“The ProBlogger Infinite Scroller WordPress Plugin” plus 1 more

The ProBlogger Infinite Scroller WordPress Plugin

Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:47 AM PDT

Last week we made out first plugin available on the ProBlogger Community: an Infinite Scroll Wordpess Plugin. It’s a plugin we’ve been using on Digital Photography School since we redesigned it late last year.

With each of these plugins we release we want to share why we’re using it on our own sites, and also give you some options on how you can the techniques yourself (community member or not).

The infinite scroll plugin is does one very simple task: as you reach the bottom of a page (typically an archive of posts), it will automatically load in some additional posts. Once you get to the end of the new list, it will load more until you run out of posts.

For a demo, scroll to the bottom of this page on dPS. If you want a super crazy version check out the front page of mashable.com

With an infinite scroll, you’re essentially doing away with the need for ‘pagination’ which are those “next page” and numbered buttons you often come across. Sites like Google Image Search, Facebook, and Pinterest all use this infinite scroll technique.

It’s something that has actually been around for quite a while, and I’m often surprised it’s not as widespread as perhaps it should be. This is because are both downsides and upsides for a plugin like this.

The upside:

When a user is browsing a list of posts it can be bringing in new posts without the user need to click (or think).
It’s a quicker to show new content (the user doesn’t have to load a whole new page).
It’s more friendly for touch devices (tablets and phones) as you’re not asking your readers to zoom and touch those tiny numbers.

To put is simply: your helping expose more of your content to users for less work.

The downside:

People can’t get to your footer unless its sticky (or you run out of posts)
With an endless stream of posts there is no point of reference for people to go back to: “I remember seeing that on page X”.
If it’s not backwards-compatible (ours is) it will affect how your site gets indexed by search engines.

Over the last few years there have been a number of very detailed reviews by user-experience experts about the pros and cons of the infinite scroll. Of course with varying opinions.

At the end of the day you’ll just need to make the choice yourself!

So how do you add and infinite scroll on your WordPress blog?

Obviously if you’re a member of the ProBlogger Community you’ll get free access to our infinite scroller. One of the handy features of ours, that I’ve not seen any others, is the ability to include infinite scroll of related posts at the end of a actual blog post, not just an archive page (see the video at the end for a demo).

There is an infinite scrolling plugin in the wordpress plugin directory that looks like it was updated only a month or so ago with some nice features.

If you’re using a theme from WordPress, some of them actually have the infinite scroll built in.

Of course if you are a developer of have access to one, they can make one for you too!

Here’s a demo of our scrolled that will give you a better idea of how to set it up and how it works.

This is just a first of a many of plugins we’ll be releasing over on ProBlogger.com. If you’ve not signed up yet, we’d love to see you there!

Any if you’ve got any questions or experiances with this approach I’d love to hear them in the comments too.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

The ProBlogger Infinite Scroller WordPress Plugin

The Stephen King Drawer Method for Writing Better Copy

Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:06 AM PDT

Image by Flickr user Mo Riza

This is a post from ProBlogger.net Managing Editor Stacey Roberts

When I was studying journalism, it was pointed out to us very early on that our first drafts of anything were never going to be printed. They just weren't. They were to be edited by professionals with no emotional ties to the content, and we were to accept the final product as it passed through their experienced hands.

If we were going to get precious about our words and our bylines, we were in the wrong profession.

As a result, I learned to detach from my writing. To write well, but also to see it from another's perspective, and to be able to take edits and cuts with no offence. The subs weren't trying to be cruel, they were doing their job by making my copy better.

When I began blogging, and had no editor or filter to pass through before I published my work, I still would read back over my work with a sharp eye to tidy it up a bit before launching it into cyberspace. What journalism taught me was to write cleanly, boldly, and in the least amount of words possible. I could no longer waffle, and I wasn't precious about cutting my copy where I thought it might be extraneous.

But what about blogging?

The nature of blogging and journalism means you're usually in a rush to get your content in the hands of readers while it is still relevant. We're staying on top of trends and we're riding the waves while we can. But for more evergreen content, or things that aren't time-sensitive, then Stephen King's editing method is one of the most useful things I've ever practised: the art of putting time and space between you and your words.

In his book On Writing, King describes the methods by which he creates fiction novels. A manuscript should take a season to write, he says. Then he will put a physical copy of it in a drawer and forget about it for at least six weeks.

What does that do?

It puts just enough time between you and your writing to ensure you've become somewhat unfamiliar with the words and can read it with less bias.
It ensures you're looking at the work with fresh eyes, not in the heat of the moment where your brain autocorrects the errors it reads so they fail to register.
You disassociate yourself somewhat from what you have written so it doesn't hurt to cut it.
Your brain has had time to percolate on some of the ideas and thus can flesh them out more.
You can immediately see simpler and clearer ways to convey your message.
You can finally remember those things niggling at you in the back of your mind that you wanted to include but couldn't quite put your finger on what they were.
You might have learned something new you could add.
You might decide you hate it all and start over again.
It means you have a deeper feel for what works and what might be received better by your readers.
You can publish knowing you've produced the best work you're capable of.

Now, obviously there are small differences between a behemoth fiction manuscript and your blog post. You might not want to wait six weeks, and you don't think it's necessary to print it out. That's not important. What is important is that you are distancing yourself from your work in order to come back to it with a more professional attitude.

