Adding an author box to your post footers will help build your personal brand on your blog. An about the author box helps your visitors get to know you, especially first time visitors. And it also is useful on blogs like this that are not personal FIRSTNAMELASTNAME.com blogs, and the picture helps personalize the post. This post will show you how to add an author post box to your Wordpress blog, as well as to the Thesis theme.

Step One: Add Bio Info

In your Wordpress dashboard, go to “users” and then “your profile” in the left column. Scroll down to the box “biographical info” and click “update profile.” The code we’ll add to your theme pulls the information right from your profile.

Step Two: Add the Box

Open your single.php file and locate the section that is the bottom of the post, right before the comments begin. Every Wordpress theme is different, but you’ll want to place the code below before the line “<?php comments_template(); ?>”.

<div id="authorbox">   <?php if (function_exists('get_avatar')) { echo get_avatar( get_the_author_email(), '80' ); }?>
  <div class="authortext">
    <h4>About <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?></h4>
    <p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>     </div>
</div>

This code calls a Gravatar, which pulls a profile image based on the one you’ve assigned to your email address. If you don’t have a Gravatar account, go set one up for free.

If you are using the Thesis theme, you’ll want to add the following code to the custom_functions.php file:

function post_footer() { if (is_single())
{
?>
<div id="authorbox">
  <?php if (function_exists('get_avatar')) { echo get_avatar( get_the_author_email(), '80' ); }?>
    <div class="authortext">
      <h4>About <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?></h4>
      <p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>
    </div>
</div>
}
}
add_action('thesis_hook_after_post_box', 'post_footer')

Step Three: Style the Box

Add the following code to your style.css (and if you’re using Thesis, add it to your custom.css file).

/* AUTHOR BOX */
#authorbox {background:#fcf8d7; border:1px solid #e2dede; width:495px; margin:0 auto; margin-bottom:0px; overflow:hidden; padding:10px;}
#authorbox h4 {font-size:16px; color:#5a5a55; margin:0; padding:0;}
.authortext {padding-left:100px;}
#authorbox img {margin:0; padding:0px; float:left; border:5px solid #e2dede;}
#authorbox p {color:#5a5a55; margin:0; padding:0px; font-size:10px;}
#authorbox h4 > a {text-decoration:none;}
#authorbox a {font-weight:bold;}

Modify the CSS to match your blog’s theme; otherwise it will look like mine.

That’s it! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.Related Posts:

How to Add the Facebook Like Button to Your Blog
Wordpress Thesis Theme Review – 8 Reasons to Switch
How to Add Official Twitter Button to Your Site or Blog

Thesis is an amazing Wordpress theme. I recently made the switch to the Thesis theme from the free Flexibility 2 theme, and I can already tell that it was a worthwhile investment. When I was looking for a new Wordpress theme, my main criteria were customizability, SEO friendliness, fast load times, and excellent user support. By choosing Thesis, I got all this and SO much more.

Download the Latest Version of Thesis >>

1. Fully Customizable

When it comes to customizations, the sky is the limit. Even if you’re a novice at programming and CSS, Thesis makes it pretty foolproof. Instead of having to modify core theme files and risk breaking your blog, like you do with most free Wordpress themes, you won’t have this problem with Thesis. The only two files you’ll have to customize are custom.css and custom_functions.php. This also means that when making future Thesis upgrades, your customizations will carry through to the new version, so you won’t have to redo all of your hard work.

As long as you know enough CSS and PHP to be able to take pre-existing code and modify it for your own needs, you can make your theme look EXACTLY how you want it. There’s also a nifty little plugin called Thesis OpenHook that lets you place your custom code anywhere on your blog, including before content, before or after sidebars, in the header, in the footer, etc.

2. Outstanding Support

This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest advantages of the Thesis Wordpress theme. The support is simply amazing. After buying the theme, future upgrades are free. And if you have any questions about the theme, the Thesis community forum is excellent about answering your questions quickly. The team answers anything from setup and implementation to plugin integration and advanced customizations, and usually within a couple hours (in my experience, and a  day at most).

The support team really goes out of its way to help people customize their blogs with Thesis, and you simply don’t get this with free themes.

3. SEO Friendly

The Thesis theme was developed with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. I’d have to say that most themes out there, especially the free ones, have so much code bloat. They prioritize fancy designs over SEO, and the code just weighs those themes down. Remember: it’s not the design that gets you search engine traffic; it’s the content and SEO. If you have tons of messy code above your content, the engine crawlers are going to see the mess first, rather than your high-value content.

