If your site is category driven, creating navigation tabs for each category is a good way to drive readers to the specific categories they want to read.

My lifestyle design blog has a number of category links in the navigation bar. The default navigation bar, above the header, has a tab for the “Goal Projects” category, along with all its subcategories. In addition, I have added a secondary navigation bar below the header (a technique I’ll document in a later tutorial) that includes all a navigation tab for all the major categories used on the site. The process of adding a tabbed category link in the default navigation bar is a fairly simple process with the Thesis theme.

After you have created your WordPress categories, go to your dashboard and navigate to Thesis>Site Options>Navigation Menu>Categories. Then just select those you want included and save.

Yes, it’s that simple.

Note that if you include a category  with subcategories, any subcategories you select will show up as drop down submenu items. For example, see the Goal Projects category with it’s associated specific subcategory projects.

Upgrading to WordPress 3.1 brings a new feature set to your WordPress blog. Now self-hosted WordPress users will have “the awesome cloud power of WordPress.com.”

In English, Jetpack is a plugin that bundles a number of great features that WordPress.com sites already have. These are particularly good for those just starting out in blogging and those who haven’t already tweaked their blogs extensively. The features include:

• WordPress.com Stats – simple site stats with no additional server load
• Twitter Widget – display the latest twitter updates from a selected user into your theme
• WP.me Shortlinks – if you don’t use Pretty Link Pro (my recommendation), you can still get a bit of its functionality with post/page shortlinks to make sharing easier
• Gravatar Hovercards – shows a pop-up business card or your users’ gravatar profiles in comments
• Sharedaddy – this allows readers to easily share you content on FaceBook, Twitter, and more social sites
• After the Deadline – adds spell, style, and grammar checking to your blog (this might particularly come in handy for my many non-native-English blogger friends!)
• Shortcode Embeds – allows easier (was this hard?) embedding of YouTube, Vimeo, SlideShare, etc., videos
• LaTeX – mark up your posts with the LaTex markup language, which will mean something to you if, like me, you have über-geeks in your family who need complex equations and such (LaTex has been around forever, but I’ve never seen it referenced in the general blog population before.)

If you want to employ Jetpack on your site, it’s simple.

1. On top of virtually every page in your admin area, there is a long blue banner giving a shout out to Jetpack. Click on the “Learn More” button.
2. Click on the Connect to WordPress.com button.
3. From that point, follow the onscreen directions. Either you’ll be sent directly to the “Authorize Jetpack” button page, or you’ll be given the option to either login to your WordPress.com account or set up a new one.
4. When the installation is complete, you’ll be sent back tot the Jetpack configuration page where you can configure some of the features.

More features for the WordPress Jetpack are in the works.

What do you like about the new WordPress Jetpack? How have you used it?

WordPress 3.1 had been released. More and more people are using WordPress as a full web content management system (CMS) than ever before. It’s not just blogging software. Keep your site on the cutting edge by upgrading to the current version.

The upgrade features:

• Redesigned linking workflow — to make it easier create internal linking
• Admin bar — so your most used features are more accessible
• Streamlined writing interface — for a cleaner, less cluttered writing area
• Refreshed blue admin scheme — a new personal option
• More features for WordPress developers — post formats support; new CMS capabilities; new network admin; advanced taxonomy and custom field queries

Before upgrading, please make sure you backup your blog!

For those who would like assistance, I’m offering free upgrades and special pricing this month only. Please see the rate chart below for Win with 1 monthly and yearly subscribers as well as all other clients.

Best wishes in your blogging in 2011!

WordPress Upgrade Fee Schedule

Please note: If you select an upgrade only package, I will assume you have already completed the proper backup of both your database and files.

WordPress 3.0.4 had been released and is viewed as a critical security release. It fixes a core security bug in the HTML sanitation library. This issue affects all versions of WordPress prior to 3.0.4, so if you have any earlier version, you should upgrade.

Before upgrading, please make sure you backup your blog!

For those who would like assistance, I’m offering free upgrades and special pricing this month only. Please see the rate chart below for Win with 1 monthly and yearly subscribers as well as all other clients.

Best wishes in your blogging in 2011!

WordPress Upgrade Fee Schedule

Adding images to your sidebar is relatively easy with a few steps. Don’t let the code scare you, just make sure you type in your URLs exactly.

1. Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Click on Media>Add New.
3. Click on Select Files.
4. Navigate to your image, select it, and click Open.
5. Give your image a title and alternate text.
6. Select the URL in the File URL field and copy it.
7. Click Save all changes.
8. Click on Appearance>Widgets in the left sidebar.
9. Drag a Text widget to the sidebar area you want it to display in. The sidebar areas are on the right side.
10. Click the down arrow next to the  name of the widget to open it.
11. Paste in the appropriate text, below, in the larger field and make the substitutions suggested.

    If you just want the image to display:

    <img src="url-you-copied-above" alt="descriptive image keyword">

    If you want the image linked to a page:

    <a href="url-to-the-page-you-want-the-image-linked" title="descriptive url keyword" target="_blank"><img src="url-you-copied-above" alt="descriptive image keyword"></a>

12. Click Save.

After you have created a WordPress page and added the page to your navigation tabs, you may want to reorder the tabs that are displayed. This is another easy process with the Thesis theme.

Log into your WordPress dashboard.

Click on Thesis>Site Options.

Click on the + sign next to Navigation Menu>Pages.

Hover over the menu item you want to move until you see the crosshairs cursor. Then click and drag the menu item to to desired order.

Click Save and you’re done.

Changing the size of your clickable title text in Thesis is easy as long as you like the limited choices. If none of those sizes works for your blog, you can set the size to anything you want with a little custom code.

I’ll show you how to change the font size of the title text to one of Thesis’ options and how to use any other size you want as well.

Thesis Theme Title Font Size

Go to Thesis>Design Options in the left navigation bar.

Click the box with the + sign next to Header.

Choose your size from the drop down menu. You are limited to: 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 point sizes.

Click the Save button.

Custom Title Font Size

Go to Thesis>Custom File Editor in the left navigation bar.

Make sure custom.css is selected in the popup menu under Currently editing:…

Scroll to the bottom of the field. Add the following code, where x is the number and y is the unit:

.custom #header #logo {
font-size:xy;
}

For example, if you want your linked title text to be 50 pt you would add this code:

.custom #header #logo {
font-size:50pt;
}

If you wanted your linked text to be 6 em, you’d use this code.

.custom #header #logo {
font-size:6em;
}

Click the Save button.

Working with my blogging clients and building my custom home have left little time for blogging on Win with 1. My list of upcoming blogs has been put on the back burner. Today, however, I read about a simple challenge that was too good to pass up. Darren Rowse just sent out a 7 link blogging challenge that is a good exercise for any blogger.

Rowse suggests creating a sneeze page (a page that sends people in different directions deep within your blog) consisting of a list post, linking to the following pages:

• Your first post
• A post you enjoyed writing the most
• A post which had a great discussion
• A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written
• Your most helpful post
• A post with a title that you are proud of
• A post that you wish more people had read

Below is my version of the 7 Link Challenge. I hope you enjoy reading these posts.

Win with 1 to Launch November 2009

Although I created my first web page in 1994, I didn’t start officially blogging until January 1, 2003. (Yes, go ahead, call me a pioneer.) I have no idea what my first post was. My first post on this blog, however, is easier to identify. It was the post the announced my new blogging service, Win with 1.

Blogging Goals for 2010 and Beyond

I’m a goal setting fanatic. I have a massive goal setting system; I even give workshops on goal setting. So writing up a post about blogging goals was a natural. And because it’s a topic I’m passionate about, writing it was a pleasure.

This blog was followed closely by 10 Better Blogging Tips. I love the form and organization of list posts. And the goal-related topic put it squarely into my favorite niche.

Pretty Link Pro is My Favorite WordPress Plugin

I don’t get a ton of reader commenting on this blog. (I welcome more. Hint, hint!) But I do get a fair amount of private questions. Maybe people are afraid to look uneducated or to get negative feedback publicly. In any case, one of the better discussions was about Pretty Link Pro. I suspect that’s because it’s provides a very useful set of tools for bloggers and lots of people know about it.

What’s odd is that, while this post got one of the higher comment counts, it also got one of the lower vote counts. Feel free to vote it up if you like it.

WordPress SEO

Still my all-time favorite SEO post on the web, “The Definitive Guide to Higher Ranking for Your Blog” is a comprehensive treasure trove of information. I wish I had written it. I wish I knew enough to have written it. Yoast is one of my internet idols. Read this. Now.