Your blog might be personal, and your words an extension of yourself. It is ok to feel a bit of emotional attachment to them – this method only ensures you're editing with a clear head as well as a full heart.

The takeaway:

Save your work and close your laptop. Forget about your writing as fully as you can, and put as much time as possible between you and it. Re-read your copy with an open mind and make quick notes about edits you'd like to make as you go. Then you can go back and change. Don't be afraid – be bold and decisive. These are words to be molded, sentences to be crafted. Go with your gut and rearrange what you want until you feel it is right. Then hit publish.

Tell me – do you let your posts rest for a bit before going live? Or are you churn-and-publish kind of blogger?

Stacey Roberts is the Managing Editor at ProBlogger.net, and the blogger behind Veggie Mama. Can be found writing, making play-dough, reading The Cat in the Hat for the eleventh time, and avoiding the laundry. See evidence on Instagram here, on Facebook here, and twitter @veggie_mama.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

The Stephen King Drawer Method for Writing Better Copy

Shoemoney - Skills To Pay The Bills

Why Every Internet Marketer Should Support That “Traitor” Snowden

Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:07 AM PDT

Do we live in a free country?

Maybe.

One thing for certain, freedom ain’t free.

And Edward Snowden definitely risked his life to protect this freedom.

If you aren’t aware, Snowden was an NSA contractor who happened to find bunch of secret documents about US government surveillance programs against its own people.

Traitor? Hero?

Those that call him a traitor say so because he put those government agents (who are “fighting terrorists” at risk).

Those that call him a hero say so because the government overstepped its boundaries, and the people have the right to know.

Here’s why online marketers need to support Snowden as a hero.

1) Your freedom for commercial activity is at risk

Remember how affiliates were bitching about the affiliate tax?

That’s nothing.

Imagine promoting a product or a service for a company whose people are labelled by the government as “potentially dangerous”.

By law of association, you are aiding & abetting a dangerous company.

But seriously, do you do background checks on all offers and who’s running them behind the scenes?

Imagine if the nice people at NSA decided that you were indeed a bad guy.

You can find yourself with a red laser target pointed at your head, just because you were “associated” with something you weren’t even aware.

I would love to put a bullet in his head.

I do not take pleasure in taking another human being's life, having to do it in uniform, but he is single-handedly the greatest traitor in American history.

In a world where I would not be restricted from killing an American, I personally would go and kill him myself. A lot of people share this sentiment.

His name is cursed every day over here. Most everyone I talk to says he needs to be tried and hung, forget the trial and just hang him.

Remember, Snowden didn’t sell nuclear secrets to the Russians for profit. He didn’t sabotage some government secret attack plan against known terrorists.

He just shed light on a very evil big brother communist Nazi type shit that this country fought so hard against (and thousands died for).

2) In the past, heroes were often labelled as traitors.

You know that dude on the $100 bill?

Well, not only was he a founding father of this country famous for the electricity & the printing press thing.. he was also called a traitor during his days.

Why? Same as what Snowden did. Tell the world the government is up to no good:

In 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson and his secretary Andrew Oliver to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British prime minister.

The letters contained opinions on how the British government should respond to colonial unrest over the Townsend Acts and other unpopular policies. Hutchinson suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that "an abridgement of what are called English liberties" might be necessary.

The content of the letters was damaging to the British government. Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and endured an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.

Like Snowden, Franklin was called a traitor for informing the people about the actions of its government. As Franklin's biographer H.W. Brands writes;

"For an hour he hurled invective at Franklin, branding him a liar, a thief, the instigator of the insurrection in Massachusetts, an outcast from the company of all honest men, an ingrate whose attack on Hutchinson betrayed nothing less than a desire to seize the governor's office for himself. So slanderous was Wedderburn's diatribe that no London paper would print it."

Tyrants slandering patriots is nothing new. History decided that Franklin was a patriot. It was not so kind to the Hutchinsons and Wedderburns.

History will decide who the patriots were in the 21st century as well.

You know who else was called a traitor?

George Washington. (By the british)

Yeah different context, but you get the point.

3) Government oppression sucks

Here’s a personal example.

When I was growing up in Korea, there was a lot of unrest.

Korea was still a deveoping country with lots of socioeconomic problems.

One of the biggest? Corrupt government.

Korean college students would congregate to show solidarity and to protest against government doing nasty shit to its own people.

The way the police would fight back is by using tear gas.

I remember experiencing them as a 8-9 year old and they were QUITE nasty.

During one of those protests, we got a call from the police asking us to come to a hospital.

My cousin was is in critical condition in the ER.

Why?

According to the police report (no, not police.. the police report… no official cop ever spoke to us), he was showing signs of aggression at the protest when the police decided to raid down and do their baton thing.

(It’s not him, but you get the idea.)

In fact, he was in a coma for a week, with a completely shattered jaw and fractured arm, leg, AND ribs.

He had to “eat” (i.e. drink protein shake) through a straw in between the crack in his bite.

To this day, no official explanation.. no apology.. no nada.. of how this peaceful, passive, quiet, Jesus loving, bookworm nerd who lost his virginity at almost 30 showed “intense aggression” with his huge nerd glasses and those mighty threatening backpack made him look like a Ninja Turtle during his college years.

I am all for laws and civic duties.

What I am NOT for is a government that spys and God forbid, oppresses its people.

My parents gave up their life in the motherland so that I can live free and with dreams, not with fear that my OWN government is going to betray my trust at any time they feel like it.