Blogging and the online medium has been really good to me the past few years, from opening opportunities and real world jobs to earning a bit on the side, being connected to the web early was one the best things i have ever done in my life. I think it is about time for me to share these experiences to people who are still standing at the door of the online world, marveling at its sights yet innocent enough to not know where to start.

I hope to meet more people who want this kind of life and are willing to take a chance at the medium. It has really been an encouraging personal experience for me.

The real power of blogging is to be able to influence others online, as in the case of blogger Ellaganda.com against the Philippine Department of Social Work and Development (read here). While the jury is still out on what actually transpired, the scary thing here is that Ella’s voice was multiplied a hundred or even thousands of times online prompting a government department to defend itself as if it were being besieged by traditional media.

We usually see this phenomenon when known and trutsed personalities review products online. But now, companies and even the Philippine government are starting to feel what the online community is really capable of. We showed heart during the Ondoy crisis, but this is a reminder that we, as bloggers, can also show our claws&fangs (and maybe an investigative eye or two) in the revelation of the alleged rotting DSWD supplies.

I just hope we remember that with great power comes great responsibility when writing on our blogs. Our voice, however the strength as measured in pageviews or twitter friends, is a very powerful tool online, capable of bringing change in our lives. and in the lives of others. This is the real power of blogging.

The presence of %&({${eval(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_REFERER]))}}|.+)&%/
or “/%&(%7B$%7Beval(base64_decode($_SERVER%5BHTTP_EXECCODE%5D))%7D%7D|.+)&%
or ‘error on line 22 at column 71: xmlParseEntityRef: no name wordpress’ for your feed
then you are the victim of the new hack attempt targeting our blogs.

Here’s the fix:
- go to wp-admin and goto Setting->Permalinks and delete the above codes from your permalinks
- check your list of administrators
- update your blog to the latest wordpress release, DONT FORGET to backup your mysql and your files
- if you still want to dig deeper and check your db, use this tutorial

Thanks!

…SIX (6) Job openings that require wordpress skills. No wonder it’s hard to find a decent developer for wordpress locally. All of the good ones i know are either 1) working for outsourced work 2) have wordpress as a sideline and not their main source of development income.

Yes, if you’re looking to for wordpress specific work on Jobstreet, you’re better off freelancing. Contact me via Skaizer and i just might land you a bit of wordpress related work.

Jeff Chandler laments this trend with the wordpress community over at weblogtoolscollection:

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Many of the plugin authors I have spoken with throughout the community tell me that very rarely do they ever get a donation let alone a Thank You for releasing their work to the public. Based on the plugin authors feedback, end users demand more features, demand better support, and in the end, have this feeling of entitlement even if the plugin is available without a price tag. The reality is, that for a freely available plugin, you’re not entitled to anything. I don’t know about you, but I certainly would not like to be part of a community that is known as thankless.

Read the full article

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Skaizer.com specializes in Wordpress Theme Customization and Web hosting.

If you do not find a answer, create a new forum post and describe your problem as clearly and in a detailed format as you can. Keeping the forum post detailed helps, here are some things you may want to include.

1. Which area of your blog is having a problem (admin area, write panel, home page etc)
2. What is the problem you are facing.
3. If you can provide Screenshots of your problems, it may help others who want to help you out and make it easier for them to understand.
4. Any other details that may sum up your problem.

Read the full article here

Bloggers are natural conversationalists. They need to be able to keep up with the conversation and contribute to that conversation. The thing they most need is knowledge of the subject and they need to have things to discuss, they need to have answers and they need to have expertise in what the conversation entails. If this is not something that a social media manager or community manager offers, one they should be talking about you or your company and two they are ultimately going to fail at their job.

Read more here

1. Build your Rep – as a new developer, you wont have that much reputation to bank on. Try to get those low hanging fruit jobs that will give you a good base on which to build on. Bid the minimum if you have to, just to get the project but make sure that the job wont be a problem for you. Having a good stable of past works also is good for repeat business.

Those looking for service providers will also rely heavily on your past works so make sure you present your best works in a portfolio and are properly organized.

2. Pick your spots – Unless you spend like crazy, you wont have that much connects to start with so pick your spots with regards to projects you will be bidding on. Try to go for specialized jobs or jobs with low bids

3. Check feedback – Always check feedback and make sure their payment methods are confimed. That is not a 100% guarantee you will not get scammed but it strengthens your position.

4. Be wary of ambiguous projects – You accept a project when suddenly the project owner turns around and says “I need you to do additional things for me….”. Make sure you clarify your actual responsibilities before agreeing to a project. This way, both sides are properly informed of the deliverables.

I’m also cooking up a project that is a couple of years in the making. I look back at all of my years blogging and what it has given to me and i feel now is the right time to give back.

No, i wont be selling you shit.
No, i wont portray myself as someone who is not.

Time to walk the walk…