Two weeks I encouraged you to spring clean WordPress by making backups, upgrading, removing unused plugins and more. I have finally decided to take my own advice and have done some (Anti) Social Spring Cleaning.
I hate to admit it but I often give advice before I actually follow it myself. But there, I’ve admitted it. Between writing articles and working on other’s sites, maintenance on my own site often falls to the bottom of my todo list.
So, here’s a list of the the spring cleaning I did here at (Anti) Social Development.
- Upgrade to 2.7.1 – I was still on 2.7. I wanted to upgrade but the auto-upgrade doesn’t work with my host and I didn’t have a block of time to do a manual upgrade until recently. It’s really nice to not be looking at the upgrade notice at the top of my WordPress screen.
- Removed Unused Plugins – I had a couple of plugins installed that I wasn’t using. I kept them around because I thought that I might need them again but finally decided to delete them.
- Upgraded All Plugins – I had 5 or 6 plugins that needed to be upgraded. One of them was cforms – I always put that one off because it just seems like too much work. I had two plugins that didn’t want to be upgraded through WordPress so I upgraded them manually. Well, cforms was also upgraded manually – it’s the best contact form but it’s fussy.
- Updated my contact page – I added a little bit of text above the contact form and social networking icons and links. I think it’s more user-friendly now and prettier.
- Updated sidebar on blog – I have different sidebars on my blog and on my services/about/portfolio pages. I updated the blog sidebar to include social networking links and icons in the Get (Anti) Social area. I also added a Facebook badge, which I’m not sure I’m going to keep. I still want to do more to this sidebar but, again, can’t decide on what exactly that is.
- Updated other sidebar – I updated the sidebar on the services/about/portfolio pages. I added 2 new reviews of my work and changed the colors of the review block. I’m still not happy with it but can’t seem to make a decision.
- Bookmarking Links – I removed the Sociable plugin and added the Tweet This plugin to the bottom of my posts. I decided to use the buttons for Twitter, StumbleUpon and Delicious because those are the networks I am most active on. Feel free to use them ;-) I’m thinking about adding Facebook Connect but am still mad at the new facebook.
- Portfolio – I added two sites and testimonials to my Portfolio page. (I also removed one because the link to the site was bad). I’ve been doing work for Manshu at OneMint since last fall. He wrote an awesome review for me so I added him to the site. I also completed one of my biggest projects to date at Socialize Mobilize. Lisa also wrote a really great review so I just had to add it.
- LinkedIn – I did a little bit of work in my LinkedIn profile, added new contacts, and got three new recommendations! Feel free to connect with me.
This reduced my site todo list considerably. There is still a lot I would like to do but I am pleased with what I’ve accomplished so far.
I also found solutions to some annoying WordPress problems that I’ve been having. But those are just SO special you’ll have to wait for the individual articles.
So, what about you? What WordPress spring cleaning did you do on your sites?
photo credit: sidewalk_story
So far, I have only cleaned up my plugins. I had several dead ones that I didnt plan on using again.
Upgrading my plugins is a never ending job! It seems like every other day, there is an upgrade needed somewhere.
Carla´s last blog post – Blogroll: Recycling, chocolate, affordable organic clothes, etc
Hi Carla – I know! I upgraded all of mine and the next morning had messages about a couple needing upgrades. It never stops :-)
Isn’t the Tweet This plugin much cleaner – and simpler – than the garbled iconic ones? And I’m with you on the never-ending cforms updates. I let it go weeks before updating them.
Ari Herzog´s last blog post – A Roundup of My Washington Week
Ari – cfroms is neverending. And it has the big scary warning message.
The Tweet This plugin is cleaner and more obvious – though I keep changing my mind about which buttons to use.
Hey Kim about the auto update not working on your site. Create a script containing these lines:
Name it foo.php for instance, and place it on the root directory of your blog… Then visit http://www.yoursite.com/foo.php And then check out the file permissions.
