• Our FeedBurner account went crazy tweeting one of our blog posts (not even the latest one) every few hours
• Our Feed wasn’t being read correctly by any program that relied on Google’s Feed Fetcher or feedproxy.google.com
• Any system that relied on Google products to work (feedburner, email subscription, etc) was not being notified of new blog posts

Whenever I tried to view the feed, I had more than 30 AdSense ads at the bottom of each post in the feed (it’s configured for one).

Whenever I clicked on anything that involved feedproxy.google.com (Google’s redirector for AdSense and some feed programs) I encountered an infinite redirect look.

All of our 301 were perfect (redirects from one site to another one). Our FeedBurner account was configured correctly.

When using liveheaders, I would see feedproxy.google.com continue to redirect to itself until the browser gave up and gave me a redirect error.

When I looked inside my AdSense account, all the feeds and ads were configured correctly.

However, It turns out the culprit was AdSense for Feeds.  It appears as if Google was:

• Passing the feed from Feedburner to AdSense to add the ads to the feed
• Then trying to pass the feed back to the old Google feed URL which was being redirected to a new URL
• Then Google was seeing the feed being moved so it grabbed the feed again to send back to AdSense to add another ad
• Repeat 30 times, and you get a broken feed with 30 ads at the bottom

I tried to determine what the AdSense issue was; but not being able to see what Google was trying to do with the configuration on their side – there was no way to fix the code. As a consumer you can only fix the code you have access to.

It turns out there was a really simple fix.

I deleted the channels in AdSense and waited for Google to cycle through their feed fetching and refresh process.

Everything worked.

I can now add new channels back into AdSense and the ads appear correctly.

It seems that FeedBurner and AdSense have a very light integration, and Feedburner does not update  AdSense’s information.

So, if you are using AdSense for feeds and move your feed URL, you will want to delete (or make inactive) the old AdSense for Feed channels, let Google’s system flush out the old data, and then add your details back to AdSense.

If you haven’t seen our feeds in a few weeks, this is why. The most important items you might have missed are:

• We’re now accepting guest posts
• The AdWords seminars are heading to San Jose
• Our newest radio show is on iTunes
• Google is changing the display URL

Feedburner + AdSense for Feeds + Moving a Blog = 301 Disasters. There’s an Easy Fix. is a post from: Certified Knowledge

And then there are those you forget.

Those forgotten visitors can still interact with your content, contact your business, forward along your information, and help your business reach it’s goals.

Think about the visitors who see your content off your website:

• Are you counting emails?
• What about RSS readers?
• YouTube views?

However, these visitors are not necessarily fully engaged with your site, yet they are still valuable.

Image: RSS ad impressions for a few days in December. 4700 easily forgotten page views (of users who have java enabled in a RSS reader)

For bloggers, the most common of these visitors are those reading full text RSS feeds.

Engaging forgotten RSS subscribers

Your everyday readers know what change are going on in your company or website. They don’t need to be reminded about a new forum section, new newsletters, tools, etc.

However, RSS or eMail readers are often skimming their feedreader and inbox for interesting content. They will skip some of your posts. Some of your emails will be deleted. Don’t take it personally – we’re all busy. The question is: How do you keep forgotten visitors abreast of changes?

Engage these users where they are currently engaged – in your offsite content.

For RSS subscribers, use a plug-in that will add some additional text to just your feed. This way your everyday readers will not see it, but those reading your content in a feedreader will see it.

WordPress plug-ins such as:

• RSSfooter
• Feed Footer
• RSSupplement

Can add content to the bottom of your feed.

For eMail campaigns, add a ‘recently changed’ section. Don’t rely on a single email to make your announcement. If you’ve devoted part of your website to showcasing these sections, devote a part of your RSS feed or email to continue reinforcing that news. If it was worth a section of your website, isn’t the same true of your newsletter and RSS feed?

Don’t Forget About Your Visitors

It’s easy to get caught up in testing, and testing, and testing some more.

However, what testing tells you is what combinations make visitors more engaged and trusting of your content.

Don’t forget to do the same for your off-site, forgotten visitors.

