Blogger.com vs Wordpress.com

Oct 3, 2009

So you must be having a Blog(If NO, Go get one today). Where do you host it Blogger.com OR Wordpress.com. Or if you have your own Hosting space with php and Mysql then for sure Wordpress.org. This post will compare Blogger.com with Wordpress.com. Also don't get confused with Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org. Wordpress.org is a CMS which you need to host and is the best Blog System currently. I will not be including features which are in both of them OR neither of them.




















































































Feature



Blogger.com



Wordpress.com


Customization with themesYes, You can edit the HTML and CSSNo
ImportNo, Only from another Blogspot BlogYes, From most of the Blog programs
Static PageNoYes, As much as you want
Analytics/StatsNo, But you may install a third party Analytics programYes, In built and is great
Image Storage1 GB, Can be browsed through Picasa3 GB, Can be upgraded
ClassificationThrough applying LabelsThrough applying Categories and Tags
Contact FormsNo, But Third Party contact forms can be installedYes, Using


[ contact-form ]


CommentsSimple, But you can install powerful comments system like DisqusNice comment system but you can't install Disqus
Embed Object (Like: Flash)YesNo
RSSYes, And can be optimized with FeedburnerYes, But No Feedburner optimization
Spam FightingNoAkismet
Change blog URLYesNo
JavascriptYes, You can Add it hereNo
Google Webmaster ToolsYes, Verify using <meta> tag and Add blog/atom.No

Please See:



  • If you wish to upgrade to Wordpress.org soon then go for Wordpress.com. As it supports Categories as well as Tags(Which is common in Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org).

  • If you don't wish to upgrade to Wordpress.org and don't want to host things then go for Blogger.com

  • Most of people start from platforms like Wordpress.com or Blogger.com and move to Wordpress.org(It includes me).

  • Also if you are newbie in Blogging go for Blogger.

  • Blogger is also owned by Google which is a 800 pound gorilla in Internet.

  • There is also a http://draft.blogger.com where you can see features if blogger about to come.


My Suggestion: Go for Blogger.com. As it has the biggest advantage that is Flexibility.

Web Analytics

Aug 2, 2009

Web analytics is the measurement of the Visits to a Website to track website performance , Its also the process of collection, measurement and analysis of user activity on a website to understand and help achieve the intended objective of the website. So it is a tool that collects data on web site users behavior.

How can we use it ?


For Web Analytics you just need to Sign Up for a Web Analytics program and then add the essential code given by the Program to your site. Or Install a couple of plugin's if you are on Wordpress.

What programs are available ?


There are many of the programs available for analytics for Websites. I have included few which I am aware of.

Google Analytics



For me its the best as it is owned by 800 pound gorilla of the internet market and the features it provides are very useful. Al though it's not highly advanced or High on features kind still it has everything which is required for analytics. One can add multiple sites here and most importantly its 100% Free. You just need to add the code to your website for its functioning(Or a plugin if you are in Wordpress). Google Analytics can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents. You may integrate it with Your Adwords account too.

Clicky Web Analytics


Logo


It has all the features of Google Analytics plus many more like giving a Mobile version of your dashboard, Viewing the history for an individual page, Visitor segmentation, Twitter Analytics etc. It's hugely accpeted. But the drawback is its not Free. Though it has a Free version too but that is useless.

Analytics for WordPress using a simple Plugin(WordPress.com Stats)


Its like Google Analytics providing an incredible depth of information. Installing this stats plugin is easy, all you need is to put in your API Key. When running it'll begin collecting information about your pageviews, popular posts and pages, traffic source, etc. It'll also add a link to your dashboard. And because all of the processing and collection runs on there servers. it doesn't cause any additional load on our hosting account.

Google Search Tips

Jul 25, 2009


First things first remember this:



  • Google default is to search for pages that include all of your search keywords .

  • Google excludes common words (a.k.a stop words) like “the" , “He” etc.

  • Google isn't case sensitive, That is searching for wordpress is the same as WordPress.