Oh! I suppose you are running on a linux machine… Else, you’re on your own :P
stratosg´s last blog post – Mailbox full of spam? Your fault!
Inspired by this post (and a few others you made and saw that many users have the same problem) i wrote this article http://www.stratos.me/2009/03/exec-the-valuable-friend-to-shared-hosting/
Hope it helps out and resolves some issues!
stratosg´s last blog post – exec: The valuable friend to shared hosting
Hi Stratos – I read your article and commented. There is something going on with my web host because file permissions aren’t the problem.
Hi Kim,
That was quite a lot of work you got done! The changes look good. I really like the two new testimonials.
I like the juxtaposition between how you are smiling in your badge yet you are kicking shark and mercenary butt. ;-)
Hi Jim – Thanks! And I always smile when I defeat a kraken :-)
I have to do the same, except add “move 4 blogs to wpmu install” to the end. :-/
Andrea_R´s last blog post – Not a lot of news this week
Hi Andrea – Ugh – well have fun with that ;-)
With all due respect, I don’t think that upgrading is advisable because most of the plugins doesn’t support the latest version.
Paul U´s last blog post – Get Butterfly Marketing for free
@Paul: The fact that the label of test is on 2.7 or earlier does not mean that they don’t support 2.7.1 To be exact, the changes from 2.7 to 2.7.1 are not structural so most of the plugins (if not all) have to work fine. I would even say upgrading from 2.6.* to 2.7.1 would be safe enough, with the exception of the admin area of some. So, i would say, upgrade it’s safe enough…
stratosg´s last blog post – exec: The valuable friend to shared hosting
Hi Paul – I haven’t had trouble with any plugins. Do you have specific ones that you are referring to?
Thanks for the guide! I keep saying that I’m going to do all this, but then a new project comes in, the laundry needs doing etc. I’ll send this to my WP clients so they will finally lose their fear of the new 2.7.1 dashboard!
Jenn Nickerson´s last blog post – Getting Fans on Facebook
Hi Jenn – I know – I always have something else that needs to be done before maintenance on my own site :-) I finally made myself sit down and do it.
Kim, I am so jealous of your spring cleaning! :-)
I have been doing some, but still a lot needs to be done, including adding the social networking buttons. I like the neat way you displayed them! I will take a look at the Tweet This plugin. I use Sociable, but I never really liked how invisible it is. I still have to get around to using Twitter properly, for now I only tweet my posts.
I also started using WP-Supercache, to speed up loading time, but now pingbacks are not working… Back to cleaning up some more!
Palma | Buddha Trance´s last blog post – Awakening to a vibrational Universe and reclaiming your power
Hi Palma – Don’t be jealous. I didn’t have my daughter for the weekend and didn’t have much for freelance work. I know how to have fun ;-)
I wonder why Supercache broke pingbacks – it’s always something …
Kim, LOL! Thank you for the Tweet This tip, I love it so much more than Sociable, and I have it up and running now!
Palma | Buddha Trance´s last blog post – Awakening to a vibrational Universe and reclaiming your power
Great – heading over to your site to check it out now :-)
Don’t get me started on all the cra – err – stuff I am in the middle of. lol
Dennis Edell´s last blog post – Seeking April Comment Contest Sponsors!
Hi Dennis – I think you started it but I won’t continue it ;-)
You are awesome Kim!
Thanks Manshu! :-)
“Between writing articles and working on other’s sites, maintenance on my own site often falls to the bottom of my todo list.”
Sounds familiar. When I get paid work, I tend to stop writing on MomGrind. I need to force myself to post.
Vered – MomGrind´s last blog post – Teen Fashion
Hi Vered – And then when I have some “free” time I don’t want to work with WordPress :-)
Kim,
Your sidebar looks much more readable and organized now (Not sure if it’s because I am visiting after two weeks but it looks cleaner). And I liked that facebook profile widget :P however, do you really need that commentluv stuff there?
As for the contact page, it is simple enough and precise. Probably the testimonials on the sidebar could be redundant there as you have a very good portfolio page. What about moving those testimonials as links (or with more tags…) uner the contact form if you need them at all there.