Thesis has very clean code, and the only two files you need to customize are called from externally, so even the fanciest designs maintain a clean code structure. It also eliminates the need for the All in One SEO Pack plugin, as you can specify each post’s meta tags within the theme’s functionality.

4. Easy to Use

If you’re a true novice when it comes to coding, Thesis is good to go out of the box. The initial design is very professional looking, and the Design Options page allows you to make font, color, site layout, and image customizations. One feature I personally love is the ability to change the column layout without having to go into the code and risk breaking the universe.

All you have to do is choose between a two and three-column layout, and simply click the radio button next to the column order you’d prefer. And it was so easy for me to make other customizations, such as adding thumbnails next to my popular posts in the right column. Since making the switch to Thesis, my blog’s bounce rate has decreased nearly 20%, and I simply wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to make these customizations with a free theme.

5. Highly Successful Bloggers use Thesis

Having endorsement from very successful bloggers who use the Thesis Wordpress theme on their own blogs made a big impression on me. Here are just some of the top blogs that use Thesis:

• Problogger
• Chris Brogan
• Twitip
• Copyblogger
• SimpleMom

6. Eliminates the Need for Many Plugins

Because of the extensive customization options and outstanding support community, you can easily implement changes using Thesis Hooks that eliminate the need for certain plugins. For example, I was able to easily add page numbers to the bottom of my homepage and get rid of Pagenavi simply by searching the support forum for how to do this, and copy/pasting a couple bits of code into custom.css and custom_functions.php.

Eliminating plugins will reduce the amount of php calls on your blog pages, and increase your blog’s page load time.

7. Fast Load Time

Again, I really need to emphasize the importance of having a fast page-load time. With my last theme, the code was so bloated that my blog loaded so slowly, even after I eliminated all plugins to test out how fast it would load. Because the Thesis framework is so clean and SEO friendly, you also get the benefit of extremely quick load time (barring your use of certain plugins). Remember, the faster your page load times, the less frustrated your readers will be, and the lower your bounce rate.

8. The “Big Ass Save Button”

When I first installed Thesis and went to one of the customization pages, I literally laughed out loud when I saw the save button:

I mean, really, that’s just awesome.

In Conclusion…

This doesn’t even cover all of the unique features Thesis has to offer. But one hesitation that many people have about Thesis, including myself, is the price tag. The personal option runs at $87, and the developer’s option is $164. I chose the developer’s option so that I can implement Thesis on all of my blogs, and so that I can offer Thesis to clients at a much smaller licensing fee. (So if you want to hire me to set up or improve your blog,  consider yourself having saved $87.) I personally decided that the theme would ultimately pay for itself, as it’s now so much easier to monetize this blog, and you can probably apply the same logic to your own blog. It’s simply worth it.

Disclaimer: Yes, all the links to Thesis in this post are affiliate links. If you do decide on purchasing Thesis, I would appreciate it if you used the links.

Related Posts:

How to Add Author Box to your Wordpress Post Footers
How to Add the Facebook Like Button to Your Blog
How to Add Official Twitter Button to Your Site or Blog

You might have noticed that Facebook has gone a bit “like” crazy this week. One major change affected fan pages: instead of becoming a fan of a page like Coca-Cola, you now “like” the brand. Facebook also introduced a “Like” button that could be added to any page on the internet. This little like button is the easiest way to share content yet. With just one click, a user can share your content with all of his or her Facebook friends.

On Facebook, you can tell your friends if you’re interested in their status updates, posts, photos, or videos by clicking “like.” At the F8 conference this week, Facebook revealed a new social plugin that allows any webpage to add a “like” button and reap the benefits of this viral functionality. Although this new feature is integrated onto Typepad, there isn’t yet a customizable plugin for Wordpress. Here’s how to easily add the Facebook like button to any website, including a Wordpress blog:

1. Get the Like button code

This is the only code you’ll need to install the Facebook Like button on your Wordpress blog. It will automatically detect your post title.

<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=<?php echo
urlencode(get_permalink($post->ID)); ?>&amp;layout=standard&amp;
show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light"
scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none;
overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:60px"></iframe>

Please note that if you are adding this code to a website OTHER THAN a Wordpress blog, use this code instead and customize the “URL.com” for your own domain name:

<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://URL.com
&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;
colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"
style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:60px"></iframe>

2. Choose the button type

If you’d like to use the standard Like button, keep the code above the same (layout=standard).