Did you forget about me? How to engage visitors who don’t interact with your website. is a post from: Certified Knowledge

I love analytics. No where else on the web can you get lost in the purity of statistics.

However, there’s a dark side to analytics – storage space.

Admittedly, I don’t take good care of this blog. However, when I went to back up my database today it was 950 mb. Yes, that’s correct, the database was nearing a one gig in size! It wasn’t spam, it wasn’t the huge amount of content on the site, it wasn’t hacked – it was wordpress analytics programs storing stats in the database.

While it’s fun to have access to every possible analytic stat, there’s also something to be said about the speed of your blog (not to mention one should be more concerned about actionable data).

Using phpMyAdmin I removed shortstat, slimstat, and counterize II tables from my database which brought it down to a much more reasonable 50mb; which still seemed large to me. So, after some more rummaging around the database, it seems that Search Meter (a nice plug-in that saves all the searches conducted on your blog) was taking up the last unnecessary 20+ mb in the database.

It was a tough decision to actually put an ad back on the blog. But, the best alternate to the wordpress search was to add a Google custom search. I haven’t figured out the correct layout for the search yet as on some browsers part of the search box is obscured which I’m sure is against the Google TOS – but I’ve not figured out an OK looking CSS yet. However, searches on this site will now have some ads from Google on them. However, I can now get search stats in my AdSense reporting. Unfortunately, that’s not integrated with any other analytics programs yet. I’m waiting for the day Google’s CSE is integrated into Google analytics. That seems the next logical step. One of the best places for keyword research is search results on your own site.

So, after removing those plug-ins, I made sure that both Microsoft Analytics (review here) and Google Analytics (and soon IndexTools by Yahoo) are installed in the blog for full stats. (More free stat programs found via SEMMYs.)

When installing these scripts, please put them in the footer tag (or just above the </body> tag) so that your content loads immediately. It’s ok if you don’t track all your visitors because the tracking script didn’t load. It’s not ok to have your content not load because some tracking script is taking too long to load.

The accomplishment? This blog is loading about 70% faster than previously. A leaner database means a faster site.

P.S. Please use absolute URls for your Favicons. If you use relative paths, the icons will not show up on all pages of your blog.

Speed up WordPress by Trimming Your Bloated Database is a post from: Certified Knowledge

The analytics programs I’m using are:

• Google Analytics
• AWstats
• Webalizer
• Feedburner
• and if i have time, I’ll do some clicktracks log file analysis.

The WordPress Stat Plugins I’m using are:

• bSuite (which seems to have issues)
• Counterize II
• Short Stats
• Slim Stats

Did I miss any WordPress Stat plugins that should be compared?

WordPress Statistic Plugins Comparisons is a post from: Certified Knowledge

I’ve found two issues so far:

BSuite plugin stopped passing stats. However, I’ve had problems with that plug-in before – so it could that issue could be related to something else.

I also had to completely rework the links section. It seems the previous link category tags I was using are no longer supported, and I had to rework some of the coding. Although, it seems its also time to update the entire link section as it’s quite outdated.

As soon as I find an easy way to export Windows Live Mail Desktop OPML; then I’ll rework the link section. I’ve become reliant on that reader since Attensa stopped syncing between their web and desktop apps.

Overall, I do like the upgraded 2.1 interface. I stopped using the rich text editor on the previous interface as it had many issues in various browsers and it was quite difficult to switch between the code and editor interface. WP 2.1 fixes that entire issue (my favorite aspect of the 2.1 upgrade).

If you see any problems with the blog not rendering correctly, please let me know the problem and your browser version.

Thank you.

Updated to WordPress 2.1 is a post from: Certified Knowledge

The first is Tamba2.org.uk. This site has a lot of step by step help files for wordpress.

The second at headzoo is a list of all the tags available in wordpress, and separates them into the appropriate sections. Quite useful when editing files and trying to remember the nomenclature of certain tags.

WordPress Help Files is a post from: Certified Knowledge

I recently noticed Llorelle was endorsing and explaining a new quotes plug-in, which can be found here.

