same price and I get a little in return for the referral. After all it helps keep the fires of this blog burning.

Free Themes

Twentyten - The default Wordpress 3.0 theme.  It’s functional and simple enough to make some basic changes to the look and feel.  I like this theme!

Mystique – The theme of choice for “Social Media Experts”.  Feature rich and easy to customise.

Atahualpa - The theme that nobody can pronounce!  Chock full of customisation options and easy enough to use.  I like this them!

ChocoTheme – Not everyone’s cup of tea but I like it.

For the full list of themes click this little link

Premium Themes (The ones you have to shell out for)

simon bunker thinks this is awesome Thesis – My favourite theme/framework.  Full of customisation options and easy to use.  The  newly released v1.8 is awesome, so much so that it gets my awesome badge!

Woothemes – Big collection of premium themes and a membership option.  Personally I have not used these but they do look pretty cool

Studiopress – A complete Wordpress framework that is gaining huge momentum with some high profile bloggers using it such as Chris Brogan

Simon Says Read These – Edition 3

Simon Bunker Says Read these It has been a little while since I have published one of my “Simon Says” Posts and I have recently received some funky new artwork from my favourite designer Gareth Coxon of Dot Design, any excuse to show them off!

So what have we got in this installment of “Simon Says”, a bit of a mixed bag really some direct posts and some general sites that I have come across during my internet travels. So lets get started

And now for some general sites to check out.

  • Crimson Leaf – A site by my good friend Paul Dean. Paul is a copywriting and marketing marvel and throughly decent bloke.
  • Internet Marketing Highway – A site run by Suraj Sodha. SEO and Internet Marketing without any of the usual bullshit. Great bloke and he really delivers great results.
  • Jonathan Volk – One for the readers interested in Affiliate Marketing. Great site crammed full with great information on Affiliate marketing. Jonathan is the author of the Facebook Ads guide which I reviewed in this post

Well that is that for now, actually I have more but will save that for a future post. Thanks for stopping by and if you have any other sites that are worth sharing then please do leave a comment below listing them.

Thankyou

A to Z Of Blogging – J Is For Jump In

Letter J A to Z of blogging by simon bunkerContinuing the A to Z of Blogging with Part J.  J is for jump, I was going to use “Just Do It” but it seems that’s already been used somewhere before!
OK, so here is a common pattern that I have seen lately.  A number of people have bought into my get blogging Wordpress packages, thanks by the way.  I do the install and setup; and make them look a little less standard.  I am no web designer so you get a blog installed with a little bit of customisation to make it look personal to you.  Then the niggles occur

  • Can you change the font to this
  • Can you make that a different shade of blue
  • You get the picture?
We to and fro, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.  Weeks pass and still not a shred of useful content has been added. I ask the question “are you going to launch this damn blog?”. Then the excuses. “I am not sure if it looks right”, “I’m not happy with the position of the logo now” and “My friends think it should be pink instead of blue”.  Bottom line, its stalling tactics, yes for sure it is not some beautifully designed custom wordpress theme, but that is not what they paid for or actually need in the first instance.  They paid for a blog and a blog they have.  Jump in and get the damn thing running it won’t hurt you!!
The appearance is secondary in my book, content is important, but most important is actually just getting going (Jump in and start!!).  Start writing, posting articles and promoting your blog.  Not everyone will give a crap what the blog looks like. Besides you can spend weeks and months tweaking the look of the blog and finally when you are happy and you have a huge smug grin on your face about how good your blog looks some smart arse will tell you it looks crap.  Awesome use of your time that last few months has been.  3 maybe 4 months of time spent fussing over the look when you could have been producing a fair run of content.
Wordpress has some great free themes that look decent and can easily be tweaked as time passes.  You can always progress to that beautiful custom theme later, once you have got into a routine of posting regularly and building your readership.

So to finish if you have just got a blog and are using subversive stalling tactics to put off launching, please don’t.  Write some posts and hit the publish button, trust me it’s not as scary as it sounds.  Jump In and have fun!

PS – In my last A to Z post I asked for some feedback on the value of this series.  I wasn’t exactly inundated with responses.  However I have decided to continue with the series in this form and to also put together an ebook of the whole series which will be free to anyone who wants it.  Below is a sneak preview of the cover.

A to Z of Blogging Ebook Cover by Simon Bunker
Photo Credit – Leo Reynolds

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