If you’d like to use the button count version of the Like button, change “layout=standard” to “layout=button_count”.

3. Customize your Like button

There are various customizations you can make to your Like button, all of which you can see on the official like button social plugins page on Facebook’s developer site.

• Show faces or not: Show faces of your friends with “show_faces=true” or not with “show_faces=false”
• Like vs. recommend: Have a like button with “action=like” or a recommend button with “action=recommend”
  
• Color scheme options: If you have a light color scheme on your webpage, choose the correct contrast with “colorscheme=light”; if you have a dark color scheme, use “colorscheme=dark”
• Border: Add a border by changing “border:none;” to “border:1px;”

4. Adding the code to Wordpress

Adding the Like button to each post

Open your single.php file and look for the_content(). Each theme will be coded differently, but this php call should always appear. I’ve added my code above the the_content() code so the like button appears at the top of my posts. You can choose to add the button below your posts by inserting the code below the_content().

Adding the Like button on your homepage

If you also want the like button to appear above each post on your homepage, like I do here at U Stand Out, open your index.php file and look for the_content(). Just as you did for single.php, add the code above the php code for the_content(). You can also simply add the code to a sidebar widget to give your readers the option to “like” your blog’s homepage.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!Related Posts:

How to Add Official Twitter Button to Your Site or Blog
How to Get More Facebook Page Likes Using Exclusive Content
How to Add Author Box to your Wordpress Post Footers

Google Buzz is the latest hot topic in social media. Whether it will ultimately be a hit or a flop, many blogs are already incorporating the button into each post, just like Tweetmeme’s retweet button and Facebook’s sharecount button.

There are several plugins and methods you can use to add the Google Buzz button to your Wordpress blog, at least until Google comes out with an official button. Here are the best methods I’ve found for adding Google Buzz as a share count button, a sidebar widget, and a social share chicklet:

Google Buzz Share Count Button: WP-Buzzer

Although there are several varieties of Wordpress plugins, WP-Buzzer by Hameedula is the must customizable button in terms of placement of the button in your post. This is important to bloggers who want to line up the Google Buzz button with other share count buttons (such as Tweetmeme and Facebook sharecount). As you can see below, I’ve chosen the default “float: right” position, so the button will line up with my other Twitter and Facebook buttons.

How to line up Google Buzz button with Tweetmeme’s Retweet button:

If you already have the Tweetmeme button installed, this Google Buzz button doesn’t line up correctly at all. Additionally, the button is kind of clunky; you can see the pixilated edges. We’re going to fix that.

1. Upload the wp-buzzer plugin to your blog. Do not yet activate it.
2. Save this png file to your computer as googlebuzz.png:
3. Upload this image to the folder /wp-content/plugins/wpbuzzer
4. Go to your installed plugins page and click “edit” under the wp-buzzer plugin.
5. Search for the following text: background-image: $style = ’style=”height: 58px; width:50px;  background-image: url(‘ . WP_PLUGIN_URL . ‘/wpbuzzer/wpbuzzer-google-buzz-big.png)
6. Change “wpbuzzer-google-buzz-big.png” to “googlebuzz.png”
7. Add “padding-top:12px;” after “width:50px;”
8. Click save. That should be it!

Google Buzz Sidebar Widget: Google Buzz ER

The Google Buzz ER widget will display your public Google Buzz content on your blog. Simply upload the plugin to your blog, and in the plugin settings enter your Google username, create a title, and define how many Buzz posts you want to appear in the widget. Then go to your widgets page, where you can drag and drop the widget wherever you want it to appear.

Google Buzz as a Social Chicklet: Light Social

I’m sure all the major social bookmarking plugins will soon include Google Buzz as an available social chicklet (I use SexyBookmarks here, and they have not yet). The Light Social plugin is one of the early adopters to add the Google buzz button. Plugins like this automatically insert a set of social chicklets, or share links, at the bottom of each of your blog posts.

Have you integrated Google Buzz into your blog yet? Which Google Buzz plugins are you using?Related Posts:

How to Add the Official Google Buzz Button to your Website
How to Add the Facebook Like Button to Your Blog
How to Add Official Twitter Button to Your Site or Blog

If you’re not familiar, LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals. You display your professional experience, connect with current and past coworkers, and even meet new connections. It’s a great online networking opportunity. If you’re a professional blogger and want to boost your credibility as an expert in your field, you should consider putting your blog on your LinkedIn profile.