Instead of using it for the quotes feature, I’ve installed it with random PPC snippets – sort of mantras for the PPC world.

I think it’s a fun idea, and one way to spice up a blog page (and I’m going to watch the reload stats to see how many people just refresh the page to see a new quote).

It could also be used as a low-tech ad server. However, PHPAdsNew might be a better choice if you have some programming skills.

So – is it good? Taking up valuable space? Comments?

[poll=2]

New Random Quotes Plugin for WordPress is a post from: Certified Knowledge

However, wiki’s are also often used in development projects, and if you are not careful with the security settings, you can give away your development secrets.

A few days ago, a new comment was posted to this blog from a url that breaks down into: ClientSite.AdvertisingAgencySite.com/DEV/ProjectName which linked to my post on using AdWords Dynamic Parameters in URLs. Without even reading the comments, I knew that Company A was launching a new AdWords campaign and which company would be running the show. However, I also received comments on the page past the URL which told me even more about the ad campaign.

My guess is that the Wiki being used had trackbacks enabled and no one checked the security settings before posting many secrets to the Wiki (which is behind a password protected page).

Then, a couple days later, another trackback showed up from a completely different source which was CompanyName.AdvertisingAgency/NewProject from yet another Wiki. After checking that the entire site was password protected, I was sure this was yet another agency launching another company’s ad campaign.

In both of these cases, I’m being passed secrets about ad campaigns which I’m sure the agency and the clients would not be happy to know. Someone didn’t do their homework about how to set up, run, and keep a Wiki secure.

If you’re running a piece of software with trackbacks (which could be a blog, wiki, forum, etc), and you do not wish anyone outside of the password protected area to see what you’re writing about – disable the trackback and ‘ping’ ability of the software package.

Be Careful of Security Issues when Using Wiki's and Blogs with Trackbacks is a post from: Certified Knowledge

The next big thing is what makes the current big thing better

Unfortunately, I can’t remember who said that (and it might not be in it’s exact form), but that is essentially what Feedburner is accomplishing.

RSS is a technology which allows publishers to push their content around the web. Instead of relying on email and newsletters to keep consumers updated with news or features, RSS puts consumers in control.

If one wants to subscribe to a website, news source, etc, then one can choose a Feed Reader (which one day will be as common a term as an email program) to organize their content. Essentially, it allows one to subscribe to information and then have it organized within a program (or website) and then new content will show up in the reader as it becomes available.

The main difference between reading via RSS and reading vs email is that with RSS the user is in complete control. Don’t want more information from the website? Just remove it from your feed reader. Your email address is never given to the website, so even when you unsubscribe, you don’t receive those annoying ‘are you sure you want to leave’ and ‘please come back’ emails. No co-marketing programs. No email spam. The user is in control. (FYI – my favorite reader is Attensa).

What Feedburner does is allow website publishers access to statistics and more control of their feeds. When technology comes into play that puts the consumer in control, it also means that publishers lose control. What Feedburner does is allow publisher to track RSS feeds, use RSS feeds in interesting ways, and help promote website feeds. They still let the consumer have complete control over reading and accessing content; however, the assistance given to publishers is very welcome.

One always knows that a business is doing well when it appears on CNN, which just happened to FeedBurner. What’s more interesting is how their content arrived on CNN.

Essentially Business 2.0 is a magazine that is closely tied to CNN Money on the web. CNN’s technology news section incorporates RSS feeds from the Business 2.0 tech section (i.e. content from Business 2.0 appears on various CNN news pages). Hence, the very technologies that Feedbuner is building their business upon are what promoted it to some of the top read CNN pages.

One of Feedburner’s features for publishers is called ‘FeedSparks‘. This is a program which helps publishers push their content around the web. It’s also the program Business 2.0 uses to incorporate their content into CNN. So, the very technology FeedBurner created is what helped with their own visibility. Very interesting when one is helping with their own PR by enabling other companies.

If you are a website publisher (or blog writer), you should check out Feedburner. They have both a free and paid model based upon the features you desire. If you are a consumer, I would suggest checking out Feed Readers to see how to control the content you are reading on the web.

