Well, if you are an active WordPress user (or designer, or developer), you are likely aware of the Timthumb vulnerability that has recently been wreaking havoc on WordPress blog owners. (If you’re not aware, then read on, as you are actually far more likely to be effected than someone who has been paying attention to WordPress security.) [Read more…]
Review: okayblog.net
Want a Free Blog, but not sure where to start. okayblog.net is a place where you can get a Free Blog. It is brought to you by thoughts.com (see my review of thoughts.com) and is powered by WordPress (WordPress MU to be specific – a multi user version of WP).
By using the WP MU platform, okayblog.net is able to offer users the familiar WP interface as well as popular themes. They currently offer more than 60 popular WP Themes for you to choose from.
Some of the plug-ins available to users are WP-Postratings, Sitemap Generator, and Google Analytics.
One downside to this site is that it doesn’t currently seem to be an active community. Most of the blogs I looked at during the review hadn’t been updated in quite some time. However, that could work to a new blogger’s advantage since updated blogs are posted on the home page.
Your blog will be listed in the blog directory and your recent posts will show up on the home page. Additionally, there is a set of links to “Most Popular Blogs” on the front page.
An upside is that they offer users the ability to put Google AdSense ads on their blogs. Not all free blog providers do this, so if you are looking for a free hosted blog that you can monetize with AdSense, okayblog.net might be for you.
Review: Thoughts.com
Do you like to write? How about social networking, blogging, and podcasting? You can do it all at Thoughts.
You can decide how you want to connect with friends and you can do this using various easy-to-use widgets. Here is some of what you can do on thoughts.com:
- Create a Blog
- Upload Photos and Videos
- Upload Podcasts
- Create Polls
- Participate in Forums
- Connect with Friends and other users
Thoughts.com is a place where you can connect with people of like (or unlike) mind and share ideas and discussions. Connect and discuss in the forums, or post your own ideas on your blog. Create photo albums to organize your photos and share them with your friends. You don’t have to rely on different sites for your blogging, photos, and video. With Thoughts.com, you can do it all in one site. You can also upload, download, and listen to podcasts. The forums are an active place to discuss a variety of topics.
If you like to blend your writing and discussions with current events, Thoughts.com has a daily news section where members can discuss these topics. The whole point of the site is to bring people together in a community environment to express their views, learn from others, and come together in an online community.
The interesting thing about Thoughts.com is their “one love policy:”
Thoughts.com is inspired by the belief that there is one universal love that we all share. You are invited to join the community, share your thoughts, enjoy great conversations, and even debate heated issues. The only thing we require is that you are respectful of one another and considerate of the other’s perspective when a point of disagreement arises. Nobody knows everything, and the potential for us to learn is endless if we only allow ourselves to learn. In order to learn, we must be open to new and different ideas.
When I was going through the site researching this review, I must say that I found the forums to be very active. In fact, there were active discussions going on regarding a variety of topics. Lots of people viewing, lots of threads and responses. In short – a very active forum. And since this is all in one active community, you can link this up through one profile connected you and your blog.
As far as the usability of the site, it is your basic community site with bells and whistles. I like the fact that everything is accessible and usable in one place so you don’t have to worry about the friends in your network being able to access or not.