Published by deborah.woehr on 23 Jun 2007 at 08:18 am
Two New Must-Have WordPress Books
Lorelle VanFossen has written a concise how-to book, covering every aspect of WordPress and how you can use it to create and build an outstanding blog. I read a third of this book before I began jumping to the sections that I needed to learn about or brush up on. Some tips I found useful are:
Time Management and Blogger Burnout: These are especially important if you run more than one blog.
Writing: Lorelle talks about how to use keywords and search terms to boost your search engine ranking as well as to draw human readers.
Blog SEO and Page Rank: I’ve tried to digest the information online about these topics only to find myself overwhelmed. Lorelle explains exactly how Google determine’s the page rank of a site and how to optimize your blogs without drowning the reader in geek speak.
Conclusion: I’ve been blogging for two years, so much of the information contained in this book was a review. However, if you are new to blogging or WordPress I would strongly suggest that you buy a copy of this book.
I bought this book, anticipating Chapters 7 and 9. Chapter 7 explains in detail how to construct your own WordPress Theme from a blank page, while Chapter 9 explains how to build plug-ins and widgets. I’ve read through Chapter 7, but have yet to test out the author’s tutorial. I’ll have to give you an update on that . . . or show you the result.
Conclusion: WordPress Complete is better than the Visual Quickstart Guide in that it teaches you the coding that is needed to add more functionality to your site, whether you want to create your own theme, add a photo gallery, create a pod cast, or use WordPress for a full-fledged CMS.
Lorelle on 23 Jun 2007 at 5:09 pm #
Thanks for the lovely review! And there is no way my Blogging Tips book can compete with a WordPress Guide. Totally unrelated. My book has few WordPress Tips.
I’m glad it helped!
deborah.woehr on 23 Jun 2007 at 5:19 pm #
You’re welcome!
I’ve yet to find any book on WordPress like yours. Best wishes for your book’s success.
Karen Lee Field on 27 Jun 2007 at 5:22 am #
Thanks for the reviews, Deborah. I’ll be interested to know how the theme building goes. I’ve often thought about building a theme from scratch myself…but usually push the thought aside as it seems so complex and exhausting.
deborah.woehr on 27 Jun 2007 at 1:37 pm #
You’re welcome, and I share your sentiment about theme building. I’m going to give Hayder’s tutorial a dry run when I return from my vacation.
Philip Davis on 16 Jul 2007 at 8:40 pm #
Thanks for the tip. I plan to buy both books. I actually thought of writing a similar book, but opted for focusing on an overall strategy instead. I do, however, try to cover the big tactics like virtual book tours, how to effectively copywright, virtual book tours etc. I sincerely believe a new paradigm shift is upon us and so what if every author isn’t a New York Times best seller. The point is making money with books. The internet and blogging give authors tools to do that if they know how to use them and if they stick with it.
deborah.woehr on 17 Jul 2007 at 5:19 am #
Regarding Hayder’s book: the section on how to create a theme is very confusing. I haven’t given up yet.
“I sincerely believe a new paradigm shift is upon us and so what if every author isn’t a New York Times best seller.”
Oh, I totally agree with you there. Most books don’t make it to the NYT list, and it’s not because they aren’t best seller material. It’s because they’re unknown to the masses. I’ve read some great books that were well written and/or original.
Yes, the internet and blogging are two of the best marketing tools for writers. I love technology!