It is also important to note that many feed readers are incorporated into websites and you might not even realize it’s a feed reader. Do you add content to My Yahoo? Use Google Homepage? Use Microsoft’s Live.com? If so, you already are using a feed reader. When you subscribe to new content, add custom content, etc – in most cases RSS feeds are what is pushing the content to you home page.

To learn more about RSS and Feedburner, here is some additional reading:

• eWhisper’s RSS Feed Options
• CNN Article on Feedburner
• Feedburner’s ‘Feedsparks‘ Program and API info
• Interview Rae did with Feedburner’s CEO Dick Costolo
• Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with CEO Dick Costolo

Feedburner Helps Websites Understand Their Content is a post from: Certified Knowledge

]]> http://certifiedknowledge.org/blog/feedburner-helps-websites-understand-their-content/feed/ 0 http://certifiedknowledge.org/blog/add-a-contact-form-to-wordpress/ http://certifiedknowledge.org/blog/add-a-contact-form-to-wordpress/#comments Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:28:19 +0000 brad http://certifiedknowledge.org/blog/add-a-contact-form-to-wordpress/ Add a contact form to WordPress is a post from: Certified Knowledge
]]> Please, don’t use a simple mailto link on the web. That’s the single easiest way to increase the amount of spam you receive. Instead, use a contact form. WordPress has some plugins for email. If these don’t work for you, I’ve included other options available. If you don’t use wordpress, please skip below, there are options available to you covered here.

The simplest way to add a contact form to wordpress is to use one of these plugins:

• WP-Contact Form Plugin
• In Touch WordPress Plugin
• Secure Contact Form

With servers and senders going through more email verification these days, these two plugins may not work on your server. If these two won’t work, the next option is to install wpPHP Mailer. This takes a little bit more work as it uses a sourceforge php code. Don’t be afraid of working with PHP if you’re unfamiliar with it. This is a fairly straightforward plugin to work with. The main advantage of this one is that it let’s you put in your email password and account, so it will work with many servers which require an additional level of security.

However, if that still doesn’t work for you (some servers again have issues with this particular plugin), the next is to move to the cgi-bin. If you don’t have a cgi bin, write your administrator, most servers come with a cgi-bin and cgiemail installed.

If you happen to have formmail.pl, please read this first before thinking that’s the best way to proceed.

The cgi bin is pretty easy to work with. The main issue most people have using cgiemail is they don’t realize it’s actually two different files they’re working with.

• The first is the actual form. This is a straightforward form which is located on an html or php page (and can be added to a wordpress post or static page so that it’s integrated nicely with your blog).
• The second page is a .txt file that tells the cgi emailer what to do. (Note: The page must be in iso or ascii, cgi doesn’t work properly with all text formats. So, when you save this page, just do a ‘save as’ and look through your options – ascii is the best choice).

The last issue is that some servers don’t seem to process the cgiemail form properly unless it’s stored in the root folder (no idea why, this shouldn’t be an issue, but it happens).

Here are the top documents around to show you how to create these forms:

• Official cgiemail page
• An MIT page with additional help
• And yet another good university page from a website creation class

Finally, the last way is to use a wysiwyg editor (such as Frontpage) and publish to your website (the server must have frontpage extensions installed). Since this will not have the ‘feel’ of your blog, you’ll want to create this in a few different steps.

• First, create a new page in Frontpage using the Feedback or Contact Form template.
• Second, customize the form for the fields you wish to include
• Next, publish (since this uses Webbots, you’ll have to publish it, not FTP the page) the page to your server
• Fourth, create a static WordPress page and use an iFrame to include the contact page in your regular wordpress page
• Complete. You will now have a contact page from Frontpage that utilizes your blog’s template

If this is your first time working with a form, it will take a little bit of time (if you’re creating it from scratch) to make sure all the details are perfect. If you have some experience with HTML, you should be done in 30-60 minutes. If you don’t it might take an hour or two. However, your inbox will be happy with the reduction of spam you receive.

Add a contact form to WordPress is a post from: Certified Knowledge

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