In the spirit of research, I put U Stand Out on my Wordpress page, which you can see on my LinkedIn profile page. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into LinkedIn or create an account

If you’re new to LinkedIn you’ll need to create an account. Here are tips for how to create a stellar profile, built your network, and more. If you’re already a LinkedIn member, log in as usual.

2. Add the application

Click “Applications” in the left sidebar. Scroll down and click on the Wordpress application. On the next page, check the boxes next to “Display on my profile” and “Display on LinkedIn homepage.”

3. Set up your blog feed

Enter your blog’s URL, not your feed URL (so for example, http://ustandout.com). Select “Show all recent posts from your blog” to show your entire blog. If you only want to show certain posts, tag them “LinkedIn” in your Wordpress editor and select “Show only recent posts tagged LinkedIn.”

4. Configure your privacy settings

To make sure that your blog updates appear on your LinkedIn newsfeed:

• Click “Account & Settings” at the top of the page.
• Click “Profile and Status Updates”
• Make sure that in the “Publish profile updates and recommendations” section, you select “Yes”

That’s it! Your wordpress feed will now appear on your profile under your summary section.

Now if you have, for example, 150 connections, your blog updates will appear in 150 people’s LinkedIn newsfeeds. And if you make an effort to network by participating in groups or answers, other Linkedin members will see snippets of your most recent entries without having to navigate to your blog. This is an easy way to get your blog more exposure.

Have you linked your Wordpress blog to your LinkedIn profile yet?Related Posts:

Before Networking on LinkedIn, Makeover Your Profile
How to Build Your LinkedIn Network in 5 Easy Steps
How to Network Beyond the 2nd Degree on LinkedIn

Why is it so important to encourage commenting? This problogger article discussed a study revealing that 90% of people online are lurkers (read or observe content without contributing), 9% of people contributing a “little,” and only 1% of people actively participate online. This is referred to as the 1% rule, and it’s your job to figure out how to break that rule on your blog.

There are so many Wordpress plugins for comments, and sifting through them to find the best ones can be overwhelming. So here are four simple Wordpress plugins I recommend to encourage readers to comment on your blog.

1. CommentLuv

CommentLuv creates an incentive for people to comment. When a user enters his URL while commenting, the plugin automatically visits his blog’s feed and displays a titled link to his last post under his comment. This rewards him by giving other readers a better idea of what his blog is about, and an additional link to his blog. When passive readers with blogs see that you have this plugin installed, they will be more motivated to comment.

CommentLuv is easy to install: just download from their site, upload it to your plugins folder, and activate it.

2. DoFollow

Installing the DoFollow plugin can help improve your commentator’s page rank, especially when used in conjunction with CommentLuv. This will motivate your readers to comment more often. If you think the DoFollow plugin will increase spam on your blog, simply activate the Aksimet plugin, the spam filter Wordpress includes. You can also moderate your comments. For example, I don’t accept comments like “Hiiiiii” or “Great blog!” that have clearly just commented to leave their link. But DoFollow rewards commentators that write insightful or meaningful comments, so I recommend installing this plugin.

There is much debate amongst bloggers regarding the no-follow and do-follow rules. The nofollow attribute prevents search engines from crawling links on your site. There is no dofollow attribute except for NOT having the nofollow attribute, and this allows search engines to crawl those links. But contrary to popular belief, having DoFollow should not hurt your blog’s SEO. Gerald Weber has a great post about dofollow vs nofollow at Thou Shall Blog, you can read about the details there.

3. Top Commentators

Top Commentators lists your readers who have commented the most in a widget. You can see mine over on the left. This provides an incentive for people to post often, so that they can get their names and links to their blog on this list. This is a valuable backlink for bloggers in your niche, especially if you don’t have nofollow rules in place. So by installing this widget, you’ll encourage people in your niche to comment and be active on your site to stay on that list. This is also a great way to make connections with these bloggers, because if you comment on their blogs and they install this plugin, they’ll return the favor.

4. Subscribe to Comments

The Subscribe to Comments plugin gives your readers a way to stay involved in the discussion by receiving updates when there are new comments. If they don’t want to subscribe to your blog, they can still subscribe to individual posts to keep up to speed on the conversation.

So what do you think? Do you use any of these plugins? How have they worked for you? What other comments plugins would you recommend?Related Posts:

How to Add Google Buzz To Your Wordpress Blog
How To Create Content Worthy of Social Media Marketing
How to Add the Facebook Like Button to Your Blog