how-to

How to Attract Traffic by Making Your WordPress Blog Mobile Friendly

smartphone wordpress jetpack mobile friendly

Hi friends!

Today I would like to introduce a very special person to you.

This person has been my web developer and adviser for all things computer and internet related for quite some time.

I have recently asked him if he could share some of his knowledge and valuable ideas with you, my dear readers. And I am beyond happy and excited that he said yes to being a special contributor on this site.

This friend’s name is Peter and today he would like to share with us How to Attract Traffic to a WordPress Blog by Making it Mobile Friendly…

Petra

 

Guest Post by Peter.

Traffic is the blogger’s lifeblood. Not only does traffic bring in ad revenue, it also creates a community around the blog.

Many bloggers started out a few years ago when smartphones and tablets were rare. But in today’s world, these devices are present everywhere and are used intensively. So it is very important to enable easy access to your blog for these mobile users.

Since WordPress is the best and most used blogging platform, I will show you how to make your WordPress blog responsive. Responsiveness is that quality of a website which automatically changes its layout, so it is optimized for various devices. In other words, a responsive site is easily readable on a cell phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop computer.

The following tutorial is intended for self-hosted WordPress blogs (wordpress.org) like the one that Petra uses.

 

The whole process consists of only six easy steps. And here they are…

STEP ONE

Go to your WordPress dashboard. Click Plugins, click Add New.

wordpress dashboard plugins add new
 

STEP TWO

Search for a plugin called Jetpack by WordPress.com authored by Automattic. Install the plugin.

wordpress dashboard install plugins jetpack
 

STEP THREE

Activate the plugin.

wordpress dashboard activate plugin jetpack
 

STEP FOUR

Click Connect to WordPress.com in order to enable all the nice features of this plugin.

wordpress dashboard jetpack connect to wordpress.com
 

STEP FIVE

If you already have an account with wordpress.com, just enter your username and password, then click Authorize Jetpack.

wordpress authorize jetpack
 

If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one by clicking Need an Account?. After signing up by entering your email address and selecting a username and a password, WordPress will swiftly send you an email with an activation link. By clicking on that link in the email, a new browser window will open, where you will be able to click Authorize Jetpack.

wordpress sign up for new account authorize jetpack
 

STEP SIX

Activate the Mobile Theme feature in WordPress Dashboard > Jetpack.

wordpress dashboard jetpack plugin activate mobile theme
 

At this moment, you may check out how your blog looks like on mobile devices. If you are not completely satisfied, choose one of Jetpack’s four available mobile themes that best suits your blog. You can find Jetpack’s themes in WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Themes.

wordpress dashboard appearance available mobile themes
 

Easy and beautiful, isn’t it? 🙂

Please, let me know in your comments whether your blog is already responsive or if you found this tutorial useful to make your blog responsive.

Happy blogging!
Peter

(Note: Mobile support is also available for wordpress.com users. It can be easily set up via the wordpress.com Dashboard in Appearance > Mobile.)

 

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Photography ~ How To Create White Vignette

how to add white misty border to a picture Photoshop tutorial

Because many of you, my dear readers, liked my last article on adding more light to your pictures during these tough months of winter, I decided to share another one of my light finding tricks with you.

I call it ‘white vignette’, despite the fact that the word vignette is usually used to describe dark blurred border around the picture.

I like adding dark vignette to my pictures. I find them cute because they nicely draw attention to the center of an image. I even wrote a tutorial about it once.  But my winter photos, oh my winter photos do not need it that much, they need more light, that’s what they need.

Long story short, one day it occurred to me that  – maybe – if I used white color instead of black one while creating the vignette, it could help my darker pictures to look better.

I liked the idea, and I loved the result.

Just have a look…

 

how to add white misty border to a picture Photoshop tutorial

This is the before picture.

When I was taking this picture, the display of my camera was saying it looked alright and that it was properly exposed.

But I did not think so when I saw it on the screen of my laptop.

 

 

how to add white misty border to a picture Photoshop tutorial, unsharp mask to add contrast, sharpening with unsharp mask, light with levels

This is the same picture after a little bit of editing in Photoshop Elements 8 has been done (no vignette yet).