  • But Search operators are case sensitive, That is searching for wordpress OR joomla uses OR as the Google search operator, while wordpress or joomla doesn't.

  • Some operators may be combined, and some must be used alone.



Basic Operators


+


forces words to be included in search results. Useful with stop words that otherwise will be discarded

-


prevents a search term to show in results, for example searching for doughnut -cream can help you to avoid creamy doughnuts

OR


returns documents with one of the given terms, like doughnut OR donut. You can also use | instead of OR: doughnut | donut

” “


using quotes forces google to search for the exact phrase (including stop words), try “doughnut at midnight” and doughnut at midnight (actually, using quotes is similar, but not equals, to doughnut-at-midnight … it would be interesting to know what is the exact difference in SERP)

~


allow to search also for synonyms of the given word. searching for doughnut ~tips finds also pages with the word help or guide etc.

*


means every word. try “doughnuts with *”

..


Used to search in a range of numbers, “2..20 doughnuts” will find pages containing “I eat 3 doughnuts a day” and “I’ll never eat more than 15 doughnuts in a month”

This operators can be combined to create advanced queries, for example “I eat 1..100 doughnut OR doughnuts OR donut OR donuts each *”

Basic Search Operators


The basic Search operators which can be combine with your keywords easily are:

+


Forces words to be included in search results. Convenient with stop words that otherwise will be dumped

-


Prevents a search term to be included in the results, Like: searching for Automobile -cars won’t show the result for Cars in the Automobile search result page

OR


Returns with with one of the given terms, like Joomla OR Drupal. You might also use | instead of OR

” “


It is used to include all of the words given by you in search results, Remember to put the query within the “ ” . I use it to check copy and paste content.

~


Allows to search also for synonyms of the given keyword. like searching for wordpress ~tips finds also pages with the word help or guide etc.

*


Means every word to include(It’s a wildcard character) .

..


Used to search in a range of numbers

The above operators may be combined like, “Is WordPress better than Joomla OR Drupal”

Some more useful operators


define:


Used to return the definition of the given word like "define: guide"

filetype:


Restricts the results returned of a specific File Type. Like "Photoshop Guide filetype:pdf"

site:


Restricts the search results for a given web site only like "Google site:priteshgupta.com"

related:


Returns page that are related to the given page

info:


Gives information about a given site

Google's Calculator


I use Google as a calculator too, by using standard symbols (+ - * / % ^)

Like: "2+10-5%2" = 11, Google calculates in the manner which is done in programming languages.

You can also make it a scientific calculator using the below terms


sqrt,nth root ofx, sin, cos, arctan, tan…, ln, log, !

Numbers can be entered in hexadecimal, octal and binary base.

PS: There are many more things which you can do it Google but I have included with are useful.


Also see: http://www.google.com/landing/searchtips/

Microsoft Office 2010

Jun 30, 2009

I got Office 2010 from one of my friends which was available from here and upgraded it over my Office 2007(Took lots of time). This isn't the full version which I got, Its named "Office 2010(Technical Preview)"{Not Beta} So that people can try it for free and this will expire in July 2010. Microsoft Office 2010 is the successor of Microsoft Office 2007.It features Extended file compatibility, user interface updates, and a refined user experience. I just compared it to my Office 2007 and got some screen shot's of Office 2010 as well.(Click to Enlarge).

First things first the

Load screen.




The load screen of office 2007 is bit dumb and not interactive(Below), Where as the load screen of Office 2010(above) has bit of tweaks and more features like it tells us how much percentage the document has loaded(You can see this by opening huge PPT's), Displays thing like "Starting", "Working" and It has buttons like Minimize and close.





Main Window




The new Office 2010 main window(Above) is a lot similar to Office 2007(Below) and unlike Office 2003 to Office 2007 it's not a complete evolution. So it will be easy to use.




File Menu




The new file button(Above) is bit different from older one(Below) you can notice some good Interface changes there. And also by clicking the file button icon a new window hovers above the main Window.



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