Just my loud thoughts
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post – Update on 2009 Objectives and more
Hi Ajith,
I didn’t do much to the sidebar but thanks!
You’re raise a good point about the testimonials as they are the same as what is on the portfolio page. I could remove them from that sidebar but leave them on the services and About page. I was also thinking of pulling them off of the sidebar and maybe placing them in the footer of all pages. They the blog part of the site would also contain the reviews with links to my portfolio and services pages … something to think about.
Thanks for the awesome feedback!
I’ve also done some Spring cleaning with a new theme and a major tidy up. Something about the time of year that encourages it! But reading your list has encouraged me to take it bit further and poke around a bit more behind the scenes!
Ian Peatey´s last blog post – Spring, and time for a clean-up
Hi Ian,
Somehow I missed your comment earlier.
I really like the new theme! The old one is used on too many sites. The new one does look like spring – all fresh and clean.
Ok – off to read the post.
Hi, Kim,
After reading several of your posts I have decided to do my “cleaning” too. I want to find a way to calculate speed of my site to find out the actual benefit of the cleaning, I believe there are number of sites with speed testing, do not know which one is more accurate , can you tell me which method do you use to test the results of your cleaning.
Chinese Girl´s last blog post – photo Dali Shibao Mountain15
Hi – I don’t actually test the speed of my site. It loads quickly for me and others have told me the same thing. I asked what speed tests people use. One is yslow, which is a firefox addon that is integrated with firebug.
I also tried these two
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
http://www.selfseo.com/website_speed_test.php
but they gave me very different results. The first made me feel link I had a ton of work to do and the second made me feel like ok, it’s fast – good enough :-)
Thank you very much for your link, I am testing now. I think it is important to testing speeds so you can know exactly what makes how much change. It might loads quick for you, but if you think about people far away from your hosting location , speeds are different.
Chinese Girl´s last blog post – Photo Guangzhou Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall18
That’s a good point. I’ve asked different people in various locations how fast it loads … never had any complaints. I do think, however, that I have too many images loading on the front page.
I NEED to put on my daily list tomorrow to hook up my external hard-drive and back up this laptop.
Thanks for (inadvertantly,) reminding me to do that.
You are an inspiration!! I may not be into all that fancy newfangled web stuff you are, but at least I can protect the files I do have.
Jannie Funster´s last blog post – Ukulele Video
Hi Jannie – Backing up is SO important. I had a hard drive totally die just two months after I started backing up on a regular basis. I would have lost a lot.
I might like computer stuff but I definitely can’t write a song :-)
Ok Kim. Jeez. This is me getting my feather duster and having at it. There’s no way I could argue against any of your points here – They really are wholesome and good for the soul.
Clean freak. ;-)
George
Tumblemoose´s last blog post – Sorry, you’re not my type: 10 online typing tutors
Hi George – I’m really not a clean freak – I kept procrastinating on taking care of all of these things. Plus I live in an apartment that is being held together by white cat hair ;-)
Thanks for sharing that… I find myself writing articles, and as I write them, I wonder why I don’t make the time to do more of the things I know work for others. I have been doing lots of spring cleaning on my layout – it’s the same feel, but with lots of tinkering.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog post – A Comprehensive Guide to Using RSS
Hi Kristi – I know! I write articles with advice and things that should be done and then I don’t do them myself. I’ve noticed the changes on your site – it looks great.
Even i managed to get some work done. I removed the Unused plugins and some themes. Upgraded my Plugins and corrected a few of my older posts.
Madhur Kapoor´s last blog post – Capture and Add Annotations to Screenshots with Greenshot
Hi Madhur – That’s great! Sounds like you got a lot done.
How to Change a Blogger Template Without Losing Sidebar Gadgets ?
Hi Adina – This tutorial might help you
http://www.ipietoon.com/2009/06/another-way-to-change-blogger-template.html
I don’t have any articles about blogger.