Much better, I think.

I corrected exposure with levels (tutorial here).

I improved contrast with unsharp mask (tutorial here).

And I sharpened the picture a little (tutorial here).

 

 

how to add white misty border to a picture Photoshop tutorial, white vignette

And then I added my white vignette.

I like how it creates an illusion of more light coming in.

These are the steps that I took:

Read more…

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Banana Bread

What comes to your mind when you think of banana bread?

To me it’s BEAUTIFUL.

And FRAGRANT.

And IRRESISTIBLE.

And a piece of sweet art.

The kind of food that makes me feel really good.

I missed this art in my life lately.

And that is unacceptable.

So I just created it…

~~~

To make wonderful Banana Bread you need:

1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 ripe large bananas, sliced

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

~~~

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (175 C).

2. Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes.

They will become wonderfully tender and fragrant.

3. These are our dry ingredients.

Pour them into a larger bowl and mix them.

4. After you toasted the nuts chop them coarsely,…

… add them to the flour mixture,…

… and give it all a good mix.

5. These are our wet ingredients – the sliced bananas, lightly beaten eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.

6. Mash the bananas.

7. Add the eggs, the butter and the vanilla to the bowl.

Mix, mix, mix.

8. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients just until combined.

The batter should be thick and chunky (try not to over mix here – the bread could end up being tough and rubbery – and we don’t want that).

9. Butter and flour (or spray with a non-stick spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.

Fill it with the lovely batter.

10. And bake for about 55-60 minute (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean).

Mmmmm, this smells wonderful…

Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove from the pan.

11. Enjoy dear friends…

… and remember that there are many more lovely posts for you to see here.

(This recipe was adapted from joyofbaking.com.)

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Heavenly Banana-Pudding Squares

These squares are truly heavenly.

Especially for banana and pudding lovers like me, for example.

So if you feel like something delicious like this, here is the recipe…

~~~

To prepare the Heavenly Banana-Pudding Squares you need:

1 package (400 grams) puff pastry

4 ripe bananas

1 1/2 packets (180 grams) sponge biscuit rounds (or lady fingers)

1 packet  powdered vanilla pudding (without sugar)

1 packet powdered banana pudding (without sugar)

12 tablespoons sugar (for the pudding)

4 cups (1 liter) milk (or any amount the two puddings call for in their instructions)

confectioner’s sugar to sprinkle on top

~~~

1. Let the puff pastry thaw according to the instructions on the package.

2. Preheat an oven to 350 F (175 C).

3. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to twice the size of the baking pan you are going to use (we need one layer of the puff pastry for the bottom and one for the top of the pie).

Using a knife, cut the rolled out dough into two equal parts.

Transfer the first sheet onto the bottom of the greased pan.

4. Now we are going to need the sponge biscuit rounds. They are soooo yummy – I grew up on them.

Place the biscuits over the puff pastry layer.

Nice!

5. Take 4 sweet ripe bananas.

Cut each of them into two halves…

… and then into slices.

Just like this.

6. And onto the biscuits they go.

7. Now it’s the right time to prepare the pudding (follow the instructions on the packet).

Mix the vanilla pudding with the banana pudding and prepare them both together.

Mmmmm… – this already smells heavenly.

8. Pour the pudding over the biscuits and bananas…

… and spread it with a spoon until everything is nicely covered with the pudding.

9. Cover the pudding layer with the second part of the dough.

The pudding is going to release steam while baking so it’s fine to help it a bit by creating these little steam vents.

(Since the pie tends to rise while baking I recommend placing a piece of aluminium foil right underneath the baking pan – onto the bottom of the oven – just in case a few drops of pudding overflow. The aluminium foil will catch any spills and you can remove it from the oven easily.)

10. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let set and cool.

Sprinkle with some confectioner’s sugar if you feel like it.

Oh, and cut into squares of course.

Store in a refrigerator and – most importantly – ENJOY Dear Friends!

(There are many more lovely posts for you to see here.)

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