Wordpress as a CMS: wp_list_pages() alternative: How I use the Post Footer Plugin as wp_list_pages() alternative

Wordpress as a CMS: How I use the Post Footer Plugin as wp_list_pages alternative

Wordpress can be used as a CMS. However you have to know how to link to other pages on your site. This is very important because a smart link can greatly make your pages or post rank higher.
Wordpress provides the function wp_list_pages() which can be used as a great way to link pages, subpages, and subsubpages to increase your rankings. The implimentation of wp_list_pages() can be tricky though, so I decided to use the Post Footer Plugin.
This is how I caonfigure this plugin.
Go to Settings on your WP admin and click on Post Footer Plugin
Now under “Add Ad before Related Post” leave this blank
And the “Ad Code Script:” is also left blank
Now Add related post list: Yes
And then Maximum number of post in the list: I put 15 or 20
Optional Text: I put some text here with the link to something like so: Some other resources include links to Atlanta houses,
Show Technorati Tags to the end of post: No if I don’t want the pages to have it. If you used pages then You wnat to put a YES here, so that related Pages can show up
Keep Plugin credit: No
This helps your blog rank higher! Hope this helps.

How to avoid Common Website Design Mistakes

Here is the short list (sorta) of the basic website design flaws we often see committed by amateur web designers. Here’s the way this works: read each listing and check it against your own site to see if you are breaking any of these rules.

*It should be noted that by breaking these rules, your site isn’t going to hell but that it will look dumpy compared to sites that follow them, especially if they are your competitor’s web site.

**It should also be noted that I list these in no critical order but that I do some are more dangerous than others.

Using underline to accent or create heading.
One of the ways people create sections when writing out long papers (paper as in trees) is to use underline for headings. So, it must follow that they use this on the web. Underline is one of the html codes given to use on text after all.

This is a major violation in that the default for links in web browsers is underlined and blue. If you’re looking at a block of black text on a white page and you see a word in blue and underlined, you think it’s a link and click on it. Even if its not blue, people will still think an underlined word is a link. The cure for using underline is easy: use bold to accent a word in a sentence instead; make the text a larger size if creating a heading.

Writing text in ALL CAPS
This is perhaps the worst thing you can do on a site. Words typed in all caps are almost impossible to read. People like to use all caps because it makes the words look bigger and takes up more space on a web page. I won’t read any page or email that is typed in all caps. That’s not because I’m stubborn but because I physically can’t read the letters.

Centering Text
Not the worst case offense but one I see professional graphic designers and web designers doing all the time: they center the text on a page. Again, the “hard to read dilemma,” though not impossible. Centered text is ok when you have one line of text on page. If it’s a paragraph then you are an awful designer.

I also see designers centering their navigation links when they use a left side nav bar. It will look far more pleasing to the eye to align them all left.

Too many/too large of files to download
The goal weight of a first time web page (such as the home page or index) is between 35-60kb. This actually comes from the WebPagesThatSuck guy who based it off the 20 most trafficked sites and their average index page weights. This number includes the file size of the code and the images. 60kb is a pretty tough number to stay under. Most web sites I make go over the 60kb limit but not by much. If you’re a web designer and you make your pages under 60kb, then your client should “legally” not have a reason to bitch the site loads slowly. At that point, it is going to be caused by the connection speed or server bandwidth pipe and not your design.

Once a user has download images on a site that are resuabale on each page like header and logo images, you can make you other pages slightly heavier as web surfers won’t have to redownload the images.

Intro and splash pages
This seems like a really cool idea from just about any angle but its not. Everyone who has wanted a splash page or intro page (with or without Flash) desires one because his neighbor has one. “Have you seen the intro to the Melvins’ site?” might be something a client will ask of me. He wants one too.

The problem with this is simple. Users don’t want this. It’s tedious and boring. Its one more step in the chain when searching for information on the web. The concept that the web is cinema needs to be broken. No one walks into a room; sits down in a comfortable plush chair; dims the light and clicks on your site like they’re about to watch a movie. They don’t want opening credits or to feel like they have to agree to enter. The web is used like people would do research in a university library.

And intro pages discourage repeat traffic. If you have a site people return to often, that intro page gets annoying. Why do you think Flash intro designers add the “skip intro” feature to a movie? Skip the whole thing as it saves work for both parties.

Using Arial, Times Roman or Helvetica fonts
These fonts are often the default in browsers so you have to specify on your site to not use them. Basically, these are older fonts from the days of paper printing. They do not look good when displayed on computer monitors. Mainly because monitors have a lower resolution. Helvetica, however, was used quite a bit in the 70s for magazines and catalogs and as a result has a “dated” look to it. Think old 70s Playboy. Times Roman has a “newspapery” look to it as well.

The cure for an easy to read font that looks normal on a monitor comes to us from the people at Microsoft in a font called Verdana. That’s right. They researched and designed a font that would display well at lower resolutions like computer monitors. This font does look much better when you A/B it against Arial on a site. The overall look of a site goes up when using it. One reason why you may not see it though is because it was made by MS. Often times sites which are anti-microsoft will purposely not use it, even though it is standard with all browsers.

A similar font is Georgia; also created to be used on monitors.

Displaying an old copyright date
Another knick-pick, I know. Especially since no one is going to sue you and that you’ll never have to bring it up in court. All the more reason to keep it up to the current year. To me it’s purely a psychological part of the site. If it can be used to remove purchasing doubts from the consumer’s mind, then utilize it. Also, any site that keeps up a current year isn’t going to be taken seriously.

Text which runs horizontally all the waaaaay across the page
What this means is you don’t have your content text in a column with space on either side. The term for this is margins. Look at books and magazines. They have margins of white space on either side, as no text runs to the very edge of the paper. The same thing should apply to a web page. Otherwise it becomes cumbersome to read. I’m sure there is scientific reason to this phenomenon but let’s just say, add some white space around you chunks of text. The best is to have a column on the left of about 140 pixels. Some designers use this column space to add navigation and extra content and links. Hey, that sounds great and works great. As long as the text doesn’t scroll full screen.

Ironically, usability guru Jakob Nielson fails in this area when presenting articles on his own site. He does use a 5 pixel margin on the left side but this is not nearly enough as people’s monitors are wider than an 8.5×11” paper. His conflict is that by adding a substantial column on the left, he thinks he would be breaking some other design flaw, that being: “theoretically” a nav bar whose links scroll off the page. He is correct but has chosen the worse of the two flaws to latch onto. No one can read your stupid site. Hey, why not add a 140 pixel wide column of white space?

Displaying a link to your web sites traffic stats
This is something you don’t do. It’s distracting, for one. Another reason is that traffic is a form of currency and by showing the world how much money your holding, it allows us to determine your site’s value. I could go on, but my recommendation is to keep those numbers private.