6 Steps to Startup with WordPress: The Guide for the Wannabe Blogger

Maybe this is a copout, but my most helpful post on this blog isn’t really on this blog at all. Last winter I was paid to write a post — a really long post — on the blogging topic of my choosing. Given that my expertise is in setting up WordPress blogs, that’s what I wrote about. The post on my blog, however, is really just an little intro and link to the full blog post. Still, it’s probably the most in-depth single post I’ve ever written.

Write Like a Pubescent Boy in a Locker Room: Fart Blogging

Most of my post titles are fairly clinical. Rather than be cute and clever, I want to be clear about the information provided. But once in a while the topic lends itself to something a bit snappier. Often as not, it’s when I’ve got my dander up about something.

That was the case when I wrote Fart Blogging. I like the title (even though I don’t let my kids use the word “fart” — yes, it’s true) and — even though I find the post a bit disjointed, I like the post, too. Read it!

Business Ethics: Helping Others is Good All the Way Around

Of all the (currently 52) posts published on this blog, this is the post I wish more people had read. Sadly, ethics isn’t the most exciting topic to many, but it’s so needed in our society.

Few seem to step back from demanding to have what they want to think through the logical consequences of the demand. “What if everyone did what I’m doing? What if everyone demanded to have what I think I should have?” But that is the imperative question.

If we all would just move back to our principled center, all would benefit. I wish more people understood that basic truth.

As WordPress plugins go, WP Auctions is just plain cool. With an extremely simple widget format, you can host auctions directly from your WordPress blog.

If you’ve ever used eBay — I had an eBay store and was an eBay PowerSeller in 2003 — you know how the endless fees can eat your profits alive. Equally, you’ll know that you could make pretty decent money if you got to keep what you earn. Now you can, with WP Auctions!

This extremely easy-to-use plugin’s will let you:

• Create, Manage and Edit as many auctions as you like
• Enter your own bid increments
• Enter a specific ending date and time
• Upload multiple images for each auction
• Show your auctions in a AJAX powered popup, or place auctions in a post or page
• Hold auctions for registered users only
• Accept PayPal, wire transfers, or checks
• Add a shipping price, shipping to, and shipping from location
• Sell items on “Buy It Now” basis
• Show 3rd party ads when there are no auctions
• RSS feed for your auctions
• Set your own currency
• Get bid notifications via email
• Bidders get email notifications when they get outbid
• Winning bidders get email notification with payment instructions
• Accept bidder URL or use custom contact information
• Delete fraudulent bids
• Compatible with Google Adsense and any other CPC program
• 5 free color styles to match your blog

Check out WP auctions and try the live demo. See what it can do for you!

Too many bloggers learn the painful lesson about backking up their blogs the hard way. They have a major catastrophe and lose months of hard work — because they have no way to restore their sites.

The backend labor may not be your favorite part of blogging, but it’s a necessary one. Take some time right now to secure your site with a sound, regular backup plan. You’ll be glad you did!

When using WordPress to blog, backing up is a two-step process. Far too often, experienced bloggers only recognized one part or the other — thus leaving them vulnerable to serious loss.

We’ll discuss both parts that require your attention and how to back them up effectively.

WordPress Site Files

Your WordPress site files consist of the following:

1. WordPress Core Installation
2. WordPress Plugins
3. WordPress Themes
4. Images and Files
5. Javascripts, PHP scripts, and other code files
6. Additional Files and Static Web Pages

The simplest way to backup these files, is to simply use FTP. Open up your FTP client, navigate on your host server to the folder (directory) that holds your site. Drag and drop it to your desktop. The program will proceed to copy your files to your hard drive, where you can then store them appropriately.

For FTP I use Fetch. It’s a Mac only program that costs $29. My oldest daughter uses CyberDuck. It’s also Mac only and is free. Some popular PC clients are: FileZilla, WinSCP, and SmartFTP.

WordPress Database

Your WordPress database contains your post text, page text, users, and most of the data generated on your site.

In an effort to make the transition to blogging as easy as possible for Win with 1 clients, I have tried to make backup as painless as possible by installing a plugin to easily and clearly automate the database backup process. Unfortunately, I still haven’t found a plugin that I love — and that consistently works as described — but I’m currently using WordPress Dabase Backup (WP-DB-Backup). While the options don’t always work perfectly, it has never failed to backup.

To use this, just install, activate, and follow the plugin directions.

Backup Both Sides

When spending your time and resources to create a great blog, don’t forget to protect yourself from the inevitable calamities. If you back up both sides of your site — the files and the database — you can restore and be up and running again in no time.