Blogging with WordPress

It seems that lots of my Blogger friends are taking the leap into WordPress these days. My move was almost a year ago, and I am finally feeling at home in this little WordPress world. Since every week I am telling somebody else what theme or plug-ins I use, I thought it easiest to just dedicate a post to it all. I’ll be back to kids and snot tomorrow…

My theme is Thesis. Apparently, it’s search engine friendly, SEO optimized and all that, but I just like how clean and simple it is. I designed my own logo, and use Shauna from SMD for help with all of the technical stuff. I drive her crazy, but she can’t get enough of me. (Or, not.)

What makes WordPress really fun are the endless plug-ins. I frequently add and remove them, because I’m crazy like that, but have some favorites that always stay put:

• CommentLuv: Links to a commenter’s last blog post. It’s a nice little bonus for commenting and I always appreciate it on other people’s sites.

• What Would Seth Godin Do: I love this one because it allows you to post a welcome message for two audiences– new visitors and return visitors. It’s great to be able to tell new people to subscribe or some basic info without bugging people who know you well.

• Sexy Bookmarks: I recently removed this, because it seemed like Twitter was the only option people ever used, but I do love this social bookmarking plug-in. It’s discreet and pretty and I always got compliments on it. Now I use Tweet This, but I’m sure I’ll go back to the other soon. You know, bring sexy back and all.

• Askiment: For decreasing spam comments, it’s a must. It’s a default in later versions of WP, but make sure to activate it. Also be sure to remove some of the standard spam words. I once wrote a post on potty training and had 20 comments that contained the word “penis” end up in spam. Whoops.

• Ozh’ Better Feed: Let’s you leave a message at the bottom of your feed. It could be anything from a copyright blurb to a secret message for a subscriber only contest entry.

Have I missed any of your favorite plug-ins? Please let me know. And, after blabbing on and on about WordPress, I would like to note that Blogger is perfectly fine. There are many fantastic templates to play around with and really make your blog unique. You can absolutely live a long and happy bloggy life over there. And it’s free! It just may not be quite as much fun.

For some great blog tips, check out Playgroups are no place for Children’s (semi) weekly Saturday tutorial. Pro-blogger and Daily Blog Tips are great too, but it’s nice hearing tips from somebody you would normally read. SITS has a terrific Saturday tutorial as well, and is the place to go if you’re new to mommy blogging in general. And if you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ll love this post from the lovely Ann’s Rants and this gem from Maggie, Dammit.

Whew. What have I missed?

{Be sure to check out LouLou’s Views for a festive holiday interview featuring moi!}